View Full Version : PlayStation 3 may sport download service for selected PSone, PS2 titles
Crossbar
03-13-2006, 05:34 PM
Sounds like a good idea to me.
PlayStation 3 may sport download service for selected PSone, PS2 titles
Reports from development sources close to Sony Computer Entertainment are indicating that the firm is planning a major digital distribution service for game content, which could be a key element of PlayStation 3 - or even of a relaunched PS2.
Several senior developers have confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that they have spoken informally with Sony about the question of digital distribution on consoles, although these discussions were described as being "purely about technology, not business models" by one source.
However, even the technology discussed could be very revealing regarding the Japanese giant's plans for the coming years - with one source from the development arm of a major third-party publisher claiming that Sony has been discussing the technical feasibility of providing PSone and PS2 titles over digital distribution with them.
This could indicate that Sony is hoping to provide a service for the PS3 similar to Nintendo's Revolution digital download system, which will allow users to access a back catalogue of Nintendo titles through the next-generation console.
In Sony's case the challenges may be significantly more difficult, since PlayStation titles were customarily several hundred megabytes in size, and PS2 titles spanned multiple gigabytes - compared to just a few megabytes or less for NES, SNES and N64 titles in the Nintendo back-catalogue.
However, as Internet connections speed up downloads of this size will be far more reasonable - already, several Xbox Live demos for the Xbox 360 are over 600Mb in size - and our sources indicated that Sony may also be investigating the possibility of remastering certain PS2 titles to allow them to stream later content over the network while the player is already playing early parts of the game.
The move would not be surprising, given that both other next-generation consoles will offer downloadable game content - Xbox Live Arcade and game demos in the case of Xbox 360, and the back catalogue download service on Revolution - which makes it highly unlikely that Sony will miss out on this opportunity.
The information from our development sources comes only days after Electronic Arts' European vice president of sales, Dr Jens Uwe Intat, confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that the leading publisher is already in discussions with platform holders over digital distribution - telling us that "we as a total industry, software publishers and hardware manufacturers, are already sitting together and working on business models."
One of the key requirements of digital distribution on this scale, however, is a large storage system - such as a hard drive, a component with which Sony has had a patchy history. Although the PlayStation 2 hardware can support a hard drive, the peripheral was unsuccessful and was only ever used to any great degree by Square Enix' massively multiplayer title Final Fantasy XI. The PlayStation 3 hardware will also support a hard drive unit but is set to ship without one pre-installed in the basic configuration.
Sony is expected to announce new information about its plans for PlayStation 3 in Tokyo on Wednesday, ahead of a keynote address from the firm's worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison at the Game Developers' Conference in San Jose next week.
http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15294
RavenFox
03-13-2006, 05:37 PM
All I have to say is bring it on Sony. Remastered games sound so sweet. My Zone of Enders in 720p would just be to much for ol Raven Fox.
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 05:41 PM
the net is beginning to close in on us. :)
rog27
03-13-2006, 05:58 PM
Alot of things Sony have been complaining about as of recently really makes this story viable IMO. Sony, as well as many other publishers, are very upset about the 2nd hand market at retail, the used games market. It really is eating into their sales.
Sony probably plans to take the reins back from retail through a digital content distribution network. I envisioned them taking a two-prong route.
-Make Bluray the new standard removable medium and own the removable media market by earning royalties from every Bluray branded item sold. Bluray portable medium is more viable for HD content, since broadband is still too slow for the download of massive amounts of content.
-Create digital content distribution center via the PS3 to take back lost sales stemming from retail second hand market (like on-demand for cable has taken market share away from the video rental stores like Blockbusters). Not only will it work for demoes, added content downloads, etc., but like the article says, it will allow the backcatalogue of Sony games to be downloaded, serial/episodic games on the PS3, and Sony's music and video content.
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 06:03 PM
Alot of things Sony have been complaining about as of recently really makes this story viable IMO. Sony, as well as many other publishers, are very upset about the 2nd hand market at retail, the used games market. It really is eating into their sales.
Sony probably plans to take the reins back from retail through a digital content distribution network. I envisioned them taking a two-prong route.
-Make Bluray the new standard removable medium and own the removable media market by earning royalties from every Bluray branded item sold. Bluray portable medium is more viable for HD content, since broadband is still too slow for the download of massive amounts of content.
-Create digital content distribution center via the PS3 to take back lost sales stemming from retail second hand market (like on-demand for cable has taken market share away from the video rental stores like Blockbusters). Not only will it work for demoes, added content downloads, etc., but like the article says, it will allow the backcatalogue of Sony games to be downloaded, serial/episodic games on the PS3, and Sony's music and video content.
good points and well put. i think this is the most significant news we've heard in a long time. think of all those publishers and developers rubbing their hands together. this is probably the reason we are seeing aaa title still on ps2; they know something.
Old_Timer!
03-13-2006, 06:53 PM
I already posted this under the March 15 topic......
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 06:54 PM
I already posted this under the March 15 topic......
thats the way the cookie crumbles :)
Old_Timer!
03-13-2006, 06:55 PM
lol yea I guess so
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 07:23 PM
lol yea I guess so
welcome to the battle for internet content. Sony, Microsoft and now you. lol.
Old_Timer!
03-13-2006, 07:42 PM
Hey don't forget my arch nemesis "Nintendo" lol...
I've battled the Minions of Miyamoto for many moons, I think I'm winning.
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 07:48 PM
Hey don't forget my arch nemesis "Nintendo" lol...
I've battled the Minions of Miyamoto for many moons, I think I'm winning.
aint that weird. i didn't exlude them on purpose. just shows you how important perception is.
venomv
03-13-2006, 08:20 PM
Man I would love that, I have a bunch of PS1 games that were borrowed and not returned, lost, or damaged that I would like to play again, Parasite Eve for one, and I don't know where my FFT game is. I hope they do that, I love a lot of the older games, heck the only reason I want a Rev is to download SNES games.
@Old_Timer Nintendo really doesn't count in that battle in my book, yes you will about to downlaod games, but there is nothing that I have heard abot it going any further, MS and Sony on the other hand have tons of programs that involve downloading software.
Danji Ikari
03-13-2006, 08:30 PM
I was telling my friends that this would happen. I'm not positive if I posted my comments on here, but I probably did. It may not be an immediate thing and may just be added on later (a year or few months down the line.)
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 08:36 PM
I was telling my friends that this would happen. I'm not positive if I posted my comments on here, but I probably did. It may not be an immediate thing and may just be added on later (a year or few months down the line.)
i'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest it will happen immediately. quote me on that if you like - i'm used to looking foolish. better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it, they say. well... out of the box... there i said it again.
Smokey
03-13-2006, 08:41 PM
i hope so cliff, & where have ya been foolish mate?
cliffbo
03-13-2006, 10:45 PM
It should also be noted that plans to introduce a digital distribution service that supports downloadable PSone titles on the PS2 have also been tossed around.
news to me! joysticks take on things. unless they meant to say 'had' and not 'have' grammer you know... its getting well bad.
digital distribution is the next big thing. major publishers are already working on this. though not much may happen in the first months of PS3, but expect it to grow gradually and have new apps options as everything falls into place.
of course Sony will offer simple games like Live's arcade and Ninty's decade old games, but what I am looking forward to is the real deal: current retail games offered for download. PC has been doing this for a while and they are happy with it (both publishers and gamers).
Sony may also be investigating the possibility of remastering certain PS2 titles to allow them to stream later content over the network while the player is already playing early parts of the game.
now that is one smart idea!
GUNDAMSEED
03-14-2006, 02:52 AM
I can see it happening for ps1 and ps2 games myabe not ps3 games yet since they might be to big . I for one would love that but still some games would be rather big I don't even want to know how big FF13 is going to be with that 720p FMV. Maybe in next 5 to 10 years most game are going to come out like this way with option also to buy them . But that's still while off most people don't have broadband , can't get acess to it , have there internet cap , or just don't want to upgrade there connection.
for what its worth, Amazon and others will be offering HD movies soon enough. there may not be many with fast broadband, but the ones that do have it may warrent at least a trial of the service. they don't have to offer everything. testing things with some PSOne and PS2 games is good.
what I really want though is PSP game downloads and movies. I think demos and trailers are not a problem, so they might as well ad that to both PSP and PS3 services.
Mitri
03-14-2006, 04:15 AM
My Zone of Enders in 720p would just be to much for ol Raven Fox.
and our sources indicated that Sony may also be investigating the possibility of remastering certain PS2 titles to allow them to stream later content over the network while the player is already playing early parts of the game.
their remastering isn't what you want. according to the highlighted.
and also from that highlighted doesn't that mean that in order to play the later parts of the game you would have to be connected to the internet each time? reminds me of the phantom...
I for one would love that but still some games would be rather big I don't even want to know how big FF13 is going to be with that 720p FMV.
imagine heavy fmv games like......xenosaga. haha.
OmniCloud
03-14-2006, 04:19 AM
Hopefully this thing kicks off..Sony is sort of known for being late on their promises-but I would be satisfied with demos and trailers and PS classics like Tomb Raider or Chrono Cross....PS3 can play PS2 games so there's really no need to rush this service...just give us a bunch of PS1 classics cuz some of those games are really hard to find, a service that's has half the features of Live including the most important, voice chat, and i think they have a killer service on their hands.
Mitri
03-14-2006, 04:30 AM
what i think would be cool is if these games that are gonna be downloadable would have some sort of online feature. since the ps1 didn't have an online. think playing battle arena toshinden online or something like that. it would be cool.
what i think would be cool is if these games that are gonna be downloadable would have some sort of online feature. since the ps1 didn't have an online. think playing battle arena toshinden online or something like that. it would be cool.
that would be nice, but it would require the game to be re-programmed. that isn't sufficient with a huge number of titles. it is likely that we will get no additions what so ever.
but for me, this will be much much better than to be offered with simple games like Arcade or sharware.
and also from that highlighted doesn't that mean that in order to play the later parts of the game you would have to be connected to the internet each time? reminds me of the phantom...
no, no. what they mean is that instead of waiting long for a complete download, you can begin playing the first levels while the download continues. once the download is finished, that is it. you'll have the complete game.
that is very clever. it may also say something about Sony wanting PS3 to download and do other online related apps while gaming at the same time.
cliffbo
03-14-2006, 06:43 PM
just a thought. would it be possible to have a product (maybe even built into PS3) that could burn these downloaded games onto a format that could only be played on the PS3. remember the talk a while back about Sony and them trying to create a disc format that would be encoded and only play on your own machine. could it apply here and is that where the rumour came from. i could have put this better but i'm sure you can see where i'm coming from.
aclar00
03-14-2006, 07:57 PM
what I really want though is PSP game downloads and movies. I think demos and trailers are not a problem, so they might as well ad that to both PSP and PS3 services.
That's what im thinking they will do. What's Connect and Hub are both up and running (if they are in fact having a HUB) then i think are PSP sticks will become even more useful. Afterall its been a year since the PSPs release, so we should be able to download demos or arcade games sometime soon hopefully
venomv
03-14-2006, 09:03 PM
just a thought. would it be possible to have a product (maybe even built into PS3) that could burn these downloaded games onto a format that could only be played on the PS3. remember the talk a while back about Sony and them trying to create a disc format that would be encoded and only play on your own machine. could it apply here and is that where the rumour came from. i could have put this better but i'm sure you can see where i'm coming from.
Sony has a patent for that, but nothing in the patent mentions games, it could be for just movies. I don't see a need for that, why not just store it on your HDD especially a PS1 game. Provided they have a HDD which they may if this service is real.
just a thought. would it be possible to have a product (maybe even built into PS3) that could burn these downloaded games onto a format that could only be played on the PS3. remember the talk a while back about Sony and them trying to create a disc format that would be encoded and only play on your own machine. could it apply here and is that where the rumour came from. i could have put this better but i'm sure you can see where i'm coming from.
why would they do such a thing? I can see how the games are only playble on PS3, but why only your PS3? that wouldn't be a good idea.
Sony has a patent for that, but nothing in the patent mentions games, it could be for just movies
from waht I know, the technology talks about having a disk being read by only one machine, regardless of what is on the disc (games, movies, pics, music, files, etc.)
but again, I don't see the practicality of such an app- unless we are talking about military and classified situations, which the ordinary consumer will have no use for.
cliffbo
03-14-2006, 10:28 PM
yes but Sony wouldn't want you to burn the game and sell it on. thats my thinking. if they could somehow tie your burned cd/dvd to your machine - problem solved.
venomv
03-14-2006, 11:24 PM
why would they do such a thing? I can see how the games are only playble on PS3, but why only your PS3? that wouldn't be a good idea.
from waht I know, the technology talks about having a disk being read by only one machine, regardless of what is on the disc (games, movies, pics, music, files, etc.)
but again, I don't see the practicality of such an app- unless we are talking about military and classified situations, which the ordinary consumer will have no use for.
That's what I was saying, it doesn't say games, it also doesn't say anything else, I said it 'could' just be movies, hopefully though it will be used on nothing, I think it sucks.
one of the things that scare me is Sony's over-the-top obsession over piracy. I wouln't be surprised with anything they do concerning formating and protection.
hope they lay down on the crack a bit with this one...
Red_Eyes
03-15-2006, 01:10 AM
With this service, I'll finally be able to play all those great PS1 RPGs like Valkryie Profile.
Crossbar
03-16-2006, 10:39 AM
Here's a schedule for the development environment for the PS3 network services:
PS3 PNP Development Schedule Released
Sony has released a development schedule for its PlayStation Network Platform. The firm says a production environment will be ready by September.
A first release of the development server / client software development kit is being released this month with a follow-up available in April. By June, full functions will be completed for the development server and in July full function test starts for licensees.
The major difference between PNP and Xbox Live is that publishers and licensees are able to connect their own game servers to the network. It also looks likely that it will offer a more flexible marketplace with the potential for users to auction virtual items to one another.
Otherwise, the service offers a standard and expected array of features including matchmaking, online video chat and content downloads.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2500&Itemid=2
VG Aficionado
03-16-2006, 10:51 AM
I wonder if Playstation Network servers will use Cell processors :!:
there will be Cell-based servers, but that doesn't mean Sony will only use such servers for PS3 online. IBM is really pushing for these Cell servers. I hope they end up to be all that and then some.
and since Sony announced PS1 game downloads to PSP, I think PS3 is a given. and since Live offers Arcades and Ninty their back-catalogue, they have more reason to do this. heck, why not throw in some PS2 games? who cares how big the files are if there are some people with fast broadband and want to download? this is one of the beauties of e-distribution; content is very cheap to publish.
Crossbar
03-16-2006, 12:33 PM
I wonder if Playstation Network servers will use Cell processors :!:
Well, they wouldn't have much benefit from Cells extreme floating point capacity. Though the streaming capacity of the SPEs could give some benfits, together with the low power consumption of Cell.
But, honestly I don't think it will be a prerequisite for servers to be Cell based. I think they want to keep things simple to start with.
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