Sony's PS2 effectively becomes "an open platform" in Europe

Seriously, calm down a minute. Your world has not just gotten infinitely better, although hearing the words "PlayStation" and "open platform" in the same phrase may make you think otherwise. In a relatively quiet announcement made at Casual Connect in Kiev, Ukraine, Sony Europe's George Bain proclaimed that developers would "no longer have to submit a game for content approval," effectively making the PS2 "an open platform." He pointed out examples from Russia and India, noting that they could now "create low-development cost titles and release them in their market." In all honesty, we have our doubts that this decision will make any real waves in North America, though Bain did mention a "global approval system" to replace the separated processes currently serving Europe, Japan and America. Now, if SCEA comes out and says something similar about the PS3, then you'll hear some real excitement in our voice.

[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of GamesAreFun]

[Dan Derksen @ Oct 29th 2008 4:15PM]

haha....tool

[rock99rock @ Oct 29th 2008 4:25PM]

Indeed. I'd buy it just for the "TOOL" marking.

[CT A @ Oct 29th 2008 4:38PM]

You guys know that's a Dev Kit right?

[rock99rock @ Oct 29th 2008 5:19PM]

@CT A

O rly? Wow i had no idea. I never read the articles. I just look at the picture then go straight for the comments. I thought it was some special edition promoted by Maynard.

Seriously though, i said i'd "STILL" buy it. Ya jackass.

[MyHeadisFed @ Oct 29th 2008 7:05PM]

O rly? I see no "STILL"....

[High Ranks make you sterile @ Oct 29th 2008 8:24PM]

Is it really necessary to refer to it as Sony's PS2? It should be a household name on here.

[SimbaDogg @ Oct 29th 2008 8:34PM]

this is officially the mark of the EOL of the PS2, this iwll probably be its last holiday season. Call it quits maybe...summer/fall 2009?

[rock99rock @ Oct 29th 2008 10:36PM]

@MyHeadisFed

Yea uhhhh well uhh You havent seen the new edit feature? Its all the rage. Untraceable.

;)

[iEye @ Oct 29th 2008 4:17PM]

great, now we can look forward to PS2 updated version of "Custer's Revenge"

ah quality family games...

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 29th 2008 4:20PM]

Wow!! OpenSource is amazing... Growing rapidly...

But I don't understand 1 thing... How do developers earn money?? If all apps are OpenSource.. Like OpenOffice is killing MS Office...
Can anyone explain....

[James @ Oct 29th 2008 4:22PM]

Look at google.

[deyanimay @ Oct 29th 2008 4:22PM]

Donations from the kindness of your heart and advertising.

[htd @ Oct 29th 2008 4:27PM]

how is this going to be authenticated on ps2? I dont think anybody can create the game, burn it on media, pop it in ps2 and play. otherwise anybody can make an ISO of current ps2 game and authorize it himself...

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 29th 2008 4:27PM]

@deyanimay

Thats not much.... It just a few dollars for months of work..!!

[SewerShark @ Oct 29th 2008 4:36PM]

They said "Open Platform", not "Open Source".

I means that will be easier to develop a game for PS2 w/o burocracy.

And thos expressions does no mean you can't charge for you app or game.

[DarkLight @ Oct 29th 2008 4:41PM]

@Jash:

You'd be surprised. The big open source projects have more users than you think... And even if only a small portion donates in small amounts, that's still more than you think.

(Can't say the same for small projects though - guess it's just the joy of programming)

(And then there are the ads, and sponsorships from big a$$ companies like HP)

[bhtooefr @ Oct 29th 2008 7:37PM]

Also, where the money really is in open source is in support contracts - people (especially businesses that use open source software) want someone to support the product, so they'll pay a company to provide support - sometimes it's a third party company, sometimes it's the software distributor (in the case of Linux distributions,) sometimes it's the developer themselves (in the case of stuff like MySQL.)

[chris @ Oct 29th 2008 9:38PM]

They don't. Or, they do in the form of support and maintenance, and add-ons.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 29th 2008 4:21PM]

We will see this on the PS3 definitely.. in maybe 5 years..

[Lowest Ranked @ Oct 29th 2008 4:28PM]

Porn Sim.

[HyperHacker @ Oct 29th 2008 9:04PM]

Custer's Revenge 3D?

[Aguiluz @ Oct 29th 2008 4:31PM]

In Europe, yes, but how about on other countries?

[Chris @ Oct 29th 2008 4:38PM]

You guys talk about the PS2 like nobody even has one. Just like in Rock Band and Guitar Hero articles you guys just trash it. I have a PS2 and so do many other people and would enjoy having a cool open source game. I would spend like what, $15 for the game if it supported the devs.

[From My Cube @ Oct 29th 2008 4:44PM]

easy killer, dont bust open that piggy bank

[Chris @ Oct 29th 2008 4:56PM]

Even though you wont ever see this, I am an 18 year old senior high school student and do not have boatloads of cash to spend on $1500 laptops like some of Engadget does..

[sjdurfey @ Oct 30th 2008 12:14AM]

its open-platform, not open-source.

[Ted @ Oct 29th 2008 7:00PM]

You want a cookie?

[MyHeadisFed @ Oct 29th 2008 7:24PM]

I hear you man. Just because it's old doesn't automatically mean it sucks, unlike what many of the consumer whores on here think.

The likelihood of open-platform games being awe inspiring is pretty slim as video game projects are usually very work intensive creations that require a lot of design time and polishing, but this doesn't mean that the games created by small companies or individuals can't be very entertaining and addictive.

People have started to expect their video games to be an almost cinema-like experience. With driving emotional stories and super realistic graphics. I honestly play my nintendo 64 more than my 360, wii, and ps3 combined. You know why? because more of the games were based around having some FUCKING FUN and not stuck on creating a whole new world for you that may or may not be more fun than real life.

[BigD145 @ Oct 29th 2008 4:43PM]

Definitely needs more free Linux.

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 29th 2008 4:48PM]

Hot Dog! Here comes Custer's Revenge 2.0 ;^)...
And yes we do care since PS2 games can be played on "the right PS3s"

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 29th 2008 4:48PM]

So it's like a PC, but infinitely crappier?

[luke @ Oct 29th 2008 10:06PM]

No. A PC is not a game console. you are saying that tangerines are crappier than granny smith apples.

in the same way, noone really cares about your opinion between totally different objects.

[JerkfacedFed @ Oct 29th 2008 5:05PM]

oh so now you can make games for it like on the pc, but its stuck back in 1999 graphically. great...

[Bobs @ Oct 30th 2008 11:13PM]

I dont see anyone complaining about linerider's graphics.

[Desi_D @ Oct 29th 2008 5:19PM]

"...although hearing the words "PlayStation" and "open platform" in the same phrase may make you think otherwise."

To be fair, Sony consoles are more open that their competitors. You can basically plug any mass storage device into PS3, use BT headsets, keyboards, mouse, Linux, etc. right out the box. PSP is wide open, through no fault of Sony though.

[Thanatos @ Oct 29th 2008 5:43PM]

The main reason they do that is because then they can categorize it as a computer instead of a game console and get huge tax breaks in Europe.

[Milas @ Oct 29th 2008 7:26PM]

Thanatos: False. That loophole was closed after the PS2.

[lorddshadow @ Oct 29th 2008 5:44PM]

incoming shovelware!

[XenoX101 @ Oct 29th 2008 11:56PM]

Does it come preloaded with Ænima?

[RealityMasque @ Oct 30th 2008 9:11AM]

So if I wanted to make a game for the PS2, I'd still need to get a dev kit or something. Plus, I'd have to transfer the code & assets to media that would work in another PS2. Isn't that still an expensive starting investment? Where do I get everything I need? Plus, will I be able to dev on my PC & see it work on the PS2 *before* burning to media, or would I have to by a seriously large stack of media with which to test?

- O8

[Ethan @ Oct 30th 2008 1:44PM]

Bring on the ps2 pron.