EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: flower
Journey is the next game from independent game developer thatgamecompany (flOw, Flower), and if the newly released debut trailer is anything to go by, this title is going to continue the studio’s fine tradition of creating highly intriguing and emotionally engaging titles through pure interaction, visuals and sonic embellishments.
The latest US PlayStation Store update has arrived and it’s packed to the brim with new demos for everyone. You’ll be able to get your hands on the Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days demo (previously only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers) as well as a demo for Madden NFL 11, Section 8 and Flower.
If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber you’ll be able to enjoy a whole bunch of goodies for free, including the technicolour barf of Critter Crunch. There’s also the usual assortment of add-on game content, including a map and character pack for Transformers: War for Cybertron and a Rush Arena mode for Lost Planet 2, as well as new tracks for Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 fans.
Have a look through the full list of new content now available on the US PlayStation Store below:
In March this year, an exciting new initiative called the Indie Fund was announced to help talented independent game developers get the funding they need to take their unwieldy but promising videogame prototypes all the way to finished product.
The fund was started by successful independent developers such as thatgamecompany’s Kellee Santiago (Flower), Number None’s Jonathon Blow (Braid), Capy’s Nathan Vella (Critter Crunch) and 2D Boy’s Ron Carmel and Kyle Gabler (World of Goo).
Their hope is “to encourage the next wave of game developers” and create a “serious alternative to the traditional publisher funding model. Our aim is to support the growth of games as a medium by helping indie developers get (and stay) financially independent.”
Earlier this week, it was announced that the Indie Fund is now taking game submissions for consideration.
The next project from thatgamecompany (the tiny game development that brought Flower to the PlayStation 3) has been unveiled, and continuing with the company’s goal of creating rich and affecting gaming experiences, the released screenshots and details point to an experience that is already looking emotionally charged.
With Journey, thatgamecompany will also be aiming to deliver a game with “simple gameplay and accessible controls in a rich interactive environment that invites players to explore and experience emotional chords that are still uncommon in video games.”
Indie game development studio thatgamecompany (creators of flOw and Flower) is featured in a new inspirational make.believe mini-documentary, revealing how the company’s founders, headed up by Jenova Chen, went from students with ambitious ideas, to respected industry leaders with three award-winning games under their collective belts.
Watch Jenova Chen in his natural habitat below:
[Update] Sony believes that they may have found a solution to the problems plaguing PS3 owners, and that a fix may be available within 24 hours, but for now warns PS3 owners not to use the console until further notice [End of Update]
Well here’s something I wasn’t aware of - the online connectivity issues PS3 owners are experiencing are affecting offline use as well!
Being careful not to power up my own PS3 with an ethernet cable connected (and powering down any wireless connectivity devices), I switched on my PS3 and tried to play a singleplayer, offline game (Flower was my choice), only to be greeted with the text:
“An error occurred during operation.”
The full list of nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards has been announced, comprising multiple nominations for Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed II, Flower, Dragon Age: Origins, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Plants VS Zombies.
The Game Developers Choice Awards is the leading peer-based videogame industry awards and is now in its tenth year running. Nominees for the awards (which aren’t restricted or considered on payment) are chosen by “a combination of open game industry nominations and the votes of the leading creators in the Choice Awards Advisory Committee.”
Winners are selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is a “new invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry.”
The full list of nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards follows below:
Update 1 Gameplay video added showing Resident Evil 5 using the PS3 motion controller.
Update 2 Gameplay video added showing LittleBigPlanet using the PS3 motion controller.
Sony has recently announced the existence of a set of launch titles that will use their upcoming PS3 motion controller technology when it’s available in Spring of next year, while simultaneously revealing an impressive list of developers and publishers who will be making use of the tech.
The PlayStation 3 motion controller features “a pair of motion sensors, a three axes gyroscope and a three axes accelerometer, along with Bluetooth and a rechargable Li-on battery.” This technology detects the angle and movement of the controller when held in a user’s hand, or, according to Sony, it can “detect the natural and intuitive movement of the hand and reflect the precise movement onto the game.”
The new peripheral is also equipped with a rumble feature, while the top sphere of the control can change colours and patterns for extra visual feedback. A PlayStation Eye camera is apparently necessary to make the controller work correctly, however, as it uses the motion tracking tech of the camera to function.
In El33tonline’s podcast for June, we discuss some of the highlights from E3 2009, including a brief look at the console manufacturer’s press conferences and major announcements from the show.
We also chat about what games we have been playing in between the E3 madness, such as inFamous, EA Sports Active and Flower.
Head on over to our download page to get the latest podcast.
Also, be sure to subscribe to the El33tonline podcast over here.
Many PS3 owners will be familiar with the work of independent developer thatgamecompany from their game flOW, which was one of the earliest downloadable titles released on the PlayStation Store. An oddity that was really an “interactive experience,” with only the vaguest game-like qualities, flOW was written off by some as being little more than a tech demo for the PS3’s SixAxis motion control functionality. This wasn’t really fair, as flOw was a surprisingly relaxing and soothing experience, and while it wasn’t exactly much fun, it was engaging enough to mark thatgamecompany as an up-and-coming developer to keep an eye on.
Their latest offering, Flower, shares quite a few similarities with flOw, but is also significantly different. Unlike flOw, Flower is a “proper” game, replete with levels, a narrative structure and various distinct objectives guiding the gameplay. And what a game it is! Flower is a pleasant and unexpected surprise, a game as fresh and beautiful as its title suggests, and one which manages to set a standard that few 2009 games could reasonably be expected to match.
Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Flower.
With the release of Flower on the PlayStation Network yesterday, Sony and the game’s developers, thatgamecompany, have released a wonderful trailer to demonstrate what Flower is all about.
Using the PS3’s SixAxis control capabilities, players guide a single petal of a flower through the wind, diving and climbing through detailed outdoor environments to try and collect more petals, resulting in something that can only be described as a ‘petal storm.’
All of this is happening in the dream of a flower in a dreary apartment in a dreary city, but as you collect more petals and colours in the dream, more colour and vibrancy is added to the flower’s surroundings in the real world. Watch the Flower trailer below:
Senior manager of the PlayStation Store, Grace Chen, has revealed what visitors to the PlayStation Network can expect to find in the coming months in the way of downloadable games.
In what they’re calling “PSN Spring Fever” (similar to the Summer of Arcade last year?), Sony will be releasing a wonderful selection of games and content exclusive to PSN. Here’s the list of what we can expect:
- Flower (available now)
- Noby Noby Boy
- No Gravity
- Wheel of Fortune
- Burn Zombie Burn
- Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic
- The Punisher: No Mercy
- In addition to these exclusive titles, PlayStation Network will also be launching Bomberman Ultra, Flock, Comet Crash, Watchmen and many more during this timeframe.
Chen is also quick to remind visitors that PSN is already home to a host of PSN-exclusive titles, such as flOw, Crash Commando, Savage Moon, Echochrome, Pixel Junk Eden, PAIN and Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty.
For more information in the coming weeks, you should check out the PlayStation Store’s dedicated “PSN Spring Fever” section which will feature all of the latest downloads for your viewing delight.
Posting on the US PlayStation Blog, Kelly Santiago of thatgamecompany (creators of flOw and Flower) has confirmed that Flower will be available on the PlayStation Network this week. From the post:
“Hello PlayStation blogees! We here at thatgamecompany are so stoked that this week “Flower” will be out of our hands and into yours.”
In the same post, Santiago has released a behind-the-scenes video interview which reveals the concepts behind Flower as well as some gameplay details. Enjoy that below:
Flower, the latest game to come from the developer that brought us flOw, will be arriving on the PlayStation Store on the 12th of February.
Described by thatgamecompany as a “video game version of a poem,” Flower promises to “challenge traditional gaming conventions” and deliver simple gameplay, accessible controls and a “medium to explore emotional chords uncommon in videogames.”
The game features the unique concept of pulling the surrounding environment, usually kept in the background, to the forefront to become the primary character. Players journey through a vivid and changing landscape, accumulating flower petals and changing the environment with everything they pick up.
Flower, the next game from the creators of PSN’s flOw, thatgamecompany (headed up by indie developer Jenova Chen), is looking extraordinarily amazing, with a gameplay concept that is simultaneously very different, but very familiar.
In Flower, you are playing through the dream of a flower sitting on a windowsill of an apartment in a drab cityscape, as the flower longs for more colour and vibrance in its life. As the player controlling the flower’s dreams, you guide a petal through fields and landscapes, using the Sixaxis ability of the PS3 controller to tilt the petal around and boosting its speed with the press of a button.
The aim is to collect other flowers in the landscapes you’ll be visiting to create a storm of colour, which in turn transforms the dingy apartment the flower is subjected to in the real world, filling it with colour. Seems weird? Well, just watch the trailers below to see how not weird it is, but instead how… awesomely cool it is? Just watch…
Flower is coming to PSN at some stage in the unspecified future (probably next year). Some more footage follows below:
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