Sony Entices PSP Developers With Lower-Priced Dev Tools

Much of Sony's E3 briefing was devoted to its handheld platform -- it's clearly in the midst of a reinvention for the PSP. As the company unveiled the small, download-only PSP Go!, it also announced that it would be cutting the price of its dev kits. PSP Development Tool models DTP-T2000A and DTP-T2000 are now priced at $1,500 in North America; they're €1200 in PAL territories and ¥150,000 in Japan. With a lower barrier to entry for game development, Sony hopes to further strengthen the handheld's software lineup as a vehicle to broaden its 51.6 million worldwide install base. Sony will also include productivity streamlining software ProDG for free as part of PSP SDK*1, and it's reduced the price of Testing Tool models DTP-H2500A and DTP-H2500 to $1,000, €800 and ¥100,000. Sony already has what's arguably the best PSP lineup in its history slated for the coming year, including the debut of the Resident Evil franchise on the platform, a full-fledged sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3, and PSP-tailored releases of LittleBigPlanet and Assassin's Creed. It's also aiming to expand into the casual market further with more titles targeting young girls and families. That's why the company will unveil a new development environment later this year that it says "will allow creators to develop more casual, exciting and attractive content" for PlayStation Network -- which now hosts all PSP titles digitally -- by "streamlining the process from license agreement to publishing for small, download exclusive software titles."