We’ve published several excerpts from our interview with Phil Harrison talking about the PS3 hardware - but what of the machine’s software? He’s the head of Sony’s worldwide studios, so he should know a thing or three about that…
One of the most interesting things about the next-gen consoles is that they all give the option of downloading games from the network, rather than going into a store and buying them. They’re not the same games as you’ll be buying in boxes - instead they’re small, cheap, and sometimes very innovative games that are limited in scope but often incredibly good fun.
Of course, since all the consoles offer this option, it would be easy for all of them to end up offering the same stuff - and the PlayStation Store, which is accessible through PS3, will almost certainly share some of its range of retro games and the likes with its rivals. However, Sony is planning to make sure that PlayStation Store also has lots of interesting, exclusive games - and Harrison is the man spearheading that initiative.
“We announced an initiative from a worldwide studios perspective at GDC this year,” he explains, “as a call to action to the development community to encourage them to create games specifically for us, that we would fund, that we would publish, in the online sense of the word, and distribute online.”
In other words, Sony is - right now - paying for developers to come up with cool new downloadable games.
“We’re developing about 40 products that fit that strategy right now,” Harrison continues. “We showed the very first one of those, called flOw, at the Tokyo Game Show for the first time. That got a really, really good response.”
“My strategy was to encourage developers to push the machine technically, creatively, artistically - to innovate in lots of different ways. But don’t be restricted by ghettoising games into a particular genre, or a particular display mechanic, because what we’ve seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we’re pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3. Plus, the fact that every PS3 has a hard disc drive means that we’re not restricted by the size of the download, and that has a huge impact on the kind of game design that you can do.”
Indeed, developers do seem to be particularly excited about this idea - and we know for a fact that in the UK alone, studios devoted entirely to developing PS3 downloadable games and new divisions of existing studios focusing purely on PS3 downloadable games have been set up in recent months.
Harrison confirms that downloadable games are definitely starting to take hold. “We’re seeing an emerging strength in developers creating games specifically for downloadable content,” he says. “We’re seeing that as a really interesting way of stimulating creativity, experimentation… And it makes me feel as excited as about the games that we saw at the beginning of PS1, when there was a lot of really interesting innovation happening in the marketplace. I think we’ll see that on PlayStation 3 as well.”
That is nice. Still can’t beat Xbox Live though, in my opinon.
Comment by FaRReacH — Nov 1, 2006 @ 12:10 am
bla bla bla…just realese the console already!
Comment by jason — Nov 1, 2006 @ 12:39 pm
Think harrison’s got a point when he says that with this new capability he ‘feels as excited as about the games that we saw at the beginning of PS1′ - i personally can’t wait to see what can be achieved…
Comment by harold — Nov 1, 2006 @ 12:46 pm
Hmmmm, sodding 360 fan boys, sod off…
Bearing in mind which company was the first to encourage small indie game development… Not M$….
Comment by Gilrod — Nov 1, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
Will ‘Harrison’ et al let the community start experimenting and subverting the technology that they have developed and create games that we really want to play and interact with? or will they turn all coprpoarte at the slightest hint of the downloadable games being ‘risque’ or better than those created by the studios they own and some how ban them from being downloaded and played - its all very well to promise this 21st century community lead visoion of technology enabling and being for the people but you’ve got to follow it through - i hope that will happen! Norway is dark today.
Comment by ding-a-ling — Nov 1, 2006 @ 3:19 pm
the developer of ratched and clank actually was a huge risk on sony’s part at the time.
they were just a couple of 16year olds having some development knowledge, it’s kinda interesting that starting on consoles in Europe is allot easier for indie developers then it is in the US.
it’s also how well established Sony is vs Microsoft in the development within European schools, it’s why Microsoft won’t ever hit massive sales in Europe.
Comment by mark — Nov 1, 2006 @ 7:38 pm
[…] “We’re developing about 40 products that fit that strategy right now,” he added. They showed off flOw at the Tokyo Game Show, of course, with others like Calling All Cars (David Jaffe’s title, formerly known as Criminal Crackdown) also generating a lot of interest. Via Threespeech Quickly bookmark “Sony funding 40 downloadable PS3 games” via: […]
Pingback by Sony funding 40 downloadable PS3 games - videogamesblogger.com: — Nov 1, 2006 @ 9:05 pm
[…] According to PlayStation blog Three Speech, Sony’s bald boy wonder is promising at least 40 games for the PlayStation 3’s online service that will kick Xbox Live Arcade’s wimpy ass. His pimp hand is especially strong here: “We’re developing about 40 products that fit that strategy right now,†Harrison continues. “We showed the very first one of those, called flOw, at the Tokyo Game Show for the first time. That got a really, really good response.†[…]
Pingback by Destructoid » Blog Archive » Harrison: 40 online PS3 games in development - Video Games PC Games PlayStation 3 GameCube PSP DS GBA PS2 PS2 Xbox 360 PlayStation 2 — Nov 1, 2006 @ 9:54 pm
I’d like to know why Mr. Harrison can make comments in regards to their downloadable games development and not have to answer to some serious comparisons between Xbox Live Arcade vs thier service? It seems to me that he’s simply making snarky comments without any real answers to what will actually differenciate between the two services.
Comment by Ironhide Delta — Nov 2, 2006 @ 8:44 am
It is good to see that sony is taking a different aproach to their online. New games will always have something that old games don’t and that is new experiences. Retro games are entertaining for a good 10 minute,s but these offerings by sony will give us new games that could turn into the next big game.
I really don’t care about how sony online stacks up to live. I have no need or use for ms products as I’m sure that sony will deliver an experience that ms can simply not match.
Comment by BMWM3P — Nov 2, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
[…] Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3 Launch Titles Announced! The Wii and the PS3 have finally announced their launch title games and you may or may not be impressed depending on what console you plan on purchasing. The Wii has an “incredible” 32 games and 30 “Virtual Console” games (Nintendo’s version of Xbox Live Arcade Games). The PS3 on the other hand only has 21 games released over the holiday season (Not all will be available on November 17th). Of the 21 games 14 games are multiplatform games! Only 7 unique games will be available for the PS3 some time during their launch, or holiday period! To put the next gen console battle all into perspective (yet again) the Xbox 360 only launched with 20 titles, not counting the XBLA games. Many of those launch titles were also offered on other platforms, however there was no other option for next gen graphics, and high resolution HD gaming at the time of the launch of the Xbox 360. So even though many of those 20 titles were also offered on other platforms there was nothing besides a PC that could compete with the graphic quality and high resolution gaming that the Xbox 360 offered. Now about one year later with the launch of the Wii, and the PS3 the Xbox 360 finally has some competition in the next gen console market. **UPDATE** Sony has announced 40 downloadable games that are in development and “should” be ready for launch. Published Wednesday, November 01, 2006 9:41 AM by John […]
Pingback by NoLaff News : Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3 Launch Titles Announced! — Nov 2, 2006 @ 6:43 pm
‘I really don’t care about how sony online stacks up to live. I have no need or use for ms products as I’m sure that sony will deliver an experience that ms can simply not match.’
Xbox Live was better then PS2 online hands down, so Microsoft can match AND beat Sony. Sony need to be pushing their service as far as they can.
Comment by faded515 — Nov 2, 2006 @ 7:30 pm
[…] On the “semi-official” (newspeak for “we’re paying to generate this content, but we want it to look independent”) Sony blog Three Speech, Phil Harrison, the head of Sony’s worldwide studios, weighed in on EDI. “My strategy was to encourage developers to push the machine technically, creatively, artistically - to innovate in lots of different ways. But don’t be restricted by ghettoising (sic) games into a particular genre, or a particular display mechanic, because what we’ve seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we’re pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3. Plus, the fact that every PS3 has a hard disc drive means that we’re not restricted by the size of the download, and that has a huge impact on the kind of game design that you can do.” […]
Pingback by 5w-g.com : The evolution of gaming journalism » Blog Archive » The Battle for the Home Arcade — Nov 2, 2006 @ 9:18 pm
ATTN: This site is owned by Sony. Don’t try to hide it as an independent blog!
Comment by SMASI — Nov 2, 2006 @ 9:51 pm
I’m no fan of the whole retro arcade stuff on XBLA, but I don’t mind it either. But I really don’t understand Phils arguments. There are XBLA games which use the Xbox 360 processing power just fine. And still more on their way. And after having seen the presentations about the PS live whateveritscalled thingy, I only see fl0w as their head game… which is nothing more than a flash game I played many months ago.
So … where is the content? I don’t believe anything Sony says, after I’ve seen comparisions between “ingame” screenshots and the actual ingame graphics. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Tekken.
Comment by TheBard — Nov 2, 2006 @ 11:45 pm
[…] For next-generation consoles, downloadable content is a key part of the experience. Whether it’s software patches, news, character skins, frag maps, demos, or mini-games, there’s likely to be something on every system for everyone. Sony’s e-Distribution Initiative (EDI) is the PS3’s version of Xbox Live Arcade, a section of downloadable mini-games that are typically creative, but limited in scope. Phil Harrison, the head of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, has stated that Sony is working with developers to publish over 40 of these mini-games, all of them exclusive to the PlayStation 3. One of these games, flOw (pictured), has already generated a positive response when it was shown at the Tokyo Game Show. According to Harrison, some developers have gone as far as to create small divisions solely to create downloadable games for the PS3. […]
Pingback by Sony PS3’s Answer to Xbox Live Arcade Will Start With 40 Titles » Tech News Pulse Archive — Nov 3, 2006 @ 1:00 pm
[…] In an interview posted on ThreeSpeech, Sony’s Phil Harrison has stated that there are currently 40 downloadable games for the PS3 in development, with more planned. Don’t expect generic shooters, though: “My strategy was to encourage developers to push the machine technically, creatively, artistically - to innovate in lots of different ways. But don’t be restricted by ghettoising games into a particular genre, or a particular display mechanic, because what we’ve seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we’re pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3.” […]
Pingback by BDGamer » 40 Downloadable PS3 Games in Development; No Size Restriction — Nov 3, 2006 @ 4:50 pm
corporate propaganda disguised as blog…
only idiots need to apply!
Comment by daCuk — Nov 3, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
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