2D RPG development

I would say that independent games would have more success on the PC platform. Not only do developing console games require a lot of muscle, you also require the blessing of the system-maker and a publisher.. I suppose it is possible to publish independantly if you have the required equipment.. but it's not feasible.

You have to have a publishing license to release games on Sony formats. Provided you are a financially stable company and can convince Sony of that fact then you may be OK. If you have no track record in the industry and can not demonstrate the financial resources necessary to develop, market, manufacture and distribute the game then there is no chance because they wont grant you a license. You may be able to develop the game and sell it to a licensed publisher but to do that you have to do one of the following;
1. Get a Sony developer license - As above you need to convince Sony that you are a real company and can afford items such as their (fairly expensive) development system.
2. Wait several months after release of the console for the emulation community to create working emulators and dev tools for the system - use those to make the game and then pitch it to a licensed publisher.

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Original post by Obscure 1. Get a Sony developer license - As above you need to convince Sony that you are a real company and can afford items such as their (fairly expensive) development system. 2. Wait several months after release of the console for the emulation community to create working emulators and dev tools for the system - use those to make the game and then pitch it to a licensed publisher.

And on top of it you have to pay around 25000 USD for SDK (not counting license).

I'd recommend the PC, not a console system. You can easily distribute such a game over the web. Plus, there are fans of old-school games like you're talking about, and word of your game may spread much quicker with a PC game since people can just link to your site, although it really depends on how much publicity you generate yourself.

BUT! If you are interested in PSP dev and its supposed to be a portable ps-1 then look into ps-1 dev/homebrew (which was popular until the ps2/linux came out) Google for 'psx homebrew'. Hopefully the psp will have a floating point unit though ;P .

BTW, what happens if you publish a game without having a Sony license?
On what grounds can they sue you?

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Original post by Raduprv BTW, what happens if you publish a game without having a Sony license? On what grounds can they sue you?

they can't, take a look @ hdloader. btw, there are various companies that will press sony ps2 cd's for you.

hdloader isn't a game.
Sony can sue for breach of copyright because to run a game on the console you have to include something in your game that is copyright of them. The console wont run without it and they wont let you use it unless you are a licensed developer.

Regardless of this they would sue you anyway just because they know they have soooo much more money than you that you will be bankrupt and dead long before they run out of cash or lawyers.

Including WHAT?
I mean, if you own 100% of the code and art, and just make calls to their code, I don't think they have any legal grounds to sue you. It's like printer companies suing other companies that make paper, tonner or ink for their printers. I think they tried to, but failed.
The thing is, Sony sells a piece of hardware, so the customer should have the right to do whatever the fuck they want with the machines they PAID money for.

And if Sony sues you, can't you sue back for a frivolous lawsuit?
[edit] grammar

[Edited by - Raduprv on June 28, 2004 11:19:42 PM]

Bottom line is they cannot sue you if the code does not use copyright-protected or licensed code and/or tools. However, there is licensing issues that state you cannot use un-licensed code and/or tools to develop or distribute games on their hardware. Unless you have a perfect console emulator that didn't use reverse-engineering to develop, then it's a pretty good guess to say you broke the licensing rights and they can sue you.

Take a look at the XBox and Gameboy Advance homebrew stuff. While it does tick off companies that people are developing freely for their systems, there's not much they can do about it.

Just don't think you can publish your game by yourself. There's a company that'll help you publish your game if you're not a licensed developer. I can't seem to remember their name however. Maybe a google will help.

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Original post by Raduprv Including WHAT? I mean, if you own 100% of the code and art, and just make calls to their code.....

Huh? The console wont run a game that isn't identified as an official licensed game. The info/code that identifies it isn't in the machine so it has to be put on the disk by the developer. That information is copyright of Sony and ergo using it on a disk without their permission would be breach of copyright.

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The thing is, Sony sells a piece of hardware, so the customer should have the right to do whatever the fuck they want with the machines they PAID money for. And if Sony sues you, can't you sue back for a frivolous lawsuit? [edit] grammar

So now instead of one expensive legal case you have two? The costs in cases like this run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars and they go on for years (because companies like Sony can afford to drag things out). I don't know many people who have that kind of money to waste.

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Original post by nonnus29 BUT! If you are interested in PSP dev and its supposed to be a portable ps-1 then look into ps-1 dev/homebrew (which was popular until the ps2/linux came out) Google for 'psx homebrew'. Hopefully the psp will have a floating point unit though ;P .

I was under the impression it was much more like a ps2 than the ps1... But oh well.

And whats all this talk about looking at xbox, hdloader, or gba for answers on the 'can they sue you?' The companies you should be looking at are Sega and Nintendo.

There was a company releasing software (i.e. games) for Nintendo's proprietary hardware without a license and Nintendo decided to sue. Nintendo lost.
I was only aware of the Nintendo lawsuit but not too long ago it was brought to my attention that Sega went through it too...

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Original post by Drakonite There was a company releasing software (i.e. games) for Nintendo's proprietary hardware without a license and Nintendo decided to sue. Nintendo lost. I was only aware of the Nintendo lawsuit but not too long ago it was brought to my attention that Sega went through it too...

Your missing the point. How much money did it cost this company (in time & legal fees) to win. Yes, you may win and you may even get costs paid/compensation but that is years down the line. The Nintendo/Codemasters case lasted around 5 years. That puts a huge strain on a company and more importantly, for the hardware company, that is five years during which no one else will try to self publish, because they will be waiting for the result of your court case. Unless a company has serious financial backing this simply isn't a fight you want to be near.

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Original post by Obscure Your missing the point. How much money did it cost this company (in time & legal fees) to win. Yes, you may win and you may even get costs paid/compensation but that is years down the line. The Nintendo/Codemasters case lasted around 5 years. That puts a huge strain on a company and more importantly, for the hardware company, that is five years during which no one else will try to self publish, because they will be waiting for the result of your court case. Unless a company has serious financial backing this simply isn't a fight you want to be near.

Yes, but it's bad PR for Sony to do that. Also, if Nitendo lost, then Sony would lose too (if the circumstances are similar), or better yet, their case would be thrown out of the court, because they would have no base to sue you for. Of course, the loader/authentificationpart is kind of tricky, and your game would work only on moded consoles, which is not very good...

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Original post by Raduprv Yes, but it's bad PR for Sony to do that. Also, if Nitendo lost, then Sony would lose too (if the circumstances are similar), or better yet, their case would be thrown out of the court, because they would have no base to sue you for. Of course, the loader/authentificationpart is kind of tricky, and your game would work only on moded consoles, which is not very good...

They don't care about bad PR, neither did Nintendo when they went after Lik Sang, neither did Fox when they shut down the various MOD projects based on their IP and neither did Lucasarts when the shut down the various MODS based on their IP. This is a multi-billion dollar industry and these people will do whatever it takes to protect their share. If it was possible to publish games without Sony's approval you can bet companies like EA and Activision would do it in order to save paying the license fee. They don't go that route because there simply isn't any point. Sony will find a way to tie you up in court for years - anyone who thinks otherwise is talking about how "they think the world should be" and not actually how the game industry opperates. The two are not the same.

Well, it depends. If they don't have LEGAL GROUNDS to tie you up in courts, you can get away with it, especially if there is a precedent (the Nitendo guys).
Plus, if you find a way to circumvent their protection, I guess other big companies might be interested, and help you in the fight.

case in point. Bleemcast.
they were in the legal right, but because they dragged the creators of Bleem/Bleemcast through court and kept them there. the Bleem team finally forfeited and signed an agreement not to make anything similar to that software again. and yes they won in court but their legal fees were enormous. that's how Sony got em. we pay off legal fees right now and you stop software production right now. [evil]

Well, you can always find a publisher outside of the US, and show them the finger.
EU has some laws that if you sue someone and you lose, you pay them the legal fees.

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Original post by Raduprv Well, you can always find a publisher outside of the US, and show them the finger. EU has some laws that if you sue someone and you lose, you pay them the legal fees.

Sorry but you really don't know what your talking about. In the EU, just as in the US, justice costs money and takes many, many years. There are countless companies out there who won in court but were bankrupt and dead years before the verdict was ever handed down.

Matthew asked about self publishing on PSP without a license and the truth is it just isn't going to happen. I have been in the industry for years and I have seen how all the big companies work. A small indie simply wouldn't survive an encounter with Sony's lawyers and anyone who says otherwise either has no knowledge of the companies involved, the industry or the law.