Now, I'm not trying to inflame the burning hatred of any PlayStation fanboys here, but I think there is an undeniable truth when it comes to comparing Xbox Live Arcade titles and PlayStation Network games. Frankly, Sony has generally lagged behind Microsoft on exclusive, downloadable games. That's not to say that PlayStation doesn't have some excellent titles – "Joe Danger" and anything "PixelJunk" immediately come to mind – but one only needs to look at promotions like Summer of Arcade to realize Sony has lacked the breadth of Microsoft's exclusive offerings.
According to their new investment program, Sony is hoping to change all that.
Writing on the PlayStation Blog this morning, PlayStation Network's director of marketing, Brandon Stander, announced a three-year, $20 million dollar investment plan to bring more PlayStation Network exclusive titles under the company's portfolio. The investment capital will fund game development in Sony's first-party studios, as well as assisting indie developers via Sony's Pub Fund initiative. The Pub Fund has previously helped titles like "Tales from Space: About A Blob" to find their way to a larger audience.
"So what does this mean for you as a gamer? It means more unique, fun, innovative, edgy and higher quality game experiences on PSN that you won’t find anywhere else," Stander wrote on the blog. "Under this investment, we’re committed to delivering titles that have innovative gameplay mechanics, vibrant visuals, interesting storylines, and an artistic element to interactive entertainment that can only be found on PlayStation Network."
The first three titles to receive a portion of the funding are "Eufloria," an "ambient" real-time strategy game; "Okabu," a cutesy toybox game from the makers of "Rolando;" and "Papo and Yo," an interesting looking puzzle game. They all seem like fairly unique ideas, and if this new investment by Sony means more original games – not just in exclusivity, but also concept – make their way to a wider audience, it sounds like a fantastic idea.