SCEE: Digital distribution to "ignite" PSP development

The PlayStation Portable's new distribution methods will spur on creative development for the handheld, according to Zeno Colaço vice president of publisher and developer relations for SCEE.

Colaço described how the combination of digital distribution with the increased functions of the PSP 3000, announced at the Leipzig Games Convention, would make the handheld a more compelling platform for developers to work on.

"It gives publishers and developers much more scope in relation to the types of games they can release," he told Pocket Gamer.

"If they want to make a massive game, then they can do that, as before, as a boxed product on UMD. But if they want to do a smaller game just released online, or add downloadable content such as new characters to a UMD game, they can do that too. Customisation is a big part of what consumers want these days, so we want to empower developers to be able to add such features and deliver them however they want to."

Colaço added: "Sony's effectively the retainer for the store, so we do get a margin for handling the digital infrastructure but it's up to the publisher to set the pricing differentials for the games as they wish... There are no hard or fast rules. If publishers want to sell games cheaper digitally that's within their gift."

"I have to be careful what I say but publishers are definitely exploring more opportunities in terms of the types of games they can release on PSP, even in terms of more female-oriented games, puzzlers and less hardcore games," Colaço explained. "The opportunity we're providing with digital distribution will ignite those thoughts."