Sony Looks To Recapture The PSone Era With The PS4
When you get down to it, the original PlayStation really was a special console. After all, with it being a brand new entry in the console race many different game companies were able to really branch out and explore new options for games that they would have been more hard-pressed to do on, say, the N64. You got games like PaRappa the Rapper and Crash Bandicoot, featuring styles and game mechanics that wasn’t exactly the norm. The PlayStation really was a diverse console, and PS4 chief architect Mark Cerny is hoping that the PS4 will usher in a “renaissance of gaming” not seen since the PlayStation.
How is he hoping to do it? Simple: indie games. With the advent of digital downloads for consoles, Cerny sees indie games stepping in to fill a void that more traditional developers have left over the years. And Sony is really going all out in attracting indie developers, from loaning out dev kits to teams, to supporting indie developers with their Pub Fund.
Indie developers will have no problems publishing the kinds of titles they want to make for the PS4. Cerny had this to say: “We also understand that accessibility is paramount. So we’ve gone from putting our process out front to putting people out front, which is to say your indie journey on PS4 as a developer begins by tweeting Shahid Ahmad, not by filling out a form.” At the end of the day, though, I’d have to say that it’s not Sony or even the indie developers that are the winners, but really, it’s the gamers. I’m going to enjoy my mainstream titles, that’s for sure, but I’m sure there’s going to be some quirky game out there that I can’t wait to get my hands on!
