Beat Sketcher Message Board

It’s been a few weeks since Beat Sketcher for PlayStation Move released onto PSN in the U.S. and we’ve been checking out all the great Beat Sketcher videos that fans are posting onto YouTube every day! We’re having so much fun and we’d like to thank you all for sharing your videos.

This week we’d like to introduce few videos that caught the attention of the team.

Yasuhiro Kawagoe – Sound Director *noisycroak Co., Ltd.

“I liked the uniqueness of drawing traditional Japanese“ORIGAMI” using Japanese sounds. Also, I was surprised by the idea of having the background pattern come up using the eraser at the end of the video!”

Hiroshi Shiina – Producer

“The Artist quickly learned how to use the tools and I love the artwork! Also, I liked how he drew without having any hesitation. It seemed so natural. If anyone is having difficulty drawing on the edge of the screen, try moving your body to the left and right or stepping closer to the camera”

Kenei Hayama – Art Director

“It made me expect that something was going to happen, but nothing actually did..
Scratching the head was cute and I was simply attracted by the artwork.”

Thanks again to everyone who posted the videos! For anyone who wants to see what people are creating, please visit the YouTube Beat Sketcher channel.

We’d also like to announce that the updated demo is now available on the PlayStation Store! So if you still haven’t had a chance to try out Beat Sketcher or would like to check out the updated demo, make sure to download it today!

And finally, here is another video created by Ichiro Ebisu, the sound creator.

Happy Holidays!!

Last week we brought you the 2nd installment JAPAN Studio’s upcoming title Beat Sketcher, a PlayStation Move exclusive title that will be available for purchase in the PlayStation Store tomorrow, November 23rd.

For this week’s developer profile, Art Director Kenei Hayama created the following video using Beat Sketcher.

Kenei Hayama – Art Director: “I just enjoyed drawing. My goal was not to draw a tune but to draw what I wanted to draw with freedom, as I drew, the music emerged naturally.”

Here are a few more cool pictures that were drawn using Beat Sketcher, just to give you all an idea of what you can create.

Don’t forget to post links to your best YouTube Beat Sketcher videos! We’d love to see what all of you create! Also, as we mentioned in our previous blogs, the team will answer some of your questions in an upcoming post so don’t forget to to include them in the comments below.

Be sure to download Beat Sketcher for PSN available TOMORROW!

Lastly, let’s finish up our interview with the Beat Sketcher development team.

Q: What is the most exciting aspect of using PlayStation Move in Beat Sketcher?

A: With simple and intuitive game control that Beat Sketcher provides, you can create various works and draw a tune with your imagination. We believe this game experience will be very exciting moment for anyone who plays with PlayStation Move.

Q: What are your favorite moments so far in developing Beat Sketcher with PlayStation Move?

A: The moment when I could draw a soothing line as intended with PlayStation Move controls. Also, the moment when I could play tuneful sounds much better than expected, as a result.

Q: What challenges did you encounter in creating Beat Sketcher with something as innovative as PlayStation Move?

A: This is the first time the team developed a game using PlayStation Move, so we have encountered many challenges at every aspect during the production, and we keep our best to overcome these. Specifically, in terms of creating a very unique game experience that anyone can enjoy regardless of gender, age, or nations, we took a process of trial and error so many times, and finally decided the current final game design.

Q: Is there anything else you want to add about Beat Sketcher and PlayStation Move?

A: Other than enjoying doodling freely, Beat Sketcher is packed with many fun elements such as a new game mode fused with doodle and rhythm action game, or a game mode that you compete or cooperate with your friends and family that everyone from children to adults, alone or multiple people together, can enjoy.

Also, your created works in Beat Sketcher can be shared via globally – for example, a movie taken in the game can be uploaded to YouTube. We are looking forward to seeing that many great surprising works are created from Beat Sketcher all over the world!

Last week we introduced you to Japan Studio’s upcoming PSN title Beat Sketcher, a PlayStation Move motion controller exclusive title that will be available for purchase in the PlayStation Store on November 23rd.

This week we’d like to introduce Sound Director and Composer Mr. Yasuhiro Kawagoe – and show you a new video that he created using Beat Sketcher.

Yasuhiro Kawagoe – Sound Director * noisycroak Co., Ltd. Learned Jazz theory and Drum performance in a musical academy. After graduation, he has been worked as a performer and composer. Now he mainly works on game music and sound, such as the What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? and No Heroes Allowed! (as musical performer), Patchwork Heroes (as sound director), and echochrome (sound effect manipulation).

This week, the Beat Sketcher team shares some of their thoughts behind the creation of Beat Sketcher. If there are any questions that you would like us to ask the team, leave a comment and we’ll try our best to include them in the next blog post!

Q: How do you use PlayStation Move motion controller in Beat Sketcher?

A: In Beat Sketcher, you can doodle at will by using the PlayStation Move as a pen. A whole screen shown on your TV is a canvas, so you need to move not only your hands but also the whole body widely. Doodles created by your movements hit the notes, overlap, and become music. It generates a new experience because you can enjoy drawing and sound at the same time!

Q: What are the benefits of using PlayStation Move in Beat Sketcher?

A: Various nuanced expressions are easily produced with intuitive controls, such as dynamic line by using Japanese-Calligraphy-like brush pen, calligraphy line making full use of wrist twist, or an intricate line by using an ultrafine pen tip.

Q: How has the high degree of accuracy and speed afforded by PlayStation Move helped in creating Beat Sketcher?

A: When a player draws, the player’s moving position and drawing speed can be used as accurate control input. So PlayStation Move’s capability enabled us to realize various types of expression as mentioned above.

Q: How does PlayStation Move change the way you approach and play Beat Sketcher compared to other “drawing games”?

A: There are some existing games that you can enjoy drawings, and those are static type of gameplay that mainly use a mouse or pen tablet for input. When we develop a PlayStation Move-exclusive game, we had the idea to create something that enables the doodle itself to be more dynamic gameplay by making full use of the motion controller capability.

Specifically we were very inspired by a famous Japanese illustrator and singer, Ms. Ado Mizumori, who is well-known in Japan for her performance of drawing a transparent acrylic board while singing a song that lyrics tells what she is drawing. We were also inspired by a series of pictures shot in 1949, which captured drawings by Pablo Picasso with light.

We also consider that the sound is one of the important factors to make doodle dynamic play, and keep working on how to integrate it in the game since the early stage of the project. Finally we reached the current style that to create the sounds and drawings at the same time.

We’ll be back next week with the second half of the developer interview and introduce you to Mr. Kenei Hayama. In the meantime, here are a few more awesome pictures that were drawn using Beat Sketcher, just to give you all an idea of what you can create.

Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming release of Beat Sketcher for PlayStation Network on November 23rd!

My name is George Weising, Producer for SCEA. The purpose of this blog is to introduce you all to Japan Studio’s upcoming title Beat Sketcher, a Move exclusive title that will be available for purchase in the PlayStation Store just in time for Thanksgiving.

So, what is Beat Sketcher? It is actually hard to call this a game, as it is more of an artistic experience that allows you to become very creative using the PlayStation Move as your virtual drawing tool or paint brush. Beat Sketcher lets you create your own masterpiece no matter what your skill level is. You can learn to draw by copying brush strokes in something called Challenge Mode or grab some friends and work together to create something magical (either cooperatively or competitively if you so choose). My favorite part is the Creation Mode, where you start with a blank canvas, so-to-speak, and unleash my imagination! If you create something you’re proud of, you can even upload it to YouTube for all your friends to see.

The basic team that created Beat Sketcher is a collaboration between JAPAN Studio, WILL Co., Ltd. (echochrome) and noisycroak Co.,Ltd. (echochrome, No Heroes Allowed series, Patchwork Heroes, Yakuza 3, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, etc…). This is the first time the team has collaborated creatively and we are pretty excited about what they’ve created!

Over the Summer we spoke with three members of the Beat Sketcher Development team (Ichiro Ebisu – Sound Creator, Yasuhiro Kawagoe – Sound Director / Composer , and Kenei Hayama – Art Director) for a little Q&A. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing videos created by each of them along with portions of their interview to give you an idea of who they are and their thoughts behind the creation of Beat Sketcher. For this weeks segment we’d like to introduce Mr. Ichiro Ebisu and show you a video that he created using Beat Sketcher.

Ichiro Ebisu – Sound Creator: “I tried to express that this game allows not just to draw, but also to generate music made with individual sounds by each stroke, which is Beat Sketcher’s unique feature. Also, I completed the artwork making full use of the ‘Auto Sound Tool Select’ feature and ‘Eyedropper Tool’, and tried not to use the Tool window as much as I could.”

We’ll be back next week with part 1 of the developer interview and introduce you to Mr. Yasuhiro Kawagoe. In the mean time, here are some sweet pictures that were drawn using Beat Sketcher, just to give you all an idea of what you can create.

Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming release of Beat Sketcher for PSN on November 23rd!