Okay, so we're Slashdot and lately we hate Sony. But let's recognize good news when we get it. The Xbox Live Arcade has been awesome, but it's firmly rooted in retro-style casual games. If the Sony can stand on Microsoft's shoulders and offer short games with higher production values, they could have something special on their hands.

Since the NES, console games have pretty much been "one size fits all," a distribution model that led to lower budget games often feeling empty or artificially padded. With downloadable games, the price is scaleable so you can make the game whatever length "feels right," then charge for the actual value. We've already seen it work well for retro and casual games; now let's see what it can do for timely movie tie-ins and episodic games.

I rolled my eyes when I heard about David Jaffe's "John Lennon" aspirations, but maybe he's on to something...