Tomb Raider dev likes PSN

By Games Industry.biz Published 3 January, 2008

More flexible than Xbox Live.

Following the successful digital release of Tomb Raider Anniversary over Xbox Live, Crystal Dynamics' Riley Cooper has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony's PlayStation Network should offer more flexibility for delivering future titles.

Anniversary was originally developed for PlayStation 2, with publisher Eidos offering the title to Xbox 360 users via Xbox Live Marketplace by splitting the game into episodic chunks.

But Cooper, lead designer on Anniversary, believes that Sony's PlayStation Network could prove to be the better service for developers looking to bypass retail and deliver full games to users, as it doesn't have as many constraints as Microsoft's service.

"I'm very, very interested in digital distribution and the potential it has," said Cooper. "PlayStation Network is extremely interesting because it's a more flexible space."

"We made an in-road with Anniversary on 360, and it was a full game essentially, but Microsoft is only slowly increasing requirements and opening up the constraints of Xbox Live. It's been a slow process, whereas PSN hasn't been restricted by size, they've just done Warhawk for example."

Riley believes that digital distribution of console games that were only previously available via retail is inevitable, and that technology barriers are being chipped away at an impressive rate.

"In a long enough time line it's inevitable so at the moment it's just a matter of how fast. Within this console generation we're already seeing huge uptake in that direction. Xbox Live continues to get press and the limits are being expanded, Tomb Raider Anniversary was a huge expansion of those limits," he said.

"The additional downloadable content for titles like Guitar Hero is making a lot of money. As well as that, digital distribution isn't just about how to get a game but how to stimulate communities after the game has been released. Once users have bought into the IP you can continue to keep that community alive and get revenue from it," he added.

Crystal Dynamics is working on the next Lara Croft title, Tomb Raider Underworld, due for release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LazyDan #1 4 years ago

    Kinda takes the soul out of gaming and makes me feel worthless when I read articles like this where we're referred to as 'revenue.' :(

    Oh, the nature of the entertainment industry.
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/08 @ 10:00

  • seasidebaz #2 4 years ago

    if psn is as flexible as they say it is then give us indies a chance! give us a free ps3 devkit, then let us pay back the cost from a percentage from the revenue! now THAT would be good business sense...

  • Big-Swiss #3 4 years ago

    cool, at least someone likes the PSN

  • drumbaby #4 4 years ago

    If he likes it so much, give PS3 owners TRA.

  • space_ace #5 4 years ago

    at least psn is online

  • Dizzy #6 4 years ago

    Flexible people use a PC. If you want indie development, write your stuff on PC.

    Console networks are not meant to be flexible. The purpose is to be idiot proof and hopefully bug proof (and even that is proving a challenge).

  • woodnotes #7 4 years ago

    Well, MS could easily lift those constraints if they wished, but they have them in place to keep retailers happy.

  • oreillymj #8 4 years ago

    Actually I thought the Live constraints were in place because they sold a console with no HD. So they need to restrict releases to what will fit on an over priced memory card.

  • NewYork #9 4 years ago

    Where did I hear that one of the things holding back PS2 titles from the PSN is street retailers?

    Well, I think I heard it somewhere, anyway :)

  • seasidebaz #10 4 years ago

    @Dizzy: I've done that in the past, the problem is that PCs are open systems. I don't have the resources to debug every single combination of hardware / software, or the money to get a PC so meaty that I can keep up with the top-end machines for testing on those. At least on the closed PS3 development will mirror the final project.

    Plus nobody would buy it on PC anyway, they'd just download it via torrent. (hence Crysis, UTIII selling like crap on PC...)

  • nick_f Verified Senior Producer, Microsoft #11 4 years ago

    Actually, you still need to charge up your PSN account with a minimum purchase of £5 so it isn't exactly "pay-as-you-go".

    Apparently this whole points / minimum purchase thing is done to keep credit card company fees down.

  • SwedBear #12 4 years ago

    headbog: You sure about being able to pay an exact amount of money? Last time I charged up I still have to "buy" a certain amount of Swedish Crows to be put into my wallet leaving money there which I cannot take back.

    While I agree it is easier to see what something actually costs I see that as the only real benefit as I still only can charge the wallet with predefined amounts (unless I completely have missed a 'add exactly this much' option).

    How does PSN and Xbox Live handle currency changes BTW? With points it wouldn't be obvious as you can say that something cost the same amount of points over the whole world.

    I'm guessing that the prices we get on XBL/PSN are not in any way connected to the actual exchange rate? So as the dollar plummets games are not getting cheaper on PSN/XBL ...

    /B

  • Jel #13 4 years ago

    What this tool is clearly overlooking is that digital delivery for full games a) takes up shed loads of space on a hard drive and b) means you cannot resell your purchase or c) conveniently rent titles.

    Even if digital games dropped to £10-£15 it would still not be worthwhile for me as a consumer.

  • Moz #14 4 years ago

    ""if psn is as flexible as they say it is then give us indies a chance! give us a free ps3 devkit, then let us pay back the cost from a percentage from the revenue! now THAT would be good business sense...""

    Give it a year Sony have made cheap dev kits for homebrew in the past i'm sure they will again

    EDIT:/ failing that make a demo on PC and send it Sony, if it's something special they'll then fund you to make it for PS3
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/08 @ 12:48

  • Ryze #15 4 years ago

    @ LazyDan

    I reckon they'll take the contents of our bank accounts and call THAT revenue, more likely.

    @ Jel

    Aren't we lucky that the high street stores will be with us for a looooooong time then?

    Otherwise, how is your Mum/Gran going to get ripped off buying the latest Need for Speed game for £40 at HMV?

    I can only see digital distribution complementing the traditional highstreet and online retail channels, in the same way that iTunes success doesn't mean that Play.com and CDWow have to shut.

    It'll be nice to see more Xbox games on XBLA, as I only got an Xbox in 2006. I'll pick up a few back compat titles for a tenner or less.
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/08 @ 13:09

  • Ghettomurph #16 4 years ago

    @oreillymj

    MS dont restrict sizes so they can fit on a 512mb card. If they did then there wouldnt be any films or Xbox 1 titles on marketplace. Or demos for that matter.
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/08 @ 13:47

  • Feanor #17 4 years ago

    So why do they restrict the size?

  • kangarootoo #18 4 years ago

    @seasidebaz

    "give us a free ps3 devkit, then let us pay back the cost from a percentage from the revenue! now THAT would be good business sense..."

    That kind of assumes there will BE some revenue. I'm sure your indy is quite capable, you know yourself there are many more factors that decide whether sales are good or not. I suppose if the kit was returned if milestones weren't met, that could work out.

    I don't disagree that some kind of "small development" scheme/package would be a great idea. The problem is that if no investment is required on the part of the indie, every man and their dog can get on board, and quality would drop and money would be lost. Of course, the figures involved are at the heart of all of this, so I think in principle we probably agree.

  • kangarootoo #19 4 years ago

    @Feanor

    It seems to me like a legacy restriction, related to shipping a 360 sku without an hdd. At one time they probably didn't want to have a situation where you could buy something on XBLM but then not have the ability to store the download. I think MS are now starting to realise that most owners have an hdd and also that keeping the limits in place is too restrictive. I expect we will see a change in the not too distant.

  • BBIAJ #20 4 years ago

    ...future?

  • hoos30 #21 4 years ago

    The wisdom of Microsoft stance should be measured in the amount of retail support (shelf space) that each platform receives. Some retailers here in the US were so pissed about Warhawk that they made Sony take back their boxed copies.

  • Hughes. #22 4 years ago

    Anything over £5 you can put an exact amount in your PSN wallet, however, as a lot of the content is around the £3.49 - £4.99 mark you do often end up with odds and sods of change around if you only top up in small increments. If you wait for 2 or 3 things that you want rather than buying stuff the day it comes out you can top up to the exact purchase price and never leave anything in your wallet.

  • JamieR #23 4 years ago

    at least they is no worry of scratching a disk and it not working no more

  • Ryze #24 4 years ago

    Yeah, my Burnout Legends on PSP has finally died. The disc is fine, bit the plastic caddy is in pieces!

    I think the manual says £20 for a replacement... so... eBay it is then!