The new service of Sony “Digital Comics” will launch at the end of 2009. Unfortunately, we the Dutch, have to wait till 2010 for the Service to arrive. For the People who don’t know what this Service is about, I’ll explain it in one sentence. With the Digital Reader You will be able to read comics on your PSP with the help of this special designed Reader. The Service is exclusive for the PSP! But when will we have it? And which comics can we expect? Will Developers like Image and DC also participate in this Service? You will all probably have a lot of questions like I did, since the service was announced. And that’s why we have spoken to SCEE(Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) and we’ve gotten Answers on the most asked Questions.

PSN Chat

It’s awesome that nowadays we don’t have to travel all the way to England to do an Interview with Pete Stott, one of the people of SCEE working on the Digital Comics Reader. We just turn on the PlayStation®3 and start a PSN Video Chat. This way I can ask all my Questions and look at some of the Service as well. And I must say, I’m impressed!! They have done a great job and the Digital Comic Reader looks amazing. The Service is easy to handle and everything looks very smooth. However, I can tell you a lot more about this when I try the service myself at the end of this Month. Untill then You will get a load of new Information from this Interview. Eventhough Pete couldn’t reveal everything, we did find out some interesting information. After a delay caused by a technical difficulty and the usual small-talk, the Interview begins. Another Exclusive for us, since this is the First Interview with this branch of SCEE, held with a PSN Video Chat.

The Interview

PS3Clan: When will we be able to use the Service in The Netherlands?
Pete: At this point we are still struggling with some Legal Issues with bringing out the Comics throughout the Service. One of the Problems is about translating the Comics. Although I have heard that for the Dutch Audience, English will not be a problem. We expect that the Service will be available to the Netherlands in the first Half of 2010. But my Answer is: As Soon as Possible!

PS3Clan: Will Publishers like Image, Darkhorse and DC be found on the Digital Comic Store?
Pete: All Publishers are welcome to offer their Comics through the Comic Store. We’re in Contact with a lot of Publishers and I can confirm at this point that Image will bring it’s Comics to the Service, I can’t say anything about DC and Darkhorse. Also Marvel, Insomnia and Iverse will offer their Comics. [At the Launch of Digital Comics Reader there will be around 550 Comics available. RED.]

PS3clan: Will Frank Miller make a special contribution to Digital Comics?
Pete: We are currently talking to People the likes of Frank Miller but I can’t comment any further on this.

PS3Clan: We heard that Wallace and Gromit will be downloadable as Comic.
Pete: I can be short about this one, that’s correct!

PS3Clan: Is there a chance that there will be Motion Comics in the Future?
Pete: The problem with the most Motion Comics is that they’re just video’s, which will make it a Video Service thing. We are looking for new ways to present the Comics. We’re also a little scared to adjust to much because a die hard Comic Reader will like the way that things are and they just want to enjoy the drawings and artwork. But we are certainly trying to develop an even better Comic Experience.

PS3Clan: Do you have to buy each Comic separately or is it possible to buy an whole Series at once?
Pete: Well at the Launch you will have to buy Comics one by one, but we are looking into the possibility of bringing out Bundles, so You can buy several Comics at a time.

PS3Clan: What will the Comics cost?
Pete: That’s for every Publisher to decide, so I can’t really answer this Question. But they will be cheaper than the Paper editions, obviously.

PS3Clan: Will it be possible to download the Comics in English here in The Netherlands? For the Dutch this won’t be a problem, since most speak three Languages.
Pete: [laughs] Yes, I hear this a lot from the Dutch Community. We’re trying to create a large Comic Database. Here you can download English but also French, Spanish or Italian Comics. That’s what makes this service so fun, We’re also looking for the cooperation of Local Publishers so we can make the Comic Offer as huge as possible.

Which Local Publishers can we expect here?
Pete: Well, we don’t have a lot of Dutch Publishers yet, so maybe You can ask your community which Dutch/Belgium Publishers they would like to see. Then We will take a look if We can bring them in.

PS3Clan: If you downloaded a Comic and you lose it( delete it or broken MemoryStick), can you download it again?
Pete: You can download you’re bought Comic as much as You want. If your PSP breaks or You lose your Memory Stick, You can download everything again. Just like the PlayStation®Store your bought Items are linked to your PSN-ID en everything you buy is being registered and yours if you paid for. Even if you download it a hundred Times.

PS3Clan: Why isn’t it possible to use the Reader on the PS3?
Pete: [Laughs] This is also a Question we hear a lot from the Community: ‘It would be awesome if I could read the Comics on my HD Flat Screen!’. The only thing I can say about this is, that we are looking into the possibility, but I can’t promise anything!

PS3Clan: Tell me something about the Service that I certainly cannot know.
Pete: I can give you a Demonstration of the Service

PS3Clan: PLEASE!
Pete grabs a PSP and begins the Demonstration. The XMB Menu has a Digital Comics Logo under Extras. Pete explains that through this Icon a connection is made with the Digital Comic Server where you can download the Comics from. Unfortunately Pete couldn’t reveal any images of the new XMB, but he could send me some screens of how Digital Comics will look like on the PSP. [Awesome!! RED.]

De Comic Carousel

Resume Feature

Read the Summary!

Pete: A new Firmware will be available at the end of this month. Firmware 6.2 which will only be 1 MB in size. I don’t know if I was allowed to say that already. This Firmware is needed to use the Digital Comics Service. The Reader will be completely free. And there will be an MP3-Player build in so You can listen to your own music while reading a comic.

PS3Clan; Nice! Sounds awesome. Is there anything else we should know about?
Pete: Coming back to the part of creating a bigger Comic experience. We made a Tool that makes it possible for Publishers to add sounds to the Comic. This can be anything, a writer could narrate his Comic like the commentary of Film Directors as an extra on a Blu-Ray. It’s even possible to add Sound Effects to the Comic which will appear during reading. The Publishers have a lot of possibilities but it’s up to them to use it.

But with Sounds!

Final Word

I’m a Comic Fan, (Just as I’m a Fan of Films, Games, a good Book or writing about things that interest me, I just have too many Hobbies.) but I read them a lot less then before. First of all you read Comics for your relaxation, Second of all you read them when you have the time for it. Unfortunately nowadays this means that these are times when you have to wait and there’s no Comic around. Because you’re waiting on the Bus, train or have a Appointment with someone who is late again. That’s where Sony comes in, because a real PSP die-hard always has his PSP with him/her. Now I’m not one of the People who always has his PSP with him, because I much rather sit on the Couch and game in front of my TV, but with Digital Comics I will walk around with my PSP, since I can now pick-up my old Passion; Reading Comics. And I don’t even have to walk to the Store.

Personally I would love to read Spawn, Gen 13, Witchblade and the Darkness on the PSP. Luckily Image is one of the many Publishers which will bring out their Comics on the Digital Reader so all these Comics will be there to read. For the Children I would like Suske en Wiske, Kuifje, Lucky Luke and Asterix en Obelix for downloads. What do you want, which Publishers are a must-have for the Service? Just leave a comment because Pete has promised to read this and to take those in consideration.

This interview was writen by Talisen82 and Translated by Dragon_Unleashed and Talisen82!
The reason we did this? Because The Google translator didn’t! View this interview in dutch: Here

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