With the launch of a App Store-esque “Minis” section on the PlayStation Store, Sony has given smaller, independent developers an incentive to create games for the PSP. Not only are the costs of entry lower, but studios are allowed to set their own pricing. At face value, yes, this is appealing to start-ups, but it’s not that cut and dry – at least in the US.

One cavet to the program is receiving ESRB approval. In the US, getting a rating stamped on your game costs $2500, apparently, and Sony mandates that each title goes through this process. This is in stark contrast to the iPhone and iPod Touch platform, which does not require having to funnel content through a third party organization for screening purposes. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Fieldrunners dev Sergei Gourski shed light on this particular topic:

Having game development experience is a must. You have to invest some money into dev kits and into getting ratings for your game. The costs of ratings such us ESRB is significantly more then we had realized.”

This could very well explain why we’ve seen certain developers employ higher pricing ceilings than originally expected on Minis, so as to offset the cost of ESRB approval.

Devs Size Up PSP Minis Development Vs. App Store Games [Gamasutra]

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