SCEE: PSP Minis Could Come On UMD
Cheap, downloadable games considered for physical disc format.
Snackable content.
In an interview with Develop this morning, SCEE's head of developer relations Zeno Colaco spoke of the potential for the bite-sized PSP Minis and how the originally-downloadable-only titles may eventually see UMD releases.
Speaking of the incentives for developers (and naturally, to keep brick and mortar stores happy we imagine), Colaco said "I think that many Minis titles wouldn’t necessarily hold up well at retail, which is a completely different environment... I think that a package of multiple Minis games on a single UMD is a real possibility at a later stage, where even a studio or publisher will put a collection of their own games on a single disc."
It's a strange thing to consider, taking into account that the point of the Minis is to directly challenge Apple's App Store - cheap, downloadable sub-99p games that entertain for ten minutes or so at a time. Bringing some of these to the UMD format would surely add to the overall cost and void the accessibility of the games, particularly if many games come bundled (which would be the sensible thing to do in that instance).
Such titles might even make it onto the PS3, with Colaco adding that "[the] games won’t need to necessarily be built for the home console, and I think these games will find their true life and identity in those micro-bursts of play. But I do think there’s a possibility that Minis could find themselves on other consoles down the line."
Minis for PSP, PS3, Sony Ericcson phones and Bravia TVs perhaps? Only if Sony's recent restructure allows their divisions to talk to one another without getting offended or something.
Speaking of the incentives for developers (and naturally, to keep brick and mortar stores happy we imagine), Colaco said "I think that many Minis titles wouldn’t necessarily hold up well at retail, which is a completely different environment... I think that a package of multiple Minis games on a single UMD is a real possibility at a later stage, where even a studio or publisher will put a collection of their own games on a single disc."
It's a strange thing to consider, taking into account that the point of the Minis is to directly challenge Apple's App Store - cheap, downloadable sub-99p games that entertain for ten minutes or so at a time. Bringing some of these to the UMD format would surely add to the overall cost and void the accessibility of the games, particularly if many games come bundled (which would be the sensible thing to do in that instance).
Such titles might even make it onto the PS3, with Colaco adding that "[the] games won’t need to necessarily be built for the home console, and I think these games will find their true life and identity in those micro-bursts of play. But I do think there’s a possibility that Minis could find themselves on other consoles down the line."
Minis for PSP, PS3, Sony Ericcson phones and Bravia TVs perhaps? Only if Sony's recent restructure allows their divisions to talk to one another without getting offended or something.
Companies:
SCEE
Read More Like This