As companies continue to merge, grow, consume and acquire more technology and other smaller companies I often see the potential for great gaming possibilities.
Sony: The Life/Death/Rebirth of an Online Service
Sony is by no means down and out for the count. Sure, their house is in massive disarray presently and the Playstation Network has been down for weeks and may continue to be for weeks to come.
But that does not mean we should discount them in the future of gaming. They have pretty much been the leader in the one-login, multi-platform crusade for some time. They even offer a buy once play on multiple devices set up thanks to PS Minis which are available on PS3 and PSP.
Now they’ve joined Google’s Android to the party with their announcements of the Playstation Suite which will start to bring those PS games to Android devices. On top of that they’ve also got the NGP on the horizon and let’s not forget the Xperia Play.
The trick is going to be to get devs on board to make a game that runs well on multiple devices and hopefully includes some cross-platform play.
The good news is that Sony and Valve did just that with Portal 2. They showed that a game can be great on two different platforms and allow for cross-platform play. Perhaps that was meant as a functioning and successful tech demo to demonstrate the power of working together. It might be the example that was needed to show that cooperation can indeed breed success and customer loyalty. I specifically bought the PS3 version of the game to see the online functionality and get the PC version along with it. Then of course PSN went down...
In fact, this could become a standard feature in the future. Playstation 3 users can buy a game and play with their PC-playing friends. It might not work for all titles, but it could certainly work for many like first and third-person shooters as well as real-time strategy titles.
Sony Online, who unfortunately was also the victim of data theft, has also shown that it can be accomplished with both Free Realms and DC Universe Online which can be played on PC and Playstation 3.
Now if we can get that caliber of game on upcoming Andoid tablets and superphones life will indeed be chocked full of gaming.
The real trick is going to instill consumer faith in their services once again. The PSN hack has hit them hard and will continue to do so as things get all sorted out. But it’s nowhere near the death of them, in fact, over time it might make them the most secure gaming network around. Maybe it was just the rootkit they needed to see the light.
