Ben-DutkaIn order to maintain freshness, it's often a good idea to see what the little guys have to offer.
SCE boss Shuhei Yoshida told Develop that it's important for Sony to support the independent game designers; i.e., the "garage developers." Said Yoshida:
"As an industry, we have to support those smaller teams, and let them try out their ideas. Without doing so, the whole industry will stall, in terms of innovation."
To this point, Yoshida mentioned that the new PlayStation Vita has been made "to be as easy as possible for developers to use." The development kit "isn't too expensive," either, so a great many teams – even smaller, lesser-known studios – have a shot at making games for the new portable.
Sony continues to back smaller game studios on the PlayStation Network, as evidenced by the teams have already produced several full downloadable titles and Minis. Added Yoshida:
"Speaking on the issue of providing developers with a digital platform, Yoshida said: “Having the capability to sell their games on the network is key to giving those smaller teams an opportunity to come up with ideas, and sometimes invest their own money to come up with something special and have their projects meet with millions of users."
For the record, Sony's take on the matter seems to be running opposite to Nintendo's; Reggie Fils-Aime said they're "not looking to do business today with the garage developer." It just isn't business they "wish to pursue." Well, Microsoft certainly isn't interested, either, so Sony seems to be the only risk-taker out there.