When Sony unveiled the NGP and talked about its PlayStation Suite initiative for the first time earlier last week, you may remember that the publisher didn’t use the magical word “exclusive” when describing the PSS’ connection to Android. That was a deliberate move so it could keep the communication and creative channels open — a point that SCE CEO Kaz “Ridge Racer” Hirai talked around in a roundtable discussion after the event.
“We have a completely open stance. With carriers and with hand set makers,” Hirai said according to Andriasang.com. “There are a variety of OSes,” he said. “But we’re focusing first on Android. There’s also Windows, iOS and so forth, but we don’t have the resources to make it compatible with everything from the start."
This is the NGP, FYI.
We speculated that Sony could bring PSS to iOS, and while this isn’t anywhere near a confirmation, we’re more aware now that Sony is willing to, at least, entertain the idea of doing so. But there are a few stumbling blocks.
First, all games that go through PSS will be certified by Sony and funneled through its own closed system, presumably similar to iTunes in theory. Apple, of course, already certifies its own stuff and has its own digital delivery system. I can’t see Apple being fans of having a system on top of a system, so that’s block one.
Block two is that devices that will use PSS will need to be PlayStation Certified. There are a billion Android handsets out there, so this helps Sony keep the amount of SKUs it needs to certify games for down (probably way, way down). It also gives Sony a measure of control over what needs to be on a phone. I can’t see Apple playing ball with this either. Can you imagine a flip iPhone or iPod Touch that has a PlayStation d-pad? Yeah, me neither.
Still, this is interesting to hear from Hirai and we’ll no doubt keep our eyes on this initiative as it blossoms into a beautiful flower. A lot of you, including me, don’t think PSS will ever come to the iOS, but hey, we live in a world where a lot of crazier stuff has happened. Can you believe that, like, 300 Spartans kept an entire army at bay for a couple of days? Insane!
