Hate the long delays between game releases in America, Europe and Japan? Well, that may be over, according to a report by
GameDaily. A change in the game approval process means developers can submit to just one territory, and gain approval in all. "Previously games had to be submitted separately through Sony Europe, Japan, and America. Now, the game idea is sent through a single website for approval."
Sony is hoping this will encourage even more developers to release their games on PlayStation Network. They'll continue to tout the benefits of the PSN: it's free, doesn't require a publishing partner, and can be distributed around the world simultaneously. Will developers be able to refuse this kind of offer?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AF @ Oct 24th 2008 12:15PM
Sounds like a good idea.
Torgo @ Oct 24th 2008 12:15PM
This would be HUGE!!!!!
devilmaker @ Oct 24th 2008 12:15PM
Oh wow, this is great news. Is there any time frame for when this whole system may come to be?
mahunoy @ Oct 24th 2008 12:18PM
Awesome!
bry2an @ Oct 24th 2008 12:19PM
OK, This sounds good but for me I could also see a problem. I see a problem of longer approval process and for instance a US developed game would require all the European languages to gain approval for the US. I hope I'm wrong on this.
Averna @ Oct 24th 2008 6:49PM
They have the 'option' of global approval. I dont get why Europe is so uptight about the language thing, Asian regions have English only games on their store. Just label them and get over it, better than not releasing the game at all...
Popfrogs @ Oct 24th 2008 12:20PM
Sweet idea, but I fear this will mean delays for the US and other "easy" territories. I guess we'll never know it though since there will be simultaneous releases.
Jerses @ Oct 24th 2008 12:38PM
Yes!!! thats what i thought... games will have a huge delay because we have to wait for Europe to add the language support to the game, japan to add japanese and then have a release worldwide... If this is just to make thinks faster with a week in delay in other countries then its ok.
Vesku @ Oct 24th 2008 6:24PM
I don't think the language support factor plays as big a part in all of this as one might initially think. Remember the "Ratchet and Clank" and "Uncharted" demos last year? The delay between their respective US and EU releases on the PS store was a couple of weeks -- yet the US versions of the demos of either title already included dubs and subs for every conceivable language, inc. Spanish, German, Swedish and, if I'm not terribly wrong, some Eastern languages as well.
Thereby it's reasonable to assume that the localization process for most games is already underway during its making -- though Final Fantasy XIII is the exception that proves the rule here. The cause for these irritating delays, methinks, is mostly paperwork. And replacing that SCEA logo with a Sony logo of each respective region.
Mentality @ Oct 24th 2008 12:26PM
Finally, that's all I can say. Great News.
Vincent @ Oct 24th 2008 12:32PM
I hope so. While they are at it, maybe Latin America and some other regions will be able to purchase from the PSN?
Jerses @ Oct 24th 2008 12:53PM
It won´t happen this year or the next... im losing hope that latinamerica having its own store. I will be happy just to get what we were promised...that disc based games will come the same day as US... We dont have farcry2, bioshock ....Silent hill came 2 weeks late, and LBP to november 10 ( even when the release date was October 21).
Jem @ Oct 24th 2008 12:48PM
Brilliant, but why the hell has it taken this long?
Olesya @ Oct 24th 2008 12:53PM
One of my most wanted news.
I hope It will be real as soon as possible.
The1stMJC @ Oct 24th 2008 1:02PM
This just seems like it would annoy everyone. Okay North America would delay what Japan is used too, Europe would delay what North America is used too. This is only gonna benefit Europe. But would this mean we all would get the same store content like those Japanese PSONE games?
HAAS599 @ Oct 24th 2008 1:13PM
sounds great but...
What else, besides language, would make one regions game differ from another.
Are all regions pretty much just going to follow the strictest regions rules?
naxe @ Oct 24th 2008 1:17PM
maybe now we might be able to get our hands on some of the JPN only games.
I hope so...... they get massive updates
James @ Oct 24th 2008 1:19PM
Why is everyone saying there will be huge delays? Seeing as they will be sent to one territory to be approved then the game will be released in every territory on the same day. To have a delay you would have to have a release date confirmed then later changed to a later date so if one release date for the whole world is confirmed and comes out on that day then there are absouletly no delays for anyone!
Gambit07 @ Oct 24th 2008 1:28PM
Finally, Antarctica is back in the game baby!
drdre74 @ Oct 24th 2008 1:39PM
this will be great and I think M$ will be kicking itself in the a$$ if this happens. I really hope sony can make it happen and ASAP!
SaMav @ Oct 24th 2008 6:00PM
I like what u did there with the "$"
Copland @ Oct 24th 2008 2:06PM
This sounds like a really good idea :)
Darlaten @ Oct 24th 2008 2:23PM
Until the PSN is actual one PSN, i.e., not a separate one for North America, Japan, Europe, etc., this really doesnt help gamers does it? What I mean by that is this: would this open up all of the games that are released, let's say in Japan, for North America? Or would we still have to have a separte account for Japan, etc?
Popfrogs @ Oct 24th 2008 10:41PM
Different laws = different regions. I doubt there will ever be some unified, global PSN that anyone, anywhere can login and get content from. It sounds good on paper but there are alot of legal hurdles to jump over first.
The_Icon @ Oct 24th 2008 3:52PM
This is great news
manbeast @ Oct 24th 2008 4:03PM
Thats bad f*ckin a$$. I've been wanting some jap ps1 action on my ps3!
Jim @ Oct 24th 2008 8:27PM
I just hope this means we will get those extra maps for GTAIV that the Xbox people are getting. I cant describe (using family friendly words) how annoyed I am that our once "exclusive" game was dumbed down for and favored to the competition just because they dropped their (fire hazard) system before Sony put out true greatness in home gaming.
dj_ghosie @ Oct 24th 2008 10:28PM
Just about time!
The Asia-pacific (asia area except japan) PSN store is full of..... well.... NOTHING! Now there's slight hope in getting the purchase content from other region!
Linger in shadow, here i come!
bnz @ Oct 25th 2008 4:37AM
Good. A step into the right direction. Besides, the language thing for Europe is a split thing. People like me couldn't care less about translations or dubbed voices while others desperately want it. It is probably also a matter of age - you cannot expect a twelve year old kid to speak a foreign language well. Another thing that should really be taken care of is the protection of minors. The german PSN store currently does not receive any adult content, i.e. game demos or videos with the slightest amount of violence, at all. They really need to activate accounts for this stuff based on age checks.
Kristopher gonzalez @ Oct 25th 2008 8:23AM
Does this mean all those PS1 titles (in the Japanese psn) will be available for all regions?
Evan @ Oct 25th 2008 11:26AM
I hope this means more Japanese games made available for North America.
Eru @ Oct 25th 2008 2:08PM
Well, considering Wipeout HD hasn't appeared on PSN Asia, I think this is a splendid idea!
Enix @ Oct 27th 2008 10:20AM
I hope this means we will be getting all the Japanese PSclassic games for the psp. I've been wanting to buy MGS and the Resident Evil games that are available in Japan. I don't really care if they're in Japanese; it's better than waiting for a port of the English versions. This may be a stretch, but it's possible that this might slow down pirating and the use of psp custom firmware. I only say that because for me, considering custom firmware for the psp wasn't about the money. It's because the games I want on my psp aren't available to me through the PSN store so the only option we have is custom firmware or the tedious process of using a Japanese account... Anyway, I hope we see some better games on the PSN store soon.