Insomniac's Ted Price Sees Benefits of Multiplatform Development
Decade-long Sony relationship comes with its own advantages as well.
By Steve Watts, 11/14/2008
Insomniac CEO Ted Price has commented on some of the advantages and disadvantages of its long, exclusive relationship with Sony, in an interview with Gamasutra. While talking about multiplatform development, Price said, "We see the other side too. We see great games that are multiplatform and succeeding wildly, and doing great, and that too is a fantastic place to be."
Of course, Insomniac has historically been a Sony mainstay. "For the last ten years or so, we have been working very closely with Sony," Price said. "I mean, people ask me all the time, 'so, do you consider going multiplatform? What are the drawbacks?'" He says that one benefit of exclusivity is that the company's games "tend to be associated with the hardware -- but that could be a drawback too." He cites the original Resistance: Fall of Man as an example of this kind of product association. "We did get a lot of additional exposure simply because it was synonymous with the PlayStation 3," he said. "It's hard to break into the genre; and it's cool that we were able to do it with a brand new entry."
He's careful to point out that Insomniac has its own voice and isn't governed by Sony. "We definitely have been very vocal about maintaining our independence," he said. He mentions that many at Insomniac would be frustrated by a heavy-handed publisher, but Sony isn't one. "Our relationship with Sony is one where we develop autonomously. Sony certainly gives us great feedback on the games, but we're in control of the development process, and that is a great place to be."
Though Price's comments would seem to indicate the developer isn't opposed to going multiplatform, there's no reason to think that they have immediate plans to do so. Resistance 2 has cemented the franchise's place as the PlayStation 3's answer to Gears of War 2 in this embattled holiday season, and the company has already dropped a not-too-subtle hint that they're at work on the follow-up to Ratchet & Clank Future for 2009. There may come a day that we see the Insomniac label making the jump to other platforms, but for now the benefits of sticking with Sony seem to outweigh the risks for Price and his team.
第三段最有意思,Price专门指出(careful to point out)Insomniac是一个独立的公司,有自己的话语权和决策权,并不是被SONY掌控的( isn't governed by Sony)。索尼在我们开发游戏的时候给了我们很好的支持,但我们是有着自己独立自主的权利的,这点很重要。( but we're in control of the development process, and that is a great place to be)
文章最后指出目前来看《抵抗2》暂时是不会跨平台的,因为作为年底PS3对抗《战争机器2》的一枚重要的棋子,《抵抗2》有着与《战争机器2》一样的重要经济地位。但不久的将来如果看到Insomniac的游戏跨平台大家不用太惊讶。目前SONY应该重新审视Insomniac这个伙伴,以及他可能带来的危险。There may come a day that we see the Insomniac label making the jump to other platforms, but for now the benefits of sticking with Sony seem to outweigh the risks for Price and his team. 作者: DVDRiP 时间: 2008-11-15 13:08