jiggle said:

new(?) interview with Hirai on this initiative
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/01/29/hirai_on_pss/

As Sony hopes to make use of the millions of Android compatible sets throughout the world, they're not doing such things as selecting partners and the like. "We have a completely open stance," said Hirai. "With carriers and with hand set makers."

Sony's openness with PSS appears to extend even beyond Android. "There are a variety of OSes," said Hirai. "But we're focusing first on Android. There's also Windows, iOS and so forth, but we don't have the resources to make it compatible with everything from the start."

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Noshino said:

I find it very unlikely, not only because on iOS it would be clashing with Apple's own Game Center, and when it comes to Windows, I see Microsoft expanding upong Live Anywhere. It just isn't smart at all to go to them.

Android is different. Not only is there a demand for it, but a need for such a service. That combined with the insane growth of the Android market is what makes the investment worth it, the other markets? not so much.

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PlayStation Suite software will in general work on any Android device, said Hirai. However, in general, there's no guarantee about response time and key positioning. That's where the PlayStation Certified licensing program comes into play. PlayStation Certified is an assurance that the device will run PlayStation spec software well.

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Jtrizzy said:

Are you guys aware of how well the voice recognition works on android? Kinda ot I know but it's pretty amazing. Just wanna let people know, as I've had my droid for a while I never knew how good it was till recently. Best 1 handed text input method available.

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Vyer said:

So, what's the idea here? That both Playstation Suite and Android Market will be on android phones, both offering games and separate apps? Isn't that a conflict of some sort?

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Vyer said:

So, what's the idea here? That both Playstation Suite and Android Market will be on android phones, both offering games and separate apps? Isn't that a conflict of some sort?

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Vyer said:

So, what's the idea here? That both Playstation Suite and Android Market will be on android phones, both offering games and separate apps? Isn't that a conflict of some sort?

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Luckyman said:

Do you see any manufacturer besides SE pay for cert?

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Luckyman said:

Do you see any developer pony up for QA and Cert, Sony royalties?

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Gamecocks625 said:

I'm definitely hoping Apple and Sony can agree on terms to bring PS Suite to iOS. I'd love some good ol' PSOne Classics on iPod Touch.

Not really sure if that would ever happen, though. Sony would have to give pretty much all control to Apple, right?

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Luckyman said:

Do you see any manufacturer besides SE pay for cert?
Do you see any developer pony up for QA and Cert, Sony royalties?

They didnt announce any partners

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Luckyman said:

Do you see any manufacturer besides SE pay for cert?
Do you see any developer pony up for QA and Cert, Sony royalties?

They didnt announce any partners

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According to the report, Apple blocked Sony’s e-reader application from the iPhone and mandated that it would need to sell content via In-App purchases:

The company has told some applications developers, including Sony, that they can no longer sell content, like e-books, within their apps, or let customers have access to purchases they have made outside the App Store.

Apple rejected Sony’s iPhone application, which would have let people buy and read e-books bought from the Sony Reader Store.

Apple told Sony that from now on, all in-app purchases would have to go through Apple, said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division.

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Q: Can you tell us the platform dependency of the PSS?

Hirai: There are not only Android-based mobile devices but also Windows- and iOS-based mobile devices. If we try to support all of them from the beginning, we will run out of resources.

So, we will put priority on sales volume and focus on Android. When we put weight on sales volume, among Android-based devices, smartphones are the best and tablet PCs come second.

If the use of the "Sony Internet TV Powered by Google TV (Google TV)" spreads and its sales volume increases, we might provide the PSS to its users, too. Also, we might provide the PSS as a killer application to spread the use of the Google TV.

Again, we are not going to ignore other platforms than Android. But we will put importance on sales volume and start with Android.

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Q: Some publishers (providers) of game software are already providing games as applications for smartphones. For publishers, what is the difference between providing games through the PSS and providing games as applications for Android-based devices?

Hirai: The PSS enables to comfortably play "PlayStation-quality (PS-quality)" games and check their operations. I think this is a big difference.

Basically, games provided through the PSS operate on any Android-based device. However, depending on device, their operations might become slow or it might become difficult to control them.

Therefore, we will start providing a licensing program called "PlayStation Certified" to mobile device makers in the aim of guaranteeing that PlayStation-quality games can be played on Android-based devices.

As for game software, for example, it is possible to eliminate games with too much violence and games that are offensive to public order and morals. We will examine games provided through the PSS as strictly as existing PlayStation games.

We can provide only those that passed the examination to our users as PS-quality games. In other words, the appeal of the PSS is the fact that SCE guarantees the quality of games. This makes a difference from the world of games for PCs and mobile phones where anything is permitted.

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Q: How are you going to provide games compatible with the PSS?

Hirai: Basically, we are considering providing them through the "PlayStation Store," an online store run in the "PlayStation Network (PSN)." But we have not decided the details yet. We like to have talks with mobile carriers about the role of the store because they are operating their own stores. And some consider that games distinguish their services from others.

What I want to stress here is that the PSS is open to carriers and mobile device makers. A considerable number of Android-based devices have already been shipped. And the PSS is a new service that brings the PlayStation (PS) world to the Android world.

So far, we have been providing game software only for SCE's game consoles. But we want to make the PSS open. So, we are planning to have talks with various mobile device makers.

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Q: How are you going to beat your rivals such as games for smartphones and Nintendo's "Nintendo 3DS"?

Hirai: The PSS is the answer to the question, "How do you respond to games for smartphones?" Against those games, we chose a strategy of entering the market instead of winning or losing.

On the other hand, some people talk about the competition with game consoles like the Nintendo 3DS. But I think that it's too narrow-minded to discuss the competition among game platforms such as Wii versus PS3 and Xbox versus PS3.

Game is an entertainment. In other words, any kinds of entertainments can be its rivals. So, movie, TV and even drinking party can be its rivals.

There is no point in being happy about winning or losing in the competition with the 3DS if other kinds of entertainments are booming in the world and no one plays games any more. Anyway, we consider it important to provide games and their platforms that users can enjoy.

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Q: What's the difference between the Minis, a group of low-priced mini games announced in 2009, and the PSS?

Hirai: They are very different. The Minis is a group of games for the PSP platform. On the other hand, the PSS is a service for Android-based devices. The Minis will not disappear just because the PSS will debut. We are still offering the Minis, and the number of titles for the Minis is increasing.

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Q: How do you develop games for the PSS?

Hirai: We want to open as many doors as possible for those who develop games for the PSS. The relationship with traditional developers are as important as in the past. But, to expand the relationship, we will open doors for new developers.

As for loyalty, we will discuss it from now. We have not yet decided whether it will be the same fee structure as the current ones. However, because SCE will incur some costs to run the PSS, we will do some sort of profit sharing.

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gofreak said:

Nikkei has posted a proper english translation of their interview with Kaz Hirai about Playstation Suite. Some clearer bits in here, notably about the possibility of Suite coming to Google TV, the future of minis etc.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20110209/189454/









Also, notably, it seems minis will persist if only for the sake of PSP. But I can see interest, both consumer and developer, dwindling as time wears on...



Also, it sounds like they're undecided on whether it will be free to develop on PSS, but the tail-end of his comment suggests they may be looking at a profit-share only. I hope that'll be the case.



It sounds like things are still fairly early - PSone stuff is probably just their way to get it out ASAP, but I hope we'll see the start of original content before the end of the year.

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bdizzle said:

Great interview. It'd be nice if Sony didn't announce shit so far in advance though. Having to wait 10-12 months for something to come out kills hype IMO

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Q: How are you going to beat your rivals such as games for smartphones and Nintendo's "Nintendo 3DS"?

Hirai: The PSS is the answer to the question, "How do you respond to games for smartphones?" Against those games, we chose a strategy of entering the market instead of winning or losing....
...There is no point in being happy about winning or losing in the competition with the 3DS if other kinds of entertainments are booming in the world and no one plays games any more.

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daoster said:

Is there a release date of the PS Suite?

With the Xperia Play being released next week (this week?), I would hope that the PS Suite would be somewhat ready (if a little bare) by the time the phone is available.

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bdizzle said:

I remember reading the release date is Q3/Q4. And accounting in delays, I'm not expecting it until December 2011 at the very earliest. After reading the Karai interview, it seems like they're just in the infant stage of getting it off the ground.

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you'll be able to run Android apps on any platform, and without a disturbing lag

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gofreak said:

Nikkei has posted a proper english translation of their interview with Kaz Hirai about Playstation Suite. Some clearer bits in here, notably about the possibility of Suite coming to Google TV, the future of minis etc.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20110209/189454/

Also, notably, it seems minis will persist if only for the sake of PSP. But I can see interest, both consumer and developer, dwindling as time wears on...

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DiscoJer said:

Thanks very much for this.

One of the advantages that Minis have over PSS, is that they work on the PS3.

So even as the PSP userbase is replaced by the NGP userbase (which will depend on the pricing of the NGP, I think), presumably there should still be some interest for a while because you can play them on the PS3...

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We have a couple of tablets we'd like to tell you about, starting with a 9.4-inch honeypot of an Android 3.0 tablet. Details of which have been confirmed by two highly trusted and independent sources. Known by its "S1" codename internally, Sony is busy customizing Matias Duarte's Honeycomb interface to its own specification. Although, we're skeptical of Sony's software capabilities, we've been assured that Sony's work is cutting edge stuff created by a talented engineering team spanning Sony's VAIO, Reader, PlayStation, and Sony Ericsson product groups. The team is lead by the VAIO organization but will probably launch as a Sony product without VAIO branding, according to one source.

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The tablet itself, we're told, is 100 percent focused on Qriocity, Sony's music, games, ebooks, and videos on demand service that's just been launched in Europe. It comes preloaded with Sony PS One games, a Bravia Media Remote, and yes, PlayStation integration -- though it's unclear if that'll be limited to Remote Play or if the Android tablet will be PlayStation Suite certified. One source speculates that it could very well get the PlayStation gaming seal of approval by the time it ships -- but that's just an educated guess.

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The tablet's "wrap" design is meant to remind the owner of something personal in the way that it mimics an open paperback stuffed into the back pocket, or a magazine folded backward upon itself such that only a single page is visible to read. A design that also gives the tablet's display enough angle to comfortably touch-type when placed on a table. It also makes one-handed operation a bit less taxing on the wrist by shifting the center of gravity to the bulbous edge of the device as in our mock-up above. A trick meant to reduce the torque that makes 10-inch tablets uncomfortable to hold one-handed for an extended length of time (like reading an ebook). So even though the S1 is about the same size and weight as Apple's iPad, we're told that it feels lighter since most of the weight is shifted directly into the user's hand and over the wrist. Naturally, the screen UI rotates allowing for right- or left-handed use and we're told that it's still comfortable to hold in landscape mode where the bulging edge is typically help at the top.

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Although the tablet looks like a hollow 9.4-inch capacitive touch panel sporting a 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution from the distance, the space between the the front and back wrapped panels is actually stuffed with a battery and circuitry including a Tegra 2 processor.

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androvsky said:

Okay, so nvidia's announced through their Tegra Zone app that PS Suite is coming to Tegra devices. Supposedly, it mentioned Playstation 2 games as eventually becoming part of PS Suite...

http://androidandme.com/2011/03/news/playstation-games-coming-to-tegra-devices/

And every site I found that covered the story also mentioned PS2 games, but it's not part of the story on the app as it is now. I was able to find evidence that the story's been edited at least once to add a big mention of the NGP, which I find amusing since afaik, the NGP doesn't use any nvidia hardware.

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Callibretto said:

wow if even ps2 titles are coming to non Sony platform, maybe there are some merit about Sony going third party for next gen talks.

about NGP playing ps2 games. I thought it was a pretty safe bet. I don't know the technical limitation if NGP spec can emulate ps2 games or not, but it certainly make sense for Sony to pursue ps2bc on ngp. I can think of reasons why Sony don't want ps2 bc on ps3, such as it's not bringing enough income for Sony since most people will use their already owned ps2 disc or hunt for cheap used game sales instead of buying it again from psn

ps2bc on NGP won't be like that, people will have to buy it again, and from Sony perspective, it's pure profit. they'd be crazy not to do it unless there's a technical limitation of NGP of course.

btw, how much are you willing to buy ps2 games on psn? I'm sure it's not gonna be as cheap as $10 since some ps1 games cost that much, when ps2 games available on psn, I'm thinking about $15 for normal games and $20 for select titles.

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