Sony is a lightning rod for bad news.
Amidst all the talks of Playstation 3 delays, Blu-ray issues, processor issues and misinterpreted statements from executives, developers are beginning to chime in with comments of dissention. Ninja Theory developer, Dean Calver, recently mentionned in passing how it is sometimes frustrating to develop on a console that places so much emphasis on graphical quality, making it more difficult for developers to focus on gameplay. The complaint, made among a host of others about next-gen systems causing developers to “burn out” quicker than ever before, was latched onto by a frenzy of carnivorous bloggers and media maniacs, who took his comments to translate to “Sony sucks balls.”
Moreover, Sony has lost its court case against Immersion over the rights to the Dualshock controller. This conflict has been in the press for a while, Immersion launched a law suit against Microsoft and Sony for the use of Dualshock controllers in 2003. Microsoft settled quietly out of court (and is a shareholder now in Immersion). Sony fought with stupid persistence, and has now had their appeal denied!
What does this mean? It is simple. The Playstation 2, Playstation 2 Dualshock controllers, and a list of some of their most popular titles (including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2) can no longer be sold at retail outlets. Consequently, this legal case could kill Sony’s current generation console, unfortunately, long before the Playstation 3 is scheduled to hit store shelves.
It is suspected that the Boomerang controller is intended to be a departure from the Dualshock for the sake of ownership rights, but this begs the question of backwards compatibility. What happens when their force feedback controller isn’t allowed anymore?
And while this newest legal decision is showing backwards compatibility is up in the air, others are speculating about whether Sony will create a virtual console system akin to Nintendo in an effort to compete. Sony has already established a desire to create a “Sony Live” to compete with the XBox service. While it may seem appealing - especially to gamers like myself who cannot find a copy of Resident Evil 3 anywhere - it is a completely different feat than Nintendo’s virtual console.
PSOne and PS2 games are completely massive, spanning from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes in size. This is a much more substantial download than the few measly megabytes of Nintendo software.
On our most recent podcast, we discussed the issue of Nintendo licensing or selling their virtual console games. If you thought it would be a pain to get your 8 mb NES game back, imagine getting back your multiple gigabyte copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
However, if Sony pulls it off, it could be the end to physical game discs. If Sony initiates a widespread drive to broadband (as they did with DVDs), then perhaps ALL games can be downloaded in the future. Although it would certainly be convenient (some gamers need never shower again), it definitely brings up more questions about ownership versus licensing.
Perhaps it is worth discussing in Podcast #3.
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