PlayStation Suite expands to Android, other platforms

PlayStation Suite games may no longer be exclusive to Sony devices, as the electronics giant is planning to make them available on devices such as those running Google's Android OS. Sony’s second in command, Kazuo Hirai, confirmed they are working on bringing the PlayStation Suite of games to more Android devices in the future. “This isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family... This is not just for Sony devices," PC World quoted Hirai as saying during a public interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg. “We’re in discussions with non-Sony companies to bring them on board. We’ll make those announcements when it’s time to go public with it. This is not just for Sony devices," he added. For now, PlayStation Suite games can run only on Sony-branded Android devices such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Sony Tablet S, and Sony Tablet P. PC World noted Hirai’s revelation came a day after the first PlayStation Suite games for the Tablet S and Tablet P began appearing in Sony’s online PlayStation Store. It said the games start at $5.99 and include Cool Boarders, Destruction Derby, Hot Shots Golf 2, Jet Moto 1 and 2, Jumping Flash, MediEvil, Motor Toon Grand Prix, Rally Cross, and Wild Arms. Sony had announced the PlayStation Suite last January for Sony-branded Android devices to run PlayStation games. Software Development Kit Next month, Sony will roll out an SDK that will let developers create games to work across the entire line of PS-Certified devices. Such devices include the PlayStation 3 console, Sony’s Android tablets and phones, and its new Vita portable game console. But the games created with the SDK may run slower than games written specifically for devices like the Vita and PlayStation phones as games created with the SDK run in a virtual machine on the device. In a virtual machine, the language the SDK games are written in are translated into something the Vita or phone can understand. At the Web 2.0 Summit, Sony announced the Vita will ship in the Americas and Europe on February 22. The Vita's features include:

• Game interaction with both touchscreen and buttons.
• Capture of still shots and video from games.
• Sharing of game statistics on websites like Facebook and YouTube.