Home Gaming The Playstation 4 is going to be friendlier to indies

The Playstation 4 is going to be friendlier to indies

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About damn time Pale-station

I’m seeing a lot of potential in the Playstation 4. Granted, it’s potential that’s going to benefit people with faster ADSL lines, but it’s there nonetheless. Whether a dedicated gaming console such as the PS4 can exist and still remain successful remains to be seen, but so far, it looks good. Game streaming, social functions making the entire process quicker, faster and less annoying are some of the key aspects here, but it’s all about the games at the end of the day. Sony’s Mark Cerny describes the PS4 as being the “most open console” possible. And it looks like indie game developers are going to share some of that love.

Speaking to Gamasutra, SCE Worldwide president Shuhei Yoshida described how Sony was attempting to create a console that was an accessible platform for any level of game designer, including indie developers. “We believe in smaller developers. They are very creative and they go out of the norm to do something really amazing”, Shuhei said.

So we really want to make it easier for them to come to our platform and publish. And we know there are many things we can do, in talking with these guys and asking what they want us to do. And one effort we’ve been doing in that context is the PS Mobile platform. That doesn’t even require the purchase of a dev kit. It’s totally software driven, and they can develop games… on PC, for example. And once you decide to publish it, you want to test it on the final hardware, but you don’t have to acquire a pricey dev kit.

The approach to PS4 we’re internally working on is, I hope to see somewhere in-between the current model that we have on PS3 and the PS Mobile totally software-driven model. We could continue and go and expand the PS Mobile approach, but the beauty of developing games on console is we allow the developers to go really deep into the hardware, and to unlock the potential. And so in order for us to do that, the developer has to have the dev kit to work on. So at least initially, we have to provide the dev kit to make games on PS4.

I’m still amazed most days at some of the games that the indie scene can pump out. Games which may not be the prettiest, but are pretty damn addictive. if Sony can create an ecosystem for these specific titles, then the more the merrier.

Last Updated: February 22, 2013

8 Comments

  1. But would they be free like on the Ouya?

    Reply

  2. Banana Jim

    February 22, 2013 at 12:12

    • FoxOneZA

      February 22, 2013 at 15:20

      Next-gen ceilings look awesome 😀

      Reply

  3. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    February 22, 2013 at 12:14

    This can only be good news for indie devs

    Reply

  4. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    February 22, 2013 at 12:14

    This can only be good news for indie devs

    Reply

    • Banana Jim

      February 22, 2013 at 12:19

      Yeah, and it’s almost like they planned the announcement following Microsoft axing their own much-maligned indie platform. Now the only thing I’m hoping, is that Sony keep it accessible to the indie guys and even Joe WannabeGameDev, and none of that stupid $10 000 licence crap that Microsoft pulled.

      Reply

  5. DarthofZA

    February 22, 2013 at 12:33

    It seems Sony are doing a copy and paste of what MS did last generation (the first few years, when it was the bees knees). And before you bash me all you Sony fanbois, this is a very very good thing. The more I read about the PS4, the less interest I have in what MS are doing.

    Reply

    • Tetsuo

      February 22, 2013 at 12:46

      Agreed. I love my PS, but there is no denying that Sony were arrogant and ignorant at the start of this generation. Kudos for actually realizing that.

      Reply

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