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The internet was fixated on a livestream for a puddle
It's official: the internet is off its rocker. Just months after the one-two punch of the blue/gold dress and a llama chase took absurdity to a new level, legions of people (reportedly over 300,000) have tuned in to #DrummondPuddleWatch, a live Periscope stream of a big, pothole-filling puddle in the UK's Newcastle upon Tyne. Why? Part of it was the comedy of watching people try to cross, but it also reflected the herd mentality of social networking. While this was started by a marketing agency, it quickly drew in jokesters, politicians and many others trying to capitalize on the weirdness of the situation -- not to mention everyone wondering what that strange trend was in their Twitter feed.
PS Plus brings Europe Mass Effect 3, DOA5, MGS HD, more next month
European PlayStation Plus subscribers can rub their hands and smack their lips at another decent haul of Instant Collection games in March. For PS3 there's Mass Effect 3, Dead or Alive 5, and Joe Danger 2: The Movie, while on the way to Vita are Puddle and Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which includes MGS2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater.The newbies start rolling out on March 6 with a triple substitution: Mass Effect 3, DOA5, and Joe Danger 2 are in, while Sleeping Dogs, Vanquish, and Limbo depart the service. Next up are the two Vita games, with MGS HD Collection swapping in for Wipeout 2048 on March 13, and Puddle for Lumines Electronic Symphony on March 20.Those are some very brief runs for Sleeping Dogs, Wipeout 2048, and Lumines ES, which all came to PS Plus in February, so now's the time to snap them up.
Free BioShock 2 for PS Plus members starting tomorrow
BioShock 2, a game whose appreciation is a bit of a slow burn, will be free for PlayStation Plus members following tomorrow's PSN Tuesday update. If you're interested in spending some money on BioShock 2, there's always the well-conceived Minerva's Den add-on.Other highlights for Plus members tomorrow include Rockstar Game Collection 1 (Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, L.A. Noire and Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition) for 10 percent off at $53.99. There's also Puddle for half off at $3.50 on PS3 and $2.80 on Vita.%Gallery-100380%
Puddle spills over onto Wii U
Neko Entertainment has announced plans to port its PS3/Xbox 360/Vita puzzle action game Puddle to Wii U. The Wii U version features the HD graphics and 60 frames-per-second visuals of the console versions, with the tilt controls of the Vita version. "So basically it is the perfect compromise between the two important things in Puddle : graphics/physics and controls," Neko QA manager Sébastien Chipot-Delys said. The framerate is consistent even when playing fully on the GamePad.The levels have also been tweaked to be a little easier to finish. "Not getting the gold medal easily, of course," suggesting that the challenge is still present for higher-level play. The Wii U version is due on eShop sometime near the console's launch.%Gallery-168261%
Portabliss: Puddle (Vita)
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Back in January, Konami released Neko Entertainment's Puddle on XBLA and PS3's PSN. The puzzle action game has you control a small amount of liquid through hazardous mazelike environments by tilting the environment back and forth.Then in July, Neko released a downloadable version of the game for PlayStation Vita, and I'm happy to say that Puddle has finally trickled down into its natural home. Now that it's on the Vita, it seems perfect for portable play, and extremely well-suited to the Vita's overwhelmingly numerous control options.
Puddle oozes onto PS Vita next week
Puddle has been available on the PS3 since January, but next week PS Vita owners will be able to download the perplexing puzzle-platformer on their handhelds. Developer Neko Entertainment added some extra spice to the PS Vita version of Puddle, including an option to skip the tougher levels (you pansy!) and interact with menus using touch. Plus, there are now options for different control schemes such as tilt, rear touch-pad, L and R triggers or simply using the left stick."After we released the game on PS3, we worked hard to get a better handle on the game's mechanics, so we'd be able to deliver a new version of Puddle on PS Vita," Neko Entertainment's QA Manager Sebastian Chipot said in an announcement post on the PlayStation Blog. "We paid particular attention to feedback from PS3 players when working on the PS Vita version," he added.
PSN Tuesday: Twisted Metal demo, Puddle, Madden
This week on PSN, you can try out the latest entry in the Clown Car Combat genre, with the Twisted Metal multiplayer demo, or Corporate Combat in Syndicate. Or ... not really combat with Puddle.You can also download Madden NFL 12 -- just in time for the Super Bowl! Not that you'll be playing Madden while the game is on, of course. That release joins a trio of IO Interactive games newly available for download: both Kanes & Lynches and Mini Ninjas. Find everything available this week on the PlayStation Blog.
Konami decants Puddle onto XBLA and PSN this January
Puddle, Konami's liquid-based puzzle-platform thing, will begin trickling out to gamers thirsty for a challenge on January 25. Konami announced plans to release the XBLA version in North America on that date, followed by PSN one week later.Puddle involves tilting the environment -- a human body, a blueprint, etc. -- to guide a small amount of liquid, such as water or rocket fuel, to its destination. It features a nice bit of real-world integration and a sort of augmented reality, in that talking about it totally makes you have to pee.%Gallery-145304%
Puddle preview: Liquid assets
Discovered among the demo units at Konami's pre-E3 event yesterday, sandwiched in between much less surprising titles like Burgertime: World Tour and Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour (with names as generic as their gameplay) was Puddle, an intriguing little game wrapped around a splashy concept. The Konami rep running Puddle didn't have a lot of information on the game's origins, but a little Googling reveals something surprising: Puddle was a winner in the Independent Games Festival's Student Showcase at GDC 2010 earlier this year, put together by a team from the French school ENJMIN. The Konami display listed Neko Entertainment as the developer for the release on display, so presumably the French developer has hired those students to release the PC title (still available for download) on Xbox 360 and PS3. The PS3 version is Move compatible (the Xbox version is controller-only, I was told), and that's how I played it. While the version on display was clearly still a work in progress, with most levels missing and lots of placeholder code in the UI, it was enough to see there's something special about this game.
