PlayStation News Message Board older than one year ago

Hi everybody! First of all, we’ve been live in the United States for two days now and, according to your user reviews, we’ve been getting a whole lot of love. But we’d be thrilled to hear what you think in the comments below or on Twitter. And hey, there’s still a couple of days left on the Spring Fever promotion for all you PlayStation Plus people out there — which means 20% off on SteamWorld Dig as well as a whole bunch of other titles. The sale lasts until March 24th, so don’t miss it.

Today we’d like to dive a bit deeper into the gameplay of SteamWorld Dig by dishing out a few spoiler free hints and tips.

Also, because a lot of you have been asking about cross buy, we’re happy to confirm that SteamWorld Dig is cross buy across PS4 and PS Vita. And now for a few hints and tips to all you new diggers out there…

Don’t Get Greedy

Even though SteamWorld Dig is a mining game, hoarding is not recommended. If you’re unfortunate enough to fall to your death or get crushed by a falling boulder, you’ll be reassembled back in town. But reassembly comes at a price. Half your mined gold is the standard fee. It’s not so bad if your pockets are empty, but carry more than an upgrade worth of cash and we won’t take responsibility for crying and rage quitting. The universe is a cruel place, don’t you think?

Your unsold loot, however, will be safe where you left it down in the mine, just waiting to be reclaimed.

Dig Smart

The further down you go, the bigger the boon. It can be a long way down, and up for that matter, so dig smart and make good use of teleporters. They’re expensive as hell but they’ll save a lot of time and sometimes might be the only safe way out of a sticky situation.

Snoozing Baddies

There is rest for the wicked: some enemies live out the larger part of their lives in the underworld, hibernating or in nap-time, depending on the species. Noises, such as a mining robot tearing it up with a pickaxe, can wake the sleepers, so be careful where you tread. Sneaking up on them in their sleep, however, might not be the kindest move — but it can be awfully effective!

The Wall Jump

Rusty doesn’t just carry a fine piece of digging equipment, he also can do one heck of a wall jump. Mastering the wall jump will not only grant you passage back up the mine shafts you dig, but could be the tool for reaching otherwise inaccessible areas of the map. There are even rumors of shortcuts for the skilled and observant in some of the caves.

Take care and keep digging!

Hi PS4 gamers! I’m Jaakko from the Finnish game developer 10tons, and I’ve got some great news: Our fair studio is about to debut on PS4! Our first PS4 title is a strange, skill-based physics puzzle called King Oddball. Some of you may know the game from its PS Vita version released in January. We have more great games for PS4 in production too, and we’ll share more on those soon.

As far as physics-based puzzles go, King Oddball stands out quite distinctly. Few games feature a floating rock head with a ginormously long tongue as the main character. As eccentric as the theme may be, the game is decidedly straightforward. King Oddball is ending the world, and you’re going to help him.

The gameplay is based on pressing a button at precisely the right moment. The King picks up a rock with his tongue and swings it back and forth like a pendulum. The rock is released when you hit X. It’s not just a simple test of timing though: After the first few levels, you’ll need to crush more enemies than you have rocks for. That, in turn, requires careful strategy and anticipation of how the chain reactions will unfold. We’ve tuned the physics model to pretty extreme accuracy, so relying solely on luck won’t work. The game gets very challenging towards the end, and The Hall of Diamonds mode actually gets well into masocore territory. You’ve been warned!

King Oddball features a free trial, so you can check the game out for yourself on release day. Its world-class accordion-heavy soundtrack and striking art style are best experienced live, and we think that the simple yet challenging gameplay will grow on you. For us, April 1st can’t come soon enough!

Project Morpheus is PlayStation’s prototype virtual reality system for PS4, announced earlier this week at GDC. Despite its pre-release status, Morpheus is a sleek, eye-catching piece of hardware that feels surprisingly comfy once strapped to your cranium.

This is partly due to a clever design that distributes most of the unit’s weight to the top of your head, not the bridge of your nose or other delicate pressure points. Properly seated, the unit sits snugly over your eyes but rests comfortably on your face. You peer through two separate lenses, which resolves into one immersive, high definition image that provides a convincing sense of depth.

I tried out two demos: EVE Valkyrie, a fast-paced arcade-style dogfighting simulation set in outer space, and The Deep, a face-to-face encounter with a prowling great white shark. Each of these demos was radically different, expressing radically different approaches to virtual reality gaming.

Of the two demos, EVE Valkyrie’s sci-fi dogfighting left the biggest impression. The actual gameplay was dead simple thanks to its DualShock 4 controls, with the left analog stick controlling the thrust of my ship, R2 firing lasers and L2 deploying lock-on missiles.

The game was a blast, but the 360 navigational freedom and sense of immersion provided by Morpheus took EVE Valkyrie into a completely different place. Several times, I craned my neck to watch an enemy ship zoom past my shoulder. Other times, I peered up through the top of my cockpit to watch the battle unfold above me.

Then came the real mind-blower: I looked down and saw my own virtual body seated in the cockpit with my hands clutching the flight controls. During moments like this, I briefly felt like I was actually somewhere else — an effect of “presence,” a term that describes successful VR’s ability to trick the mind and fully immerse the player in his or her virtual surroundings.

Then I played The Deep, a visually striking descent into shark-infested waters. Though safely enclosed in a shark cage, it didn’t take long for a giant great white shark to begin circling me menacingly. Armed with a puny flare gun, I tried feebly to fend off its advances while my mission commander shrieked in my ear.

Project Morpheus is also capable of interacting with a variety of peripherals including PlayStation Camera, used to track DualShock 4’s lightbar in The Deep demo for aiming the flare gun. It also supports the PlayStation Move motion controller, which was demonstrated in The Castle demo for manipulating medieval weapons like crossbows and swords.

All told, my first brief experiences with Project Morpheus were promising. Judging by this prototype design, the hardware is finally catching up to the dream of honest-to-God virtual reality. Now it’s up to developers to come up with experiences that will maximize the potential of this fascinating and game-changing technology.

Microsoft has discussed the ongoing sales battle between PS4 and Xbox One, saying this console cycle is "a marathon, not a sprint".

Free-to-play business across PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 flourishing, Sony reveals.

The tenth piece of downloadable content for the game will feature a new storyline that involves Wonder Woman and Circe.

Ubisoft has revealed what's contained in the hour of extra PlayStation content, and announced bundles will be available for the consoles.

Naoki Yoshida gives insight into the monstrous failure of Final Fantasy 14 and how he and his team turned everything around for A Realm Reborn.

From now until April 2, the European version of Sony's PlayStation Network Store is hosting two sales both focused on massively discounting the prices attached to games bearing the Rockstar Games logo.

The core of the sale is aimed at Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4, though these particular discounts only last until March 26. Max Payne 3 was originally £15.99 but is now £5.99 while Grand Theft Auto 4 has seen a similarly impressive price drop from £19.99 to £5.49. The sale also offers sizable discounts on the Max Payne 3 season pass, as well as the two Liberty City Stories released as DLC for Grand Theft Auto 4.

The remainder of the PSN discounts are valid until April 2 and include games like Canis Canim Edit (aka Bully), Red Dead Revolver and all three of the Grand Theft Auto games released for the PlayStation 2. Grand Theft Auto 4 is again the highlight here, as the game's Complete Edition, which was originally priced at £24.99, can be purchased for £7.99.

For full details and pricing information, visit the European PlayStation.blog. [Image: Rockstar Games]

The long-awaited television version of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's graphic novel is headed to PSN.

We've finally gone hands-on with Borderlands 2 on PS Vita. This is the game you know and love, but there are control and performance issues.

Featured Releases Now Available, Week of 3/18/14

Check out what’s new on Sony Entertainment Network’s ultimate entertainment services! Read more below.

Music Unlimited Highlights

• A long-awaited follow up to alternative hitmakers Foster the People’s debut album, featuring the single “Coming of Age.”
• The debut full-length album from the crowned prince of this generations surge of EDM, Skrillex.
• YG’s debut album on Def Jam, which includes appearances by Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Jeezy & more.
• The official soundtrack to the upcoming Muppets Most Wanted featuring the muppets themselves, as well as the film’s stars, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban & more.

For further exclusive access to all the new album releases – see details here.

Video Unlimited Highlights

We’re really excited for this week’s New Release Recap! Why, you ask? Well, some of our favorite recent titles are now available on the Video Unlimited service – the Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street, the crowd-funded Veronica Mars film and our 99 cent rental of the week, Fast and Furious 6!

The Wolf of Wall Street: Leonardo DiCaprio steals our hearts – though he couldn’t snag an Oscar, unfortunately – in this outrageously comedic drama directed by the famous Martin Scorsese.

Ambitious New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) strikes out on his own after the stock market crash in 1987. As he begins to live the American dream, he gives in to the indulgences available to people with power: greed, self-indulgence and some hilarious experiments with illegal temptations. While we know he can’t remain the “wolf” forever, his splendid self-destruction while climbing to the top is certainly something to watch.

47 Ronin: It’s been over a decade since The Matrix hit the theaters, but Keanu Reeves takes on a familiar hero role in another action-adventure set in a savage, dystopian world. Based on ancient Japan’s most enduring tales, this epic 3D fantasy adventure is directed by Carl Erik Rinsch (The Gift). The story is inspired by familiar stories by Miyazaki and Hokusia and displays stunning landscapes and epic battles to tell this timeless story.

Forty-seven samurai vow to seek vengeance after a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their clan. To restore their honor and reclaim their homeland, they seek help from the enslaved half-breed Kai (Keanu Reeves) to fight for redemption in a savage, mythical world. Kai proves to be their most lethal weapon and their greatest hope for survival.

Want to get more Video Unlimited scoop on all the new releases? View further details here.

Ubisoft will release two different Assassin's Creed games on different generations according to a report.

Greetings, everyone! So it’s GDC week, and to celebrate we wanted to share with you the very first gameplay trailer for Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty.

We’ve been working incredibly hard to bring you this epic re-imagining of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. In this trailer, you’ll see elements of gameplay and locations we’ve been talking about for the past 9 months, in all their 21st century glory!

You’ll see the dynamic cameras, the epic full-screen visual effects, Scrabs and Paramites, all trying to ruin Abe’s day. You’ll hear a new rhythm-filled rendition of an old classic from the original soundtrack, along with the new sound design.

We hope you enjoy the trailer and are as excited as we are to get the finished game in your mits. We’ll be announcing the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita release date in due course. Until then, let us know what you think.

Cheers.

Hello, we are Grimm Bros, nice meeting you all! We are Ash Monif and Randis Albion, long time friends and industry veterans. Over the last twelve months, we’ve been working with a small band of indie developers and today we’re proud to share with you our debut title – Dragon Fin Soup!

Dragon Fin Soup is part roguelike and part classic console RPG, with a persistent world and story. It plays like a mix of Chocobo’s Dungeon and Secret of Mana, and it comes with two main gameplay modes. Story Mode focuses on storytelling, character progression, and plays more like a classic RPG, while Survival Mode plays more like a Roguelike and features permanent death.

Dragon Fin Soup is a turn-based game — not quite like Final Fantasy Tactics or XCOM, but more like Shiren or Chocobo Dungeon where foes take their turn simultaneously with the player, allowing for more dynamic and fast-paced gameplay.

The world of Dragon Fin Soup is inspired by fantasy and fairy tales and is set on Asura, a giant space turtle. We are not trying to retell the stories, but we plan to twist and re-imagine these iconic tales. One of the main characters is Red Robin. Though she’s inspired by Red Riding Hood, she is quite different than the character you might remember from your childhood. She’s cheerful, but she’s also a raging alcoholic who makes her living as a bounty hunter and sword for hire.

A year ago, Robin lost her memory in a tragic accident. As she rediscovers herself and the world, she slowly learns more about her bloody past, the mysteries of Asura, and a twisted tale of betrayal and murder.

In Dragon Fin Soup we have day and night cycles, crafting, gathering, fishing, story missions, randomly generated quests and missions, wide-ranging locations and more. We also include 20 equipment slots for your weapons and gear, all kinds of abilities, magic and many other fun things.

Grimm Bros is a micro studio of five veteran developers. Our small team has been working on Dragon Fin Soup for a year now with the help and support of our amazing friends and family. We have three great programmers, a freelance composer, and one guy who is doing all the graphics, sfx, and design!

Bearing many awesome goodies Dragon Fin Soup is now on Kickstarter to help us raise more funds for polish and adding a lot of fun features. Please check it out and give us your feedback so we can make the best game possible! Also, keep an eye on our official site and Facebook page for more updates!

Happy GDC! Today we’re announcing that we will continue to strengthen our support for the global independent developer community by introducing more tools and middleware solutions for PS4.

SCE has entered into strategic partnerships to bring new native solutions from popular middleware vendors GameMaker:Studio and MonoGame to PS4, further expanding an already robust set of development tools. We’re also announcing that fully integrated solutions for Unity are now available for PS3 and PS Vita, with the highly anticipated early access version for PS4 coming in April 2014. Unity, GameMaker:Studio and MonoGame represent the most popular game development tools leveraged by universities and independent developers alike, and are used for both prototyping and full-scale game development.

Jointly developed by SCE and YoYo Games, a GameMaker:Studio-native solution for PS4 is now available free for all SCE-licensed developers, making it even easier for developers to bring their 2D games to the more than 6 million global PS4 owners. Developers of beloved games like Hyper Light Drifter by Heart Machine, Samurai Gunn by Teknopants, Risk of Rain by Hopoo Games, Home by Benjamin Rivers and Nuclear Throne by Vlambeer are now able to more efficiently convert their titles from PC to PS4 as of a result of GameMaker:Studio’s native export capabilities.

MonoGame makes up the C#-based open-sourced engine suite available for licensed developers, and was first used in the development of Matt Makes Games’ acclaimed Towerfall: Ascension for PS4. In the coming months, MonoGame will also help bring Mercenary Kings (Tribute Games) and Transistor (Supergiant Games) to PS4.

We’re also announcing the release of SCE’s powerful game development tool Authoring Tools Framework as a free, open source download from the popular GitHub hosting site. SCE’s ATF is widely used within SCE to develop PS3, PS4, PS Vita and PSP titles such as The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls.

Today’s newly announced middleware solutions will join ATF and SCE’s graphics-rendering engine PhyreEngine. SCE-sponsored development tools are available for all licensed developer partners.

SCE continues to set a high benchmark across the industry for working with developers worldwide to bring the world’s greatest and most innovative games to PlayStation platforms, including improved processes, flexible policies and extensive resource support. With more than 100 games in development for PS4 from independent developers and more than 1,000 licensed self-publishers, PS4 will continue to be the most appealing platform for both developers and gamers.

For more information about developing games for PlayStation platforms, the tools and middleware available and our support of the development community, please visit us.playstation.com/develop.

Here at PlayStation, we listen closely to your comments and requests, which are weighted heavily when looking at the future of our platforms. Since PlayStation 4 launched, we’ve heard a lot of great feedback from you about what you like with the platform and what you’d like to see us work on. I’m happy to report that, as a direct result of your feedback, we’ll soon be bringing some of your most-requested features to PS4 with a system software update in the upcoming weeks. These features and additions will help make your PS4 even more socially connected by further enabling you to customize your most epic gaming moments and granting even more options to show them to your friends.

This upcoming update will add a rich video editor with a simple tool to personalize your video clips, and you’ll also be able to export to and save the videos and screenshots you create by pressing the SHARE button to a USB drive. In addition, this update will add an HDCP off option for capturing gameplay via HDMI, a feature we’ve previously said would come after launch. We recognize that some gamers want to record and share longer clips of their gameplay sessions, and we’re excited to deliver this option with PS4. There’s a lot more coming in this update as well, so stay tuned for more—there will be plenty in the update to excite everyone.

As part of a separate system software update in the future, we have been working with our partners at Twitch and Ustream, and will also be adding the ability for Twitch broadcasts to be archived – another highly requested feature among PS4 fans who are taking advantage of the SHARE button features. These broadcasts will be also provided with a higher resolution of 720p, so PS4 fans can enjoy live broadcasts with clearer images. We’ll have more to come on these updates and more in the coming weeks.

Deep Silver has announced when the multiplayer-focused hack 'n' slash will be landing on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in a new gameplay trailer.

Sacred 2 transported PS3 gamers to the fantasy realm of Ancaria for dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of hours when it was released back in 2009.

A few years have passed in our world, but for the lands of Ancaria it has been ages! History has turned to legend, old landmarks turned to ruin, and a new evil in the form of the Ashen Empire has shattered the peace that once was. It is a new era, and a time for new heroes to rise up and fight together.

Today, we’re happy to finally show you a glimpse of the next chapter in the world of Ancaria: Sacred 3.

Sacred 3, the newest installment in the saga, is an action-packed Hack ‘n’ Slash game focused on co-op gameplay. You and a friend can choose any hero and use unique skills and co-op combat arts to defeat hordes of enemies and take on epic boss encounters. The game supports seamless drop-in/drop-out multiplayer for two players to fight in co-op offline, and up to four players online over PlayStation Network. But be careful, your partner also is your biggest rival for the ultimate goal; to become the greatest hero of all.

Not much of a co-op player? Don’t worry, the game is designed for both co-op and single-player fun!

You can play as one of up to five characters from Ancaria’s different cultures: Safiri, Khukuri, Seraphim, Ancarian, and the Malakhim. If you played the side-scrolling beat ‘em up spin-off Sacred Citadel, which was released on PlayStation Network last year, you may recognize some of these classes already! However, the Malakhim are entirely new in Sacred 3. No one really knows where they came from or when they first appeared. Rumors started spreading about dark assassins decimating Ashen troops in remote areas of Ancaria, and tales about their heroic origins unfolded…

We hope you liked this first look at Sacred 3 in action! Stay tuned for more news — we’ll have it here on PS.Blog, on our official page, and on our Twitter. Sacred 3 will be released for PlayStation 3 this summer.

One of Sony Online Entertainment's senior developers has revealed how the launch of the PS4 helped bring new life to one of its older titles.

Greetings from GDC 2014! Earlier this evening, I had the pleasure to introduce Project Morpheus, SCE’s prototype virtual reality (VR) system that works with PS4. Virtual reality is the next innovation from SCE that we believe will shape the future of games.

I have long dreamed about VR and the possibilities it brings in regards to game development. This new technology will deliver a sense of presence, where you as the player actually feel like you’re inside the game and your emotions feel that much more real.

Our current prototype for Project Morpheus features a head mounted display with 1080p resolution and a 90 degree field of view. Accelerometer and gyroscope sensors built into the head mounted unit as well as PlayStation Camera accurately tracks head orientation and movement, so as your head rotates, the image of the virtual world rotates intuitively in real-time. Project Morpheus also features our new 3D audio technology that re-creates stereoscopic sounds in all directions and changes in real-time depending on your head orientation. In addition to PlayStation Camera, Project Morpheus works with DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controller and PlayStation Move to deliver an easy-to-use, plug-and-play VR experience.

The prototype for Project Morpheus is the culmination of our work over the last 3+ years as we’ve refined our vision for VR. This prototype will serve as the first development kit for PS4 developers that are as enthusiastic about this new medium as we are.

At GDC 2014 this week, attendees will be able to check out Project Morpheus in action at the SCEA booth through a handful of technology demos.

Multiple sources have confirmed to IGN that longtime Sony Santa Monica Creative Director Stig Asmussen has left the studio.

The No. 1 PlayStation podcast casts Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us movie and discusses all things gaming with special guest BobbyA1984.

An attractive sci-fi premise lies at the heart of this indie game, but cheap horror tactics let it down

You have less than two weeks to purchase any songs you might want for Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, or Band Hero.

Sony announces a slew of new services for the portable gaming device.

Hey everyone, Rob from Curve here. We’re happy to announce our very first PlayStation 4 title – Stealth Inc: Ultimate Edition – is out in stores this week. The Ultimate Edition includes the main Stealth Inc game alongside the DLC expansions, “The Lost Clones” and “The Teleporter Chambers.” The game is available for $14.99.

At Curve we’re best known for bringing over the indie games of other developers to the PlayStation platform, but Stealth Inc is our very own creation. Thought up in the mind of our Lead Designer, Jonathan “Bidds” Biddle, the game was originally developed in his lunchtimes while working on other projects.

We originally released Stealth Inc last year for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3, and it’s been one of our most popular titles ever since, so it was a the obvious choice to bring over to PlayStation 4. With the DLC included, the Ultimate Edition includes 120 levels versus the original game’s 80.

It’s not just about numbers though! A puzzle-platformer, Stealth Inc relies on really good level design. That means we need to create levels that are fun and challenging, but not so hard you want to stop playing the game. That’s a skill we developed making Stealth Inc, but it’s a skill that really shines in the DLC packs.

The 40 DLC levels in the Ultimate Edition represent some of the most varied and difficult challenges yet, and explore more of the back story of the facility where Stealth Inc is set. Of course, they also include brand new leader boards and achievements that will challenge even the few people skilled enough to S-Rank the levels of the original game.

It’s great to be able to join the growing crowd of PlayStation 4 developers. Stealth Inc might have been a PlayStation 3 and Vita title, but we’re also very busy working on games like The Swapper to bring to PlayStation 4 this year, as well as continuing to be one of the most active developers for the PlayStation Vita.

As always, if you have any questions about Stealth Inc or any other of our upcoming or existing titles, let us know in the comments!

We started Luftrausers halfway through 2011, when Jan Willem at Vlambeer was staring out of a window on a late flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam after the annual Game Developers Conference. He decided he wanted to expand on a little prototype we made back in 2010.

The pitch Jan Willem had for me was simple: the prototype had been made in two days, but had been played by hundreds of thousands of people. Jan Willem felt we might’ve run into something special with the simple high score game we had released for free to the internet. We started working on the very first version of our little 2D dogfighting game in just four colors.

We made a deal not to play the original until the new version was as good as we remembered the original to be, and we were surprised at how much of a struggle that was. We added bigger explosions, we worked on a dynamic camera system, we added trails of smoke on crashing jets, and we even added extra colors to the palette. It still took us almost a month to achieve the same level of speed, of chaos, and of impact that the far simpler original had.

When we played the original again for the first time, we were baffled. Compared to our updated builds of Luftrausers we’d been playing, the old version felt stale. You know that feeling when you’re talking about an old game that you love, and when you play it it falls flat? That’s because your memories of a game aren’t as much about what actually happens on screen, but about how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking while playing it.

Our original game made people feel like the best fighter pilot in the world, as if they skimmed right over the water line taking out a squadron of enemy fighters. Luftrausers actually allowed you to do that.

In other words, we decided to commit to Luftrausers. We reached out to our good friends at Devolver Digital to help us out. They looked at it, nodded sagely, and proceeded to send us a contract for us to sign without question.

Shahid was next on our list of people we wanted to talk to. We loved working with him on Super Crate Box for PlayStation Mobile, so we met up with him in a little food place just across from the PlayStation offices in England. He asked what we were working on and we pitched Luftrausers to him. Shahid, without exaggeration, proceeded to negotiate with us on the spot, scribbled down the name of the game on a coaster, added a few terms to the thing, and went back to the offices.

We expanded the team on Luftrausers with additional programmers. We thought we’d be good to hit the spring of 2012. That turned out to be overly hopeful.

Vlambeer has made games for PC and for mobile — successful games that have won awards and had hundreds of thousands of players. Console development is a completely new story for us, though. We needed time to adapt, to figure out how to make things work, and make them work perfectly. On PC, the variety of configurations means you have to accept that it won’t work exactly the same on every computer; with a console, you have the one exact specification and there’s this automatic urge to make everything flawless. In a strange way, it’s kind of addicting.

We got stuck in that little loop of trying to make Luftrausers better for almost a year and a half, and we started showing what was essentially a finished game at events around the world. If you’re a fan of ours, chances are that you’ve played it and talked to us at one of those events. We took your feedback home, and we’d polish the game a bit more before taking it out to the next event.

Luftrausers is ready.

Instead of one airplane, Luftrausers suddenly allowed you to build 125 airplanes. Instead of one pumping KOZILEK soundtrack, Luftrausers now features one for every airplane you can build. The amount of enemies doubled, the amount of colors doubled, the amount of effects quadrupled, and mechanically we added missions and combos.

We had scoped small, but we knew we weren’t doing the game justice that way. We kept working as the launch date slipped, and then the new launch date slipped as well. We weren’t quite where we wanted yet. Eventually it was 2013, and people stopped giving suggestions on how they’d improve the game at events. We were ready to wrap up.

Throughout the difficult QA process, the teams at Devolver Digital and PlayStation have been extremely supportive of a new studio trying to find its place in the console world, and we really appreciate everything they’ve done for us over the past year and a half. We know how to make good, tight arcade games, and they helped us figure out how to bring that Vlambeer-style gameplay you know to consoles.

Luftrausers is ready. We’re proud and excited to bring it to PS3 and PS Vita today, and we can’t wait for you to finally get your hands on it. With more than 125 Luftrausers to build — each with a unique soundtrack — there are many ways to take on the ridiculously overwhelming amount of action we’re about to throw your way.

Get ready to raus!

Hey everyone! My name is Jo from D-Pad Studio, and it’s our pleasure to announce that Savant Ascent, a game about robot infested towers, magic missiles, and claiming ultimate power, is coming to Playstation.

Music and style are what the game is all about! Savant in real life is an electronic musician, and in the game you play as Savant as he appears on Savant’s 5th album cover, designed by our art director, Simon S. Andersen.

Our team has been close friends with Savant for a long time, and last summer we decided that:

We should create a game together. We’d use Savant’s music and Simon’s characters as inspiration.

We ended up with a beat-pumping, dodge-and-shoot action game, stylized to fit with Savant’s tracks. Tracks could be unlocked, giving you an introduction to Savant’s music, and also acting as powerful upgrades. This makes you feel like nothing can stop you once you get the hang of things.

We didn’t think it was enough to only be able to shoot magic missiles and defeat robots, so we added some varying stages, powerful abilities to be discovered, and a challenging boss fight to top things off.

Challenge and the feeling of mastery was what we wanted the gameplay to contain. I can guarantee that most players will meet with an ill fate the first few tries at Savant Ascent, but with some persistence you’ll be dodging danger like a pro.

You can change the background music to any of the unlocked tracks at any time. Each track will also change the gameplay, encouraging new ways to defeat the incoming robot onslaught.

Style was the thing we wanted to perfect in Ascent. We wanted players to lose themselves to the music, quicken their pulse, and keep on their toes.

Even though this was to be a game revolving around music, we didn’t want a game resembling Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or any other synced beat tapper. Rather, we wanted the music to blend with the game.

Subtle elements were added, to let the game live through the music — like enemies dancing to the beat, menu elements shaking on bass drops — and let Savant seem like this would be the kind of music he’d listen to as he set out on a robot-demolishing rampage.

Growing together with Savant, Ascent is a game that has and will change over time. We’ve vowed to add elements from future albums, and given time, we might be adding additional soundtracks, possible levels tailored to the album’s design, and new modes, abilities, and secrets.

To keep up with news on Savant Ascent, or our studio, feel free to make a visit to DPadStudio.com or SavantGame.com.

Greetings, doods! I don’t know about you, but after a long week at the office, I feel like a vacation’s in order. I’m thinking someplace exotic that will wake me up from the daily grind, and I know just the place! I’d like to introduce you to the warm and hospitable dungeon-crawling RPG world of Demon Gaze, which will be available for PS Vita on April 22nd. Mystery, dungeons, monsters, and demons… this place has it all for you adventurin’ weekend-warrior types. So come along with me and let’s take a grand tour of the world of Demon Gaze.

Demon Gaze takes place in the land of Misrid, which has terrain for every adventurer. There are ancient cities (That are on fire!) for history buffs, woodsy mazes for those who pack homemade granola in their hemp-woven satchels, and even haunted burial grounds for travelers looking for a little morbid fun.

You’ll get to experience all these lands in the classic, first-person dungeon-crawling style — slashing your way through mazes and getting up close and personal with the local wildlife by engaging in bloody, turn-based battle. Navigation’s a breeze when you can plot your course through these dangerous dungeons using your Vita touchscreen, and if you’ve already explored the area you can just employ the Auto-Move feature and kick back while you walk through the dungeon like the expert you are!

If hordes of monsters weren’t enough to draw you in, what if I told you that all of these lands were ruled by demons? It may sound a bit daunting, but you should know that when you enter this world, you’ve entered it as a Demon Gazer. What does that mean? It means you’ve got a really cool-looking, glowing eyeball that’s got the ability to suck up demons. Demons will usually be a little enraged with you when you first approach, but if you throw down using all your equipment and special skills, you’ll be able to defeat them and return them to a more compliant form.

Playing all your cards right, you can get these demons to join you in your travels and help out in their own special way. You’ll meet Mars, the Fire Dragon Woman, who boosts your party’s strength in battle; Comet, the Starry Magic Girl, who’s an expert in navigating mazes and finding items; and plenty of other demons! Having all these demons on your side is like having an all-access pass to the coolest spots in Misrid.

Speaking of cool spots, when you want to get away from all the dungeon-crawling and demons, you can go to the Dragon Princess Inn, where you’ll get to know the zany locals, and maybe even get to know a little more about yourself and your past. But what’s really great about this place is you’ll meet adventurers from all walks of life, and you can recruit them to join you in your dungeon-crawling travels.

All sorts of classes — including Assassins, Wizards, Paladins, and Samurai — are eager to help you fight, and there are over forty ways to customize their character portraits. Not only that, but you can use special items to teach your party members skills from other classes in order to maximize your party’s hitting power. Nothing like having a party tailor-made for your own traveling style.

So what do you say? Why not book yourself a flight to Misrid and get out of the cubicle and into some dungeons? Class customization, demon-taming, and dungeon-crawling all await you! I know I’ll be taking that trip to Misrid in April — hope to see you there, dood!