Sony eases approval Playstation games

Sony is going to relax the technical inspection of games for the Playstation 2 and 3. With the Playstation 2, the approval is even completely deleted, which means that the PS2 becomes an open platform.

According to Develop Sony will loosen the reins in game testing. Both Sony and Microsoft test all games that come out on their consoles. It is a technical test, in which the console builders check whether games run properly on the devices. Sony is going to simplify the process, called ‘approval’ there, for games that appear on the Playstation 2 and the Playstation 3. To this end, Sony will set up a central website where developers can submit their games. Until now, Sony had divided the approval over the regions of Europe, Japan and America. For games that appear for the Playstation 3, Sony will only approve the game itself, and no longer any expansions that appear later. With predecessor Playstation 2, Sony goes even further. Games that still appear for the now eight-year-old console no longer have to be submitted for approval. This makes the Playstation 2 in fact an open platform.

With the new approval policy, Sony deviates strongly from the line followed by major competitor Microsoft. The Americans use a very strict inspection procedure, which is called ‘certification’ there. Microsoft wants to approve not only the game, but everything that is distributed via Xbox Live, from games and expansions to patches and extras such as separate maps. Even trifles like a collection of icons must be submitted to Microsoft’s Xbox judges.