Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news From: "Andrew Langstaff (Majik-ZX)" Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Yarozing, PS2Linux, PSP and the Industry Date: Thu, 3 July 2003 18:50:00 +0100 Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 47 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: pc1-cmbg3-6-cust213.cmbg.cable.ntl.com X-Newsreader: Good ol' telnet Hi guys, nice to see the group still ticking along. I've been a bit inactive in the gamedev scene for a while now - A new job, 3rd and 4th year OU Physics degree, new baby and another none-game project that's been on the back burner for far too long has meant that I haven't actually used my Yaroze or PS2Linux kit for a year now (I haven't even used my UK PS2Linux kit!). But, I do still have some ideas floating around, and with any luck I'll be able to get to work on them in the autumn (after my 'finals') But I've been thinking about the games industry as a whole during this time, and I'd like to share some thoughts. I think that we can all agree that Net Yaroze has been an outstanding success. But, as has been noted before, the PS2Linux 'scene' isn't the same as the Yaroze scene; frankly no-one seems to be writing any games for it[1], and if they are, they're either keeping them quiet, or I'm just not looking hard enough. Now I don't think this is because it's hard to code the PS2, even if it was there's plenty of sample code, libraries, tools, etc. This brings me to my main thoughts about PS2 game development as a whole; Player expectation is way beyond the scope of 1 or 2 man part time development teams. Perhaps would-be developers are put off by the shear magnitude of what can be done on PS2, in terms of graphics and audio capabilities. Think about it - it's hard to conceive of a viable game concept that you'd want to do in a 6 or even 12 month timeframe, that couldn't be adequately explored or implemented on Yaroze[2]. Sure, you could add in some flashy effects, have huge game maps, and even have the killer-app of network gaming, but the central game mechanics would be unchanged. So what could be done? We could all be given off-the-shelf game engines and concentrate on our game, spending time with [insert favourite sprite editor/3D modeller/music composer] making it look and sound how we imagine it, but I feel that that would lead the homebrew scene to the same generic hell that is the current state of the industry - How many more 3rd person adventure games where you lead [insert licensed character] through 30 levels of finding secret keys, solving trivial puzzles, fighting hordes of bad guys, the odd really big bad guy that comes back for more, sneaking past guards, using [insert special move/power/character trait], *yaawwwnn* does the world _really_ need? No, what I think is required is some motivation[3]. And this leads me to what I had hoped we'd see with PS2Linux; not just the same range and depth of games that appeared on the Yaroze, with the flashier effects, and network gaming, etc. but also a distribution medium to take these games to a wider audience, kindof like an online version of the OPSM coverdisk. Think how much impetus the chance of having your Yaroze game as an OPSM demo gave you, Think how much kudos could be had if everyone with a PS2 + Network Adapter could download and play your game... So, perhaps what I've wrote so far is over-critical, possibly inaccurate, and unclear, I'll try and explain where I'm trying to go with this, before moving on. I want to discuss the reasons why Yaroze produced so many zany little games, that are of a high quality, and very playable[4], and what could be done to nurture such development on PS2. And this then brings me to the PSP, I'm sure all of us here were excited by the 'launch' of this new toy, and I'm equally sure, as was shown in a recent thread, that we all thought the same thing 'can we get homebrew devkits?' But another thing about the initial announcements that excited me was SCE's new pricing models, and specifically for the PSP, it's medium-free download kiosk distribution model. I fully agree with the assesment given by Ken Kutaragi, that hand-held games need to be impulse buys. And I've even heard (can't find source) that SCE are bringing a cheap game pricing model to PS2, ie new games that cost a tenner. So perhaps this impulse-buy model might work for PS2 aswell... And this brings in the possibility of following the business models being pursued by games companies in the mobile phone market, ie a pay-to-download model. Can you see where this is leading yet? SCE could explore the business potential of joining the output of small, independant homebrew outfits, with the mass market, small fee to download from a server (most of which would be taken by SCE to cover hosting, Product Qualification, etc) or download onto UMD distrubution channels. This, in my mind, would encourage developers, which would in turn create the opportunity to explore non mainstream game genres, and it would be another area in the games industry where SCE has no equivalent from the current alternative platforms, like actually having official homebrew devkits in the first place. It would also give many more people that all inportant first released game that would give them extra lee-way at interview time. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of reasons that can be given as to why this just wouldn't/couldn't possibly work, IPR issues, legal minefields, etc. but some of these will have to have been ironed out in getting Yaroze games on OPSM discs. So, what do people think about this then? What is the fatal flaw that I've overlooked? Is Joe Public doomed forever to playing bland, big budget third person adventures on his PS2? Does it really matter if he is? Just my $.02 worth, which given the size of this post is a bargain. Thanks for listening. A. [1] Not that there's anything wrong with non game use of PS2Linux, EE makes a fine platform for image processing applications. [2] There are of course exceptions to this, but in general I think this rule applies. [3] It may seem a bit hipocritical of me to start with 'I have no time..' and move on to complain 'there are no games..' but I'd like to think that at least some of the people who got PS2Linux are actually using it. [4] Even now, my partner and 'mother-in-law' still force there way onto the PS2 to play Rocks 'n' Gems