IGN recently caught up with Peter Dille Sony’s senior vice president, also known as the man who manages the PlayStation Network (PSN) to discuss digital PS2 game distribution, as well as the possibility of the PSN becoming a subscription based service, similar to Xbox live Gold.
One of the first issues raised was the PS3’s inability to play PS2 games. Dill responded by saying that Sony is working towards a solution, and plans to get as many PS2 games on PSN as possible.
“We’re going through our own studio organization and trying to make sure all these old games are out there so that we can lead by example, but we’re also communicating with all the third-parties about the success of the Final Fantasy games, and other PS1 and PS2 classics.”
The problem with this strategy is that it will not enable gamers who already own PS2 games to play them on their PS3, unless they purchase and download the PSN version, which doesn’t really seem fair seeing as how they already bought the game, or more poignantly, a license to play the game.
Dill pointed out that it will be a long time before the digital distribution model will be applied to new PS3 releases.
The reason given is that some games run up to 50GB, although in reality, most games take up less than 15GB.
Dille was careful when discussing the potential of subscription based PSN functionality in the future.
“It’s been our philosophy not to charge for it from launch up until now, but [Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai] recently went on the record as saying that’s something we’re looking at. I can confirm that as well. That’s something that we’re actively thinking about. What’s the best way to approach that if we were to do that? You know, no announcements at this point in time, but it’s something we’re thinking about.”
Although Microsoft has been charging for Xbox Live Gold since its launch, if Sony were to introduce a similar system it would cause pandemonium with PS3 owners. Perhaps the best route to take then is that of Microsoft’s, and charge up front, because Sony is going to have a tough time getting current PSN users to warm to the idea of a subscription based “premium service” after having it for free for so many years.
