Developing for PS3 PlayStation Network (PSN)

Sony’s follow-up to the massively successful PlayStation 2, the PS3, included an on-line service to compete with XBLA. PlayStation Network (PSN) offered similar game download facilities as its main competitor, although without the Game Points and Awards. That, however, is changing with the constant firmware updates such as the recent - although buggy - 2.4 upgrade.

Like Xbox Live Arcade, the quality of download titles is rather mixed, but does include the excellent Super Stardust, Jonathan Mak’s indie hit Everyday Shooter, and - from Japan - the Pixel Junk series. Unfortunately, like with XBLA, the user interface leaves a lot to be desired, and firmwares thus far have not been without their problems.

Whilst I have no firm sales figures to hand, anecdotal evidence indicates that sales are some way off those of successful XBLA titles. That’s obviously a major consideration given the likely development costs involved.

PSN - Pros

• PS3 user base is expected to continue growing fast.
• PSN is a maturing system which Sony are continually updating.
• Sony are currently more open to new concepts than they have been in the past.
• Sony have been actively funding a number of projects (although some have been dropped before completion leading to problems for the developers involved).
• Lack of significant competition on PSN.
• Download games can be virtually any size.

PSN - Cons

• Barrier to entry: Sony restrict projects based upon a concept approval process. That usually means some lengthy document writing in their standard format and, like Microsoft, they really like to see demos and mock-ups.
• Barrier to entry: Development kits must be bought from Sony.
• Barrier to entry: You may be required to support networked multiplayer, and this can bump development and QA costs considerably. Sony’s supporting systems are not as well developed as Microsoft’s are at present.
• Barrier to entry: Development costs must account for TRC handling.
• As with the other platform holders, Sony control the distribution mechanism and may do as they please.
• Sony have to approve the project, both technically and content-wise.
• Once again, localisation and age ratings need to be considered.
• Development environment said to be improving, but the PS3 is considered a trickier beast to develop on than the other home console platforms, at least by some.
• Exclusivity restrictions possible.
• Sales seemingly lower than on XBLA.

With the PS3 selling well as well as the frequent system updates, I personally think PSN has a very promising future. Whilst apparent sales figures are a concern - and I don’t have solid figures to back that up in all fairness - as a system I believe it to be more open to indies than XBLA currently is. Remember that it only takes one or two hits for developers and publishers to follow each other like Lemmings, and PSN hasn’t quite grabbed people’s attention yet.

To register for PS3 development, you’ll need to visit SCE DevNet (the Licensing Information page).

I continue this series with an article about the good old PC, as well as Mac and Linux.

Choosing which gaming platform to develop for is a difficult decision, yet it’s one which many indie developers take too quickly. I’m going to share a few thoughts that I hope will help guide developers in the right direction, and that may provoke discussion amongst developers of all levels of experience.

A question I hear all the time from indie developers is:

How do we get on Xbox Live Arcade?

To which my answer is:

Are you sure you want to be on there?

That’s when they look at me with wild, ‘are you mental?’ eyes. They often don’t really have an answer - it’s just because they heard that it was popular. Don’t get me wrong - XBLA is a platform with a lot of potential and it can really work for indies. However, developers need to carefully consider what platform they want to develop on - companies live or die on this decision.

Over the next few days I’ll post up some pros and cons of XBLA, WiiWare, PSN and also digital distribution on the PC.

Follow me here where I’ll discuss the most well known of the platforms, Xbox Live Arcade.