Adinnieken said:
badgenome said:
Adinnieken said:
Sony's approach, if they're not the publisher, is going to create a nightmare situation in the long run. Indie developers go out of business all the time. It isn't going to be less true on PSN. I'm not saying indie developers are bad, they aren't. It's just they're going to have problems down the road.
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I'm not really sure how this is any different from the myriad digital distribution services on PC. This is not a future problem. It's something that happens right now on those services and, as you mentioned, has even occurred on PSN, XBL, etc.
So with the proliferation of indies on consoles, let's agree that this issue will become more widespread next generation. So what? It seems to me that it's far, far better to lower the barrier of entry and have those games, even if they are eventually delisted, than to never have them at all. Like, obviously so. To the point that I'm not even sure how it's debatable.
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Most indie developers don't use a service. They distribute independently. Some use Steam, but in general on the PC side for indies, distribution happens through a download on their site. An indie developer rising and falling on their own is just a problem for the consumer. An indie developer rising and falling on a service like Xbox LIVE or PSN is a problem for Microsoft and Sony as well, since they're conducting business for the developer.
You're right, this is a current problem. The problem is I don't see where Sony is doing anything to prevent a negative impact on consumers or their service.
As an example, there is nothing preventing a developer from creating malware. I'm even going to go out on a limb and say within the first year there will be malware disguised as a game. Just like there is a plethora of it in the Android store. It's great that Sony can delist the game. Awesome! The problem is the damage has already been done.
What would it do to consumer confidence and public trust if a game that Sony was actively promoting, turned out to contain malware that harmed consumers? Just a hypothetical question.
Traditionally, consoles have made the price of entry to them expensive because it is a closed system and some information is sacred. However, if anyone can develop for a system (the PS4) then you're likely to get more than you bargined for.
I'm not saying more games is bad. But everyone at the table has to consider everyone else's stake in the game. No one can just have a myopic view of the situation and say one solution is great and one solution is bad. Every solution has it's pluses and minuses. I see two big red flags with Sony's approach, not to say I wouldn't love seeing developers praise Microsoft's approach, but I think right now the view of indie developers is myopic. They are focused on what is best for them in selling games, but I doubt they are thinking about what happens if they fail or if someone introduces malware to the system.
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