Sony: PS3 E-Distribution Will Help Stop Used Game Sales

By Billy Brown

Yar, she blows away pirates too

When the PS3 hits the market on November 17th (there's a big smiley face on our calendars), Sony's new E-Distribution Initiative will launch as well. The service, which will attempt to best Microsoft's successful Xbox Live, will allow both 1st and 3rd party developers to digitally distribute games via download straight to the PlayStation 3.

Gamasutra, CMP's top-notch gaming news site, recently sat down with John Hight, Director of External Production at SCEA Santa Monica to discuss details about the upcoming service.

When asked if PS3 E-Distributed titles will be exclusive, or whether Xbox Live could get ported games and vice versa, Hight was clear that Xbox 360 is so last year. "We're looking for fresh, new ideas that fully exploit the power of PlayStation 3. Our 1st party projects are all unique to PS3. Some of our games, by virtue of their design and hardware demands, simply couldn't work on Xbox 360."

Translation: Our fancy console is light years ahead of Microsoft's, and the Xbox 360 couldn't possible handle what we have to offer.

Hight was enthusiastic about the advantages E-distribution has to offer, stating that "Certainly being able to sell globally on-line makes it easier to reach international and remote markets. On the business side, it also lowers our cost of sales and eliminates inventory risk. It should help curtail used
game sales and piracy."

Bashing used game sales is probably not a wise move, given those pesky rumors that pop up from time to time saying that the PS3 won't play used games.

Source: Gamasutra