Sony's Dille Addresses PSP's Piracy Problem, PSN Potential

Sony Computer Entertainment America's Senior Vice President of Marketing Peter Dille says piracy has limited the PSP's appeal to publishers, but that digital distribution through PSN will continue to give new opportunities to publishers of niche content. Speaking in an interview with Siliconera, Dille said software piracy was one reason the company's PSP has struggled to attract high-profile Western-focused titles despite achieving a worldwide installed base of 66 million units. "[Piracy] has limited a publisher’s ability to make money on the platform because it is a hacked platform," Dille said. "There is a lot of piracy, I’m sure you’re familiar with some of what’s going on. If you aren’t, you can find sites selling pirated games. That’s something we’ve been trying to combat for awhile, but that’s not the only reason." While Dille noted that systems like the PSP tend to "migrate down" after six years on the market, he remained enthusiastic that niche publishers would continue to find a home for their software on PSN. The digital distribution platform's "unlimited shelf space" lets publishers expand their internal catalogs to smaller-market games that might not be able to sustain placement in a big box retailer, he said. Dille also stressed the marketing impact of programs like the recently announced PlayStation Rewards, which he said allows Sony to promote PSN games directly to the customers most likely to be interested. "In the past when the business was an unconnected business you relied on people filling out registration cards to know what they liked," he said. "Fortunately today, just like when you go to Amazon it knows what you like, when you come back to the PlayStation Network, we can identify what you like as a gamer. Are you a sports gamer? Are you into shooters, etc? We can do a better job at marketing directly to people and tailor to those interests."