I think the PSN store blows.  No demo section and no 16/18 rated games for my country. lol

It does seem like XBLA gets better content in general, so this is good news for PS3 owners and people who straight up don't like the Microsoft Points system.

@Arath said:

It's definately about support and how easy it is to get started. You type XNA into google and bam, within 5 minutes you can download the development tools and begin tinkering. If I want to begin developing for PSN... where do I begin? Is it really any surprise that the barrier to entry is simply much higher on PSN for indie developers than it is on XBL. Further to this Microsoft has done a fantastic job of really categorizing Indie development titles as it's own separate niche, through XBLA, which has definitely helped. While 20 Million is nothing to scoff at, I wonder whether this is really addressing the accesibility issue at it's roots.

This. I mean I went to a shitty college, and they still had a Microsoft guy there teaching a game development class with XNA. I don't have a clue where I would start with PSN.

Yes it's easier to develop indie games on XBLA...but nobody buys them, 

I don't like exclusives mostly because I just own 1 console, while most of them that I want are on the one I own there are always some that I will most likely never play which obviously is a bummer. It's good that PSN might get better and all that but this should have happened a few years ago when it mattered to me, now it just seems lame that a few more interesting games will be locked out of my grasp. 
 
"Getting users quality content"... at least with the 360 and the investments Microsoft made into getting/funding studios projects you generally get a game on 2 platforms. Am I gunna see all these games Sony is helping make on a Sony tv or something? I don't own any Sony products these days :(

@Green_Incarnate said:

@Arath said:

It's definately about support and how easy it is to get started. You type XNA into google and bam, within 5 minutes you can download the development tools and begin tinkering. If I want to begin developing for PSN... where do I begin? Is it really any surprise that the barrier to entry is simply much higher on PSN for indie developers than it is on XBL. Further to this Microsoft has done a fantastic job of really categorizing Indie development titles as it's own separate niche, through XBLA, which has definitely helped. While 20 Million is nothing to scoff at, I wonder whether this is really addressing the accesibility issue at it's roots.

This. I mean I went to a shitty college, and they still had a Microsoft guy there teaching a game development class with XNA. I don't have a clue where I would start with PSN.

Learn programming languages. Microsoft's tools are Microsoft only and any thing you learn cannot be transferred over to another platform. It's Microsoft's plan to keep devs dependent on their tools.

If you knew programming languages you wouldn't have to ask yourself this hypothetical question. I know Java, and I've been making stupid love calculator apps for Android and WebOS while school's out. I didn't have to google search anything I just started running the code in the JDK and APK for Android and similarly for WebOS. It's really just about experience and Microsoft seems to target people without any so that they become experienced only in Microsoft development environment.

Sorry guys you lost the war.  Exclusives are pretty much done unless you are a bought and paid for in-house 1st party dev team.  Exclusives gave way to "timed exclusives" sometime while you were busy harassing indie devs and hackers with legal actions.  Incidentally the only people who gave a shit about your system other than 9-to-5'ers.
 
Multi-platform digital distro looms on the horizon with Steam leading the way.  your console hardware looks sloppy and dated.  no small indie dev shop is going to care unless you bury them in cash, and even then you probably only buy yourself a timed release schedule.

@laserbolts said:

I have never bought anything off of psn. Do they have points cards or do I have to give them my credit card number?

there are points cards, yes.

@Snapstacle: I have a degree in computer science. I know programming languages. That being said, I don't know what development kit I would need to start coding on PS3 (then again haven't really looked). Just saying MS makes it easier for you to get started, or is at least more well known.

@Green_Incarnate said:

@Snapstacle: I have a degree in computer science. I know programming languages. That being said, I don't know what development kit I would need to start coding on PS3 (then again haven't really looked). Just saying MS makes it easier for you to get started, or is at least more well known.

There's no kit, you just code, and when you get your hands on some hardware, you compile. I've looked into, it's just like using and Linux machine. This really shouldn't be a question people ask themselves if they have the experience. MS pimps out their tools so that they get devs started early, thus making them completely dependent.

@Snapstacle: What type of hardware? Cost? Cause on 360, it only costs me to publish.

@Green_Incarnate: You trollin' dawg.

wow, the "xbots" really came out to troll on this one huh?!? The more games the better I say, and if it's Sony ponying up the cash, it's only logical that they will be exclusives, I don't see people wining about nintendo or microsoft financed games not coming to psn, so yeah.

As an indie developer I want good architecture not sony's sad excuse for computing architecture. I'll stick to indie games channel on 360, WiiWare on Nintendo, and PC for non-commercial games.

This is such a great move by the company and it's beneficial to the small companies in general.

Sony kind of has to.  Microsoft has been forcing the whole exclusive thing down all our throats recently, either completely exclusive downloadable titles, or timed exclusives.  I would prefer that the platform choice be left to the developers and publishers, instead of going to whichever platform has the most money up front. I dont blame publishers for taking these offers, guaranteed money now can be better than potential money down the road.
 
As someone who owns multiple platforms, it annoys the heck out of me, because it's killing the reason I own more than one platform - choice.  They're basically taking my ability to choose away from me.  And for people who can't afford PS3 and 360? They're choosing what games you can play, before you even know these games exist. 
 
I hated exclusives in the last generation, and I hate that theyre bringing them back on downloadable titles.  The best thing about this generation is the close race between 360 and PS3, which has caused the death of exclusivity from third parties - I hope nobody ever wins the console war the way PS2 did last generation. 
 
And it really bugs me, as a LIVE subscriber, that I see MORE ads on the service I pay for, than on the one I use for free.

i don't get how people can still be bitching about the ads on XBL. out of all the tiles you can scroll through, maybe 2 will be actual advertisements for things they don't sell. you know, the ones that actually say 'Advertisement' under them. every other tile shows off something they are selling, whether it be Arcade titles or upcoming games or movies or DLC. it is like bitching about how the local GameStop has a giant poster for Gears of War 3. OF COURSE they would have a poster for a big upcoming release. they want people to buy it. i mean, people are also asking for MS to advertise their Indie games more often. if they did that, how do you think they would go about it? ..... i am guessing by showing off the games in those tiles that we all scroll through every time we boot up the system.  
 
it shouldn't come as a shock to all of you to know that the majority of gamers out there don't come to sites like this everyday. unless you expect them to magically know the release date or even the existence of upcoming titles, it is just the way it is. 

@88Fingers - Hahahah wow troll much? What an unhappy gamer!? Go make a personal blog, leave these giant troll rants off news posts.

Maybe they could revamp the actual store first. XBLMP may be filled with ads but it's so much more inviting. PSN Store feels like a rather poorly designed website from the nineties.  Fanboy disclaimer: Can't wait for Journey on PSN!

@squidracerX said:

@88Fingers - Hahahah wow troll much? What an unhappy gamer!? Go make a personal blog, leave these giant troll rants off news posts.

Just flag his post and move on.

Want to get me to pay more attention to PSN, Sony? Make sure that every game on the service has some type of preview media available, whether it's a demo, gameplay video, or screenshots. It seems that the vast majority of games that I've looked at on the service have nothing other than a few paragraphs of description. That's like trying to make my buying  decision based on the blurbs on the back of a game box, only a game box at least has tiny little pictures for me to go off of. 
 
The lack of demos is the most damning of all, though. You should have copied Microsoft on that one, Sony.

Fuck. This article really made me crave another Shadow Complex. Come on Chair! Stop sitting on your hands and make it already!!!

Exclusivity is never good, If more gamers can play the game the more fun. And how much more players have in common with eachother the bigger the game will be. Ofcourse theres some good in letting young companies have a chance. But as someone said (up in this) its better to let the companies decide if they want to make thier games exclusive not force them to it, because some company have more money than the other one.  
 
It would be cooler if the biggest companies tried to make it possible with online gameing beetween  the consoles. So you don´t need to have 2 consoles and a pc :(

Why invest so much money?  To copy Microsoft.  Sony has become nothing but copy-cats and every attempt is second rate.  Achievements = Trophies  XBOX LIVE = PSN   WII = Move   WII Miis & XBOX Avatars = Home  XBOX INDIES = minis ?   The 360 controller = Dual Shock with terrible triggers  This copy-cat routine has been going on for years.  Hell, the Dreamcast shipped with a modem, years later Sony made a modem add-on to the PS2  XBOX had Halo, Sony boasted KILLZONE the Halo killer (lmao)  360 had Gears, PS3 had Resistance     Japanese game developement is stale and irrelevant  PS3 is a Japanese system, made in Japan, by Japanese people for Japanese people.  I'll never understand the loyalty Americans have for this foreign system     JRPGs were big on the PS2 and a huge reason why it was successful.  JRPGs are no longer relevant  The Japanese try to Americanize their games and fail at every attempt  Call of Duty  Halo  Left4Dead  Grand Theft Auto  ElderScrolls  BioShock  Fallout  Portal  Battlefield  World of Warcraft  StarCraft  Mass Effect  Forza  Diablo   Assassins Creed  etc....  The biggest games are from USA, Canada and Europe     Without these Countries  Gaming would be dead. Or we'd be stuck playing jrpgs with cross-gender males with pink spikey hair out to save the world.    Sorry Sony, what ever you do, Microsoft will be one step ahead  and will always be better.

So Sony announces 20 million to go towards PSN? Another failed attemp to keep the loyalist happy... Nice timing as well, when the world is buzzing about XBOX's Summer of Arcade  Sony boo-hoo-ing about exclusives reeks of jealousy  Face it Sony, you'll always be in 3rd place

As much as I love a lot of the content that goes up on PSN, this is kind of late. 
 
The reason XBLMarketplace got so far ahead is because they were grabbing all the exclusives they could since day 1, which made the console more appealing to customers. I think just about everyone has decided on a 'main' console to purchase things on if they're on both consoles, and are otherwise buying on the console with the exclusive of course.
 
Putting more money into PSN definitely can't hurt though, if it can get some more games to come out, or stop a few Microsoft exclusives that'd be a nice plus. Lets just end the exclusives guys, everyone already made their choices a long time ago. 
 
I gotta say though, Microsoft needs those exclusives to keep me using their service. Between having to deal with Microsoft Points and their really sketchy auto renewal process where I can't remove my card online and have to sit on the phone for 2 hours, I would probably buy everything on PSN if it was available.

XBox's 'Indie Game' selection is mostly badly implemented, internet approved grammatical errors and attempts to blend fan-fiction erotica with simple card and puzzle games.  I could stand living with the PS3's bare bones DLTs if it means not being inundated with GoW3 teasers and reaffirmations  that netflix.com is better when I have to spend batteries to use it.  

Good to see, i enjoy alot of what sony has to offer exclusively on psn.

It's too bad they always seem to arrogantly hover two years behind in taking initiative on what people want.

Hopefully PSN expands on providing greater number of games/content, indie or otherwise. Would love to see Bastion on the PS3.

More (hopefully) good games is always good news.

Just flag his post and move on.

Would love to see Bastion on the PS3.

psn has a lot of awesome games but they just don't get the publicity they should.

PSN really need to implement a voice chat system that doesn't rely on the games infrastructure to run. Most games i've played on the PS3 (Borderlands, Resistance 2, Modern Warfare 2) have massive voice chat issues and unlike XBL, the PSN doesn't have the ability to run party chat outside of the game which is imo, the biggest thing lacking from their network.

Best of luck to them but I have to wonder, when it comes to game development, how far does 20 million over three years really go these days? Especially considering the money that developers could have to spend just learning the PS3's less-than-standard architecture. 
 
For me personally, I just hope the money goes more towards straight up fun like Joe Danger and less towards one-of-a-kind experiences like Flower.

  I gotta say though, Microsoft needs those exclusives to keep me using their service. Between having to deal with Microsoft Points and their really sketchy auto renewal process where I can't remove my card online and have to sit on the phone for 2 hours, I would probably buy everything on PSN if it was available.

@squidracerX: Well if it comes out on the PC I'll probably just buy it off Steam.

@Lind_L_Taylor: Well, you have Dust 514, Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, inFamous, Killzone 2&3, MAG... the list goes on.

$20mil seems like a pittance for Sony to spend on upgrading the PSN. Especially when spread out over several years.

@Lind_L_Taylor said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Lind_L_Taylor: Well, you have Dust 514, Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, inFamous, Killzone 2&3, MAG... the list goes on.

Other than Dust, I don't care much for those others. Sony never puts them on the PC later on, so I never even get a taste as to what I might be missing. Thus, ignorance is bliss to my pocketbook.

You should try Heavy Rain & Uncharted 2. And Demons Souls. Those 3 are the only games where you wont find an equal (or better) experience on the 360.

@Lind_L_Taylor said:

@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto said:

@Lind_L_Taylor: Well, you have Dust 514, Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, inFamous, Killzone 2&3, MAG... the list goes on.

Other than Dust, I don't care much for those others. Sony never puts them on the PC later on, so I never even get a taste as to what I might be missing. Thus, ignorance is bliss to my pocketbook.

You should try Heavy Rain & Uncharted 2. And Demons Souls. Those 3 are the only games where you wont find an equal (or better) experience on the 360.

I think they need more titles that scream "Must Play" like Uncharted.

I can't believe people want ads, whether or not that's what people are requesting, that's what it boils down to. I love the XMB because it's not riddled with "WHOA NEW GAME AND CONTEST ENTRY DUDES!!!".

That being said, props to PSN for buying into this. It seems like they're a bit beyond Microsoft in terms of their vision for the idea of downloadable game access, but they're catching up.