Top developers and industry persons met this month with Sony in Houston, Texas to discuss the future of the PlayStation brand. Of the many interesting things to emerge from the conference was the noticeable conviction shared by game makers and Sony that big things are in the store for the PlayStation Portable.
According to comments from the conference, a PSP “renaissance” is being spearheaded by three major factors: Rumors of a brand-new, butt-kicking model of the PSP; a significant push towards increasing numbers of digital downloads; and a rise in developer interest for the PSP specifically.
Back in 2006, developer interest for the PSP seemed to be waning due to bottoming-out sales and interest in other systems. In 2007, however, Sony released a slimmer version of the PSP and sales started to pick up. Says John Koller, director of hardware marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, “When we met with developers in 2008, they wanted to know how they could get back into PSP development.” Koller also is quoted as saying that “this is going to be the year of software for the PSP,” and that “we are making a concerted effort for digital distribution.”
Games for the PSP can take up to a year and a half to create, suggesting that the relatively low release number seen in 2008 might underlie a gathering of forces for a slew of new titles in 2009.
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