14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation Vita handheld from Sony launches in Japan during the weekend but it seems that some developers are not interested in the device and see its release as a symptom of a wider problem affecting the video game industry.
Henrique Olifiers, who is the leader of the Bossa Studios development studio in the United Kingdom stated during an interview with VideoGamer.com that, “We’ll keep on the lookout to see what the next gen will bring, but if they want more focus on tech specs rather than usability and accessibility, I don’t think it will be for us. I hate the fact you cannot play a game on the PS3 against the same game on the 360 or PC. Walled gardens in a world where people are freely connected all the time is just a dumb idea that limits what is achievable.”
He added, “Valve is bang on: proprietary stuff is madness, we should be moving to more open platforms, to interoperability, bringing everyone together. If this is not the motto for the big console manufacturers, not only will we not be there — they’re likely to die a horrible premature death, the kind of which I think the Vita will suffer from.”
Olifiers makes the point that the future of gaming is linked to open platform where developers and publishers can deliver games that directly compete with each other based purely on quality and with no restrictions linked to exclusivity of cross platform play.
Bossa Studios has worked on Facebook games up until now but the company recently managed to hire one of the developers working on The Last Guardian, which might hint that they are interested in moving to PC or home console titles.
Japanese gamers will be able to use the PlayStation Vita for about two months before those in the West are able o get their hands on it.