Sure, there have been plenty of scary games released in time for Halloween (I remember writing this feature about them back when I worked on eu.playstation.com) but I can’t remember too many games about Halloween.

Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions is plugging that void with Costume Quest, the developer’s first Playstation Network title. I recently caught up with project lead Tasha Harris and Tim, as you can see by clicking play in the magic box below.

In Costume Quest, you control one of two siblings on Halloween night. Just before you set off trick-or-treating your brother or sister (depending on who you choose to play as) is kidnapped and you set off into the neighborhood to rescue them and escape a severe grounding.

On the surface, it’s an action adventure with heaps of side missions for those who explore, but it also plays with other genres in surprising ways. As you can imagine, costumes are a key part of the game and collecting new ones gives you new powers, not just when wandering around the neighborhood, but also during battle scenes, which play out like vintage turn-based RPGs set in the child’s imagination, where their cardboard box robot costume is suddenly a giant Gundam with an arsenal of rockets up its sleeve.

It’s also a really gorgeous game, with comic-style visuals that remind me a little of Fat Princess.

Costume Quest will be available from PlayStation Store from next Wednesday (20 October) and I can’t recommend it enough!

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Let me introduce myself: I’m Erica and I’m the new European Product Manager for Buzz!

I’ve got great news for you all:Buzz! will be hitting shelves across Europe from Wednesday 20 October, and this time it’s all about music!

That’s right – Buzz! The Ultimate Music Quiz brings thousands of music questions, brand new rounds and exciting new features.

• Choose the rounds you want to play, the music genres, the length of the game and enjoy your favourite music quiz with up to seven other players at the same time.

• Get in the centre of the game thanks to the new Paper Face mode: simply take a snap of your face using a PlayStation Eye camera, choose a theme for your contestant and take your place alongside your rivals in the Buzz! studio.

• Put your Buzz! Buzzers down for a moment and get hands-on with four hilarious brand new rounds using PlayStation Move. Wield the flaming quiz hammer in Hammer Time, zap the unidentified flying answers in Master Blaster and become top of the pops with a giant dart in Pop Life.

That’s it for now – I hope you’ll enjoy Buzz! The Ultimate Music Quiz as much as I do!

Stay tuned – a PSP Buzz! version is coming soon…

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Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes is out today, so Capcom is bringing its fans a tonne of new info about the game. Throughout the following week, we’ll be releasing Hero Cards for each of the playable characters to give you a little back story on each of them and tell you about some of their special moves.

Just for the PlayStation.Blog, here is a preview of the first four of the 16 playable characters:

Ieyasu Tokugawa – The Eastern Savior, Tokugawa fights with his bare fists to understand the experience and sorrow of ordinary civilians.

Mitsunari Ishida – A general on the western force, his main focus is defeating Ieyasu for revenge. He has no interest in conquering the nation, despite his power as a warlord.

Masamune Date – Nicknamed the Fallen Dragon, Date was defeated in battle by Ishida and Hideyoshi. Now is the time for revenge as Masamune returns with his six swords to slay Mitsunari.

Yukimura Sanada – Yukimura Sanada takes over the duties of his fallen leader to bring a bright future to the Kai region. Using his two spears, Sanada must stand strong and lead his troops with dignity.

We will release the cards for the other 12 characters throughout the following week on the Capcom blog, where you’ll find the latest news on all of our upcoming titles.

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Come next week, many of you will begin your adventures in Fallout: New Vegas – attempting to explore every nook, cranny, and Vault found within in and around Mojave Wasteland. Before your journey begins, we thought we’d answer some last-minute questions sent by you via Facebook and Twitter.

I’m afraid it’s going to feel like DLC. Are there enough changes to make New Vegas feel unique from Fallout 3? (thanks @acsguitar)

We certainly think so! While the gameplay is similar, the world itself is very, very different. And our main storyline plays out in a very different manner, with several very different paths to completion.

Can we expect the same wasteland experience as in Fallout 3? I’m kinda scared about playing in a city untouched by atomic bombs! (thanks @The_iCroco)

Yes and no. There are some areas that were hit directly, but for the most part, the destruction you’ll see in the Mojave Wasteland is due to neglect, not bombardment. Don’t expect sprawling, fully functioning cities, though. The New Vegas strip is self-contained and tightly managed directly by Mr. House, so everything in the city works perfectly. As you get farther away from the strip, you’ll see more and more ruins and abandoned buildings.

Would love to know how they will create that WOW factor that Fallout 3 had: the wasteland, the bomb at Megaton and so on. Tricky!? (thanks @bekblayton)

We think there are some similarly cool WOW moments in our game, and you should find one in each act of the main storyline.

How difficult will it be to take care of physical needs like hydration, sleep, and so on? Is it going to be overbearing?

Those features are only in Hardcore Mode, so they’re optional. If you find they’re getting to be too much of a hassle, you can always turn it off (although you won’t get the Hardcore trophy if you do).
(more…)

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It’s been a big month for Dead Nation! We’ve confirmed that online co-op play will be included from day one and also shown off three special zombies – the Mouth, Jumper, and Bombie – in our new “Know Your Enemies” video and there’s still more to come in October.

But one thing we haven’t yet discussed is audio. With Dead Nation, it’s vital that we create a skin-crawling atmosphere; more importantly, the music needs to adapt to the intensity of the on-screen carnage. I thought it would be fun to address some common questions related to Dead Nation’s audio design, everything from the zombie groans to dynamic music to soundtrack inspirations. I hope you enjoy it, and be sure to listen:

Dead Nation Main Theme

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How did you start working with Housemarque?

The first game that I worked on with Housemarque was Super Stardust HD and I handled the original soundtrack and sound design. I was in-house audio director at Frozenbyte Inc. back then and working freelance. SSHD was an awesome project for me since I’ve grown up with retro arcade games and I got my chance to finally make a style of my own.

What was your reaction when Housemarque originally came to you with the Dead Nation concept?

I’m a huge fan of apocalyptic and zombie movies and games, and when I first heard about making a “really nasty R-rated zombie shooter” I was thrilled! Harri (the creative director) explained me of all the cool things you could do to the zombies and how gory everything would be. If you’re gonna’ do a great zombie game or a movie, it’s gotta’ be R-rated! The top-down perspective allows an interesting angle for the game audio design, too. You perceive the big picture of the soundscape much more broadly than in FPS games.

Has the music changed much over the course of the project?

My first tracks for the game were a bit too slow and we ended up setting the tempo up to 162bpm for the highest intensity levels. The soundtrack is a mash-up of different genres like industrial, orchestral and ambient. We wanted it to sound dark, gritty, and dynamic so we ended up having six different intensity levels for every dynamic music group. It works really great – the music adapts seamlessly to the in-game events.

How difficult did you find putting together a concept soundtrack for Dead Nation?

It was not an easy task! There was not much reference for the Dead Nation soundtrack; I had to invent almost everything from scratch. The closest resemblance was found in the Dawn of the Dead remake OST, but I still had no reference for the highest intensity levels. The in-game music is almost sound design in some parts, since it doesn’t have much in the way of melody and it relies heavily on dark tones and gritty sounds. Overall, I achieved the feeling that we were after: it sounds unique and it fits in the game atmosphere perfectly.

What can you say about the sound design?

Well, first of all, I have to mention that Dead Nation has a huge amount of sounds. It features over 8000 unique sound files and loads of near-authentic zombie vocals. The aim of the sound design was to make Dead Nation feel as gory and gritty as it plays – players will have to endure (or enjoy) quite twisted sounds! This is my most ambitious and biggest audio design work so far, I want players to have just the right feeling while playing.

What is your favourite part of Dead Nation?

I really like the feeling of nailing down the zombies. It just has this realness to it and feels like the zombies are really getting hurt in every way possible! I like the overall atmosphere too; I’m already hooked on the game!

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