SEPT. 7, 2009 • Hoping to generate some of the same success as Apple’s iPhone, Sony Computer Ent. has introduced its PSP Minis program: micro-sized games at App Store-like prices. Titles will be marketed in a Minis branded area of the PlayStation Store. To make creating games for the initiative, SCE lowered the cost of PSP development kits by 80% to $1,500. The company does not want to emulate Apple’s free kit based on worries it would attract too many “hobbyist” projects. SCE says its reaching out beyond existing PSP developers to casual online and PC studios that have done ‘interesting” projects.
Impact: The success of Apple’s App Store has the established platform manufacturers worried. The idea of the Minis program is to offer games at a lower cost so that the PSP can be effectively pitched as a system that can not only play iPhone type apps, but also full-fledged high-end games. In theory this makes the PSP a much higher value proposition. Of course, this initiative is nothing new. Nintendo has the DSi Ware program and all the major consoles allow for downloading small-size games. At the end of the day, these programs offer more options for consumers and developers, but sales for these type of products are minor compared with traditional portable and console games.
