Sony confirms PSP app store plan
Fieldrunners leading the line.
Sony has confirmed reports that it plans to launch a new section of the PlayStation Store to combat the rise of the iTunes App Store.
Speaking to Develop, the platform holder said over 50 studios were signed up working on downloadable games and applications.
These include Subatomic Studios, which is making a PSP version of its popular iPhone tower defence game Fieldrunners.
"It is still a professional environment, you still need a development kit and you still need to have investment and a team. But it can be a small team," SCEE's head of developer relations Zeno Colaço explained. "We don't see any of the restrictions on the disc-based space being in this space."
Sony is promising a streamlined content pipeline with no concept approval, cheaper tools, shorter QA processes and lower available price points.
"You don't see this happening at Microsoft and you even don't see it happening at Nintendo yet," Subatomic's Ash Monif argued.
"Part of that 'snackability' of the content is because you can deliver the content over WiFi super-fast. We're making games that are just 20MB each, that's less than a minute to download - instant gratification, snackable content."