Sony Extends Game Dev Partnership With Singapore's Nanyang Polytechnic

Sony Asia and Singapore's Nanyang Polytechnic Institute have extended a partnership that allows students at the school's Games Resource Center to use PlayStation development kits to develop projects in their final year. The partnership, started in 2009 and now extended for an additional five years, has already resulted in two titles that are being considered for release on the PlayStation Network, according to Gamespot. The first, Spell Weaver, combines platforming with a spelling challenge and is being planned for a 2012 release on PSN. The second, Phase Shift is a 2D shooter being planned as a PSP Minis release for sometime in the future. "If my game gets launched onto the PlayStation Network... [and] it attracts a lot of cash, then we could start [making] a triple-A blockbuster title," Nanyang student and Phase Shift developer Hoong Boon Wai told Channel News Asia. Speaking to Gamespot after announcing the extended partnership, Sony Computer Entertainment Asia president Tetsuhiko Yasuda said the effort was driven by a desire to help cultivate the software market in Singapore and in Asia as a whole. "This five-year partnership is anything but money-related," he said. "The Singaporean people are aggressive and diligent, thus they want this partnership done. Think of it more as a long-term friendship between a company and a learning institute."