Sony Sends Love Letter To Vita's Indie Developers

[Earnest Cavalli]

Sony Sends Love Letter To Vita's Indie Developers


Sony is heavily courting developers toward its Vita handheld, and we've got the lovey-dovey video to prove it.

Minutes ago we brought you word [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125424-Vita-Gets-its-Own-Indie-Games-Section] on the new independent games section now found on the PlayStation Vita handheld. In the wake of E3, Sony has decided to swoop in and offer indie devs a safe, lucrative platform on which to market their games, both because Microsoft has decided to take the opposite tack, and because indie games are increasingly earning as much public and critical adoration as big-budget tripe-A titles.

It seems a smart move on Sony's part, but we just hope that the company doesn't do anything to make it seem too needy. Business, just like romance, hinges heavily on making your partner think that you don't need them nearly as much as they need you. We call this "playing it cool" or "being an attractively self-absorbed jerk," but Sony apparently never learned this crucial lesson.

That video at top-right was issued alongside Sony's announcement of the new indie games section on the Vita and it can only be described as an audiovisual mash note to any smaller developers who might one day create a Vita game. "The Vita is awesome," it seems to say. "Our handheld won't ever abandon you, like Microsoft has. Actually, the Vita will make you breakfast every morning, and in the fall can we meet each others parents! Have you picked out names for our kids yet?"

Then again, this is just a promotional clip from a giant, multinational corporation. It's not capable of feeling overly attached, lust-based emotions for anything other than giant sacks of cash. Does Sony appear to be a bit too eager? Absolutely, and if this were a bar Sony would be going home alone tonight. However, it isn't, and this metaphor got away from me quite a while ago. Let's just be happy that the Vita has games scheduled for release in the future.

Source: YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-sas7NZK8&feature=youtu.be]

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[DrunkOnEstus]

Hey regardless of the methods I'm happy as hell about this. Hotline Miami is incredible on the Vita, it controls just perfect and the screen brings out all the nice color (mostly red, of course). I can't wait to see if I can bring quality indie games with me on the go without relying on touchscreen thumbsticks.

 

[Simalacrum]

"The Vita is awesome," it seems to say. "Our handheld won't ever abandon you, like Microsoft has. Actually, the Vita will make you breakfast every morning, and in the fall can we meet each others parents! Have you picked out names for our kids yet?"

?You know, that last part makes Sony sound less like a caring lover, and more like this?:

Just sayin'

On topic: I'm loving Sony's recent tactics of playing low on the DRM and smashing on the indie scene! Its almost like they saw what Ouya was doing and how popular that was, and are trying to jump on the bandwagon?

 

[Tanakh]

Color me exceptic. Sony has a infamous history of making exclusive everything it can to force users into it's platform and few games are as easy to get exclusive as indies, just at the E3 they showed that. It seems good on the short run, but have zero illusions this is more than a well calculated move to gain good PR and a chunk of the market, which sadly I think will work.

 

[kenu12345]

Color me exceptic. Sony has a infamous history of making exclusive everything it can to force users into it's platform and few games are as easy to get exclusive as indies, just at the E3 they showed that. It seems good on the short run, but have zero illusions this is more than a well calculated move to gain good PR and a chunk of the market, which sadly I think will work.

Whats so wrong with it working? So what more indie people on a console. Wooo. I say welcome. Nothing wrong with letting more people develop what they want. Its their choice if they want it exclusive

 

[Tanakh]

Whats so wrong with it working? So what more indie people on a console. Wooo. I say welcome. Nothing wrong with letting more people develop what they want. Its their choice if they want it exclusive

Nothing is wrong with it for Sony, as said it's good PR for cheap, getting some more users; I was just pointing out that the exclusivity on games however is a BS practice and I hope to get rid of it ASAP, and that Sony is obv not doing this out of "love to devs" as they claim, which should be apparent but you never know this days.

Hope this answer your post as had trouble with your sintaxis, Eng not being my first language and all.

 

[flarty]

Whats so wrong with it working? So what more indie people on a console. Wooo. I say welcome. Nothing wrong with letting more people develop what they want. Its their choice if they want it exclusive

Nothing is wrong with it for Sony, as said it's good PR for cheap, getting some more users; I was just pointing out that the exclusivity on games however is a BS practice and I hope to get rid of it ASAP, and that Sony is obv not doing this out of "love to devs" as they claim, which should be apparent but you never know this days.

Hope this answer your post as had trouble with your sintaxis, Eng not being my first language and all.

If Sony has realised good practices is going to make more money then we all benefit, as for platform exclusivity, Indies get to self publish now, so its completely at the Indies discretion if it wants to be exclusive or not. Sony has lost a lot of 3rd party exclusives this gen, and its has probably been a good thing as the game they have developed to counter this trend have been nothing short of stunning most of the time.

 

[Toadfish1]

Whats so wrong with it working? So what more indie people on a console. Wooo. I say welcome. Nothing wrong with letting more people develop what they want. Its their choice if they want it exclusive

Nothing is wrong with it for Sony, as said it's good PR for cheap, getting some more users; I was just pointing out that the exclusivity on games however is a BS practice and I hope to get rid of it ASAP, and that Sony is obv not doing this out of "love to devs" as they claim, which should be apparent but you never know this days.

Hope this answer your post as had trouble with your sintaxis, Eng not being my first language and all.

If Sony has realised good practices is going to make more money then we all benefit, as for platform exclusivity, Indies get to self publish now, so its completely at the Indies discretion if it wants to be exclusive or not. Sony has lost a lot of 3rd party exclusives this gen, and its has probably been a good thing as the game they have developed to counter this trend have been nothing short of stunning most of the time.

Yeah, with self publishing, there are really only three ways that Sony would get exclusives from indies - (a) they offer them such a good deal they don't feel the need to put it on any other platform, in which case its up to other services to close the gap, (b) the indies decide to do something cool with an exclusive feature on the Ps4, in which case the game wasn't going to exist without the Ps4, or (c) Sony give the dev funding to put their idea together, like with the Pub Fund, or the relationship they have with Giant Sparrow, in which case, the game wouldn't exist without Sony's direct intervention, and they deserve to be compensated in some way.

You can't really argue against any off these reasons for exclusives without just a blanket blind hatred for the concept, unrooted in any rationality.

 

[Tanakh]

You can't really argue against any off these reasons for exclusives without just a blanket blind hatred for the concept, unrooted in any rationality.

Really, you can't? And here I am finding it quite easy:

- I am a PC gamer that only plays PvP and Indie games, because they suit me better.

- Sony is buying indie devs, good ones with some PC games published at that.

- I won't be able to consume further works from them without getting a PS4, which is a pain in the ass.

Your problem brah is that you are only seeing it from the companies perspective, it does look good for them.