Sony Online looking at PSP MMOs
Starting with extensions of home games.
Speaking to MTV, Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley has said the EverQuest developer is considering the PSP as a viable platform for fully fledged MMO games.
"I think PSP is something that we're definitely looking at; 34 million worldwide really opens your eyes, and they're all connected," Smedley said.
He revealed that the company - previously part of Sony Pictures, the Japanese giant's movie arm - started looking seriously at PSP when it merged with the rest of the game business, Sony Computer Entertainment, in April this year.
"And as we've kind of got our heads up looking around the world within Sony Computer Entertainment, we're really starting to see a big push for PSP. We think it's a world-class device; In the future, we see full MMOs that are designed for the PSP."
But extensions of SOE's home MMOs for PC and PS3 will come first. Stressing that nothing was finalised, Smedley mentioned the possibility of a pet-training system for the company's forthcoming casual MMO, Free Realms, or offline levelling in a more traditional MMO.
SOE has already experimented with extending its EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies MMOs with trading-card games, something which could work well on the handheld. It will also be leading MMOs' charge onto consoles next year, with PS3 versions of Free Realms and The Agency.