There is “no requirement for content approval” apparently.

Games will however go through a shortened quality assurance process to make sure they work properly on the various PSP hardware.

Significantly, this process is labelled as being “transparent, trackable and predictable”, with developers setting their own release dates.

This suggests Sony has learnt from Apple’s approval process for the App Store, which is regarded as being neither transparent, trackable or predictable.

image © casualgaming.biz

I find the “no requirement for content approval” extremely dubious. Is Sony really going to let Mini developers churn out porn apps for its handheld console and sell them through the PlayStation Store?

Also, isn’t this the same company that routinely releases new PSP firmware to shut down the homebrew community and has devised some of the most destructive copy protection malware in history? Are we really supposed to believe that they’re suddenly a friend of the little developer?

Plus, the install bases for the PSP and the iPhone/iPod Touch are just about dead even, despite the fact that the iPhone has been on the market for a significantly smaller time frame. If Sony really wants to start poaching disgruntled iPhone app developers, they’d better hope that the imminent release of the PSP Go exceeds all expectations, and that recent accounts of Apple reforming its approval process are bunk.