For people like me who live in Australia or any European country, we know the frustration that comes up every Thursday, waiting for our PlayStation Store update, and seeing that something that North America has isn't there. NovaStrike has only just come out in Europe after being available in America for four months beforehand, and despite Capcom titles being available everywhere on Xbox Live Arcade and America for PSN on the same day, the European PSN release have always been delayed by several weeks.

The reasoning behind this was that games had to be sent in for final testing to each part of SCE - America, Japan and Europe, so they're not working to release on the exact same day as each other.

Other reasons include independent studios not being able to afford a complete release from the start - the previously mentioned NovaStrike had to wait for some cash flow from the American release before they could send it into Europe for testing there. Microsoft on the other hand, has all XBLA testing done in America for all regions, allowing support day and date for most countries.

Which is why Sony appears to be rectifying the situation - Game Daily are reporting that Sony is changing things up, allowing developers to submit their games though a single website for PSN titles.

Along with this they have also announced that it will now be far easier to self publish on PSN, saying that "Developers no longer need a publisher to distribute games on PlayStation Portable and PlayStation", while before it's been quite difficult to get your own game on there. This is more than likely a response to Microsoft's XNA initiative.

Either way, it's all good for PlayStation Network users. Now companies who have been stuck in either WiiWare or were lucky enough to get on Xbox Live Arcade. Welcome to the least limiting platform for downloadable games.

Source: Game Daily - Casual Connect: Sony On Developing for an Open PS2 Platform