Talking to MCV after a well-received keynote speech at GDC in San Jose, SCE Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison reiterated his belief that PS3 will be at the forefront of the new era for taking entertainment content to consumers.

“Apple has passed a billion downloads on iTunes, that’s got to be proof that things are already changing. PlayStation 3 will continue this evolution,” he said.

Sony’s network platform will allow full distribution of games played direct from the PS3 hard disk drive. And it wants the industry to get a move on, so much so that an E-Distribution Initiative (EDI) has been set up to encourage developers to seek partnerships managed through SCE Worldwide’s organisations in the US, Europe, Japan and Korea.

These deals will allow downloadable games to be published for individual purchase or subscription.

“In some markets this will become the dominant distribution platform, but not everywhere and it will take time,” added Harrison.

“Traditional content distribution and e-distribution are not mutually exclusive. This is not RIP retail, it is about growing the market.”