Echochrome II Message Board

We’re proud to announce that echochrome ii, the PlayStation Move puzzle game available now for PS3, has been accepted into the Guinness Book of World Records for boasting a single musical track that lasts 75 minutes and 7 seconds — the longest in video game music history!

For a little background on echochrome ii, check out my past blog posts. It is a puzzle game that uses light and shadow to create a unique, innovative world for gamers to unravel. Players hold the PlayStation Move motion controller like a flashlight to control the light source in each puzzle stage, searching for hidden “shadow art” and using the shadows to create a path to the goal for their character to traverse.

“With the previous echochrome, we employed a string quartet for the soundtrack, a rare genre for video games,” said echochrome producer Tatsuya Suzuki from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). “The music did not change depending on the in-game situation, instead taking its own random path as it played along. We wanted to make echochrome’s music as unique and innovative as the game itself in hopes of making the play experience even more memorable for gamers. The quest to outdo ourselves for the sequel was what led us to create the world’s longest piece of game music. It’s 75 minutes long because we wanted it to take up an entire CD by itself. We were lucky to have a title with gameplay like echochrome’s to serve as the proving ground for this effort. If this was an RPG or some other genre, I imagine it would’ve been a lot tougher. It just goes to show how tight the relationship is between gameplay and game music.”

“echochrome ii features a piano in addition to the string quartet,” added Hideki Sakamoto, composer on both echochrome titles. “The sequel features ‘color’ as a new gameplay element, which doesn’t seem like anything special, but the first one was an entirely monochrome world, so it’s a major shift. Adding color to the game makes everything seem a lot brighter to your eyes and adding piano to the music helps make the game sound brighter, too. The theme of the 75 minute long track is human life – it traces the entire life of a person through 75 minutes. The lilting melodies of the intro reflect the joy of birth, and along the way you have your first love and your days of schooling. Around the age of 30, you settle down to work and your life takes on more of a basic routine. Things get a bit more contemplative by your 40s, so the song grows more serious in style. For the 50s, the track goes into a medley, reflecting on all the past experiences in your life; I think it’s the decade of life where you’re shining the most brightly. Time continues to pass, though, and as you go into your 60s and 70s, you gradually close the curtain on your life. It’s often said that people return to a child-like outlook on life in their senior years, so the end part goes back to the age of birth – in other words, back to the intro part.”

“Recording this track took just as much energy as composing it,” said echochrome ii producer Ken Suzuta from SCEJ. “It took five straight days, working from morning until night. The instrumentalists, mixers, and other staff all had to rely on each other for support as they went through this marathon recording session. For this project, Suzuki and Sakamoto both suggested broadcasting the sessions live on Ustream, giving users the opportunity to check out the studio and recording process, making it another part of the game’s entertainment. We responded to viewer comments in real-time, and when things got frustrating in the studio, viewers would send out support messages and so forth. In a way we all worked together to get the track completed. It was really great to have all those viewers, including many in America.”

“That support was key in helping us obtain the Guinness world record,” added Suzuki. “It’s a tremendous honor for us. It’s a rare thing for not just games, but any form of entertainment to get a world record, and I hope our fans are as excited about this as we are. When we have the chance to develop the next game in the echochrome series, I definitely want to try something even newer with it. Thanks again for your continued support!”

In celebration of this honor, we have a special offer available on the PlayStation Store featuring both the game and musical score for a limited time at $14.99. If you already have the game, the soundtrack can be purchased separately for $4.99. The special offer will end on June 28th. Don’t miss this great opportunity, and celebrate the honor with us all!

#thisisthesongthatneverends I don't normally pay much heed to Guinness' video game world records, because for the most part they come off as little more than paid promotions for upcoming or newly-released titles. But this one, I can dig. More »

An easier brain teaser.

In my last echochrome ii post, we announced the release date of echochrome ii, but now I want to share more about the game. Many of you have asked about the price in the last post. echochrome ii will be available at PlayStation Store for $14.99, so make sure you have funds in your wallet on December 21st!

Also, some of you were wondering about the Trophies. I am happy to announce that echochrome ii supports Trophies and there are 12 Trophies in total. Just like the original echochrome, our quiet hero character patiently keeps walking on the path you create. So why don’t we award him as “Avid Walker”. He definitely deserves to get a Trophy for taking so many steps for us! During the adventure, he may sometimes fall, end up twisting his ankle or hit his head on the ceilings… He cannot avoid these accidents at times to achieve his goal, but who knows…these may lead into obtaining some Trophies? Happy Trophy hunting!

echochrome ii is a very unique, original puzzle game utilizing the PlayStation Move motion controller. The team is very creative and their ideas always blow my mind. We have a video from Japan featuring the original producers Tatsuya Suzuki and Ken Suzuta, as well as the creator/director of the game, Jun Fujiki that you can see above.

The other most asked question was about the soundtrack. As a fan of the music in this franchise myself, I’m pleased to let you know that echochrome ii soundtrack will be coming soon. The music score was composed by Hideki Sakamoto, the same composer as the original echochrome soundtrack. This piece of music is called “Prime #4507″ and is the longest piece of soundtrack composition ever scored for a video game! Featuring over 2628 measures of music written this piece is over 75 minutes long and was recorded over a 5-day period. Indeed, the team has applied for the Guiness World Records as “The longest videogame soundtrack composition”.

Remember, the release date is coming up next week! We can start the count down from today. Stay tuned on PlayStation.Blog, for more information about the capabilities for creating user-generated content in echochrome ii!

Sequel requires PlayStation Move controller.

Wow, it’s been some time since our last game update so I am very excited to announce that echochrome ii will be available for your holiday gaming pleasure on December 21st! And if you’re already enjoying PlayStation Move and our vast library of Move titles, then echochrome ii will be a great addition to your collection.

If you didn’t see my last post and are curious as to what echochrome ii is all about, it’s a unique puzzle game using the PlayStation Move motion controller to shine a light on a series of blocks and objects to create realistic shadows on the wall. The blocks and objects you see in each level will cast different shadows depending on your movement so as you alter the perspective and angles by adjusting this light source, you will manipulate the shadows they cast to ultimately reveal a solution to the puzzle and guide your character to the exit. You can check out some actual gameplay in the video above.

Once you check out the game for yourself I think you’ll enjoy how it uses PlayStation Move in this rather unique and original way. The best way to think of it is to treat the controller like a flashlight that you shine on these objects to manipulate the shadow within the scenery—this is actually one of the ideas that helped the dev team come up with the concept.

echochrome ii has 100 built in levels and there are three different ways to enjoy each one. Navigating the character to the goal by creating a shadow path is called “escort” mode. Additionally, there is “echo” mode and “paint” mode. In “echo” mode, the objective is to collect the ghost-looking characters called “echo.” You will see a few of them in each level, so collect them all to clear the stage.

In “paint” mode, the characters are colored in red, green, or blue. When the characters walk, they will color any blocks that are creating the shadows they’re walking on. A red character makes a red block and a blue character makes a blue one. Each time you color a block, your clear percentage will increase. Your goal is to reach the target percentage to clear the level.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about this upcoming release! Be sure to keep an eye on the PlayStation.Blog as I’ll be back to discuss additional game features and answers some of your questions posted below.

The M.C. Escher platformer gets a flashlight and a splash of color.

#ps3 We love games that involve shadows. But no one on team Kotaku was buzzing about Echochrome ii. Then I saw it yesterday running on a PS3, controlled by the wand-like Move controller. And now I can't shut up about it. More »

Hi everyone! As most of you have already heard, we will be coming out with echochrome ii later this year. It was announced at E3 and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback. For those of you who don’t know what echochrome ii is, here is an interview and demo with our team to show you exactly what everyone has been talking about.

Remember all the fun you used to have playing with shadows as a kid? Now you can bring back those exciting feelings of shadow art by utilizing the PlayStation Move motion controller and the PlayStation Eye camera! With its unique way of using Move controller as a flashlight, you will control light and shadows, rotate levels and change the way objects are viewed and the shadows they cast. The ultimate goal is to lead your character, that can only walk on the shadow, through the path from beginning to end. Beware, as there are hidden goals, jumping pads, holes, transporting elevators, and so on. Rotate the level itself to create a specific shadow – the possibilities are infinite and there is always more than meets the eye as every person can view each puzzle differently.

Also, echochrome ii features an artistic presentation style that fans of the franchise will recognize, however, this time with bold colors and lively music to put any player in the gaming mood. Players can also look forward to the new use of color, which gives hints to help players through the puzzles.

Light and shadows are your newest paths to tread.