Sony on PS3 hacking: “We embrace independent game development”

15 June 2011

In a recent interview with the NYTimes, Sony CEO Jack Tretton denies that the company wants to deter users from modifying their consoles, saying that “No, there’s a real misnomer there, we embrace independent game development; if you call that hacking, then we embrace that.

We give people tools that let them create new experiences.”

… Wait, what. And no, I’m sure LittleBigPlanet doesn’t count.

“What I don’t think we are in support of is someone trying to hack our device to pirate software and possibly collapse the platform,” he adds, which seems reasonable enough, but what he says does sort of seem to contravene actual reality, which shows that – quite on the contrary – Sony regularly releases firmware updates to prevent people modifying their consoles for any reason whatsoever.

Of course, the question of quite how to provide a platform for real indie development without providing a platform for piracy (or worse) remains relevant. As soon as somebody comes up with a good solution, drop Sony an email or something.

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