DL: Well, you can see it in a couple of ways. The disadvantage of the Sony stuff is that there isn't as much defined by Sony as to how you have to do things - they leave it very much up to you.
So, on the one hand that's a disadvantage, because developers will under-deliver compared to what Live provides. But at the same time, because it's not as strongly defined, you have the freedom to do it in the way that you want to - in a way that may be more suitable to your game.
You see some games with the Live interface, [where] they might have been able to innovate, alter things and make things work better than Live. But they can't because they have to conform with Microsoft's standards on that, whereas on the PlayStation Network you have the freedom to do things in the way you want to.
It's a fundamental difference in philosophy between Sony and Microsoft. You see it in all of their libraries and their tech support, as well. Sony very much, you know, let you just go at it, whereas Microsoft provide a lot more structure and a lot more libraries for you.
For us as a developer with the PS3 stuff, we've always liked working with it. I think our coders like the freedom that gives them.
SPOnG: Have you got Home, which is scheduled for the Autumn, the same time as Haze, already?
SPOnG: What sort of additional content will you be releasing once Haze is out?
DL: We're in the process of hammering out the details of DLC (DownLoadable Content) at the moment. We are looking to support the game with additional stuff, especially for the multi-player stuff. We haven't defined precisely what it's going to be, but you can expect additional maps, potentially things like vehicles and weapons. But we're still looking at it.
SPOnG: Any plans for a multi-player beta?
DL: We've been discussing multi-player beta, it may just end up being multi-player demo, but we are looking to do a pre-release, a playable version of the multi-player.
RY: Everyone loves to play an unfinished game. [Grins]
DL: Because the multi-player side of it is so strong, we want to give people a chance to try it. I really like the support for downloadable demoes on the PS3 and the 360 now. It's great as a gamer to have that stuff available.
DL: I don't know, I mean, demoes... at the end of the day you've always got that fight on your hands against other titles that are on the market. It is just an enormously crowded marketplace. I don't think it's an argument for not doing demoes.
At the end of the day, the rules for that are just the same as they are for making a game compete generally: you make something that looks great, that has some interesting aspects to how it plays, and does something that's a little bit different, that gets people interested. You do that, and I still have a fundamental belief that you'll get noticed. I still foolishly have that faith in the industry.