Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news
From: "Matt Verran" <mverran@btinternet.com>
Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english
Subject: Re: PS2 Dev kit
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 18:10:51 +0100
Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE)
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> 1. As soon as you start expecting payment for a particular service, I
> have a feeling that your liability increases should something go
> wrong.

Slap a M$ style 'we are not responsible for anything if you choose to
download this software' end user agreement on it.

> But if I remember
> well,a few years ago, some anime show in Japan was taken off the air
> for giving kids who saw it seizures.

I think it was pokemon, a big monster used some kind of attack that made red
strobey effects come out of his eyes. This is a pretty remote incident, I've
never heard of any legal cases against game software that have been won.

> 2. Giving the developers cash may turn it into some kind of employment
> agreement which may also bring up it's own set of complications.  To
> remedy this, instead of giving the developers cash, one alternative
> would be to give developers the equivalent of those tickets that you
> get at an arcade -- and you can trade them in for free Sony
> merchandize ;)

Ick I'm against this, reward where reward is due, if people are paying money
then the developer should get money. Sony issue a cheque every month, it's
up to you to declare it for tax or whatever. Sony only accept finished games
and the money is entirely dependant on how many people pay for your game, In
effect sony are merely providing you with the hosting and payment handling,
and they are charging you per sale for the QA/overheads.

> After all -- if your game is that good, I'm sure you'll be
> able to re-market it through the proper channels...

No, this is a way to get independant, single developer games to the public.
These games would never be picked up by publishers because they need to be
sold at such a low rate it's just not worth distributing/marketing them.

Then again, maybe if SONY made the broadband delivery network open to anyone
we might be able to set this up all on our own. Publishers will be gagging
for simple innovative games they can offer for download. We'll all live
happily ever after.

Matt