This news pretty much blindsided me this morning. I (like many others) assumed that Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, inFamous) was wholly owned by Sony. The deal is only for one game, but I’m pretty sure when it succeeds, they’ll continue making more of them for everyone.
Could the platform exclusive title be an endangered species? Bungie’s (Halo) liberation to Activision and the land of multi-platform releases last month certainly raises some eyebrows. Developers want to own their IPs now and who blames them? Wouldn’t you want to get in on movie-licensing and branded Mountain Dew flavor money? Like in the music industry, once you establish yourself as a bonafied rock star, your dependence on the record labels shrinks to just product manufacturing/distribution.
Personally, I’ve never had a problem with not being able to play a title due to the consoles I’ve owned since I own them all. However, I imagine most people have picked only one of the 360 or PS3. There’s a lot of quality titles that you’re missing out on if this is the case. Having our rockstar titles available on both platforms serves to only benefit the end user. After all, nothing kills a recent video game conversation more than “Have you played God of War 3 yet?” “No, I only have a 360. ” =(
Joystiq’s got an interview with Insomniac’s CEO, Ted Price, if you want to read more.
I’m going to be honest with you. I’m a gadget freak. My friends know this. My colleagues know this. I know this. For example, I am one of the assholes who has bought all three Nintendo DS SKU’s on consecutive launch dates. That’s right, despite owning perfectly functional DS phat and lites, I’ve also managed to also buy a DSi.
Knowing my weakness for cool new revisions of handhelds, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Sony has accomplished something extraordinary with their recently released PSP Go. They have, in fact, created a product that I have no desire to purchase.
Here are some highlights:
- Connected CDs are going to be a huge thing. Half of people put CDs in their computers, mostly for ripping, which is great, because they purchased the music legally. At that time, there’s a chance to connect with the user, sell more music, merchandise, etc. There are both promotional and upsell opportunities there.
- The biggest opportunity we have is to create an access model for the consumer where the consumer can consume music in a virtually limitless way by purchasing some kind of subscription or device that comes with access to the music. Those are the most exciting, and are gaining traction. Various models are being debated right now. The mobile phone will play a critical role, and the device will play critical role.
- There are so many options for consumers. We must be bold enough to throw out some of old models.
I gotta admit, the last place I expected to hear some rational, well-thought out analyses on the music industry’s current plight was from a Sony BMG executive. Mr. Hesse has managed to make me start to take the major labels seriously again. I don’t agree with everything he says in the interview, but he has enough good points that he has my respect.
Read the rest of Hesse’s interview [wired.com]
Do I think Amazon MP3 has what it takes to take on iTunes? Sure. Amazon MP3 sells the better product to more possible customers at a better price ($0.89-$0.99 compared to the $1.29 of iTunes Plus). As long as consumers are educated properly and the service is marketed competently, there’s a very good chance this may be the one challenger to the iTunes throne to succeed.
But does this really matter at the end of the day?
No.
The future of music distribution is not in a la carte track sales. It’s in the pay-what-you-want model that Radiohead and Trent Reznor have pioneered. It’s in the value proposition that eMusic offers when you are getting $25 tracks for $9.99 a month. Neither of these are the ultimate solution, but they are steps forward. You have to look at how MOST people are consuming music nowadays. They do it via bulk through bittorrent or eDonkey or what have you. Selling DRM-free MP3′s for $0.89 each would have been a good start… seven years ago. In order to be the true winner of this sad drama, you have to be looking ahead of current consumption patterns. You need to take chances instead of playing catchup.
We’ve got a long way to go before this is finished.
Read the press release [businesswire.com]
Sony has done a lot to piss gamers off since the Playstation 3′s launch, but they seem to finally be getting their act together by concentrating on fixing the biggest problem – the lack of good fucking games to play. Since waking up at 6am to fight the holiday shopping crowds for a Playstation 3 last December, I’ve used my PS3 very little. There’s a layer of dust over the system that I could draw pictures on with my finger. That’s changed the last month, though, with the release of Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Uncharted has been on and off of my gaming radar over the past year or so. I first saw a trailer of the game late 2006. The graphics looked pretty impressive, but I had no idea what the game played like. Other people were immediately slapping “game of the year” and “Sony’s best first-party title” labels on it. Shills they may be, but the hype at least piqued my interest in the game.
Fast-forward one year later and I still had no idea what the game was like. Reading the interweb only gave me the impression that the game was “Tomb Raider, but with a dude instead of Lara’s tits”. Fortunately, the 1200MB demo hit the Playstation Network earlier today, allowing me to finally see if this game was worthy of the hype.
The short answer is yes.
I’ve had a chance to go through the demo a few times and have been quite impressed. The game combines tight, responsive controls with gorgeous graphics, realistic human animations, and challenging (but winnable) combat to create one of the best games I’ve played this year. A simple way to describe the gist of the game would be to say that it’s an amalgamation of Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. If the full game delivers on the puzzle solving element and continues the solid combat and platforming from the demo, I’ll be ready to proclaim it the best title on the Playstation 3 thus far and the best reason to finally take the PS3 plunge.
Read my detailed impressions after the jump
