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LittleBigPlanet skin coming to Lumines Supernova
Dengeki Online is reporting that Q-Entertainment will be collaborating with Media Molecule to create a LittleBigPlanet skin for Lumines Supernova, an upcoming PSN-exclusive title (read more about the game here). Not many too details have been announced, except that it will appear some time this winter. There are also three screenshots, which you can check out here.[Via Kotaku]
Lumines Supernova gets a LittleBigPlanet skin
The upcoming release of Lumines Supernova for PlayStation Network will have a LittleBigTheme for players to groove to, according to Dengeki Online. The Japanese news site is not reporting, as some outlets have claimed, that Lumines is being released as a game within LittleBigPlanet. No indication of the skin being downloadable content, so we're going to guess it's already included in the game. Lumines Supernova is expected for release this "winter," meaning sometime before the end of February.
Tatomic brings great puzzler gameplay to the App Store
Tatomic came to my attention the other day, and I finally gave it a shot this afternoon -- it's terrific. They've done what all game companies should do (and what Apple really needs to support on the actual App Store) and provided a free version [iTunes] to test out, and I can't really recommend it any more highly. It's a falling block game basically, very much like Lumines (which I really enjoy on Xbox Live) -- little spinning atom blocks drop in pairs, and you've got to match them up in certain numbers to clear them off the board. Pretty addictive gameplay, too -- the fact that you've only got two blocks dropping makes it simple, unless things start to pile up, and then you've really got to start thinking what goes where. Controls are also done pretty well, but take a little getting used to (you basically touch corners of the screen to move, drop or turn the little atoms you're matching), but once you figure them out, you'll start dropping blocks like a maniac. If you finish up the first ten levels and still want more, there's a $4.99 version with three modes and thirty levels total. Excellent puzzler gameplay. I still would like to see a deeper game on the App Store, but for cheap puzzle thrills, Tatomic delivers.
Lumines Supernova to fall this fall on PSN
We're doubtful the release of Lumines Supernova on PSN this fall will be met with the sort of stellar explosion the game's title implies, but a revered action puzzler -- with "block-dropping beats" to back it up -- can only be a good thing for PlayStation 3's downloadable games service. Still, there's not much about Supernova that could justify a purchase for current owners of one (or more!) of the franchise's iterations aside from a pair of new modes: Dig Down Mode: Using the falling blocks, erase squares from a playfield already filled with blocks as you dig down to the bottom. Show off your digging skills as your completion time is ranked based on clearing 20 consecutive stages. Sequencer Mode: Create your own background music using the sound loops provided in the "Sound Bank" -- drums, bass, synthesizer 1, synthesizer 2, and effects each come with 20 different loops. In addition, Supernova will feature 40 unlockable skins in Challenge Mode, plus Skin Edit, Time Attack, and Puzzle / Mission modes, and a 2-player versus mode. Q Entertainment has yet to set a firm release date or price for Lumines Supernova, but it does appear to be a more complete game than the core experience on Xbox Live Arcade. %Gallery-31089%
Lumines Supernova coming to PSN this Fall
A brand new PS3-exclusive version of the popular Q Entertainment puzzle game is coming. The game is titled Lumines Supernova and will be an e-distributed game -- just like the Xbox Live version.This PSN game will be pretty much the same deal as previous Lumines games, but with new stages and modes. There are 40 skins to be unlocked in Challenge Mode, and there are a slew of news modes, including Dig Down Mode and Sequencer Mode. Dig Down appears to be a Lumines-inspired version of Dig Dug, while Sequencer Mode allows players to create their own background music using various sounds and loops.The first screenshots are included in our new gallery.%Gallery-31085%
The Genki Rockets promote new album in Shibuya
Fans of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Lumines games should be familiar with The Genki Rockets. The group of unnamed artists, including Mizuguchi himself, has performed a number of Lumines tracks, the most familiar of which is "Heavenly Star." The group is preparing a new album, creatively titled Genki Rockets 1. To promote their new album, the group played a show at the Shibuya Apple Store and performed various songs from Lumines II.Songs from their performance will be available on iTunes later next month.
Lumines now available on PC
PC users who haven't yet experienced Tetsuya Mizuguchi's rhythm-based puzzle game can finally enjoy the genre-straddling title from the comfort of their own computers. Wild Tangent and Q Entertainment have teamed up to offer a PC version of Lumines, as part of Wild Tangent's library of downloadable game offerings.The PC version of Lumines -- which appears to be based on the PSP title Lumines II -- features multiple modes of play, a skin editing mode, and online score ranking. Players can buy the full game for $19.99 USD, pay on a per-play basis using Wild Tangent's subscription model, or play a free ad-supported version of the game.
Lumines Live gets a price drop, now 800 points
It only took a year, and now Lumines Live is ready to join the 800 point club. Our readers may recall that the game debuted last year for the always controversial price of 1200 MS Points. This created no end of anger among many XBLA fans. In addition to the high price, players were expected to pay extra for features like playing against the computer. Still, Lumines stands as one of the best puzzlers on Live and now it can be had for the much more respectable price of 800 MS Points. If you haven't sampled the musical genius of Lumines yet, you really should give it a shot.[Via nukoda]
Mizuguchi doesn't say much about Wii Lumines
We've got a little theme going of Tetsuya Mizuguchi providing non-answers to speculation about Wii versions of his most popular franchises. First it was Space Channel 5, and now it's his puzzle game (and first PSP killer app) Lumines. The discussion in this Game Informer interview turned to new mechanics in a possible Lumines sequel, and then to putting that new sequel on the Wii or DS, since the game has been ported pretty much everywhere else by now. Mizuguchi responded "I can't say which is first. Maybe we will be inspired by the platform. With these powerful machines [gestures at PS3 and 360], we can use many effects and sounds. With the DS and PSP, you can have them any time, anywhere or touch the screen." Um, okay.At the end of the interview, the Miz threw in some bonus not-saying-much about Space Channel 5, in response to the question "Is 2008 going to be the year Ulala returns?": "Maybe I should send her an e-mail-"Please answer sometime!" [laughs] It would be really good timing to make a Space Channel 5 sequel, in general. I think the Wii would be a really good fit, with the special controls. The audience is wider, too. I think casual players would like it, too."The moral of the story: Tetsuya Mizuguchi is leakproof, and won't reveal anything about anything until he is good and ready.
Angel Love Online brings cuteness to PS3
Tetsuya Mizuguchi is known for creating some off-the-wall games. I mean, this is the same guy who helmed Space Channel 5, Rez and Lumines, but Angel Love Online could be the strangest one yet.While the free-to-play MMO features the standard RPG knights, mages and robots, you'll also apparently be able to command humanoid pigs, cats, dogs, zombies with candles on their heads, Native Americans and several creatures the English language has no names for.Although, it's difficult to understand what's going on in the video since it's all in Japanese and the screen is obscured by disturbingly cute characters, Mizuguchi and his team definitely know what they're doing ... at least we think they do.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi to build Virtual Tokyo in Second Life
Like everyone else, we're pretty sick of all the Second Life coverage; it seems like buying real estate in the massively multiplayer non-game is the modern, big-business equivalent of setting up a website for your dad's repair shop. Still, it's one thing when Mercedes sets up a virtual dealership, and a very different matter when Lumines and Rez's Tetsuya Mizuguchi decides to build a re-imagined Tokyo for the denizens of Linden Labs' mammoth world.What makes Mizuguchi's Tokyo different than other architectural projects in Second Life is his intent in building the city. 1UP reports that rather than building an exact replica of the Japanese city, Mizuguchi wants to fashion his facsimile based on the perceptions of both locals and visitors. Speaking to 1UP, he states his hope that the project, which is a collaboration between himself and advertising firm Dentsu, can become a "museum of Japanese pop culture." We might need to dust off our Second Life avatars just to check it out when it launches.
Sony tells PSP devs to get creative, attract customers
PSP developers need to get more creative, said SCEE game director Tony Buckley. Speaking to CVG, Buckley said that it's up to the developers "to create something that attracts people to PSP." "I think that rather than focusing on the gameplay side of it, we should be focusing on how to fully utilize what I think is quite a sophisticated piece of kit," he said. According to CVG, Buckley later cited MP3 playback, wireless and online functionality as ways developers could capitalize on the PSP's potential Maybe it's a problem of perception. Games like Crush and Loco Roco show great creativity from a design perspective. The once-exclusive Lumines (now also a PS2 and Xbox Live Arcade title) was designed byTetsuya Mizuguchi with the portable specifically in mind. But we think Buckley is implying that the PSP lacks that killer app that could only be made on the PSP. So maybe it's the developer's perception -- take Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki, for example. He said that the design philosophy behind the PSP is the same as that of a home console, so how could he make a game unique to the portable? Then again, maybe the perception problems lie within Sony itself, who needs to either create a first-party game to show exactly what the executives have in mind when they say "killer piece of software," or to promote the creative games they have now.
PSP firmware hack drives Lumines sales
Well that was fast. It was just Saturday that hackers at Noobz found a buffer overflow exploit in the puzzle classic Lumines that allowed hackers to run a simple Hello World program on any PSP firmware, including the recently released version 3.5. By Sunday, our blogging brethren at PSPFanboy caught the above screengrab of Amazon's Movers and Shakers page showing the game's sales jumping a ludicrous 5900 percent in just one day. As of this posting Monday morning, the same page shows a more moderate 750 percent rise pushing the two-year-old title to the second-highest spot on Amazon's video game sales charts.We understand that there are a lot of people out there that want to exploit this new, uh, exploit to run homebrew code on their PSPs. What we don't understand is how there can be so many PSP owners out there that don't already own Lumines. How do you buy a PSP and not immediately pick up this hauntingly beautiful musical puzzler? We suppose there could be some PSP owners out there who eschew UMDs altogether for legally questionable emulators, but really, if you need a firmware hack to justify shelling out a few bucks for such sublime puzzle goodness then we don't want to be your friend anymore.
Video: New Lumines Live! DLC on display
The next pack of downloadable content for Lumines Live! is being previewed over at GameTrailers and is also available in HD. It shows 5 or so seconds of each skin in what's being dubbed the "SOS Charity Campaign Pack". It will be released on June 27th, and will set you back 350 MS points, but at least you know that it's going towards a good cause. Would you be down with some more content for Lumines, or are you a little wary of Q Entertainment's take on micro-transactions?
Lumines sales up nearly 6000 percent since exploit
Many modern PSP owners do not have homebrew-capable PSP systems. Therefore, when an exploit was found in Lumines that defeats protection in 3.50 firmware, many leaped at an opportunity to purchase the beloved PSP music/puzzle game. Sales on amazon.com have jumped up a whopping 5,900% percent, making it the tenth best selling video game on the retailer's site. Until there's an alternative solution for those clamoring for homebrew on their systems, Lumines looks like it will be experiencing quite an incredible new revival in sales.[Thanks, ben!]
Lumines unlocks homebrew on firmware 3.50
Homebrew on PSP systems with firmware 3.50 was thought to be impossible ... until now. An exploit was found in the classic puzzle game, Lumines, that allows a Hello World application to run on the system. Users must download a special program, and install it on the Memory Stick. When launching Lumines, the exploit will be taken advantage of.This is a huge win for the homebrew community. Most likely, downgraders will be created to take advantage of this exploit, which will allow all modern PSP owners to revert to a homebrew-capable firmware. Most likely, Sony has already heard about this exploit, and is working on a new firmware to ensure too many people won't be able to take advantage of this flaw. [Update: Now included a video, via MAXCONSOLE][Thanks, Merc25!]
Download new Lumines Live! content, save the world
Lumines Live! (that's the name, we're not shouting) debuted on Xbox Live Arcade last October in a fragmented state, chopped apart by the 50MB file size limit enforced at the time. With several of the game's modes offered as optional and costly additions, it quickly became the hideous poster child for monstrous microtransactions. If you still feel that way, look away before we discuss two new downloadable content packs, one of which is designed to save the Earth. Q Entertainment has announced that purchases of the SOS Charity Campaign Pack made between June 27th and July 17th will go towards climate protection organizations and causes. A remix of "Heavenly Star", the embarrassingly catchy tune by Japanese group Genki Rockets, is included in the pack as a celebration of the group's upcoming appearance at Al Gore's Live Earth musical event. If you haven't heard the song yet, consider that Lumines and Rez designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi came up with it as an answer to the question, "What kind of song would a 17-year old girl from outer space who has never landed on Earth sing to those living on Earth?" For 350 MS Points (a rather awkward $4 and 37 and a half cents), you'll also receive "House66" by Sugiurumn, "Cosmic Humming" by Muku and the excellent "4x4 Bricks" by Techriders. Joining the SOS Charity Campaign pack on June 27th is the Booster Pack, more suited to those happy to sit in front of the TV and rearrange squares while the world outside melts. The Booster Pack contains 20 additional skins and features a "must-see" collaboration between Lumines, "Bloomy Girls" and Japanese "visual artist/musician" Masakatsu Takagi. It'll set you back 600 MS Points, or $7.50 in your pre-apocalyptic Earth money. [via Q Entertainment press release]
Lumines clone Luminator sliding to DS
A German studio is set to release a Lumines knockoff for the DS in Europe later this year -- Luminator. We'll let you make your own Terminator/Schwarzenegger jokes about that one. The game has a fraction of the tracks and skins of the real thing -- only fifteen of each -- but the music has a distinct dark trance flavor that could be a nice change from the happy pop beats of Lumines. The company promises the songs are "CD quality", but from the musical offerings we've heard on the DS so far, we'll remain skeptical.[Via Siliconera]
Lumines II downloadable demo
Longtime PSP Fanboy readers know that we love Lumines II. For the unacquainted, this puzzler from game guru Mizuguchi combines music and highly addictive gameplay for a truly mesmerizing experience. Try this new demo, fresh from the game's Japanese website.1. Download the demo EBOOT file.2. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable. 3. Go to the PSP/GAME folder.4. Create ULJM05232 folder. 5. Copy EBOOT file into the ULJM05232 directory. Check out our new demos site:demos.pspfanboy.com
Top 5 on PSP: Puzzle
The PSP has plenty of owners, but some claim it doesn't have many great games. With that in mind, every day this week we'll feature a new genre and list the top 5 games (according to metareviews), so no matter what you're into, you'll have some idea of what games you should own. Today the focus is on puzzle games, which the PSP first became known for. But there's more good puzzle games than just Lumines. Top 5 Puzzle games on PSP
