PS3 Fanboy interviews PSN producer Rusty Buchert

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 21st 2007 at 8:00AM }

Ever wonder who's responsible for choosing the games on the PLAYSTATION Store? Rusty Buchert, senior producer at SCEA's Santa Monica Studio, is the man to talk to about original games on the PSN. He has a unique vision for the Store, where he wants to bring indie games, such as Everyday Shooter, to the masses. Check out our exclusive interview with the man behind the scenes.

Can you explain to our readers what your position is at SCEA?
Hi all, my name is Rusty Buchert and I am a Sr. Producer at the Santa Monica Studios. My focus is purely on PSN titles for the PS3.

The PLAYSTATION Store has differentiated its offering from that of its competitors. We've seen a lot of unique experiences, such as fl0w, that simply aren't on the other platforms. How is Sony's focus on downloadable games different than the other guys?
My focus has been to find unique, fun experiences. We started searching for games like this from the outset and we were searching through the Indie Scene right out the gate. In general the Scene thinks outside the traditional development box. All to often people get indoctrinated into one general way of thinking about games in genre, design, and execution. You are not going to get anything new thinking like that. We were betting on the fact that people wanted something new and not a rehash of a rehash of a rehash.

Is there more or less risk involved in working with smaller games?
There is a lot less risk compared to the Blu Ray titles. There is a lot of upside to the risk being so much less. We get to experiment on a major portion of the games. We get to test out new game mechanics and design/experience ideas.

How does Sony decide to pursue a game for the PSN? Do you go to the developers, or do they come to you?
It is a mix. We have teams that come to us and we also are always on the watch for new teams with unique ideas. Before there was an official thatgamecompany, the team came to us with several ideas and wanted to work on PSN. In turn, we saw Everyday Shooter at GDC and we knew we had to pick it up.

What does Sony offer developers that choose to work for the PSN?
There is a lot we can bring to the table. The immediate thing is dev kits. For small or new teams this alone can be a real challenge to get. We can bring various technologies and tech experience to the table. We bring long term veterans to help teams along. Depending on the situation we can bring a large variety of resources to help as well. There is also the advantage of having SCEA's marketing and PR supporting titles.

At E3, you talked about trying to go for the biggest independent PC games, and bringing them to the PS3, creating a "Sundance Channel" of indie games on PS3. How is that effort going?
It is going, slowly but surely. Part of the trick is that we are being particular about what we pick up. There are a lot of games to sort through. When we find a gem we start pursuing it. Some work out, some don't. I recently heard back from one developer that wanted to finish college and then he would like to try. The game made me think he was already programming professionally. There are some other experimental projects projects that will also fit in this vein too. These are very much art and an extremely different take on interactivity.

What direction would you like to see the PSN move in?
I think we are already going in a good direction within SCEA proper. A mix of indie with traditional titles with a unique approach and some experimental projects are the way to go.

Finally, can you name some of your most anticipated upcoming PSN games?
Well, there is Everyday Shooter as well as the next game from thatgamecompany. Pixel Junk Racers as well as Go Sports Ski are both a blast. There are more, but I can't talk about them yet.

=====
Thanks Rusty for an eye-opening interview. We can't wait to see some of these ... unannounced art games.

Tags: interview, joystiqfeatures, playstationstore, psn, rustybuchert, store

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Russ @ Aug 21st 2007 8:16AM

SHould have asked some real questions like
*Why do some territories wait longer for content when the 360 manages to get worldwide launches?
*Why is everything being delayed?
*Why no demos for the multiplatform releases?
*Why no published schedule of releases?
*Do we have to wait FOREVER for anything worthwhile to get released?

bajanboss @ Aug 21st 2007 8:20AM

very nice

qrayg @ Aug 21st 2007 8:20AM

You should have asked him why it's taking so dang long to get games on the PSN. It's pretty embarrassing being a PS3 fan right now. Even the Wii has 2-4 VC games coming out every week. As of this writing there are exactly 2 games on the PSN that are worth playing.

sam-evans @ Aug 21st 2007 8:41AM

When are PSN price cuts coming, Super-Rub-a-dub is $2.99USD, while it is $15NZD

I would definitely buy it for the same price it is in the USA, should the price be droped here in New Zealand/Europe

slick @ Aug 21st 2007 9:08AM

ask when they are going to redesign the ugly network

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 21st 2007 9:07AM

Hey guys,

I think you're misunderstanding the games he's responsible for. We're not talking about PS1 ports. Nor are we talking about New Zealand pricing. We're talking about games developed exclusively for the PS Store coming from Sony Santa Monica.

Spherical @ Aug 21st 2007 9:27AM

@ TheSh0wstopper
Don't forget Super Stardust HD ;)

Aaron @ Aug 21st 2007 9:28AM

@ #3:If you have only found 2 games out of all the stuff on PSN that is worth playing, why do you even own a PS3? Sounds like your tastes are VERY narrow, in which case you shouldn't really be complaining about variety.SSHDBlast Factor Advanced ResearchCalling All CarsCastlevania: SOTNflOwPiyotamaAre just a few of the things I enjoy playing, and not just because that's all that is offered to me. To each his own, I suppose....

Aaron @ Aug 21st 2007 9:30AM

^^^ Damnit, my formatting got all messed up

drdre74 @ Aug 21st 2007 10:49AM

I'm with Russ. Why not ask the real questions. These questions dont answer anything that real PS3 fans want to know. I want to know why devs say they handed the demos over to Sony and 360 gets them up right away and Sony holds on to the demos for weeks. If they even get put out. 360 got the Skate demo today. Where is the PS3 demo? They said its done. It would be nice to at least get updates on what and when something is goning to get updated on the PSN.

James @ Aug 21st 2007 10:10AM

There are a lot of great games on PSN right now - I actually think it's probably the most underrated part of the platform. I bet that they aren't releasing a lot to the PS Store right now because they're waiting for HOME. I have a feeling once that platform is released they're going to deprecate the PS Store and move everyone to HOME, and that's when we'll see it take off.

MRBlue @ Aug 21st 2007 10:11AM

A better question is why does PSN always get demos AFTER the 360.

I understand when release dates are staggered between the two consoles but I get sick of reading about 360 demos of cross-platform games nearly every week while we get stuff like movie trailers and gameplay videos.

I love my PSN Store but I'd love it more if it had more playable demos for upcoming games.

It's because of the DiRT demo that I will definitely pick it up. And I know the store is still growing but demos need to be a better focus in the future.

Popfrogs @ Aug 21st 2007 10:43AM

Stay on topic, whiners. The guy in the interview is responsible for bringing NEW GAMES to the PS Store. He has nothing to do with demos or anything else.

If anything we should be thanking Rusty for gems like Flow, CaC, SSHD and Piyotama. These are all original titles distributed via the PSN exclusively.