Sony's NeoGeo Pocket's (PSP2/Vita) business/non technical ramifications talk

Wait a minute... just found out Gamescom is tomorrow (PST) ?

Let's see if Sony can surprise me.

 

Gamescom didn't have any surprise. :-/

Meanwhile, PlayStation Vita dev kit priced:
http://www.develop-online.net/news/38459/PlayStation-Vita-dev-kit-priced

 

Gradthrawn, I remember you requested for codec support info. It's out now:
http://www.sys-con.com/node/1947549

You can look up wiki for the supported bandwidth and resolutions for these profiles & levels.


EDIT: It's nice that apps like Twitter are confirmed but Vita OS should integrate Twitter seamlessly into the social network experience, rather than just a standalone app.

 

Nice find, thanks. If memory serves me, however, resolution/bandwidth are not determined by the profile. There's just a range available in each profile and it comes down to what the device supports. I could be wrong though, it's been a while. A quick look at the AVC profile Wiki would seem to support that (but I just skimmed it).

 

Lot of money upfront to develop for a platform which may not be that successful.

 

Edit: Misread mail.

But, you will always have to take risks if you want to be successful...

 

They will also need to stack perhaps equal amount of marketing dollars on it.

What goes into Vita will be useful for future Sony devices too. They won't rely on Android forever (They need to differentiate). And they won't sit around waiting for iOS to kill them too.

EDIT: They have to make sure they do things right though. It's not what they do, but HOW they did it that hindered them.

In any case, it's good for the economy, employment rate and all. So I'm not complaining.

 

How much does it cost upfront to develop for Android or iOS?
Of course, Vita is for big publishers who plan to sell games for $50.

 

It may be possible and viable for Sony and Nintendo to develop for iOS, Android, PC _and_ make their own platforms.

They are not really pure tech platform companies.

 

From the top of my head, iOS is $99 a year. Android is free, BUT you need a second Android device dedicated for developing. So that turns out to be a heck of a lot more expensive in my book, especially on the short term and puts the cost of entry higher. I don't know if this has changed, but last time I checked at least.

 

The €1900? It's remarkably affordable for a closed console, and any serious studio, even bedroom developers who can convince Sony they are for real (which by accounts isn't easy), will see that as a smallish part of any significant title. Anything simpler (iOS/tablet games) wouldn't sanely be after the Vita market.

It'd be worth any dev considering for launch. When there are no titles available, competition will be very light. Make a good simple game and you can gain attenion that's harder to come by in the saturated mobile market. Or sit back and see if the platform gains traction, at which point jumping in won't be too costly.

I also wonder where PSS comes into this. Will that be free/nominal charge like XBLive, to develop for as an Android service?

 

You mean the developers ?

It's different model. On iOS, it's "free and easy". Apple QA and censor the app. On Sony, they work with you and guide you along the way. They will throw in marketing help too (if it's exclusive).

 

Yeah but the $64 question is whether that model is still viable.

If they can sell enough devices and enough $50 games to make people buy those devices, great.

Beyond a handful to a dozen franchises, that model may not work.

 

I don't think Vita games will cost $50. ^_^

That may be a wrong assumption.

We will most definitely see a variety of pricing on Vita. Even on the PSP, there are PSP Minis and full PSP game that costs less.

EDIT: Conversely, I think Apple will want users to buy expensive apps on iOS too. It ties users to their platform. In due time, I wouldn't be surprised if iOS software price range expands to include expensive titles. It may be lump sum or recurring fees.

 

How many $50-60 games are on PSN? Full retail games are not the only option. You wont see many fart apps but for any serious indie devs that price is very low. Im not sure there is much point in sony aiming for the $1 mobile market when everyone is already carrying a phone. They are better off sticking to $5+ imo, if you are carrying a Vita it will be because you want a higher quality experience than what you have already.

 

Well if they're subsidizing the hardware, they have to recoup that with a high license fee.

Add in cuts for various middlemen to get the games to the shelves and ...?

How much were the PSP games at launch?

 

You can do digital games or retail games. Gamers on Vita should be more willing to buy games (dollar-wise) than people on iPhone or Android. The hardware subsidy is not that much for Vita, according to Shuhei and Hirai. Users may also buy accessories like memory cards, carrying case, etc.

I can't remember anymore. May be $40 ? PSP is also limited in alternate revenue streams.

 

As Patsu says, multiple revenue streams. Games on PS3 range from $60 AAA titles, to $20 large download games to $10 smaller games to $5 and below little games. There's no longer a single pricepoint. For a dev creating a full cartridge game, the $2000 Vita devkit is a drop in the ocean. For devs targeting a $5 download game, $2000 is affordable while enabling Sony to 'keep out the riff-raff' by having a suitably high development fee that you won't have people writing fart apps, ensuring a minimum level of quality. For devs targeting the $1 title, Vita isn't the right choice.

 

Yes there's no point in sony aiming for $1 games on Vita, I believe that's the Playstation Suite is for. And that's supposed to be hardware-neutral for Android, Vita, and probably iOS.

 

Nothing more on PSS at Gamescom. Sony are being far too quiet about it. I'm questioning if it'll be available at Vita's launch.