Tens of millions of people have taken their PS3, PSP, or Playstation Vita online.
That was one of the talking points from a Sony presentation at the Game Developers Conference this week. The event, which is of course geared toward people who make games, was a chance for Sony to appeal to independent developers.
Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment America developer relations Ted Regulski said that Sony is “the only major console publisher to allow self-publishing.”
He added, “There are others but they have publishing rules that aren’t much fun. and there are no weird limits you have to hit in order for us to pay you.” as quoted by Develop
The great thing about the Playstation Network, or Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Nintendo’s Wiiware, is that independent game makers can get their content to a console platform without the overhead of shipping an actual retail game to thousands of brick-and-mortar stores.
For the Playstation Network, developers can simply submit a game and start making money. Nintendo’s Wiiware is also a very open platform, but Nintendo requires developers to reach a certain sales level before they can earn a penny. The rationale there is to prevent low-quality games on Wiiware.
And of course, on Xbox Live, Microsoft has an entire channel devoted to independent games, but treats them differently from other Xbox Live titles in terms of promotion and the ease of adding new content or updates.
The Playstation Network is being morphed into the Sony Entertainment Network, a more universal account name that will also encompass users who sign up for other Sony branded services like Music Unlimited.
