Tokyo — Sony Computer Entertainment plans a fall launch of its PlayStation Mobile initiative under which new game titles will be available through the PlayStation store for downloading to PlayStation Certified smartphones and tablets.
The initiative is promoted as delivering a PlayStation-like gaming experience on mobile devices built on the open Androids OS. The games will also work on Sony’s portable PlayStation Vita.
To date, the lineup of PlayStation Certified devices include the One X, One S and One V from HTC; eight smartphones from Sony Mobile Communications; and two Sony tablets. Asus TeK Computer and WikiPad, however, also plan to join the PlayStation Certified license program, Sony said.
Asus will obtain certification for its Asus Transformer Pad, which converts from tablet to notebook PC, and Wikipad will get certification for its video game tablet built with an attachable gamepad controller.
About 30 games available at launch under the initiative, which targets mobile devices with open operating systems, will become available in the fall in such genres as adventure, action, puzzle and sports from third-party developers and from SCE.
The service launches in nine countries, including the U.S., Japan, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia. More countries will join at a later date.
The games represent dedicated content for the PlayStation Mobile program. Versions of legacy PS One Classics games for previous PlayStation Certified devices will no longer be offered, the company noted. Devices that played those games included multiple Sony Xperia smartphones, including the Xperia Play sold by Verizon in the U.S., and Sony’s two tablets.
Also as part of the new program, Sony plans to create a more streamlined development environment for creating content for portable devices, the company said. The PlayStation Mobile SDK will become available to developers after the launch of dedicated content for PlayStation Mobile program and will be rolled out to 11 countries and regions including Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The SDK will enable developers to easily distribute their content through PlayStation Store, Sony said.
