tokyo-jungle
Latest
PlayStation 99-cent sale discounts Tokyo Jungle, Super Stardust, more
The PlayStation Network Store is hosting a flash sale for dozens of games this weekend, each discounted to 99 cents. The sale spans PS3, Vita and PSP games as well as both PS2 and PSOne Classics, such as the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series. The sale features standout gems like PopCap's Plants vs Zombies, Jonathan Blow's Braid, Sony's own Tokyo Jungle and Housemarque's Super Stardust HD. It also includes full seasons of episode Telltale-developed games Back to the Future and Jurassic Park as well as the adventure studio's five-game Tales of Monkey Island bundle. The full list of games included in this weekend's sale can be found after the break. [Image: Sony Online Entertainment]
It's a dog-eat-dog world in Tokyo Jungle Mobile
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. In Tokyo Jungle's bleak future, gangs of wild animals hunt to survive in an abandoned, post-apocalyptic Japan, marking territory in a bid to find an ideal mate and to pass on their genes to hardier generations. The PlayStation 3 version released last year was a tense, creative take on the roguelike genre, and Tokyo Jungle Mobile veers its gameplay in an interesting new direction. Unlike its predecessor, Tokyo Jungle Mobile is presented from a grid-based, overhead perspective. Don't mistake it for a turn-based game, however, as gameplay is both real-time and very brisk. If anything, Tokyo Jungle became more action-oriented and arcade-like during its transition to the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation certified devices.
Chaos Rings, Tokyo Jungle coming to PlayStation Mobile in Japan
A PlayStation Vita-compatible version of Square Enix's Chaos Rings and a Tokyo Jungle spinoff are coming soon to the PlayStation Mobile service, Famitsu reports this week. Chaos Rings, originally released for iOS devices in 2010, is a character-driven, turn-based RPG created in collaboration with Wild ARMs series developer Media Vision. Siliconera reports that the PlayStation Mobile port will be released by the end of July for 800 yen. Square Enix has issued no word regarding a North American release. Sony's PS3 survival-roguelike Tokyo Jungle, on the other hand, may emerge as an entirely different type of game when it hits PlayStation Mobile. Siliconera notes that the PlayStation Mobile version takes place from a top-down perspective, and Sony's Shane Bettenhausen describes Famitsu's screenshots as resembling Final Fantasy Tactics "with gazelles and Pomeranians." The PlayStation Mobile adaptation of Tokyo Jungle will launch in Japan on July 10. A US release has not been announced.
Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1 coming to retail next month
A boxed retail collection of PlayStation Network titles will hit store shelves on June 25, bringing four games and a $40 price tag with it. Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1, the first in a series of "Best of" releases according to the announcement, includes When Vikings Attack, Sound Shapes, Tokyo Jungle and Fat Princess. No word on when Vol. 2 will follow or what games will be included with it, but for the time being this seems like a pretty legit way to save "nearly $15." Folks interested in internetless PlayStation Networking might also want to check out Journey's Collector's Edition, which is also a collection of acclaimed PSN games on physical caveman media for cavemen.
ESRB rates 'Best of PSN' collection, with Sound Shapes, Tokyo Jungle, Fat Princess
A new ESRB rating suggests that Sony's going to bottle some of its PSN magic for sale on retail shelves. The rating is for " Best of Playstation®Network Vol. 1," which compiles action strategy game Fat Princess, Tokyo Jungle, Sound Shapes, and When Vikings Attack."Sony has yet to officially announce the collection. We've asked SCEA for more details on this intriguingly diverse, seemingly appropriately titled collection.
Seen@GDC: The 'camp' poster that led a Pomeranian to PlayStation
During a GDC panel covering the early formation of Tokyo Jungle, Yohei Kataoka, president of developer Crispy's Inc, shared a poster that caught his eye and – eventually – put a Pomeranian on PlayStation.Sony's Creator Audition Mashup Project – or C.A.M.P – called on new Japanese talent to submit innovative game ideas in need of funding. In the absence of longterm financial support, and with no desire to work for someone else, Kataoka and his newly formed studio submitted several game ideas for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. "I only created what I wanted to create from the bottom of my heart," he said. (Those ideas are worth their own story, which we'll have for you later.)Kataoka didn't settle on his "action survival" game of Tokyo Jungle at first. In 2008 his seven-person team released MyStylist, a clothing database and style advice game for PSP. It would presumably frown upon a C.A.M.P. Elvis impersonator.
Best of the Rest: JC's picks of 2012
Joystiq is revealing its 10 favorite games of 2012 throughout the week. Keep reading for more top selections and every writer's personal, impassioned picks in Best of the Rest roundups. Kid Icarus UprisingI tried not to push Kid Icarus Uprising on my coworkers, despite enjoying it more than anything else I played this year. It's ... not the friendliest game, and requires an investment to enjoy that maybe I wouldn't have put in, had I not reviewed the game. I hated it until I loved it.The insane, uncomfortable control scheme is a massive turnoff for the first few hours of gameplay, though I swear it clicks later (and is deeply customizable). The script is goofy to the point of being embarrassing, though it also swung to "hilarious" as the game went on. And the multiplayer takes a lot of "training," being based on the same weird control scheme as the ground battles from the single-player game – and it became the only online multiplayer game I cared to put hours of my own time into in 2012.Kid Icarus Uprising's high barrier to entry makes it very un-Nintendo-like, and the kind of game I usually wouldn't deem worthy of a second look. I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to play a game if I have to wait for it to get fun. But Uprising's payoff is so worth it.
Tokyo Jungle's Remote Play functionality to be patched in
Sony is working on a PS Vita Remote Play patch for Tokyo Jungle. Sony Worldwide Studios chief Shuhei Yoshida tweeted that North American and European PS3 owners can expect a patch to let them play the game remotely on Vita systems, but he didn't disclose a date.Sony released a patch for Tokyo Jungle in Japan earlier this month, with Yoshida then indicating that the North American and European releases would have Remote Play functionality built in. The game , however, came yesterday to PSN without it.Earlier this month Yoshida teased a Remote Play patch for Ico on Twitter, then the next day the patch went live. Whether or not Tokyo Jungle players can expect a similar timeframe, only Yoshida knows. And other people working at Sony, we presume.
PSN Tuesday: DOA5, Tokyo Jungle, Hell Yeah
Pre-orders are up for PlayStation's "Day 1 Digital" promotion. That news applies to you if you have Plus and want to save money on downloads of Dishonored, Doom 3 BFG, NBA 2K13, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted ... and you can reconcile the silliness of pre-ordering a downloadable game.Even before Day 1 Digital officially starts, there are some full retail games available digitally, including FIFA 13 and Dead or Alive 5, and older games Starhawk and Mirror's Edge.Along with that stuff is way too much quality PSN-exclusive material, including Tokyo Jungle and Hell Yeah, both of which were reviewed favorably by Joystiq (in case you missed them!), along with Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, One Piece Pirate Warriors, and more.
Starhawk campaign free, Tokyo Jungle and Hell Yeah discounted on PS Plus
Are any games discounted on PlayStation Plus this week? Hell Yeah!That's one of them, anyway. It'll be $11.99 for Plus users when it comes out tomorrow, and $14.99 for everyone else. Tokyo Jungle will be subject to the same discount, while Starhawk's single-player component will be subject to an even more significant discount.Along with the single-player DLC, the Starhawk campaign is free on PSN for Plus members. Now you know what to play next after your surprise downloads of Borderlands, Scott Pilgrim, and Double Dragon Neon.
Grand Theft Auto 3 PSN release confirmed for tomorrow
As suspected, Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of this week's PlayStation Network releases. The game first appeared on the Asia PlayStation site last week, scheduled to come to PSN on September 25, and lo, Sony made it so. Sony actually intended to release Rockstar's 2001 classic earlier this year, but hit a delay after a licensing issue with the soundtrack.Mirror's Edge is also doubly confirmed for release tomorrow, after Sony dropped news of its arrival via last week's PlayStation Blogcast. Neither game has a price yet. Also on the way are One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Tokyo Jungle, Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins, Starhawk, Realms of Ancient War, (the brilliantly named) Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, Table Ice Hockey (for Vita), Turnabout (PSOne), and Final Fantasy III (for PSP.)If you like your anthologies digital and downloadable, prepare for smiles tomorrow at the prospect of the Infamous and Ratchet and Clank collections becoming available on PSN, because they will. If not so much, why not prepare for smiles anyway?
Snapshot: Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
There are so many games out there we couldn't possibly review them all. Welcome to Snapshot, where we highlight games that might fall outside our usual coverage but are still something we think you should know about. Today: Tokyo Jungle for PS3. Tokyo Jungle appears to be a cute, low-budget oddity – a cute action game about Pomeranians and baby chicks, wandering around a human-free Tokyo. The notion of its cuteness dissipates very quickly: despite the use of simplified, thankfully detail-free animation for the act, Tokyo Jungle is a necessarily gruesome game about animals surviving just as they do in nature, eating other animals and doing their best to avoid getting eaten. The Pomeranians stopped being cute the first time I saw two of them team up to drag a giant dead cat home.As long as you keep that content warning in mind, I can't recommend Tokyo Jungle enough. The violence shouldn't have been surprising, but the clever structure of the game is a well-earned surprise.
Tokyo Jungle launch trailer evokes complex feelings
Is it possible for a game to be simultaneously "charmingly wacky" and "gruesome?" See for yourself in the latest trailer for Tokyo Jungle, which launches on PSN in North America on September 25.
Tokyo Jungle finds a nest in North America September 25
Sony only kind of announced Tokyo Jungle for North America at E3, but now we have an official release date for the animal survival adventure: September 25. The price is $14.99, which is much, much cheaper than the ¥3,900 ($49) asking price in Japan.In case you missed our coverage, Tokyo Jungle is an oddly fascinating game in which you control one of 50 different animals – ranging from a chick to a dinosaur – trying to survive, find food, and mate in a ruined, post-apocalyptic Tokyo. A story mode takes you through the lives of a set of animals "whose lives are intertwined as they struggle to survive in the Tokyo wilderness, while unraveling the mystery of mankind's disappearance." In Survival Mode, you stay alive for as many generations as you can, hunting (or foraging), claiming territory, and avoiding larger predators.
Sony Gamescom media megapost: The Last of Us, Assassins Creed: Liberation and more
Welcome friend, to Joystiq's Sony Trailer and Gallery Wildlife Preserve. Here, you will find trailers for upcoming Sony games and/or games exclusive to Sony systems, cohabiting in a forced amalgamation of their natural habitats.Take for instance, The Last of Us' Gamescom trailer, chilling majestically above like a panther stalking its pray. Or perhaps, take a trip through the reserve's front gates and take a gander at LittleBigPlanet Vita and LittleBigPlanet Karting, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, Tokyo Jungle, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and the Vita's suite of AR card games, all from the safety of your own virtual Jeep.
Salarymen return to Tokyo Jungle (as DLC)
Tokyo Jungle takes place in a bleak future in which Tokyo is ruined and all the humans are gone, allowing wild animals to take over. New DLC for the Japanese release of the game brings one particular variety of human back into its natural habitat: the salaryman. He's the second hominid to be released as DLC, following the extinct "Peking Man."Considering that things like marking your territory, finding a nest, and mating are part of the basic gameplay of Tokyo Jungle ... this DLC's going to be pretty entertaining, in a potentially horrifying way.
Hunting down the secret Tokyo Jungle demo at E3
One of my goals for E3 this year was to find out if Tokyo Jungle was on the show floor and play it. For the whole show, I heard reports that it was playable, but couldn't find it on the floor. I had Sony reps escort me around the company's giant booth to no avail.Finally, I got a Twitter report that led me to the right place: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's private meeting room. And there I finally found a single Tokyo Jungle demo station, with the localized European version (it's also due for North America, Joystiq has learned.)This story would be a lot less inspiring and a lot more embarrassing if the demo turned out to be the quirky, but otherwise unremarkable, game I feared it would be. However, it's a clever, exciting, and, yes, intensely quirky game. It was worth the hunt.%Gallery-157097%
Sony's 'wacky' Tokyo Jungle headed to North America and Europe
Despite the absence of a pomeranian guest appearance at Sony's E3 2012 press conference, the company's delightfully bizarre-looking Tokyo Jungle is indeed headed to PlayStation Network in North America and Europe. A press release this week confirmed the EU release, and Sony VP of product development and worldwide studios Scott Rohde told us in an interview this week that the "wacky" internally developed PSN game will indeed arrive in North America as well."It'll ship here, it'll ship everywhere," Rohde said. To him, Tokyo Jungle's worldwide release is emblematic of Sony's "crazy innovative" approach. "That game is just wacky, but in a good way, because we like to show that there's still an art form, and you can still experiment," he said. "Is everyone gonna love a game like Tokyo Jungle? Absolutely not, but there's a whole bunch of people it's gonna make really happy. Specifically for the fact that it's so different, and so unexpected. That's a key part of the culture of Worldwide Studios and how our games are developed."Though he couldn't name one specific person internally who championed the previously Japan-only game, Rohde extolled the internal culture that allows games like that to be created. "Someone has a key vision in our [Japan Studios] about Tokyo Jungle, they wanted to build this game. And so we're gonna embrace that. And of course we discuss it, and if it doesn't make sense, we can walk away. We walk away from dozens and dozens of titles every year. But the difference is, we actually build them out to a certain extent. And when they hit a point where we think, 'You know what? This is pretty interesting and it's gonna make some people happy,' we're gonna build it."Frankly, we're pretty darn happy this one made it through the wringer. Tokyo Jungle doesn't have a release date or price just yet.%Gallery-157097%
17 minutes of Tokyo Jungle gameplay to make your day better
Even in the apocalypse, love can blossom. Take the pomeranian in this long Tokyo Jungle clip, for example. After foraging for food, he finds a mate and then – well, we're a family friendly website. If you haven't had "the talk" with your folks, you may want to do that before watching this.
Find out if you hate puppies with this Tokyo Jungle commercial
We probably don't need to make much more of an argument for Tokyo Jungle's localization beyond this wonderful commercial. It's nothing but adorable animals being incredibly adorable – something we think you, not to mention everyone else on the planet, will enjoy.Psst, Sony! With E3 next week, there's still time to sneak in some pomeranians and schnauzers to the Los Angeles Convention Center, you know. If you wanna surprise us during your press conference on Monday evening, for instance, that'd be totally fine.
