Sony vice president Peter Dille has spoken out about possible plans the company has for the future of the PlayStation Network, including the re-release of old PS1 and PS2 games and a possible switch to a subscription pay model.
At the moment access to PSN is totally free and Sony sits apart from Nintendo and Microsoft in the way that it prices downloaded games and goods in real money, not fictionalised points.
In a chat with IGN though, Dille confirmed that PSN may become a premium service in the future, with PlayStation users paying a subscription fee for access, though he was reluctant to discuss specific details of how the system might work.
"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," he said. "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."
Dille also briefly touched on the topic of digitally distributed games, saying that Sony was working very hard to put more PS1 and PS2 re-releases on PSN but that PS3 full-game downloads were unlikely.
"To download 50 gigs of data before you play a game [under current conditions], you could probably go buy a car, bring it home, put your family into it, drive to the store by and bring the game home by the time you [could download it," he explained.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
At the moment access to PSN is totally free and Sony sits apart from Nintendo and Microsoft in the way that it prices downloaded games and goods in real money, not fictionalised points.
In a chat with IGN though, Dille confirmed that PSN may become a premium service in the future, with PlayStation users paying a subscription fee for access, though he was reluctant to discuss specific details of how the system might work.
"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," he said. "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."
Dille also briefly touched on the topic of digitally distributed games, saying that Sony was working very hard to put more PS1 and PS2 re-releases on PSN but that PS3 full-game downloads were unlikely.
"To download 50 gigs of data before you play a game [under current conditions], you could probably go buy a car, bring it home, put your family into it, drive to the store by and bring the game home by the time you [could download it," he explained.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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