Sony fishing for talent, again?

Seems Sony are getting [a http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/PSP/Sony+PSP/news.asp?c=3707]cheap PSP dev kits into academia[/a]. Reminds me a bit of my Yaroze days.

But why the PSP and not the PS3, I wonder?!

Bad games make the platform look bad. That's probably why they won't let amateurs anywhere near the PS3 architecture just yet.

Either that or it's a complete nightmare to code for and would potentially put some people off Sony/coding for life! :P

I love how they cut the price of the PS3 in the US (sales are now up 20%), but European customers are still expected to pay way over the odds!

Do you really wanna make games for Sony?? They're bent!

ALL YOUR GAME ARE BELONG TO SONY!!!!11+

I would jump at a chance to make a game for any consoles (well the ones that don't break down that is...). I know a Wii dev kit is around the corner. Hopefully Sony will get with the program and release a PS3 one soon.

Well Sony's response to this ( and quite reasonably, I thought ) was that sales in Europe are already pretty high, so from Sony's POV, it wasn't necessary, and that from the customer's POV, it hasn't been available in Europe for as long, so the customer is less likely to feel one is due, and more likely to feel aggrieved if he bought one at full price on release. I think some independent observers noted that the summer is generally a quiet time for gaming so it would make little strategic sense to cut now anyway.

They have bundled two games and two controllers at no extra cost ( and they made it the two games everyone was buying anyway, so they're not chucking out games they can't sell ) plus Sony did say they've already got a date in mind when the cut will happen in Europe. I'd assume November, which would be good marketing sense, good strategically, and would even the price cut up with the time after release with the US price cut.

Sony would see even more European sales if their product was competitively priced alongside the Wii and X360.

At over £400, they're taking the Mick. I'm surprised anybody in Europe bought one.

I'd rather see a £100 price cut instead of 2 'free' games and 2 'free' controllers I didn't even want.

Would they? I wouldn't buy one now if they were £50, and I would buy one tomorrow at whatever the current price is if MGS4 was out, or FF13 or RE5, or whatever.

I'd have thought the main factor limiting PS3 sales right now was lack of unique games. When it has some Japanese RPG's, a Metal Gear Solid game, a KillZone game, a Resident Evil game, A Syphon Filter game, or any one of the big games that come out exclusively or first on Sony consoles, it'll sell whatever the price.

That's never done Nintendo any harm...

No, you're quite right, but Sony have always had a different market, and that's why Sony's market has been so much bigger than the competition in recent years. And probably soon will be again. For their market, games sell consoles, and that's me to a tee. I bought an N64 when Perfect Dark came out. I bought a PS1 when Tomb Raider and FF7 came out. I bought a PS2 when MGS2 came out, and I came real close to buying an XBox when Splinter Cell came out ( but the XBox had so few games that I waited for the PC conversion. ) I also took my N64 to the tip when nothing at all else came out.

I should probably also say that I wouldn't buy a Wii right now if they were 50p ( and they soon might be since the local stores around here can't shift 'em ) and my XBox 360 is rarely used because all it has is FPS and I've finished all the ones I thought good enough to buy.

Well, I has a browse through the consoles the other day, and I left the shop with a Wii. My choice was based on:-

1) Wii - looks nice, intrigued by the Wii remote, some half decent titles to invest in, cheap... Does what I want a gaming console to do... play games!

2) Xbox360 = looks okay, plenty of games... Though, my PC is capable for gaming too, so I imagine that any XBox360 game would be released for the PC/Vista. Still reasonably expensive and I havent got a HDTV

3) PS3 - When I saw it.. I had flash backs of a Mega Drive 2 (Though bigger :/), or a crumpled bonnet from a Capri. Havent got a HDTV, there looks like some cracking titles on the cards, but, I have a 32 flat screen TV (Not HD), a slimline DVD player and a pretty nice looking Sky box... Maybe I'll get one when it is revised, but currently, I think it would spoil the visual harmony of my 'TV Corner'! :)

So, after all that, I walked out with a Wii... And I'm surprised to say, I love the little white chap! ;)

Dabz

Sony only want to work with 3 software developers anyway (Namco, Square, and someone else). It's not so much as they're fishing for talent, so much as grasping at straws.

Probably just hoping for more shots at getting their hands on possible game prototypes such as flow (albeit that isn't really a game per-sé).