Quazal Announces PSP Networking Middleware

Montreal, Quebec-headquartered Quazal, maker of the Net-Z and Rendez-Vous online multiplayer middleware technologies, has announced that the company has been approved for the Tools and Middleware program for Sony's PSP handheld, and that a version of its middleware is now ready for evaluation by interested PSP developers. “Handheld multiplayer gaming is full of unique opportunities and challenges, and we’re happy to have our technology meeting those challenges,” said Martin Lavoie, CTO of Quazal. “Having handheld to home console cross-platform capability adds another great dimension of multiplayer for developers to work with.” By incorporating Quazal’s technology into their game titles, developers and publishers will open the door to novel interoperable gaming opportunities between the handheld and home console game spaces. The company claims that, because of the cross-platform nature of Net-Z and Rendez-Vous, which is also available for PCs and major console systems such as the PlayStation 2, these ideas will be far easier to implement than before. Recent Quazal-using titles include Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Crystal Dynamics/Eidos' Snowblind, High Moon/Capcom's Darkwatch, and a number of other titles.