Sony: "We don't buy exclusivity"

SCEA boss Jack Tretton has criticised what he described as the "different approach" of rival platform holders, stating that Sony won't "bribe" developers to make PS3 exclusives.

Speaking in the latest issue of PSM magazine Tretton said, "Microsoft is too dependent upon the third-party community, and Nintendo is too dependent upon first-party. We like to feel that we got a pretty good mix.

"We have a very different approach to exclusives than some of our competitors," he continued.

"We don't buy exclusivity. We don't fund development. We don't, for lack of a better term, bribe somebody to only do a game on our platform."

"We earn it by saying, 'You can build a better game on our platform. If you focus your development on our platform, you will ultimately be more successful. We can try to partner up with you from a technology standpoint. We can try to partner up with you from a marketing standpoint. But just economically and technologically, this is the system that makes the most sense for you.'"

Tretton said that Sony is going after a broader demographic sooner than with PS1 or PS2, stating, "I think that when you start to get into that USD 600 price you have to be mindful that there should be multiple consumers to justify the value."

As for the challenges of programming for PS3, Tretton noted that Sony is doing what it can to put the tools in developers' hands - observing that the company has just rolled out a wide range of first-party development tools to the third parties for the first time. Ultimately, though, he has faith in the development community.

"There are a lot of great developers out there, and they always figure it out," Tretton said.