Carmack - Sony's restrictions on third-party ports

[Dodece]

I am not surprised by the fact that some will blindly defend Sony, but I am surprised that nobody has really fingered the real consequence of this policy by Sony. This would be one of the things creating the delaystation phenomenon, or more to the point the hurry up and wait mindset that so riddles these forums. Sometimes I just feel sorry for PS3 loyalists. They sit there getting excited about unannounced ports of games which may or may not happen. Then if they do happen they are a year away from the market. I mean it looks downright pitiful how neglected the audience is that its beyond thrilled with the mere hope of a very delayed port.

Apparently Sony has not yet learned the familiar mantra beggars cannot be choosers. They really need to rework their philosophies to be in line with market realities, and their technological eccentricities. Which all to often leave developers already disillusioned with the prospects of developing for the platform. Sony is already costing them much more money then Microsoft, and has so much less to offer. Which is why Microsoft usually gets the first dig regardless, and this strategy is not going to help Sony change that. The only thing this strategy gets Sony is a port a year later if they get one at all.

The winner is most definitely not the PS3 owner. They already have little to play, and even less to get excited about. Most have said it on these forums the delays are just not acceptable. They cripple public perception rather then help public perception, and that is reason enough to not have such policies in place. Especially since that is probably the reason for the policy in the first place propaganda about game quality. Which seems far less relevant then release date. I cannot honestly think of one community member who would not have preferred Bioshock five months ago when there was nothing to play.

Seriously to those blindly defending Sony just stop. These kind of policies are part of the problem, and the sooner Sony realizes this the better. Removing the policy would greatly help the library as more titles could see the market sooner then otherwise, and titles that were not going to see the platform could possibly be ported. This is what would be good for PS3 owners. Having more good games as soon as possible, and having a richer selection to play.