Contest to choose Korean PlayStation 3 developer

Sony Corp. is holding a competition to choose the first Korean game maker to develop a game for the PlayStation 3, the new game console not yet available in Korea.
Sony Computer Entertainment Korea said yesterday that it is hosting a contest jointly with the Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute to select three companies to develop PlayStation Portable games and one to develop a PS3 game.
The competition is held annually for local game developers, but this is the first time a company will have the chance to develop a game for the latest PS3.
The PS3 is Sony’s latest video game console and was released in Japan and several other countries, including the United States and Hong Kong, in November.
Sony has postponed the release in Korea and has not announced an official date.
From Monday until April 25, companies will be able to hand in applications.
They must be able to present a game that has already been brought to a playable stage.
The selected companies will then be given 10 million won ($10,719) and the equipment and software necessary to develop their games.
When selected in early May, one company will become the first Korean game maker to develop a PS3 game, according to Kang Hee-won, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Korea.
“Even if some company is developing a PS3 game with Sony, the developments are top secret and only the few people involved would know,” he said.
Last year, three games were selected to be developed for PSP, a portable game console of Sony, and are currently in the development stage: Sisa Games’ Extreme Wakeboarding, ANB Soft’s Rock ‘n Roll, and GF Game’s Toss Online.

By Wohn Dong-hee Staff Writer [wohn@joongang.co.kr]