PlayStation Suite a better platform for developers than Android and iOS claims SCE president House

When launching a new marketplace, it's logical to suggest it will be better than those already established app visibility, thanks to fewer apps on board from day one, the most obvious flag to wave.

Of course, the irony is, should any app store garner success, it'll likely become just as cluttered as those it looked to unseat.

In SCE president Andrew House's view, however, even if PlayStation Suite becomes flooded with titles, it'll always be a more appealing prospect to consumers because of a focus on quality rather than price.

Business battles

"If you talk to content providers they will uniformly tell you that it is very difficult to run a business within the Android model or the iOS model as it currently sits," House told MCV.

"There are huge amounts of competition and free content out there and it is difficult to differentiate premium gaming experiences from lesser quality ones.

"So with PlayStation Suite we are trying to establish a PlayStation Store within the Android marketplace."

Cash cow

The suggestion is if consumers are impressed with the quality of the games on PlayStation Suite, developers will be able to charge more for games.

"This will be a destination for games that have a seal of quality which use the PlayStation tried and tested interface, either physically or via virtual or on-screen representation of that," added House.

"Where it is easier to differentiate your content of being of good quality, it becomes easier for consumers to navigate through. And we think consumers are prepared to pay a little bit more of a premium if they can get that sense of quality."

Even spread

House claims PlayStation Suite which will be available on NGP, as well as Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, other high-end Android handsets and, according to Nvidia, Tegra 2-equipped devices (in this case, with the addition of PlayStation 2 titles) will appeal to both core and casual gamers at the same time.

Sony believes it will deliver a double punch, with House noting that early NGP adopters will most likely be core gamers, with those playing via Android leaning towards the casual end of the scale.

"Our feeling, and our research bears this out, is that there is potential for an audience that sits in-between those two," concluded House.

[source: MCV]