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How's about some portable flOw?
It seems Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have leaked out a bit of information regarding a PSP port of thatgamecompany's title, flOw. The game received warm reviews when it was released on the PlayStation Network last year and plays sort of like a nap -- trust us, that's a good thing. It's very relaxing. The game will pop up as downloadable through the PlayStation Store sometime soon during the regular Thursday update. [via Gamasutra]
Show floor video: Gridiron Flow makes graphic workflows transparent
Among the Macworld Best in Show winners was an application I hadn't heard of before: Flow, from Gridiron Software (makers of After Effects supercharger tool Nucleo Pro). Flow is still in pre-beta, but when it ships this summer it should make the lives of graphics and production professionals much easier by exposing the various components that go into complex documents; you'll be able to track down your source files, roll back to previous versions and perform "super collects" to grab all the files you need for final output in one package.We got a demo of Flow at Gridiron's Macworld booth; it looks very cool, and it will be exciting to see if it lives up to its promise when it's released. Video after the jump.
PSN games Everyday Shooter, flOw (and more) on sale for $5
Sony's latest PS3 promotion asks, "When was the last time $4.99 brought you hours of entertainment?" We don't have the heart to remind them that bunches of XBLA games – like Space Giraffe – are only $5. Also, that coloring book we bought last week for less than $5 has brought us dozens of hours of entertainment ... Regardless, here's the deets of their promotion: four of the highest-profile (and, as luck would have it, best) PSN downloadable titles are being offered for the low, low price of $5. Did you miss the normally $10 Calling all Cars' discounted $5 price last month? Well, the gods at Sony have granted you a second chance. How about indie-darlings Everyday Shooter (normally $10) and flOw (normally $8)? Pick 'em up for, you guessed it, $5 each. Last on the list is PixelJunk Racers (normally $7), which will also be available for $5. You've got until November 29th to catch 'em all and add them to your collection of Black Friday steals.
Warhawk, fl0w expanding in December
Expansions are coming for popular Playstation Network titles fl0w and Warhawk, according to Game Informer magazine. Firing Squad reports that a recent issue of the magazine reveals expansions in development for both downloadable titles, with planned releases in December. The Warhawk expansion will introduce a dropship into the game, which can pick up and relocate ground vehicles. The fl0w expansion, meanwhile, will add a multiplayer mode to the abstract game, as well as a new playable creature. While expansions for Warhawk are a no-brainer, it remains to be seen how typical downloadable content will fit in with the incredibly atypical fl0w.
TGS07: flOw expansion pack brings new creatures
A lot of people complained about the lack of critters in the ambient world of flOw. We don't really know why -- it's sort of a calming experience no matter what little amoeba-like creature you decide to evolve. Well, an expansion pack for the game is on its way and you can expect a new playable creature, a new enemy, and new types of food. The new creature is another of that circle-type creature you could play as before and the enemy is another variation on the spiky-puffer fish thing. Don't get too close! Another addition in the expansion is the funky ability to play as two different creatures in multiplayer. Now you don't have to argue about which small tapeworm thing is you. Nobody knows when this expansion pack is getting released, but it seems the most important addition is the ability to choose different characters in multiplayer.
Super Rub-a-Dub outsells Calling all Cars! in Europe
During Sony's press conference at the Leipzig Game Convention, the boss of Sony Europe David Reeve detailed sales numbers on a handful of key PSN titles. Leading the pack was Tekken 5 with 103k sold, followed up by flOw with 47k sold. The really interesting thing though is that Super Rub-a-dub outsold Calling all Cars!, 34k to 31k. It's pretty bad when David Jaffe's baby can't even outsell one of the worst reviewed titles on the PSN.We contacted David Karraker from SCEA who clarified that these numbers were just for Europe, which makes some sense since Calling all Cars! hasn't been out over there as long as it's been out in America. Still, it's got to be a disappointment for Jaffe that even after all the publicity, attention and (generally) good reviews for Calling all Cars!, it still gets beaten by an over-grown tech demo. Oh well there's always next time!
Flow gets a website
The much-hyped (and little-used-- it's still in private beta) FTP client Flow has gotten a website, complete with a feature list, and some interesting screencasts about how the app will let you let Flow work with a browser, transfer files (remember that, the only thing FTP clients used to do?), and even edit and preview files on the fly.I have to admit that it all looks pretty nifty (the Dropmarks system sounds cool-- drag a file to a bookmark icon, and it'll send that file out for you, complete with a tiny dialogue), but there's not a lot here that might yet lure me away from just using Cyberduck for free. The editor is probably the biggest draw, but even then, I can't yet see anything here that I can't really accomplish using some combo of TextMate and Transmit.Still, can't judge a book by its cover, and can't just an editor without actually using it. Flow is still in private beta, with a release upcoming.Thanks, Sebastiaan!
Catching up with Thatgamecompany
FlOw has come a long way since being part of a master's thesis for then-University of Southern California student Jenova Chen. Now the title is the number one download on the PlayStation Network. We had the chance to speak with Chen and fellow Thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago about what's been going since we last heard from them at the Game Developers Conference. The developer is still very positive about their decision to sign a 3-game deal with Sony and say they have been very good to them, according to Santiago. They are still working inside the Sony offices. When we mentioned the success of flOw, Chen remarked that they see it more as a challenge.Though they can't reveal any information on the upcoming project, Chen considered it ambitious, with no previous reference material. He used an illustration metaphor, that they can always illustrate known game mechanics, "but now we're trying to sketch it ourself," he said. We thought flOw was a pretty ambitious title, so it'll be interesting to see what they really consider far out of the norm. According to the duo, information concerning their next title is hopefully going to be released this fall.
Indies and consoles: an imperfect system
According to Gamasutra's Simon Carless, the independent scene is facing an uphill battle when developing for consoles, specifically in the realm of digital distribution. Carless argues that the difficulty in bringing a title across all platforms, both for technological and business reasons.Other than some retro titles (e.g. Joust), a very small number of downloadable title are appearing on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is one of the few exceptions, and Capcom's Christian Svensson said it required "considerable coordination" to get the titles on both consoles, which indicates to us that less established independent houses would have insurmountable difficulty.Carless notes that Sony's collection, retro games aside, are predominantly first party (though we should note that flOw went to Sony because they actively sought out the independent title). Nintendo has always talked about bringing original games to the Wii, and there have been murmurings of a Game Channel, but so far all the only tangible indication of a non-Virtual Console title is Impossible Mission.Carless' analogy to the film industry (three separate formats for theatre chains), though admittedly ham-fisted, does not account for industry history. It may be unfair to the independent developer, but there hasn't been a time when gaming was controlled by a single format. Sure, development teams are now much larger and require a bigger budget, but that hasn't stopped smaller teams from succeeding with Geometry Wars, Ragdoll Kung-Fu, and Alien Hominid (pictured). The state of indie games isn't ideal, but it seems to be getting better. We say keep on fighting, Simon.
North American PLAYSTATION Store releases for the week
Sony continues to release a steady flow of Midway arcade classics over the PLAYSTATION Store. As we mentioned yesterday, this week's new downloadable title is Rampage: World Tour. Unfortunately, that's about it for this week. The only other thing is a video of the next Midway arcade release, Joust. Joy. Sony has also temporarily lowered the price on flOw. For a limited time, you can download one of the best PSN titles out there for only $4.99 (normally $7.99). Not much this time around, it's really a shame Sony didn't load up a bunch of the HD trailers from Gamer's Day. I'd LOVE to see the Uncharted trailer on my big screen.
European and Japanese PlayStation Network releases for Friday May 11th
I'm going to keep this post fairly short. The less said about the following, the better. Here's what we Europeans will see grace our PlayStation Stores today. Warhawk trailer (free) Rocky Blu-ray trailer (free) Impressed? No, neither am I. Hopefully we'll see something a little more substantial next Friday. Funny, I remember thinking the same thing this time last week. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Japanese store has been updated to finally include flOw. No bullet list needed. That's all they got. I guess comparing this to yesterday's American PSN update will just make us feel bad, though it's getting increasingly difficult not to.
PlayStation Network garners 1.3 million users
A Gamespot report reveals the first usage statistics for the PlayStation 3's online network, the astonishingly named PlayStation Network. According to Sony, over 1.3 million users have signed on to the free service, 600,000 of them being based in the United States. All together, users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content. "Users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content!" Thank you. It's not explicitly mentioned how many of said pieces are PSN games, but individual sales data for Blast Factor, fl0w and others may be released at a later stage. Comparing overall statistics to those of Xbox Live shows Microsoft's service in the lead with six million users (an unknown percentage of those paying for a Gold subscription), but it's to be expected given the PS3's comparatively recent launch. With some strong online titles and more free services, the PSN stands every chance of overcoming its growing pains and becoming more competitive. Of course, consumers would stand to benefit most if things stayed neck-and-neck. After all, Xbox Live's no good to us dead.
Partial songlist for Ouendan sequel revealed [update 1]
A partial songlist for Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 can be found in this week's Japanese gaming magazines, and we can't help but get giddy over some of the choices. The Platformers reveals the following songs: Mihimaru GT - "Kibun Joujou" Homemade Kazoku - "Shounen Heart" smap - "Bang! Bang!!" Ayaka - "I Believe" Kimura Kaela - "Real Life Real Heart" Flow - "Okuru Kotoba" Sukima-Switch - "Zenryoku Shonen" Checkers - "Oh, My Julia" Yaida Hitomi - "Go My Way" Hirai Ken - "POP STAR" The Platformers website provides samples for each song, for those interested in getting a small taste of what's to come. The game's release is not too far away: May 17th, so importers will want to get their pre-orders in ASAP, before the other cheerleading-obsessed gamers do.[Thanks, Imran!][Update 1: Minor stylistic corrections.]
Living Game Worlds III: The Game Mechanics of Reality
Is the games industry burdened by its reliance on game mechanics? Speaking at the Living Games World Conference at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week, Tracy Fullerton, a game design theorist and assistant professor at the University of Southern California Interactive Media Division, plead her case that the commonly used game mechanics are in a way impeding our ability to expand into new content themes.Fullerton began by defining the root terminology. "We've talked a lot about serious games ... but I thought I might be nice to back up and bit and really kind of question what is that a game is," she said. "One of the things that I like to do is break things down and build them up again."
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 10
Note: This edition was delayed due to an internet outage. PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com. Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to MP_ROOT/101ANV01/. Requires firmware 2.00 or above. Do NOT place in "VIDEO" folder. Firmware 2.80 or above do not need to download thumbnails. LittleBigPlanet [PS3] Download MP4 (25.5MB) | Download THM The following videos are featured after the break: Warhawk [PS3], fl0w [PS3], Home [PS3], Heavenly Sword [PS3]
A numerical history, and future, of flOw dev That Game Company
On the first floor of Moscone's North hall last Friday, flOw developer That Game Company presented their storied origins. Co-founders Jenova Chen, who took a brief recess from the company to help on the DS version of Will Wright's Spore, and Kellee Santiago, met at the University of Southern California. "I don't see [video games] as being any different [than other interactive media], it's all story telling," Santiago said. Chen, who affirms that his proudest work is flOw and Cloud, explained their place in gaming with an ever-popular culinary allegory. Think of Gears of War as steak and World of Warcraft as chicken. Let's give lettuce a relation to Nintendogs and fish can be Brain Age. "Let's say you focus on chicken, but somehow you find a way to make it accessible and customizable," said Chen. The according Power Point slide shows the chicken transition into a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. "That also expands the audience or customers. How can you make existing games more accessible to wider audiences?" Does that mean flOw is a bowl of cereal? All we know now is that we're quite famished.
GDC 07: fl0w top selling Network game; no sequel planned
With 110,000 downloads and counting, fl0w has managed to be the top selling PlayStation Store game so far. thatgamecompany wanted to create a new kind of game that broke through traditional conventions: considering its success so far, it appears that the experiment is working. Jenova Chen and the rest of the team don't plan on being content on the incredible success of their downloadable title. The team revealed at GDC that they are working on a new title, one which is guaranteed not to be a sequel to fl0w. Considering the support they've received from Sony, it wouldn't be surprising to see their next title land on the PS3 yet again: maybe they'd like to do a Cell-remake of Cloud?
GDC 07: fl0w was almost on Wii
Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago and the rest of the thatgamecompany team discussed their latest motion-controlled PS3 title fl0w. The game certainly would have been an incredible addition to the Wii library, considering its use of motion controls, relatively subdued graphics, and non-gamer-friendly gameplay. Santiago revealed that fl0w was pitched to two companies: Nintendo and Sony.Well, Sony won. Sony's aggressive approach to supporting new developers was what gave PS3 the edge. "They [Nintendo] weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started."Sony has proven at GDC that they care about developers through the announcement of Edge and extending their Network offerings to independent developers. When will Nintendo jump on the bandwagon, and give Wii owners the ability to download new, original content on the Wii Shop Channel?
FlOw almost was a Wii title
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/flOw_could_have_been_on_Wii'; Speaking about the history of upstart developer That Game Company at GDC, President Kellee Santiago revealed an extremely interesting tidbit as to where flOw was heading on consoles. Two companies were interested in the title: Sony, as we all are now aware of, and Nintendo. "That was the hardest decision we ever had to make, choosing between Sony and Nintendo," admitted Santiago. Speaking during the Q & A, Santiago clarified that "they weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started." Nintendo did not approach them; the team actually cornered them about Cloud at a prior Game Developers Conference. FlOw creator Jenova Chen chimed in, saying "in the end, we are game makers and not console makers," expressing his satisfaction working with Nintendo on other projects. That Game Company did not rule out working on the Wii in the future. From our current impressions, we think Nintendo missed a golden opportunity here. We'll have more on That Game Company's presentation later in the day.
Metareview + Our take: flOw
Hey guys, it's about time we pulled out another one of these review thingies. This one will be significantly shorter because, well, the game is significantly shorter/smaller/whatever. First up, here's what the critics say about flOw: IGN: 7.6 Gamespot: 7.1 1UP: 7 So, that's about as above average and below great as you can get. Here's why the game apparently failed to swoon the critic's higher numbers: No challenge (you can't actually die) Not a whole lot to do (eat stuff, get bigger, rinse and repeat in a linear fashion) Co-op play is neat, but really doesn't add anything to the mix What did the game do right? Well, they say this: Atmosphere is spot on soothing, presentation is excellent Getting to see what's next in your evolutionary chain is a huge draw The SIXAXIS controls feel pretty finely tuned, not tacked on The sound and graphics are "barely there" in that "good, artsy-fartsy" way ...It's cheap? (that was me) I don't really have much to add to their reviews. I feel the same way. It's fun as hell, but once you've seen it, the experience doesn't change. It's an absolute blast to watch your friends try to get a hold of the SIXAXIS controls, but then you get mesmerized by what they're doing. It's definitely a chill-out game to play before you take a nap. Or if you're of legal age, after a few brews the game practically becomes a college football game -- people yelling at the TV, saying to go eat that thing, etc. It's got lasting value, but not if you're all by yourself. It's worth the price, though. PS3Fanboy: 7 crescent-moon tapeworms out of 10 What are your thoughts?
