Before E3, the last time we heard anything about flOw dev Thatgamecompany's newest project was November 2007. Cut to last week, when TGC Creative Director and co-founder Jenova Chen guided us through an early build of their upcoming PSN title flower (note the 'o' is now lowercase).
Like flOw, it's really hard for us to confidently form an opinion on the abstract idea (check out PS3 Fanboy for their praises). We hope Sony decides to release a demo with this game. Videos and previews will not do flower justice; it's a game worth trying for yourself.
Welcome to This Week in Review (formerly This Week in DLC), where we round up all the hands-on impressions and game reviews (including Metareviews) from the Joystiq Network. This week's megaton title should come as no surprise whatsoever.
Congratulations to flOw for standing atop of Sony's list of best selling PSN purchases since the Store's debut over a year ago. It's great to see stellar games, like Everyday Shooter and Super Stardust HD, earn the sales recognition they deserve. But, why such high sales of Mortal Kombat II? Guess nostalgia (and bargain price) help loosen the wallet of potential buyers.
For the list of top downloaded demos from the PSN (and European figures), check out PS3 Fanboy.
The good news is that nothing has been lost in flOw's translation to the PlayStation Portable. The bad news, however, is that something has been gained. Though the aesthetics and soothing audio of the PlayStation 3 version have been mostly preserved, SuperVillain Studios' pint-sized port has been "gifted" with with far more precise control, courtesy of the system's analog nub.
Unfortunately, what would normally be considered to be an improvement introduces a mechanical, almost rigid feel to the relaxed and fluid movements in flOw. It's a bizarre complaint -- oh no, the control is more responsive! -- but in the dreamy context of flOw, an increase in precision isn't necessarily in the game's best interests. We should have considered throwing some quotation marks around the word "game" (just like that), as its serene atmosphere and aimless immersion still manages to evade such precise definition, even on a smaller screen.
Posting on the official PlayStation blog, SuperVillain Studios has announced that serene swim sim flOw is expected to surface on the PlayStation Portable early next month. The comparatively puny version will include all of the content from the PlayStation 3 game (with the exception of its expansion pack) while eschewing SIXAXIS motion control for analog nub rubbin'.
It's unknown how much you'll have to splash out when the downloadable title washes onto the PC's PlayStation Store, but we'll be sure to put up a fuss if we think we're getting pond* by the price.
Thatgamecompany's flOw is finally floating from the PS3 over to the Playstation Portable, CVG reports. The PSN title (which started out as a graduate thesis) will soon be available for purchase and download from the PC-based Playstation Store, where it can be beamed to the PSP for on-the-go underwater trippy creature-eating... stuff.
According to CVG, the PSP version will likely remain largely unchanged from the PS3 original. Though no release date was given, CVG speculates that flOw may appear alongside today's scheduled PSN update. We can't confirm, but that would be neat.
If the Tokyo Game Show trailer was any indication, flOw developer Thatgamecompany is not shying away from abstract projects. Speaking at the Montreal International Games Summit (via Gamasutra), TGC President Kellee Santiago explained how music played an important role in the the initial development phases of Flower. Two musical pieces were commissioned to set the tone of the project, according to Santiago, to "get everyone on the same page... doing sample audio tracks to evoke the emotion [will] keep everyone's work consistent."
Details about Flower itself are rather scant, aside from confirmation that at least part of the game has to do with growing flowers. Said Santiago, Flower involves the "possible emotional impacts of the feeling of growing a flower, and possible interactions as the sun." The title is due out on the PlayStation Network sometime in 2008.
Sony's latest PS3 promotion asks, "When was the last time $4.99 brought you hours of entertainment?" We don't have the heart to remind them that bunches of XBLA games – like Space Giraffe – are only $5. Also, that coloring book we bought last week for less than $5 has brought us dozens of hours of entertainment ...
Regardless, here's the deets of their promotion: four of the highest-profile (and, as luck would have it, best) PSN downloadable titles are being offered for the low, low price of $5. Did you miss the normally $10 Calling all Cars' discounted $5 price last month? Well, the gods at Sony have granted you a second chance. How about indie-darlings Everyday Shooter (normally $10) and flOw (normally $8)? Pick 'em up for, you guessed it, $5 each. Last on the list is PixelJunk Racers (normally $7), which will also be available for $5.
You've got until November 29th to catch 'em all and add them to your collection of Black Friday steals.
Expansions are coming for popular Playstation Network titles fl0w and Warhawk, according to Game Informer magazine. Firing Squad reports that a recent issue of the magazine reveals expansions in development for both downloadable titles, with planned releases in December.
The Warhawk expansion will introduce a dropship into the game, which can pick up and relocate ground vehicles. The fl0w expansion, meanwhile, will add a multiplayer mode to the abstract game, as well as a new playable creature. While expansions for Warhawk are a no-brainer, it remains to be seen how typical downloadable content will fit in with the incredibly atypical fl0w.
If the title looks like a blatant ripoff of indie fave fl0w, that's because it's actually the same developer. Thatgamecompany, that game company which brought abstract underwater battle to PSN, is working on a new game, announced via a short, artsy trailer at the Tokyo Game Show.
We don't know much (okay, anything) about fl0wer -- only that it's being developed for PS3, and that it's not yet playable. Based on the name, we expect that it will at least be a spiritual successor to fl0w, which started as game designer Jenova Chen's graduate thesis. View the serene teaser after the break, and let the speculation begin.
FlOwhas come a long way since being part of a master's thesis for then-University of Southern California student Jenova Chen. Now the title is the number one download on the PlayStation Network. We had the chance to speak with Chen and fellow Thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago about what's been going since we last heard from them at the Game Developers Conference.
The developer is still very positive about their decision to sign a 3-game deal with Sony and say they have been very good to them, according to Santiago. They are still working inside the Sony offices. When we mentioned the success of flOw, Chen remarked that they see it more as a challenge.
Though they can't reveal any information on the upcoming project, Chen considered it ambitious, with no previous reference material. He used an illustration metaphor, that they can always illustrate known game mechanics, "but now we're trying to sketch it ourself," he said. We thought flOw was a pretty ambitious title, so it'll be interesting to see what they really consider far out of the norm. According to the duo, information concerning their next title is hopefully going to be released this fall.
According to Gamasutra's Simon Carless, the independent scene is facing an uphill battle when developing for consoles, specifically in the realm of digital distribution. Carless argues that the difficulty in bringing a title across all platforms, both for technological and business reasons.
Other than some retro titles (e.g. Joust), a very small number of downloadable title are appearing on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is one of the few exceptions, and Capcom's Christian Svensson said it required "considerable coordination" to get the titles on both consoles, which indicates to us that less established independent houses would have insurmountable difficulty.
Carless notes that Sony's collection, retro games aside, are predominantly first party (though we should note that flOw went to Sony because they actively sought out the independent title). Nintendo has always talked about bringing original games to the Wii, and there have been murmurings of a Game Channel, but so far all the only tangible indication of a non-Virtual Console title is Impossible Mission.
Carless' analogy to the film industry (three separate formats for theatre chains), though admittedly ham-fisted, does not account for industry history. It may be unfair to the independent developer, but there hasn't been a time when gaming was controlled by a single format. Sure, development teams are now much larger and require a bigger budget, but that hasn't stopped smaller teams from succeeding with Geometry Wars, Ragdoll Kung-Fu, and Alien Hominid (pictured). The state of indie games isn't ideal, but it seems to be getting better. We say keep on fighting, Simon.
A Gamespot report reveals the first usage statistics for the PlayStation 3's online network, the astonishingly named PlayStation Network. According to Sony, over 1.3 million users have signed on to the free service, 600,000 of them being based in the United States. All together, users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content.
"Users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content!"
Thank you. It's not explicitly mentioned how many of said pieces are PSN games, but individual sales data for Blast Factor, fl0w and others may be released at a later stage. Comparing overall statistics to those of Xbox Live shows Microsoft's service in the lead with six million users (an unknown percentage of those paying for a Gold subscription), but it's to be expected given the PS3's comparatively recent launch. With some strong online titles and more free services, the PSN stands every chance of overcoming its growing pains and becoming more competitive. Of course, consumers would stand to benefit most if things stayed neck-and-neck. After all, Xbox Live's no good to us dead.
Is the games industry burdened by its reliance on game mechanics? Speaking at the Living Games World Conference at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week, Tracy Fullerton, a game design theorist and assistant professor at the University of Southern California Interactive Media Division, plead her case that the commonly used game mechanics are in a way impeding our ability to expand into new content themes.
Fullerton began by defining the root terminology. "We've talked a lot about serious games ... but I thought I might be nice to back up and bit and really kind of question what is that a game is," she said. "One of the things that I like to do is break things down and build them up again."
On the first floor of Moscone's North hall last Friday, flOw developer That Game Company presented their storied origins. Co-founders Jenova Chen, who took a brief recess from the company to help on the DS version of Will Wright's Spore, and Kellee Santiago, met at the University of Southern California.
"I don't see [video games] as being any different [than other interactive media], it's all story telling," Santiago said.
Chen, who affirms that his proudest work is flOw and Cloud, explained their place in gaming with an ever-popular culinary allegory. Think of Gears of War as steak and World of Warcraft as chicken. Let's give lettuce a relation to Nintendogs and fish can be Brain Age.
"Let's say you focus on chicken, but somehow you find a way to make it accessible and customizable," said Chen. The according Power Point slide shows the chicken transition into a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. "That also expands the audience or customers. How can you make existing games more accessible to wider audiences?" Does that mean flOw is a bowl of cereal? All we know now is that we're quite famished.
Posts with tag flow
Sony's latest PS3 promotion asks, "When was the last time $4.99 brought you hours of entertainment?" We don't have the heart to remind them that bunches of XBLA games – like Space Giraffe – are only $5. Also, that coloring book we bought last week for less than $5 has brought us dozens of hours of entertainment ... 
According to Gamasutra's Simon Carless, the independent scene is facing an uphill battle when developing for consoles, specifically in the realm of digital distribution. Carless argues that the difficulty in bringing a title across all platforms, both for technological and business reasons.
A Gamespot report reveals the first usage statistics for the PlayStation 3's online network, the astonishingly named PlayStation Network. According to Sony, over 1.3 million users have signed on to the free service, 600,000 of them being based in the United States. All together, users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content. 
Is the games industry burdened by its reliance on game mechanics? Speaking at the Living Games World Conference at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week, Tracy Fullerton, a game design theorist and assistant professor at the University of Southern California Interactive Media Division, plead her case that the commonly used game mechanics are in a way impeding our ability to expand into new content themes.
On the first floor of Moscone's North hall last Friday, flOw developer That Game Company presented their storied origins. Co-founders Jenova Chen, who took a brief recess from the company to help on the DS version of Will Wright's Spore, and Kellee Santiago, met at the University of Southern California.
