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TGS 2009: Hands-on: Echoshift
I think that if I hadn't played Yoshio Ishii's Cursor*10, I wouldn't have had any idea what was going on in Echoshift. But because I have played both Cursor*10 and its sequel, I had no problem playing Echoshift, because the Echochrome sequel is that game, but side-scrolling. This is not a complaint. Echoshift was one of the most engrossing games at Tokyo Game Show. There's far more room for exploration in the still-fresh time-loop genre.
Soon-to-release echochrome patch adds PS Eye support, public level sharing
Along with fellow PSN downloadable title The Last Guy, echochrome is receiving a sizable update in Japan. The PS3 version of the Escher-inspired puzzler will receive a new patch this Thursday, May 21, bringing to the game PS Eye support and a brand-new, public space for user-created levels. Previously, echochrome did not have an open online space for players to share their level creations (or abominations), but instead user-created levels were screened and selected by Sony. Thankfully, this is changing now. The inclusion of PS Eye support is, suffice it to say, odd. In case you've ever played echochrome and wondered, "Gee, I really wish I could use my PS Eye to record how dumb and frustrated I look when trying to solve these mind-bending puzzles. Oh, and hey, I'd really like to put it up on YouTube, too." ... then, this is for you. You can watch yourself as you solve puzzles via a picture-in-picture screen (also pictured above). No word yet about other regions, but we've got a good feeling that this will be heading our way, too. [Via Siliconera]
PS3 echochrome gets Trophies, 1,000 custom stages
Soon monochrome puzzlers will have more than just the satisfaction (and ensuing headache) that comes from a job well done, as Sony has added Trophy support to the PS3 version of echochrome. Available today, this downloadable patch will finally give Escher enthusiasts something to talk about with friends other than who got lost this week on the upside down staircase. Additionally, while up until now user-designed stages have been released at a meager 10 levels at a time, Sony adds that beginning with today's update it will make a mind-numbing 1,000 user-generated puzzles available for Freeform play. Our brains, they hurt. To see which Trophies you can unlock, visit PS3 Fanboy.
Today's echochrome patch brings Trophies and new levels
It's probably been a little while since you played echochrome but today you'll have two new reasons to go back and enjoy the mind-bending puzzler. The Trophy patch will be released today, allowing you to get PSN recognition for your mad Escher skills. Not only that, but a bunch of new user generated levels will be available to try out. "A bunch" may be a bit of an understatement. There will actually be a thousand new levels for you to play. So even if you have exhausted the developer levels already, there are plenty more hours of gameplay being added to the game, completely free of charge. These levels, and the Trophies, will be made available in a patch later today. The patch also includes an in-game screenshot feature and the PlayStation Blog post hints at more features coming at a later date. Check out the video above for a sneak peek at all 1,000 new stages.
Blast Factor, echochrome to get Trophy patches
Surprisingly, two PSN games will be getting Trophy patches in the immediate future. Blast Factor, one of the earliest PSN games, will be getting a patch which adds DualShock 3 support and Trophy support. The game and its expansions will get 25 Trophies, although there's no word on what the Trophies are (yet!). The patch will be available for free tomorrow. Those that don't have the game will be able to buy it off the PlayStation Store for $10, or $13 with both add-ons. echochrome will also receive Trophy support, although a date hasn't been revealed. You can check out the Trophy list for this puzzle game here. The recently released Brain Challenge also has Trophy support. Those that have been following the Trophy Portal may have also noticed we've stealthily added a few other games and guides. Check out our Warhawk and Buzz! Quiz TV guides, if you haven't yet. %Gallery-4025%
Trophies: echochrome
0 Platinum 2 Gold 1 Silver 7 Bronze Difficulty: Moderate Online Trophies? Yes Time to Completion: 10 hours DLC Trophies? No View Trophy List Read More About the Game %Gallery-4918%
Some prices halved at the PSN Store
People come up to me and they say, "Ken, ol' buddy, aren't you doin' anything since you gave Kaz your old gig?" and I tell them, "Friend, I don't know how I still have enough hours in the day!" So, what's been keepin' me busier than a classroom of dung beetles on a field trip to the doody factory? Well, just findin' the best video game savings and passin' 'em on to you, the consumer. Why just today, I checked the PSN Store and it's is just crammed with games that simply must go to make room for our 2009 stock. People think that digital games don't take up space and I think those people are idiots who don't have the sense that god gave an avocado. But God bless 'em, I'd still sell 'em a copy of Echochrome or PixelJunk Eden for $4.99! I hear you sayin', "But Ken, what if I don't want those games? What if I want something different?" Well, friend, I may think you're dumber than a bag of hammers, but I'll still sell you something else from my stock at half price, there's plenty to go around! Have you heard about these before? Sure! But never let it be said that Ken Kutaragi would miss an opportunity to move a couple extra units. You can see my whole stock, just just come out to Krazy Ken's Digital Distribution and Tanning Salon, just 4 miles past Purcellville off the I-64 Turnpike. Or, you know, just click on this link. Either way, just remember what we always say: "If It Don't Say Ken, You Probably Overpaid For The Product You Purchased!" ... Yeah, we're still workin' on that.
Readers pick best webcomic: Echochrome Auditions
It's a rare-yet-joyous day when the gaming comic we really want to see win actually does earn the popular vote. Joystiq readers, thank you for picking 2P Start's Echochrome Auditions. No, really, we think you made the right choice. You should consider doing that more often. Second and third place both went to Penny Arcade (Magnum Opus and The Great Divide, respectively, although the commenters are right that all three of their comics last week were gold). Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week! (Protip: It's best to use the comments field for that kind of stuff, or if you go via our tip line be sure to include "webcomic" in the subject or it will likely get ignored.)
PSP Brite is now available in North America
The third PSP redesign is now available in retail stores across the US and the rest of North America. The first PSP Brite pack, which is out now starting today, is the silver Ratchet & Clank bundle. It's a Silver PSP with a copy of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, a National Treasure 2 UMD movie, 1GB memory stick and an online download voucher for echochrome. The price remains the same as the older bundles at MSRB $199.99. If you're looking for that other bundle which is the black PSP Brite with the 4GB memory stick, you'll still have to wait for next month in order to get that. The silver pack will be available in all European countries except the UK a day later on October 15. EU countries will also have to wait for the black bundle in November.
Expansion pack for echochrome PSP available today
Today's PSN update will see the release of a $5 expansion pack for echochrome on PSP. The PlayStation Blog states that the PSN's mind-bending puzzler will receive an additional 40 stages for the doll to survive. The expansion pack will also be offered in a bundle with the original game, though no price was set. There is also no mention of an expansion for the PS3 version, which released the same day as the PSP version back in May.
echochrome gets $5 PSP expansion today
Although PS3 owners have been enjoying dozens of free levels in the perspective-bending echochrome, PSP owners are not as fortunate. They'll have to shell out $5 on the PLAYSTATION Store today to get an expansion pack which adds 40 new levels to the game -- that's (according to the PS.blog) 71% more content. The blog entry also reveals a few interesting facts about the PSP version of echochrome, notably that the simple-looking title is surprisingly stressful on the hardware. It may surprise you to hear this, but the game takes up all 333MHz of processing power the PSP can take advantage of.
Echochrome re-tooled in 2D for Home, creators working on new project
During the Develop conference in Brighton, England, Sony Japan Studio producer Tatsuya Suzuki told Eurogamer that there are no plans to create a sequel to the PS3 and PSP puzzler Echochrome. Instead, he and Jun Fujiki, the Kyushu University researcher who helped develop the game, confirmed that they will expand on Fujiki's work in "3D trick imagery" in a completely new title. Those hoping for more Echochrome shouldn't feel totally forgotten; the duo also mentioned that the original game is being remimagined in two dimensions exlusively for PlayStation Home. The game will appear in the virtual space as an "arcade game" along with titles previously announced by Namco. [Via PS3 Fanboy] Source – Eurogamer Source – Develop
Home virtual arcade now includes Dig Dug, Galaga, Pac-Man, echochrome
If you're one of the few that's already in the Home beta, you may have already experienced the underwhelming virtual arcade, located in the Games Space within Home. The new version being released for Japan will expand the arcade offerings, and the new choices look yummy. Namco Bandai is offering seven games within Home, with four revealed already: Dig Dug, Galaga, Pac-Man and Xevious. Three more "secret" games will be revealed later. More intriguing, a 2D Home-exclusive version of echochrome can also be accessed from within Home. With more and more game offerings being added to the online service, we're confident that everyone will want to access the virtual world at least once -- if only to play these games. [Via Joystiq & Siliconera]
Echochrome: The PSP's philosophical answer to Brain Age
For most of our younger readers, school's no longer in session in observation of the midsummer months -- though we're certain that our studious readers won't allow their minds become dull as rusty butter knives during their valuable vacation time. That's why we turn your attention to a fascinating article written by PS3 Fanboy's newest columnist, Ph.D candidate and gaming enthusiast Kylie Prymus, who examines the effect that the Escher-esque Echochrome can have on our perception of our own three-dimensional world. Prymus posits that Echochrome's unique, manipulatable 2D perspective is not only jarring when compared to the robust 3D engines we've become accustomed to seeing in most games, but it also points out the "frailty of our own perceptual apparatus", which is fundamentally two-dimensional. Those who still possess unblown minds might want to give the article a read -- if only to give you some Hawking-quality discussion material with which to impress your gaming cohorts.
First batch of free echochrome levels up tomorrow
The PlayStation Blog announced today that 20 new user-generated levels will be available in echochrome between May 15-21, and those new levels may be replaced with even more content the following week. Despite our mixed feelings on the idea that the puzzles are replaced rather than added to a mega-list, it's still great to see how quick the promise of free extra content for the $10 Escher-iffic puzzler was fulfilled. The additional levels will appear randomly in freeform mode if the difficulty is set to level 2 or 3 and there's also been a Flickr page created to give some recognition to the level designers. Definitely check out the demo for the game if you haven't tried it,
Echochrome's free updates will add more levels
Kumi Yuasa, associate producer of echochrome, has revealed on the PlayStation Blog that future free updates of the title will add hand-picked user-generated content selected by the developers. The new levels will be available on a "regular basis" by signing in online with the game; however, these levels will only be available until the next group goes up. The PlayStation Blog details how players can create and submit levels for consideration. It's too bad about the time limit on the content, but it all depends on the frequency of the updates. Of course, for some people it'll be too short, while for echochrome addicts aficionados even a weekly update would be too rare. We'll try to give warning about the new content in our PSN Thursday posts. %Gallery-11823%
PSN Thursday: Echochrome and Canadian equality
It's time for North America to experience the full perception contorting reality of echochrome with this week's PSN update. For those not sure about putting down $10 for the 56 MC Escher-inspired levels, don't be afraid to try out the demo first. Also, Happy PSN Canadian Equality Day! Today's the day that Canada begins getting charged the same price as the United States for PSN titles. Europe has an update too ... we're sure they aren't happy, but there's an update. Check it out -- or not -- at PS3 Fanboy. This week's North American PSN update can be found after the break. %Gallery-11823%
Echochrome demo puzzles North American PSN tomorrow
The PlayStation Blog twisted our perceptions today with the announcement that an Echochrome demo will be contorting PSN tomorrow. Of course, enterprising individuals have already played the demo via the intertubes, but here's the opportunity for us less tech savvy plebs to get in on (a sample of) the Echochrome fun. Prepare to savor every MC Escher inspired level of the demo for now. There's still no actual date for the full version of Echochrome, but it's apparently due sometime in May.
UMD-nied: Echochrome PSP goes download-only in NA
At last, the PSP version of Sony's Escher-esque puzzler, Echochrome, is no longer "up in the air" for the North American market. When it comes down to earth, however, it'll strictly be in the form of a digital download. Newsweek's N'Gai Croal confirms that the game will only be available through the PlayStation Network store, thereby ruling out a retail-bound UMD like that released in Japan. The PSP version will come with 56 unique levels, a number roughly in line with the (PSN-only) PlayStation 3 version. So, what about those 100 levels on the Japanese Echochrome UMD? For now, it looks like they'll only be obtainable if you import the game. Echochrome is out in North America this May.
Spring PSN lineup dated
Sony recently showed off near-final builds of its next wave of original PSN games, and even committed to release time frames, according to MTV Multiplayer. Though weekly releases on the PS Store are largely kept behind the big, black curtain until showtime, it appears that Sony is trying to steal some attention away from the recent bevy of WiiWare boloney "buildup" and the well-oiled Xbox Live Arcade machine by generating previews of its own. So how 'bout those dates: Late April: PixelJunk Monsters Encore (expansion pack) Early May: Echochrome May: Elefunk Late May / early June: WipEout HD
