Support NeoGAF

[gofreak]

So this gives context to the Xperia Play...and I think it's pretty huge news in general, if they commit to it for the long term.

Basically - a PlayStation game framework for Android. PlayStation Store will sell PlayStation content on Android - starting with PSone games, and expanding to original content using the new framework.

NGP will play this content too.

It's cross-platform, and by the sounds of the PR, may even be available to non-Sony hardware manufacturers.

If they pull this off right, I think it's one of the smartest things Sony's done in ages...

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TO UNVEIL
“PLAYSTATION®SUITE,” DELIVERING THE WORLD
OF PLAYSTATION® TO ANDROID™ BASED PORTABLE DEVICES

Simultaneously Launching “PlayStation®Certified” License Program to Provide
PlayStation® Content and Development Support for Android™ Based Portable Devices

Tokyo, January 27, 2011– Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today unveiled “PlayStation®Suite” (PS Suite), delivering the PlayStation® experience to Android™ based portable devices*1. Through this entirely new initiative, users will be able to enjoy PlayStation content on an open operating system for the first time in PlayStation history.
In the dramatically evolving and diversifying mobile market, the number of users who enjoy games casually on a variety of devices including mobile phones, smart-phones and tablet PCs, has been increasing significantly. By offering “PlayStation quality” content to this rapidly growing market, SCE will not only deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users around the globe, but will also be able to offer game developers and publishers the potential to further expand their business opportunities to these devices.
In providing the PlayStation experience on Android based portable devices, SCE will commence a “PlayStation®Certified” license program for hardware manufacturers. Through this program, SCE will offer necessary support, including development support as well as logo licensing, to ensure the delivery of PlayStation quality experience across various devices.

On the software front, SCE plans to provide PS Suite content within this calendar year, starting with original PlayStation games*2 (PS one® classics) that will allow users to enjoy “PlayStation quality” gameplay on their Android based portable devices. SCE also plans to open PlayStation®Store where users will be able to download content in an easy to use environment, directly via the Android based portable devices. Moreover, SCE will provide a new game development environment in an effort to ensure new and compelling content is delivered on PS Suite, which will also offer opportunities for a wider base of developers and publishers to further expand their business on various portable devices.

Newly developed content for PS Suite can also be enjoyed on the next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP), which SCE announced today. Users who have never experienced PlayStation content can get a taste of the PlayStation experience through PS Suite and from there, they can enjoy the ultimate portable entertainment experience that is only possible on NGP.

SCE will vigorously enhance the entertainment world delivering the PlayStation experience to a wider base of users.

*1 Android™ 2.3 or beyond is required.
*2 PS one game console software title. We will announce the tiles when ready.

 

[celebi23]

Ok, this part of Sony's event has me excited

 

[spats]

In before Sony goes third party.

 

[Shalashaska161]

This initiative could become incredibly huge, especially if Sony allows it to show up on all Android handsets. Imagine being able to play Final Fantasy VII on any Android phone. Pretty crazy.

 

[Busaiku]

Sony went 3rd party?!
EDIT: Darn it.

 

[duckroll]

Basically, there is no Playstation Phone, but all Android phones can be Playstation Phones!

 

[carlosp]

the game has changed. basically the games problem with android will be solved:

- console like gaming area with liscenced games
- this means less bugs
- tested on all the relevant devices
- every game will run perfectly on any supported device
- no piracy?

 

[Kibbles]

CoolBoarders! Nostalgia woa

 

[KamenSenshi]

Probably the best Sony idea in the past decade.

 

[RelentlessRolento]

I honestly just hope this means more PSone games for download and more frequently.

 

[Router]

Seems like a really great idea.

 

[Baki]

Ok, this part of Sony's event has me excited

Definitely one of the smartest move Sony has made in ages. Actually, this is really good sign for the new Sony going forward.

the game has changed. basically the games problem with android will be solved:

- console like gaming area with liscenced games
- this means less bugs
- tested on all the relevant devices
- every game will run perfectly on any supported device
- no piracy?

Is Google officially supporting this. They should.

 

[spats]

I honestly just hope this means more PSone games for download and more frequently.

I hope so too. They're just sitting on a mountain of unreleased classics which is stupid.

 

[offshore]

No doubt about it, this is huge.

It's absolutely fraught with danger though. Once you take hardware control out of your own hands, who knows how it will end up. It's all very well having a "certified" program, but Sony will have to be on the ball to make sure that things like the Windows Vista Certified balls up doesn't happen.

Still, great move by Sony. I wondered if they'd make the PS brand the brand of gaming for Andriod. Didn't think they'd do it though.

 

[Acid08]

This initiative could become incredibly huge, especially if Sony allows it to show up on all Android handsets. Imagine being able to play Final Fantasy VII on any Android phone. Pretty crazy.

This got me erect.

I will not buy a PSP2, I will just get a fuck awesome phone.

 

[bathala]

Gaming finally coming to Android

Imagine being able to play Final Fantasy VII on any Android phone. Pretty crazy.

I kinda did that already on my Droid X

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Basically, there is no Playstation Phone, but all Android phones can be Playstation Phones!

But there is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rdryfiLJkR0

 

[Kodiak]

Yeah this is incredibly smart, and probably the best anti-piracy thing they could have done.

 

[neptunes]

Can indie devs (or anyone) develop titles for the PlayStation Suite? Will the SDK be bundled with the android SDK?

 

[gofreak]

CoolBoarders! Nostalgia woa

I didn't notice that slide. But looks like physical buttons won't be a requirement for Suite-compliant hardware. That could vastly open up the range of supporting devices.

 

[Karma]

So Sony will be a 3rd party developer for Android phones?

 

[Teknoman]

So Xenogears on a phone? This generation is the craziest one in the history of gaming.

 

[gofreak]

Can indie devs (or anyone) develop titles for the PlayStation Suite? Will the SDK be bundled with the android SDK?

I think you will basically make games with the regular Android SDK and submit to Sony. A third party Android marketplace. They may have their own little SDK for extra stuff which in the context I guess would be freely available.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

So Sony will be a 3rd party developer for Android phones?

Not really but sorta. It's a certification where games can be released under PlayStation marquee, e.g. PS1 titles.

 

[Drkirby]

Now, just sell me the games to play directly on PC Sony.

 

[Eteric Rice]

This is a really good idea on Sony's part.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

I don't get it. So they're going to be releasing PS1 games for Android and... other things? And these other things are going to work on NGP? But what are those other things exactly?

 

[gofreak]

I gotta say: I don't get it. So they're going to be releasing PS1 games for Android and... other things? And these other things are going to work on NGP? But what are those other things exactly?

They'll be Android games, basically. They may have some exclusive stuff asides from PSone games not available on general Android, but methinks it will be a way for Android devs to sell their games on PSP2 - and also in a more game-focussed commerce environment for other Android devices.

 

[Shalashaska161]

I gotta say: I don't get it. So they're going to be releasing PS1 games for Android and... other things? And these other things are going to work on NGP? But what are those other things exactly?

It can be anything really. And that's the point. Sony just made themselves a cross platform App Store that runs on pretty much all the major smartphones except the iPhone. The PlayStation One games are just the beginning.

 

[neptunes]

They'll be Android games, basically.

whoa...this COULD be big

 

[Kodiak]

Sorry if I missed this - but did they mention anything about my existing PS1 purchases being transferrable to PSP2 or Android phones?

And man... Sony throwing their hat in with Android is SO smart. I really didn't see that coming. This such a non-Sony thing to do.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

if you havent been gaming on a smart phone yet, trust me when i say playing ps1 games on a touch screen sounds way cooler than it will actually be.

 

[CamHostage]

This was something I posted as sa theory when we first saw the controls in Android, that Sony would become (like Motorola is with Xoom and like HTC was with the G1) the pilot partner for a gaming initiative on Android. It didn't really happen the way I wanted (I'm not seeing anybody from Android specifically saying, "yes, this is the future of good Android fun") but it's still accomplishing many of my hopes of a cross-platform PlayStation universe. It'll be really enticing being able to buy games once and play them on your NGP, your PS3, your Android phone, your Google TV ... your digital toothbrush, I don't know what else.

My thinking is that even though they're making single games work on multiple platforms (which flies in the face of the old Nintendo style of selling games multiple times for each piece of hardware you own... that worked OK through Game Boy Color but people don't have the time or money anymore to buy and play the same game twice, even Nintendo must have a plan to evolve away from that?,) they may still net more software sales overall because people are comfortable making all of their games PlayStation games.

 

[gofreak]

Sorry if I missed this - but did they mention anything about my existing PS1 purchases being transferrable to PSP2 or Android phones?

I assume it'll be just like the PSN now. You'll use your existing PSN account. You can activate, what, 5 or 6 mobile devices at the moment?

if you havent been gaming on a smart phone yet, trust me when i say playing ps1 games on a touch screen sounds way cooler than it will actually be.

And that's where things like Xperia Play will come in, for people who want real buttons.

Also, with virtual buttons allowed, it's suddenly easier to imagine how their tablet will work with this.

 

[fabprems]

Sony is

Spoiler

kinda

going 3rd party. It's a strange but bold move.

 

[Noshino]

Licensing and game purchases.... Sony is going to squeeze the fuck out of it

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

I'm surprised that they're not requiring devices to have buttons. That coolboarders shot looks completely unplayable!

Even so, still the best move Sony's made in a long time. Much better than their completely ridiculous NGP (Sony shooting for the sun again, it truly is the PSP2 in every way...)

 

[Takao]

I kind of want to see who will develop games based on PSone hardware in 2011.

 

[brotkasten]

Is Google officially supporting this. They should.

They are. Google build the PS touchscreen controls right into the Android 2.3 SDK (which means the phone will need 2.3 to be certified).

 

[carlosp]

Definitely one of the smartest move Sony has made in ages. Actually, this is really good sign for the new Sony going forward.




Is Google officially supporting this. They should.

to be honest i can imagine this was googles idea at the first place. we know about the close relationship between the two. this way google can handle that gaming part to a partner who has decades of experience with gaming industry and comminuty. Besides a gaming only market wouldnt hurt the android at all.

 

[Carl]

This is awesome. Absolutely awesome, and crazy good thinking from Sony.

My current contract runs out soon, so i can get a beastly phone ready for this

 

[Omiee]

not only is this amazing news and i hope mini's and psn games could make it to android.
but it could also mean an app store for psp2 and the ps3.

 

[Man]

Very forward thinking.

Also the solution for people demanding simpler portable games.

 

[neptunes]

I kind of want to see who will develop games based on PSone hardware in 2011.

It's not based off PSOne hardware. They can be PSP Minis as well

 

[gofreak]

I kind of want to see who will develop games based on PSone hardware in 2011.

? This isn't PSone hardware. It's targeting Android 2.3+ class devices.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

I kind of want to see who will develop games based on PSone hardware in 2011.

It's not just PS1 games, there will be new "Playstation Suite" games released as well.

 

[Totakeke]

Port Tactics Ogre PSP over.

 

[EviLore]

This is actually a more interesting announcement than the PSP2. Could have a huge influence on how the smartphone market plays out going forward.

 

[CamHostage]

Sorry if I missed this - but did they mention anything about my existing PS1 purchases being transferrable to PSP2 or Android phones?

Not that I saw, nor anything about PSP1 backwards-compatibility with PSN downloads. (Somebody crapped all over a poster who wrote about MHP3 being shown as if bc was a given, but in all the official press documents, PSP is hardly even mentioned.) I would guess there is some form of backwards-compatibility, but I've not seen if it's just automatic or if it requires a patch? Did I miss something, please correct me if I did?)

(MHP 3 looked to be a NGP-native app, BTW, even though it was running on its old PSP1 engine. There was camera control in the game, and unless you could do that with a DualShock via bluetooth, the PSP1 game didn't have analog camera control.)

But yes, I'm guessing the confirmation of NGP playing PSP1 games was likely just a formality not mentioned. (At least, I hope so...) And like gofreak said, the thing that makes the most sense is that Sony would leverage its PlayStation Network purchasing and distribution system to offer downloadable games, likely meaning it'd just be a matter of re-downloading your purchases under the PSN policy.

The only thing Sony needs now is a cloud-based Game Save system. It'd be silly to have your games on three different platforms and yet all of them have totally different saves and high scores. I'm actually a little scared that this wasn't in the PlayStation Suite press release, that's such an important component to me as a PS Minis collector who just can't bare to play my games twice or constantly transfer my saves.

 

[gofreak]

Not that I saw, nor anything about PSP1 backwards-compatibility with PSN downloads. (Somebody crapped all over a poster who wrote about MHP3 being shown as if bc was a given, but in all the official press documents, PSP is hardly even mentioned.) I would guess there is some form of backwards-compatibility, but I've not seen if it's just automatic or if it requires a patch? Did I miss something, please correct me if I did?)

From the liveblogs I was reading, downloadable PSP games will play on NGP. No patching. Of course, before anyone gets confused, they WON'T play on suite devices.