To continue the celebration this week, we’re pleased to offer a special gift for PS Vita owners—by giving away four classic games for free exclusively in the PlayStation Vita Store! In addition, you’ll also find a brand new set of downloadable PS Vita games on sale at a great discount. The promotion starts tomorrow and runs through March 11th.
Here are the free games we’re giving away for PS Vita:
Wild Arms (PS one Classic)
Patapon (PSP)
Piyotama (PSP)
Patchwork Heroes (PSP)
Dakko Dakko has announced that its two popular PSP releases are to be updated and expanded for the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) handheld system. Titled The HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character and Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims in HD!, both games will benefit from visual and aural overhauls to take advantage of PS Vita’s increased capabilities. Dakko Dakko is readying both games for launch this summer.
The HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character and Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims in HD! will both feature pin-sharp visuals in combination with remastered chiptune soundtracks. To take full advantage of their migration to PS Vita, both games will also boast PlayStation Network (PSN) Trophies as well as additional features and gameplay fine-tuning. Notably, The HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character adds online leaderboards to its Challenge Mode, and Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims in HD! will allow players to use the PS Vita’s rear touch panel to provide even more scope for skilful play.
Dan Croucher, producer, Dakko Dakko, said: "We're really happy to be bringing these games to Vita. The redrawn and remastered graphics for both games look amazing on the bigger screen, and the music sounds better than ever.” He continues, “All in all, these will be the definitive versions of Dakko Dakko's first two games."
Commenting on the announcement, SCEE’s Senior Business Development Manager Shahid Ahmad said “We are delighted to be welcoming these beautiful and charming titles to PS Vita. The Dakko Dakko team has consistently impressed us with their creative flair and vision and we’re excited about their approach in remastering the HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character and Floating Cloud God Saves the Pilgrims in HD! for their new home on PS Vita.”
Publisher PQube, along with Milestone, one of the most recognized racing videogame developers for consoles and PC, unveils the new exclusive ‘Game Modes’ included in MotoGP 13, due for release in June 2013.
“This all new reboot of the MotoGP game franchise will offer players a 360° experience based on pure realism”, comments Michele Caletti, MotoGP 13’s Game Director. “We’re working hard on this new project referencing forums regularly , the Official Facebook Fan Page and quotes for collecting feedback which will allow us to create a game as close as possible to players’ needs. For example, we’ve introduced one of the most requested features by fans: SPLIT SCREEN”, concludes Caletti .
MotoGP 13’s Game Modes:
- Grand Prix – Pick your rider, team, track and category, then customise your options, set the weather conditions, opponents’ AI difficultly level, qualifying session update with 2013 new rules or the entire weekend race.
- World Championship – Prove your riding abilities by completing the entire MotoGP 2013 World Championship in either Moto3, Moto2 or MotoGP . In-depth customization gives you the chance to choose a section of the championship (minimum 4 – maximum 18 races), select the tracks, choose a preferred order or repeat one single track until you master it. The aim is to be the World Champion!
- Time Attack – A timeless game mode where you can ride unfinished laps, modify bike settings and participate in technical meetings to improve your performance. The best lap time for each category will be uploaded onto the Worldwide Leaderboard.
- Career –The brand new career mode lets you build your racing career, race after race, from your rookie debut, through Moto3, Moto2 all the way to the MotoGP World Champion title! Advice from your ever present Personal Manager gives you feedback on your performance and assigns objectives. Between races, your Motorhome is the place to be, from here you can customise your rider and career elements or unlock new deals and teams, depending on your Reputation. Be completely immersed in the MotoGP universe!
- Online Multiplayer – Experience the Grand Prix and World Championship modes online, racing against friends! In the Sprint Season mode you can start from Moto3 and jump directly to the desirable MotoGP class by meeting certain objectives.
- Real in-game Events - A constantly updated online feed of events based on actual real-world races, as they happen throughout the 2013 season: Relive all the thrills within days of seeing them live!
Developed by Milestone studio, MotoGP 13 is scheduled for release in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC and PlayStation Vita.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u41qBJ_ryhc
It’s with great pleasure that I can finally reveal the details of the PS3 and PS Vita versions of our horror game Lone Survivor!
Lone Survivor’s rich story continues to provoke heated debate amongst fans and critics alike. The soundtrack has also been consistently praised. I really could never have expected or hoped for such success, from what is a very personal game to me.
But what is Lone Survivor? For those who missed it the first time round, this is a psychological-survival-adventure, where the choice of how to survive is up to you. It’s the last record of our nameless, masked protagonist, holed-up in a city full of diseased monsters, starving and exhausted.
When we join him on his quest, he has already begun to question whether what he sees is even real. You can choose to sneak through the game without firing a single shot, or to kill everything in your path. You can eat and sleep well, or resort to drugs to keep going. You can search for survivors, or try to escape the city alone. You can look after your mental health, or descend into madness…
More than anything, I wanted Lone Survivor to be a game that approaches issues rarely touched on in games – from the shattering effects of grief, through mental health issues, to the examination of drug use and abuse. It’s one of the reasons the game took more than four years to create.
Critics cite the combination of meaningful choices presented to the player (this is a game in which you can genuinely role-play), the ‘virtual pet’ survival mechanics, the ‘invisible psychologist’, and the use of dream-logic as a combination that’s genuinely bold and new.
It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to release one of my games on a console, especially of the Sony variety (the PlayStation family is still my favorite). I have the utmost confidence in Curve, who are handling the conversion, to produce the ultimate version of the game — their excellent track record speaks for itself.
To top it off, I’ve secretly been devoting a lot time and resources into adding additional content into the game, initially exclusive to PS3 and PS Vita. As well as Trophies, Cross-Buy and Cross-Play support, the PS version will feature (amongst other things) 19 new items, new dialogue with all NPCs, two extensive new side quests and a brand new ‘Yellow’ ending, featuring an exclusive piece of music. We are also investigating touch control for movement and inventory use. This version really will be enhanced in every way!
I hope you enjoy the game. For those who’ve already supported it, thank you so much. I can’t wait to share the new content with all of you in July.
Naturally, we’re making the experience even more epic using the awesome controls of the PS Vita, including front touch for greater painting accuracy and tilt controls for racing mode. Not only that, but there’s also a two-player wi-fi co-op mode exclusive to the PS Vita, so you can unleash the power of two on the go anywhere, anytime.
In a conversation with IGN, PlayStation’s Director of Product Planning and Platform Software Innovation Don Mesa revealed that more than 100 titles will come to PlayStation Vita in 2013 alone. Mesa also had a lot of other interesting things to say about Vita, including usage statistics for Sony’s fledgling handheld device.
“I know there’s been a lot of noise about Vita recently,” Mesa admitted. “There were some negative impressions and so forth. One thing we haven’t had the opportunity to do is talk about how our Vita owners are feeling about the platform. It’s a good gut check for all of us, to know what’s happening now.”
As such, Mesa jumped into the numbers. For starters, a third of all Vita games sold are sold digitally through the PlayStation Network, an impressive number. “Our users are embracing the PlayStation Store on the device and finding it very easy to download and get their games on their device and start playing.”
In a survey Sony conducted with Vita gamers, they learned that they enjoy an 86 percent “satisfaction rate” from the handheld’s users. Sony also found that 90 percent of Vita owners play Vita “on a regular basis,” marked as once a week or more. But the craziest stat? The average Vita owner uses the handheld 18.7 hours every week.
And what about those 100+ games coming to Vita this year? Mesa placed a heavy emphasis on upcoming indie games arriving on Vita – Hotline Miami, Thomas Was Alone, Lone Survivor, Frozen Synapse and others – but he also promised that bigger titles are coming too.
When prodded about Sony’s first-party support moving forward (only two Sony-owned studios are currently known to be making a game for Vita), Mesa promised that Sony’s “got some [games] I the works that I can’t talk about right now. There are games that [Sony] Worldwide Studios guys are building that are… going to be very interesting and innovative, but to give it away too early… we’re always worried about copycats,” Mesa concluded, humorously.
In a conversation with IGN, PlayStation’s Director of Product Planning and Platform Software Innovation Don Mesa revealed that more than 100 titles will come to PlayStation Vita in 2013 alone. Mesa also had a lot of other interesting things to say about Vita, including usage statistics for Sony’s fledgling handheld device.
“I know there’s been a lot of noise about Vita recently,” Mesa admitted. “There were some negative impressions and so forth. One thing we haven’t had the opportunity to do is talk about how our Vita owners are feeling about the platform. It’s a good gut check for all of us, to know what’s happening now.”
As such, Mesa jumped into the numbers. For starters, a third of all Vita games sold are sold digitally through the PlayStation Network, an impressive number. “Our users are embracing the PlayStation Store on the device and finding it very easy to download and get their games on their device and start playing.”
In a survey Sony conducted with Vita gamers, they learned that they enjoy an 86 percent “satisfaction rate” from the handheld’s users. Sony also found that 90 percent of Vita owners play Vita “on a regular basis,” marked as once a week or more. But the craziest stat? The average Vita owner uses the handheld 18.7 hours every week.
And what about those 100+ games coming to Vita this year? Mesa placed a heavy emphasis on upcoming indie games arriving on Vita – Hotline Miami, Thomas Was Alone, Lone Survivor, Frozen Synapse and others – but he also promised that bigger titles are coming too.
When prodded about Sony’s first-party support moving forward (only two Sony-owned studios are currently known to be making a game for Vita), Mesa promised that Sony’s “got some [games] I the works that I can’t talk about right now. There are games that [Sony] Worldwide Studios guys are building that are… going to be very interesting and innovative, but to give it away too early… we’re always worried about copycats,” Mesa concluded, humorously.
PlayStation Mobile had quite a presence at yesterday’s Indie Arcade event at GDC. On top of all the awesome games out on the floor available to play, we announced the winner of our NYC GameJam, which took place last month at IndieCade East. The four semi-finalist games–Crystallon, Hermit Crab in Space, Crumble, and Don’t Wake the Bear–were all showcased at the event and Hermit Crab in Space, developed by Golden Ruby Games, was crowned as the first PSM GameJam winner. Hermit Crab in Space will be featured in the PlayStation booth at E3 June 11th through 13th. Let’s give a big shout out to all the semi-finalists and huge congratulations to Golden Ruby Games on their big win. These are incredible games developed by extraordinary talent and we look forward to seeing more at future GameJams.
We captured our very first GameJam on film and want to share that experience with you. Twelve amazing indie teams competed at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York working with the theme, “Evolution.” All teams who participated in the event produced remarkable games and it was tough to pick the four semi-finalists. This video gives you a deeper look into the event and everything PlayStation Mobile. And for those of you who are interested to know more about the finalist’s games, we have all the details below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S45-Rvb-zfg
GameJam Winner:
Hermit Crab in Space
Developed by: Golden Ruby Games
Hermit Crab in Space pits one lost crab against a hostile galaxy, forcing the player to fight their way home in an ever changing, improvised ship scavenged from the refuse around them. Using the salvaged parts of his enemies’ spacecrafts, the player slowly builds his ship for protection. Reinforce your ship with shields, cannons, power tiles, ramming tiles, and more–and discover new powers and strategies by combining them in different ways. You’ll have to think on your feet, though: any part of your own ship can be blown off too, leaving you to pilot a fraction of your once mighty ship until you can rebuild your ship like a space phoenix rising from the ashes. Hermit Crab in Space brings together the dogfights of Star Fox with the creativity, construction and infinite possibility of Minecraft.
GameJam Semi-Finalists:
Crystallon
Developed by: Team Dozen Eyes
Crystallon is a touch-controlled match-3 game where players are challenged to create isometric cubes out of floating pieces. Pieces have different qualities: Color, pattern, animation, and sound. In order to successfully create a group, the three pieces must be all the same or all different for each quality. Pieces also have a fixed orientation: Left, Right and Top. You can only use one of each orientation per matched set. When pieces are successfully combined, they create cubes. Cubes may also be combined together into sets of three for extra points. You can advance to the next level only when there are no remaining possible sets in the current level.
Crumble
Developed by: Team Snakesss
Crumble is a highly conceptual puzzle adventure inspired by classic arcade games like Helicopter and Doodle Jump. Players guide an avatar, a block-like cell, which changes shape as it brushes against walls and obstacles. In one gameplay mode, the end goal is to match the block’s shape to a receiving pad at the end, which requires simultaneous attention to moving through the level and awareness of shape. In a second gameplay mode, users navigate through adventure levels, using the block’s falling rubble to grow shooting flowers in order to break through walls and hopefully, beat the level. If the player’s core touches an obstacle, the player loses control of their core for a few seconds, and the game restarts from the title screen.
Don’t Wake the Bear
Developed by: Back Pedal Games
Don’t Wake the Bear is a multiplayer game reminiscent of “hot potato” that only requires one PlayStation Vita to play. Be the last camper standing by strategically teasing or soothing a sleeping bear, but whatever you do… Don’t Wake the Bear! Players take turns adding items to the cave they are trapped in, some of which soothe the bear, like the tranquilizer dart, while others agitate him, like a death metal station on the radio. One wrong move, the bear can wake up, and that player will be eliminated. Players must also handle the PS Vita carefully during a pass as both players are vulnerable to attack.
In addition to the GameJam semi-finalists that were featured at the Indie Arcade event, we also showed several other fun and addictive PSM games that have released on the platform recently and that will be coming out in tin the next few months. If you own a PS Vita or a PlayStation-certified device I highly encourage you to check out PlayStation Mobile. Here’s a list of the games that we had at our event:
Lemmings
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Developer: d3t Ltd.
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
First released by Psygnosis in 1991, this popular puzzle game is now retrofitted for the PS Mobile platform. After several sequels, remakes and spin-offs of Lemmings, the wacky, adorable rodents are back and they are as puzzled and confused as ever. Players help guide as many of the lovable creatures to safety as possible by guiding them to build, bash, block, float and explode their way through a multitude of puzzling levels. In order to win, players must determine which lemmings to assign eight different skills to, which can help alter the landscape, affect other lemmings’ behavior or clear obstacles in order to create a safe passageway.
Haunt the House Terrortown
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Developer: SFB Games
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
In Haunt the House Terrortown, players float around as a ghost, who hides in an abandoned clock tower by day and haunts the town by night. Possess any and all objects seen and use these objects to frighten any unsuspecting humans nearby. In this side scrolling action puzzle game, the aim is to scare every townsman and townswoman out of town and reclaim what has been lost before sunrise returns.
Life of Pixel
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Developer: Super Icon Ltd.
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
Life of Pixel is an old-fashioned platform game with plenty of modern twists and puzzle elements. Players jump in the role of a little green pixel named Pixel who is tired of being part of the crowd. With luck on his side, a videogame museum is just next door, so under the cover of darkness, Pixel sneaks in to take a look. It is at this time where the magic begins and the world of gaming comes alive.
Dedicated to the brilliance of classic gaming machines, Life of Pixel was designed using the exact palette limitations and pixel resolution of the Commodore 64. The game is comprised of 64 levels spread over eight different game machines— Atari 2600, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Model B, Nintendo Gameboy and NES. Each machine features eight levels where players must collect a specific amount of gems to open the EXIT door. The aim is to complete each level in the fastest possible time. Make use of moving and destructible platforms, double jumps, and gravity inversion to escape the many enemies attempting to thwart you.
Gun Commando
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Developer: Ripstone Ltd.
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
Gun Commando is a distinctly classic first person shooter that combines 8-bit graphics with visceral game-play. Players jump into the role of Jack Bennett, a weapon-loving bounty hunter of sorts, who must save the world from alien invaders. Reminiscent of old school classics like Wolfenstein and Duke Nukem, Gun Commando features a unique weaponry upgrade system that rewards skill and accuracy. And you’ll need the big guns to take down the ruthless aliens!
Chimpact
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Developer: Yippie! Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
In Chimpact, players help a little monkey bounce around and collect items like bananas and diamonds through a variety of levels (48 in all) to make it home safely. Each level is made up of smaller segments that intertwine with each other making for an interactive and addictive game. Chimpact is a simple, yet challenging new age platforming game reminiscent of similar games from the 16-bit era.
Switch Galaxy
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Developer: Atomicom
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
Switch Galaxy is a futuristic survival racing game based off its parent game, Switch. The game features a level structure, lots of pick-ups, power-ups, new enemies and upgraded graphics and has two modes: original Switch Survival Mode where players have one life to get as far as they can and Mission Mode where players travel from one side of the Galaxy to the other in the fastest time possible. In Mission Mode, players are called on to find Tantallum, a metal that can only be collected at very high speeds. Players must deliver this to Dakur Technology’s secret research base, where they will earn a jump drive to win gold trophies with.
Forevolution
Release Date: March 12, 2013
Developer: Pygmy Studio Co., Ltd.
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
Forevolution is a classic real-time strategy game inspired by the natural cycle of life. The player is the ruler of their own world with the power to influence everything— animals, plants and the natural elements all living things need to thrive. After an inspirational trip to Laos, the game’s creator developed Forevolution where others take control in creating the right balance in a complex eco-system.
Rymdkapsel
Release Date: April 2013
Developer: Webfarbror
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
In Rymdkapsel, players take command of a space station and its minions. Carefully plan your expansion and manage your resources to explore the galaxy.
Ten by Eight
Release Date: April 2013
Developer: Action Button Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
In Ten By Eight, players match groups of tiles by chaining up multiple groups with wildcard stars and attempt to find the longest paths possible. This is a puzzle game strong enough for a brain surgeon, yet PH-balanced for a rocket scientist.
Magic Planet Snack Deluxe
Release Date: April 2013
Developer: Wolfgame
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
In Magic Planet Snack Deluxe, Players take on the role of a wizard who has cast an unfortunate spell upon himself, turning into a giant space worm. Travel through the cosmos to devour wizards in other worlds for points and gather orbs to power up your hyper gauge. Be sure to avoid things like trolls, lava and satellites and look to make some key allies along the way!
Sully: A Very Serious RPG
Release Date: Summer 2013
Developer: BreadBrothers Games
Platforms: PlayStation Mobile
Sully: A Very Serious RPG is a JRPG-style game made by some plucky Americans trying to bring back the “lighthearted romp” to an increasingly serious genre. Join Crystal and Darin as they deal with their last summer together before going to different colleges, and the adventures they have trying to make sense of growing up in a JRPG world.
Metrico centers around infographics, as you might have noticed from the teaser above. It’s an atmospheric puzzle action game that strives to create a unique mindset of its own. The idea has been in our heads for a few years, and was born out of noticing how beautiful infographics can look as an art form. It was reinforced by seeing that infographics have become increasingly important in contemporary pop-culture. While they haven’t made their way to videogames yet, we think it’s a place where they can work exceptionally well. This is not just because of their pretty aesthetics as much as it is about actively changing data and how that can be visualized.
Metrico has been in development for a while; we created several unreleased prototypes for ourselves to flesh out the design. Our last prototype won the Indiepub propeller Award in 2012 in the category of “Best Design”, after which we got into contact with Sony to develop the full game for PS Vita through the help of the Pub Fund program – and we are thrilled with the opportunity to do so! Especially because the gameplay mechanics of Metrico work particularly well in combination with the unique hardware features the PS Vita has to offer.
The next PlayStation Vita system software update, version 2.10, is set to arrive in the next couple of days and will add the ability to create folders, this week’s Dengeki PlayStation reveals.
Here are the details:
Folders
- You can configure folders.
- Up to 10 icons in a folder.
- You can name the folders what you want.
- The icons displayed on the home screen get shrunk a little, so they also end up a bit grainy.
- Unclear whether the icon limit will increase or not.
Browser Improvements
- Stream web videos.
- Not sure what format.