[p2p-research] Scarcity Creation: Modus Operandi for Closed Production

[marc fawzi]

*From Slashdot

"CNet reports on a bizarre comment from Sony's Computer Entertainment
CEO<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10173656-17.htm>in response to
complaints
from developers on how hard it is to develop games for the Playstation
3<http://www.ddj.com/hpc-high-performance-computing/197801624>.
'We don't provide the "easy to program for" console that (developers) want,
because "easy to program for" means that anybody will be able to take
advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is,
what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?'

*I think what he meant to say is "if a bunch of developers sitting in their
garage can develop a game for the PS3 then if we refuse to publish it, given
on our own political agenda (of concentrating control in the hands of the
few so we can control the business) the developers would release it
themselves and give rise to a homebrew scene that would undermine our
revenue. If we do publish it then our bread-and-butter game development
partners, our allies in the game, will be threatened because they cannot
compete with the cost structure of small development shops."

Funny this has not happened on the Xbox but the fears Japanese companies
like Sony and Nintendo have of the garage development community are very
visible in their policies. I once developed a game for the Nintendo Gameboy
advanced at my own cost then went to Nintendo and they asked me to show
significant financial backing or significant revenue and a history in
publishing successful games, so I released a few copies in prototype form on
hacked cartridges that cost $200, i.e. they killed the project to ensure
that only big producers with big cost structures (which make them slaves to
the perpetual growth principle) can play the game.*

*Marc*


*
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