PS3 Fanboy interviews PSN producer Rusty Buchert
Ever wonder who's responsible for choosing the games on the PLAYSTATION Store? Rusty Buchert, senior producer at SCEA's Santa Monica Studio, is the man to talk to about original games on the PSN. He has a unique vision for the Store, where he wants to bring indie games, such as Everyday Shooter, to the masses. Check out our exclusive interview with the man behind the scenes.
Can you explain to our readers what your position is at SCEA?
Hi all, my name is Rusty Buchert and I am a Sr. Producer at the Santa Monica Studios. My focus is purely on PSN titles for the PS3.
The PLAYSTATION Store has differentiated its offering from that of its competitors. We've seen a lot of unique experiences, such as fl0w, that simply aren't on the other platforms. How is Sony's focus on downloadable games different than the other guys?
My focus has been to find unique, fun experiences. We started searching for games like this from the outset and we were searching through the Indie Scene right out the gate. In general the Scene thinks outside the traditional development box. All to often people get indoctrinated into one general way of thinking about games in genre, design, and execution. You are not going to get anything new thinking like that. We were betting on the fact that people wanted something new and not a rehash of a rehash of a rehash.
Is there more or less risk involved in working with smaller games?
There is a lot less risk compared to the Blu Ray titles. There is a lot of upside to the risk being so much less. We get to experiment on a major portion of the games. We get to test out new game mechanics and design/experience ideas.
How does Sony decide to pursue a game for the PSN? Do you go to the developers, or do they come to you?
It is a mix. We have teams that come to us and we also are always on the watch for new teams with unique ideas. Before there was an official thatgamecompany, the team came to us with several ideas and wanted to work on PSN. In turn, we saw Everyday Shooter at GDC and we knew we had to pick it up.
What does Sony offer developers that choose to work for the PSN?
There is a lot we can bring to the table. The immediate thing is dev kits. For small or new teams this alone can be a real challenge to get. We can bring various technologies and tech experience to the table. We bring long term veterans to help teams along. Depending on the situation we can bring a large variety of resources to help as well. There is also the advantage of having SCEA's marketing and PR supporting titles.
At E3, you talked about trying to go for the biggest independent PC games, and bringing them to the PS3, creating a "Sundance Channel" of indie games on PS3. How is that effort going?
It is going, slowly but surely. Part of the trick is that we are being particular about what we pick up. There are a lot of games to sort through. When we find a gem we start pursuing it. Some work out, some don't. I recently heard back from one developer that wanted to finish college and then he would like to try. The game made me think he was already programming professionally. There are some other experimental projects projects that will also fit in this vein too. These are very much art and an extremely different take on interactivity.
What direction would you like to see the PSN move in?
I think we are already going in a good direction within SCEA proper. A mix of indie with traditional titles with a unique approach and some experimental projects are the way to go.
Finally, can you name some of your most anticipated upcoming PSN games?
Well, there is Everyday Shooter as well as the next game from thatgamecompany. Pixel Junk Racers as well as Go Sports Ski are both a blast. There are more, but I can't talk about them yet.
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Thanks Rusty for an eye-opening interview. We can't wait to see some of these ... unannounced art games.
