Happy belated New Year to all our friends and fans on PlayStation Network! This is Tatyana from Creat Studios here but I speak for the whole team when I say that we are incredibly excited to announce our latest game, the minis title Mecho Wars, is coming to the PlayStation Store for €4.99 on January 25th as well as to PlayStation Plus on February 1st at a discounted price. Based on the characters, world, and distinctive visual style crafted by Luc Bernard, Mecho Wars is a turn-based strategy game where you command your troops to expand into enemy territory, control and collect resources, and conquer your enemy’s structures.

Jump into an exciting war between the Winged Crusade and the Landians! The story of Mecho Wars details the rise of the Winged Crusade in the distant land of Divination Deserts. This is not your typical desert, however, as there is plenty of water that separates land masses. To sustain your army capture factories to expand your maximum army support, take-over cities to earn gold from the rich economic hubs, and defeat the enemy by capturing their HQ building while simultaneously defending your own. Don’t forget strategic unit composition and troop positioning as each unit type has its own strengths and weaknesses. The game even features a day/night cycle where the water that normally restricts your movement paths during the day freezes at night, allowing for unexpected skirmishes and ambushes. In addition to the rich, story-driven campaign, the Mecho Wars minis title features a new and extended soundtrack, a special set of individual challenge maps, and remarkable local multiplayer support on a single device for both the PS3 and PSP!

Mecho Wars achieves the perfect balance between the intense competitive strategy of army composition and troop placement and the invitingly casual and leisurely gaming experience lent by its turn-based combat system. The beauty of Mecho Wars is you can spend hours on end formulating the perfect strategy, unit composition, and battle placement tactics to best defeat your foe, or you can take your time and casually complete a turn every once in a while as you eat lunch or watch the news.

Everyone here at Creat absolutely loves playing Mecho Wars and we believe that, if given a chance, it can become one of your favorites as well. Thank you for the continued support you all have given us and we will continue to work our hardest to deliver awesome and ridiculously fun games to you guys. We always value fan feedback so leave us a comment below or get in contact with us on Facebook or through Twitter for all of our latest news and announcements.

It’s Christmas!!… (almost) and to celebrate the festive season, the PlayStation Store brings you some outstanding offers on over 100 titles for the Festive Sale which starts on the 23rd December and runs all the way to the 11th January 2012. With Blu-ray Disc games and PlayStation Network games, PS3 add-ons and PS one Classics, PSP games and minis: there’s something here for everyone.

Here are some titles to give you a taste of what delights we have on offer:

PS3 Games

• Premier Manager 2012 – Save up to 66%
• Playstation Move Heroes – Save up to 60%
• Rayman Origins – Save up to 33%
• Midnight Club LA Complete – Save up to 28%
• Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken – Save up to 30%
• The Baconing – Save up to 54%
• Zombie Apocalypse – Never Die Alone – Save up to 50%
• Castlevania: Harmony of Despair – Save up to 47%
• L.A. Noire Complete Edition – Save up to 10%

PSP Games

• Metal Slug XX – save up to 73%
• Worms Battle Islands – save up to 65%
• Blazeblue Calamity Trigger Portable – save up to 57%

And much, much more…….

But that’s not all!!

For all you minis fans out there, we have the Minis Pick and Mix. This is your chance to grab five fantastic minis of your choosing from a range of 50 popular titles: all for one low price of €3.99/£3.19!

Here are some of the games that are on offer:

• Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter

• ME Monster: Here Me Roar!

• The 2D Adventures of Rotating Octopus

• I Must Run!

• Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death

• OMG-Z

• Pix’n Love Rush

How does this work??

Simply purchase the mini Pick & Mix ticket, once purchased you will be taken to a screen to pick which five games you want, its that simple!

However if you leave the PSN Store before you decide what games you wish to purchase, you can go back at any time by following the below procedure:

1. Go to Playstation Network on the XMB
2. Go to Account Management
3. Go to Transaction Management
4. Go to your Services List
5. select the minis Pick & Mix title
6. Select the minis Pick & Mix entitlement again
7. You will then view how many picks you have remaining on screen
8. Click on ‘Select Content’ – this will take you back to the minis Pick & Mix catalogue where you can browse 50 minis
9. Make your minis selection

So don’t miss out on some great one time offers – take a sleigh ride over to PlayStation Store for the Festive Sale.

Are you new the Playstation Network?

If you are new to the Playstation Network and want to understand how our store works better, visit us today on your PS3 and look out for the above banners for guidance.

1. Free highly-caffeinated energy drinks and donuts in the break room.
2. A sudden rash of car alarms blaring from the parking lot like a jet plane just grazed the roof top.
3. A bogus announcement over the company P.A. system that Kevin Butler has arrived on campus.

These events usually buy me an additional hour or so with the game. This is a purely selfish endeavor as it really only takes a few minutes with the game to see and understand the brilliant, creative, and subtle, yet powerful features of ModNation Racers: Road Trip. I have yet to (voluntarily) set the game down and not walk away saying, “now that was just flat out fun!”. Indeed when it comes right down to it that’s what ModNation Racers: Road Trip for PS Vita is… a flat out fun kart racing game!
Let me share with you a little of what I experienced…

1. Controlled Drifting
An essential element of any great kart racing game is the drift mechanic. In ModNation Racers: Road Trip drifting is no longer solely about building up your boost meter to gain acceleration or as a cache for shielding from weapons or hazards. Though these abilities are still a large asset of drifting in the game, we have made many improvements allowing players more complete control of their racing lines. In a correctly-executed drift your forward momentum is increased while your outward momentum (inertia) can be managed (or decreased). You will find your kart easier to hold a desired line by being able to carve and progressively link drifts together without over- or under-steering into walls, guardrails or flying off the track. This refinement allows veteran racers to rely more on their racing skills as well as allows newbies a greater sense of control.

2. More Forgiving Collisions
Now racers will notice fewer if any “dead stops” brought on from an opponent’s attacks. Racers will also find it easier to get back into the pack if they happen to land a jump a little off kilter or accidentally slam into a wall with the new auto-correct feature built into the racing controls. It can be frustrating in any racing game to have the slightest error result in what seems like an eternity of reverse Y-turn after Y-turn to get you back in the race. ModNation Racers: Road Trip = problem solved.

3. Refined Braking
Braking? What’s braking? I don’t need no stinking braking!
Sure you can still go all out and avoid your helpful little friend (the brake button) but if you truly desire to master the art of racing in ModNation Racers: Road Trip you will appreciate the ability to finesse your level of control with the a reworked braking system. Players can now use the brakes to adjust steering controls while drifting and this does not stop or cancel the drift.

4. The Best For Last!
These “tweaks, changes, and improvements” not only improve the experience for all Vita-centric tracks but also insure that all PS3 user-generated tracks played on Vita would enjoy the same enhancements. This means a brand new exciting racing experience on all your favorite PS3 tracks. That ModNation is quite frankly awesome! We hope you’ll agree!

Have a great week everyone!

Rumble Trucks is not your classic racing game. Playing it feels like a rollercoaster ride: high speed, steep hills, huge jumps.

Big jumps allow for big tricks, perform them and you’ll gain a speed boost, use it wisely and reach the end of level as fast as possible to win a medal. On the way to the finish line don’t forget to collect the stars scattered around the levels as they give you a time bonus.

You’ll be able to choose between nine vehicles with different stats and then race on one of the twenty four levels divided in three worlds. Obviously you will need to unlock the trucks and the levels before being able to play on them.

Reaching the final level in each world unlocks the next world, but those final levels are so tricky that it’s hard enough just trying to get a gold medal and collecting all the stars. It’s a real challenge, but you will enjoy it.

Hi – I’m a game designer at Die Gute Fabrik, a small Indie Studio based in Denmark. We are just about to release our debut on PlayStation Network minis (PS3 and PSP). It’s called “Where is my Heart?”, and it’s about a family of monsters lost in the woods. In the game you have help them find a way back to their home – a mysterious tree with a heart in its branches. The whole story is set in an 8-bit style environment made up of woods, mushroom caves, crystal rock pools, fern fringed creeks and waterfalls.

Nils, our artist, is going to talk more about the concept art and environment design of the game below. As for the game mechanics: the basics play just like a usual platform game, but the world is visually sliced into rectangular fragments (or panels) which are placed on the screen at unexpected locations. With this game mechanic – the messed up way of representation – I attempted to evoke the sensation of being lost. On top of that, the visual slicing also allowed us to add further mechanics to the game. These mechanics make use and build upon the visual confusion caused by the panels. One of these game-play elements is the ‘panel rotation’.

The Rainbow Spirit -one of the monsters- can use this mechanic to its advantage. When the player presses the L and R shoulder buttons of the game controller the Spirit can make the panels spin around the screen center. This allows the Spirit to hop from frame to frame, outside of the physical game world. It’s a bit hard to describe. Looking at the trailer above will fix this – it’s easier to grasp when seen in action. Playing around with the Spirit Rotation was a very satisfying experience to our testers. We spent a lot of effort into making it feel just right. It’ll make the puzzle muscles in your brain as sore as legs after a marathon.

The game is loosely based on an experience I had with my parents three summers ago. We were hiking in the woods near our home. And guess what – we lost our bearings, got really frustrated, and started bickering with each other. That’s the short version of it. The long version entails family issues and the dark sides of personalities. If you’re interested in reading more about the game’s source of inspiration, please go here.

By the way we also had our first review by eurogamer and they gave us 8 out of 10.

I’ll pass on to Nils now, our artist.”

Nils Deneken: Hi, I’m the graphic artist here at Die Gute Fabrik. In 2009, after the first Where is my Heart? prototype was displayed at the Independent Games Festival, Bernhard asked me if I wanted to do the artwork for the game. Already the prototype that Bernhard had submitted to the IGF 2009 had a very distinct art style. Obviously it’s a game that uses pixel graphics and thus refers to games from the creator’s childhood, but it has some aesthetic twists that sets itself apart from the games of yore (and just as much from the games of today).

One visual twist is the representation of the game levels as comic panels. It is one of the basic mechanics of the game which has both a strong influence on the level designs and the visuals of the game. The other distinctive visual element is the bold choice of colors, which is quite unusual for games in general.

While other games tend to use fairly realistic colors to represent their environments, Bernhard chose a strange palette of pastel colors. The grass wasn’t a saturated green, like it is in most game graphics, but a very light green, which seemed to glow almost neon-like in front of the browns and grays of the rocks. The sky was light purple instead of sky-blue and sprinkled with yellow stars that would fade in and out. Then there were the three little monster characters and a big tree with a face, whose emotions were ranging from grumpy to sad. The old tree, the Heartboxes, which the player has to unlock to progress, and Antler Ancestor, which the Brown Monster turns into, seem all to be taken straight from the traditional German fairy tales. The heart boxes remind us of the gingerbread house from Grimm’s “Hänsel und Gretel”, while the Antler is clearly derived from a Bavarian mythical creature called the Wolpertinger. Their representation, however, is more inspired by Japanese anime, games and pictogram culture. The whole strangely coloured mix of Japanese cuteness with German fairytales distinguished it as something very contemporary.

I was excited. It was liberating not having to do world and character concepts from scratch, but to work with the constraints that came with Bernhard’s prototype level concepts, to refine them and build new worlds with that feel and colour palette that he had introduced.

The locations the levels are taking place in are all tied to the overall topic of getting lost in the woods. The environments, even though fantastic with flying platforms and such, are rooted in a moderate climate. They are believable settings for the fiction we created around the three monsters. Besides the forest, I added different kinds of caves to the environments, since they would bring variation to the levels without breaking the overall theme of the game.

Some environment designs required night settings. We decided to have the scenery change into night time, when the Brown Monster transformed into the Antler Ancestor. We aimed for the most satisfying feedback that comes with his transformation, where he would literally step into “the Land of Fireflies”.

When the grey monster transformed, he would open a window into a dark parallel world, the “Land of the Bat”, where he could use different platforms and secret passages, which meant that some levels needed a land-of-the-bat version as well.

The three family characters Bernhard created in his IGF prototype were interesting and had a lot of personality already, but I took the liberty of changing some of them a little to make them more distinguishable from each other and more coherent with the game style at the same time.

For more information about the Artwork of Where is my Heart and other projects, feel free to visit http://gutefabrik.com/.

In my last blog I mentioned that there had been a few changes to Persona 2: Innocent Sin since coming to the PlayStation Portable and so I thought I’d tell you a bit more about the improvements that have been made to this classic JRPG. Persona 2: Innocent Sin now features:

• Improved visuals
• A new soundtrack in addition to the original’s soundtrack
• A new intro in addition to the original intro

• The interface has been improved to take advantage of the PSP’s wider display space

You now have the ability to switch between difficulty settings freely within the game.
The new Climax Theatre which includes lots of new optional dungeons and events for players to enjoy.

Of course we can’t forget about the other part of this amazing package

The North American release of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has been receiving rave reviews and, at the time of writing, has a rating of 80 on MetaCritic.

Trails in the Sky also features in 1UP.com’s Top 10 PSP games of 2011, with the site commenting that: “Trails in the Sky has a reputation among importers for being a huge, well told tale full of meaty combat and great characters” and on Joystiq Jason Schreier called it the best JRPG you haven’t played yet.

One of the more enjoyable systems in the game is the orbment system which, as well as improving your character’s abilities, is what controls which spells you have access to. Each character has a certain number of slots which are divided into rows, with each character having a different formation. In exchange for quartz you can get orbment fitted in an open slot where the most obvious effect for that an orbment will be listed. These effects range from an improvement to your stats, to gaining special abilities or gaining addition bonuses in battle. However, each orbment also has an elemental value. To decide your spell list, the game works out the total elemental value for an element on each line before using the highest value to decide which spells you can use. To make things slightly more complex, some slots are only able to hold certain types of orbment. I had a lot of fun playing around with various combinations to try and get the bonuses and skills I wanted, while trying to give myself access to the best spells as well.

There’s a lot of gameplay in Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and my completed save time the first time I played through it was 54 hours 30 minutes and 29 seconds, however I did manage to miss out a few areas and sidequests in that playthrough, so you could easily spend more time in the game than that.

Please head over to our website to find out more about both of these fantastic games.

Yet by the same token, horror has become so passe that we barely even react when we encounter imagery of skeletons, zombies, witches, bats, vampires and ghouls. True primal fear is hard to come by in the modern world, and this applies to video games as well. When you hear the term “horror game,” what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Probably “zombies” since that seems to characterize much of the horror genre nowadays. Most modern horror games assault you with wave after wave of zombies, and you can typically one-shot them back to their graves. They may look scary, but when’s the last time you were actually frightened in a zombie shooter game? Maybe you had an exciting time playing one, and jumped at a handful of startling moments, but the mere fact that you’re able to defend yourself – that you have a means of fighting back – makes just about every entry in the genre less horror than action.

In many ways, classic Japanese horror is much purer. For movies, think The Ring or The Grudge. For games, think Clock Tower or Haunting Ground. They’re all about unavoidable, inevitable death. You can run, but you can’t not die. You have no weapons. Your foes are immortal. All you can do is struggle in vain to survive, and pray that each door you open – each corridor you traverse – isn’t your last.

Most of each of the aforementioned movies and games achieve true terror through sheer anticipation. You know something horrible is lurking nearby… but you have no idea when or where it will strike. When nothing happens for an extended period of time, your anxiety grows until you reach that point where you begin to think you’re out of the woods. And then — BAM! — that’s when it hits you.

Corpse Party is one such horror experience. It plays out like the best of Japanese horror films, locking your nine main protagonists in an inescapable, otherworldly school building where vengeful spirits seek to end their lives in the most grisly, inhuman ways imaginable – all the while directly infiltrating their minds to drive them to paranoia, madness and suicide. The longer your characters stay in Heavenly Host Elementary School, the more utterly exhausted, certifiably insane and ravenously hungry they become, causing students to turn against one another, resort to cannibalism, hang themselves or simply suffer nervous breakdowns.
Death is inevitable.

Any hope of rescue becomes less and less likely with each passing second, causing some to resign themselves to their fates and simply accept the first chances at sweet release that come their way – which usually take very unpleasant and deeply disturbing forms.

Make no mistake, there is a way out – for some, anyway. But finding it takes more time than you have, and more effort than you can reasonably expect most high schoolers to muster under such ludicrously taxing circumstances. There will be casualties, no matter what choices you make. The question is, how many will live, and how many will die? With over 20 endings (most of which are aptly-named “wrong ends”), you can expect to see (and hear) every single character in the game suffer greater cruelty than you’d ever considered possible… and try as you might to be disgusted, you will be morbidly intrigued. These deaths are so creatively sadistic, so drawn-out and convincingly acted, that you’ll hang on your unfortunate protagonists’ every knell – and will never forget the horrors to which you are subjected.

Oddly enough, Corpse Party’s 16-bit-style 2D visuals contribute to the terror. This visual style provides a sense of distance between you and the characters under your control, which has a rather chilling consequence. Effectively, you’re given more than adequate visual feedback to comprehend the exact situation that’s occurring, but since most everything is shown through animated character sprites, you’re left with the task of envisioning the gory minutiae on your own. And as any true horror fan can tell you, the human mind is capable of imagining pain and torment far more potent than anything a screen can display.

Sound plays a major role in this as well. Every line of dialogue is expertly voice-acted in Japanese, and many of these lines were recorded binaurally – using two microphones instead of one, to create the illusion of a 3D soundscape. Play with headphones, and you may suddenly hear the spirits of long-dead children whispering directly into your ear. Some scenes relish in killing the lights, too, playing out entirely through squishy, unsettling noises and screams of indescribable agony that sound all too believable.

Corpse Party is scheduled for release on the PlayStation Store later this year as a PSP download. We’re sorry to have missed Halloween, but we wanted to make certain everything was perfect before unleashing this demon upon the English-speaking world.

If you’re a fan of true horror, Corpse Party will most definitely be worth the wait. But do prepare yourself: This is no hayride.

For those of you who don’t already know, Persona 2: Innocent Sin is an enhanced PSP remake of the classic PSOne game (which sadly never made it to these shores) and is the prequel to the fantastic Persona 3 Portable. Amongst its many additions and improvements, the remake features a new user interface, new character portraits, an extra difficulty level and the ability to switch between the original soundtrack and a brand new soundtrack. Like the other games in the Persona series, it uses compelling storytelling and a fantastic soundtrack to create a dark twisted atmosphere, where nothing is quite as it seems.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin is set in Sumaru City, which is suffering under a curse that causes any rumour that’s heard by enough people to come true.

One rumour that has spread across the city is regarding the existence of “Joker”, a mysterious being who grants the wishes of anyone who dials their own mobile phone number. Anyone who fails to tell Joker their wish, either because they lack one or refuse to tell, has their “ideal energy” stolen, reducing them to ambition-less shells called Shadow Selves.

The game also allows you to take advantage of this curse, and any rumour that you craft may inexplicably come true. In addition to this, Persona 2: Innocent Sin features a system where the player can choose either to fight or negotiate with (most) demons and even forge contracts with them.

Working on Persona 2: Innocent Sin has been really fascinating from the perspective of a Persona fan that initially discovered the series on PlayStation 2. Persona 2: Innocent Sin is an awesome game, featuring not only brilliantly executed traditional JRPG mechanics, but also the aforementioned ‘rumours’ system which still feels fresh and innovative today.

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the first game in a trilogy of Legend of Heroes games. The story follows the adventures of Estelle Bright, the daughter of Cassius Bright, and his adopted son Joshua, both of whom are junior members of the Bracers Guild, a mercenary group sworn to protect the people of the world.

When their father Cassius, a war hero, leaves on a mission, Estelle and Joshua must take over his work in their hometown. The game’s fantastic dialogue makes this a charming prologue and this charm never disappears as the scope of the story gradually expands from simple beginnings into a tense climax, as the young Bracers must uncover a conspiracy to overthrow the government of Liberl.

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is set in a fantasy world where the combustion engine never caught on due to the Orbal Revolution. Instead, Orbments provide power for everything from magic to telephones and airships.

The game boasts a fascinating combat system where the key to victory is strategically managing the Turn Order using buffs, debuffs and – should you have sufficient SP – interrupts.

The game also features an amazing soundtrack which is available on CD as part of the Collector’s Edition. But, more than anything else, it’s the characters you meet and the sheer quality of the writing and dialogue which have really impressed me.

Despite telling a serious story, Trails in the Sky manages to be the funniest game I’ve played all year, which reminds me…

A little hint before I go: make sure to check every treasure chest twice – you’ll be glad that you did.

First, the super-sharp summary for those amongst us who are too busy to read a WHOLE rambling blog from some guy at some games company ‘somewhere’ (and who could blame you?):

Your LEGENDARY sky-pirate crew may have been responsible for unleashing an apocalyptic curse of giant insects upon the world – and now there’s only 24 hours to save their necks from the hangman’s noose…

Despite protestations that ‘dangerously cursed islands’ should REALLY be more clearly sign-posted, First Mate Rana sets out to SMASH her way through the relentless scuttling horde in a sword-swinging arcade battler set against an epic backdrop of sky-islands and piracy!

Can YOU survive against overwhelming odds? Deploy combo attacks and running swipes, blocks and dodges, then use DEVASTATING special moves to turn the tables on the SWARM and send the bugs spiralling into the clouds. Just make sure you keep solid ground beneath your own feet at the same time…

Join Rana, Captain Bluebell and Mr Yoho as they DEAL OUT sky-pirate justice! Make BARELY COHERENT plans! ENJOY celebratory fruit cocktails!

…and BREAK the curse of 1000 TINY CLAWS!

• Story mode featuring 25 levels over 5 exotic stages
• 12 Unique enemies
• 3 Epic Boss battles
• 5 Survival Mode Stages
• 25 Challenge Mode Stages
• 16 Revealing Ship’s Log entries to discover
• 15 Awesome Awards to place in your Treasure Room
• 6 Animated Piratical cut-scenes

The integral game mechanic is Rana’s ability to send enemies scattering over the edge of the island, first by weakening them with sword swipes, and then using a huge swipe to eliminate them. We spent a lot of time making this as satisfying a possible – so you can also bounce the bugs off of scenery, or knock over big bugs and swipe them along the ground to clear a pathway when things start to step up!

All you have to do to survive is stay on the island, but with each variety of Swarm fighting back using their unique attacks, and the waves quickly ramping up in difficulty – you’ll soon need to use every trick at your disposal to stay on top of things.

The response to our previous games has been overwhelming and hugely appreciated – and as with those minis titles, we’ve tried to load as much of what you loved into 1000 Tiny Claws as humanly possible!

The Story Mode will feature animated cut-scenes, following the crew’s 24hr race against time to ‘reverse a curse’ (an approved witch-doctor term) over 25 action packed stages, and FIVE beautifully realized island regions – as well as throwing in some truly huge and pumped boss and hive island encounters in there!

The 25 stage Challenge Mode will require different strategies and approaches to get those gold medals – we played with the core mechanics here to create a real range of play styles for each type of challenge!

We’re very proud of 1000 Tiny Claws, it’s been a blast to make – and we can’t wait for you guys to play it and let us know what you think. We’re currently in QA, and if all goes well *crossing fingers/sacrificing our first-born to the gods of Sony QA* – the game should be hitting the PSN Store in October.

You’ll hear more from us before then – but check out the screens and let us know your first impressions.

Thanks!

In Persona 3 Portable you play the part of an orphan who is returning to his home town for the first time in many years to attend high school.  As you travel between the train station and the dorms you are horrified at the sinister change that affects the town.

Upon your arrival at the dorm things only get weirder, as a strange boy offers you a contract to sign before you meet the first of the other inhabitants of the dorm – two girls – one of whom appears to be holding a gun.  Not only that, but neither of them appear to be aware of the strange boy’s existence.

From this beginning Persona 3 Portable creates a strange unsettling atmosphere and as the game advances the contrast between your everyday life and your time exploring the mysterious Dark Hour, and encountering the denizens of this hidden hour grows ever stranger.  As a member of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, you have the power to cross over to the Dark Hour where you can wield the power of your Persona.

It is this balance between your character’s ‘normal’ life and the need to explore the Dark Hour that drives P3P’s gameplay. Exploring Tartarus to find more of its secrets is crucial; but ignore your friends and you won’t have the power to protect yourself when the full moon gathers the most dangerous of the denizens of this shadowy realm.

During the Dark Hour everything takes on a more sinister aspect. Your school transforms into a menacing tower known as Tartarus and the luckiest of the inhabitants of Iwatodai transmogrify into coffins whilst the evil Shadow creatures prey on those who stumble into their realm. Using your unique power, you must find the cause of the Dark Hour and put a stop to it before its strange and terrible power grows.

I’ve really enjoyed my time working on Persona 3 Portable, the PSP version of one of the finest PlayStation 2 games, and it has been amazing seeing everyone’s reactions to this new and improved version. I am delighted that those of you who prefer to get your games digitally will now have the chance to see the massive improvements and great new features, including:

• The option to play the story as a new female protagonist, giving rise to new dialogue, special events and opportunities
• An improved turn-based battle system, which now allows direct control of your teammates in battle
• Five difficulty settings (from “beginner” to the hard-core choice of “maniac!”)
• The addition of rewards from new NPCs when they’re rescued from Tartarus.
• Part time jobs to raise player stats and earn wages
• New social links, new Persona, Skill Cards, new characters as well as a completely new dungeon to explore
• Improved system dynamics – one button menu short-cuts, quick equipment changes, and a whole lot more!

Monochrome Racing is a unique racing game that takes place in a black and white world. And since the world is black and white, colour becomes the scarce resource that players compete for. To get a better idea of what is going on in Monochrome Racing, please have a look at the game video:

You start the race with your car completely charged; it is bright and full of colour. As you drive, the colour gradually vanishes away and in order to recharge the car, you need to drive over the coloured checkpoints. If you car turns monochrome it is knocked out. The goal of each level is to finish first and earn as much money as you can.

There are several types of power-ups randomly spread across the level. Once taken, they can increase your car’s characteristics (speed for example), or can damage your opponents with bombs that leave a huge wave behind them. There is a garage where you can spend your money. You can buy more powerful cars and upgrade the existing ones. For example, the engine can be upgraded and this will increase the speed; bumpers and can be upgraded, which will increase the amount of damage you can take.

With more than 80 levels to complete and more than 10 cars to buy, Monochrome Racing will keep you busy for hours and hours. Check it out on PlayStation Store tomorrow. And that’s all for today. Thanks for reading this and hope you will enjoy this game. For more information on our games you can visit our website www.nordcurrent.com or our Facebook page on www.facebook.com/Nordcurrent

All of gaming’s most notorious stereotypes finally make an appearance in one epic game – aliens, zombies, fantasy, World War II and nuclear wasteland. One Epic Game puts you in the shoes of Alpha Dog, another muscular, one dimensional action hero with the task to negotiate with the enemies the only way they understand – a bullet in the brain!

As you have probably guessed by now, everything about One Epic Game is intentionally over-the-top. The name, the action, the main hero, humour… One Epic Game is a parody of all the gaming stereotypes we see in almost every action game. But it does not stop only with games, as you’ll see us pay homage to some popular movies and much more.

One Epic Game is a minis game and will cost you only 2.99 EUR, but that does not stop it from having tons of content to keep you entertained for many hours.

The Story mode contains ten levels and when you are done with it, you can try one of the seven different challenges that will test your skills – you’ll be required to jump-kill the enemies, survive with only one life, pick which enemies to kill and which to let go, etc. And finally, there is the Free Run mode which is just you and your skill against the enemies and environmental obstacles. No special tasks or distance limits.

To deal with the insane numbers of enemies that the game will send at you, you’ll need an impressive arsenal. One Epic Game has all the time-proven favourites, such as shotguns, machine guns, lasers, BFG, jet-packs and my personal favourite – flamethrowers.

One Epic Game is compatible with both PS3 and PSP and if you are a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you’ll get an additional 50% discount, which makes it practically a steal.

You can find more information about the game at http://www.grip-games.com/epic/.

I hope you’ll enjoy it.

These days, Hideo Kojima is a busy man. The Metal Gear mastermind recently revealed that the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is heading to the PS3 this November. The HD Collection includes revamped versions of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, complete with dual-analog-stick controls, 1080p graphics, smoother frame rates, a redesigned user interface, rumble support and much more.

We caught up with Kojima last week at an appearance in Mexico City and he was eager to speak with PlayStation.Blog readers. Enjoy the Q&A, and leave your favorite Metal Gear moments in the comments!

PlayStation.Blog: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was designed for PSP — a portable device. What changes did Kojima Productions make to the upcoming PS3 version so it could be enjoyed on a high-definition home console?

Hideo Kojima, Director, Kojima Productions: The PSP obviously has fewer buttons than the PS3 controller, and it had some limitations when it comes to control. Using the DualShock 3, movement of many things improved…as did, of course, [the addition of] rumble support.

On the PSP, it was also hard to tell some textures apart. Now, rendered in HD, they are are much easier to see. The in-game text is also easier to read.

PSB: Your process of “transfarring” will allow PSP players to take their Peace Walker save files from one console to another, and we will also see similar cross-play support with the PS Vita. Do you expect this to be the future of gaming? Is it a concept that you would like to explore beyond what already has been announced?

Kojima: Peace Walker is the first step. It is a PSP game in HD that lets one go back and forth between one PSP and a PSP. The next step is to take PS2-quality games, such as Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, to HD and then to take them to Vita transferring.

My next step is games that will come out for the PS3 from now on, so I can take advantage of this technology with the Vita with content that is exactly the same. I hope that cloud service is available now, and it would be ideal for me if transfarring were to serve as a bridge between the two services.

PSB: Just before E3, a glimpse of what will be its new graphic engine (FOX Engine) was shown. What would you say are their greatest visual benefits? Is there anything that stands out in this technology that you can tell us about?

Kojima: For now, FOX Engine has high performance in developing games on multiple platforms; I think that is the most prominent feature. At this point, it is not an engine that has anything particularly prominent when compared to what’s on the market. From now on, we hope to add features and functions that stand out from other engines.

PSB: Okay, PS Vita has already been revealed. Are you interested in the console? What are the features that draw your attention most to a portable device?

Kojima: As for the multitouch pad on the back of the console, I do not want to force users to use it. The PS Vita has cutting-edge technology and it’s the best there is – especially with integration with the PS3 – and I am very pleased I can offer it to users.

PSB: With the commercial success of L.A. Noire, and the return of cyberpunk with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, do you believe that there is a market for a new Snatcher game?

Kojima: L.A. Noire is a game that I really like, but unfortunately I have not played it. I think it is coming out in Japan today, so when I return, I intend to play it. This idea of an open world in 3D is very good, and I would love to do something like Snatcher, but I do not have the time or the means to do so. But if anyone else would like to develop it, I would love it.

NOTE: A few hours after this interview, Hideo Kojima, in collaboration with Suda 51 and Akira Yamaoka, announced a radio drama called “Sdatcher” based on Snatcher.

PSB: What qualities do you think a game designer needs to be hired in today’s industry?

Kojima: Right now, it’s very similar to movies: You need a lot of money. So rather than doing what you want, doing what you like, you must have a clear idea of marketing and sales. That’s what’s happening to us with FOX Engine; you do not need be an expert in programming to develop a game, but if you have a question, you still need an expert on-hand to provide an answer.

As for expression, that has reached a high level. Video games are trying to reach the peak of entertainment, so game makers should be clear that things like emotion and sound are among the many things that have to be involved.

PSB: How has your perspective from your business point of view and as a game developer changed, now that you are Vice President of Konami Digital?

Kojima: I would like to not change. My priority continues to be to create and produce my own games. Now that I can do this well, I can generate more time to help in other company products, especially in creative ways.

For more info on Metal Gear Solid please visit our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/mgs.

Hi Guys,

I’m pleased to announce that we will be releasing our third game in the successful Invizimals series this November, entitled Invizimals The Lost Tribes.

The game will have all the features that has made Invizimals such a well-loved franchise in Europe, with Novarama’s augmented reality technology enabling you to literally hunt down, capture, battle, customise and trade the magical monsters living in the world all around you.

The story will pick up from where Invizimals Shadow Zone left off, with you as the Hero trying to find Keni after he disappeared into the Shadow Zone or if you’re new to the franchise, the game will allow you to begin a new adventure with Jasmin, Alex and the gang.

This time around there will be 150 Invizimals, the most creatures we’ve ever had on an Invizimals title, with 70 brand new Invizimals and 80 of the community’s favourite Invizimals from the previous titles for you to capture, train, customise and battle.

Also due to popular demand, Novarama have included an awesome new Tag Team Battle mode , enabling you to fight 2 v 2 Invizimals, allowing for even more dynamic battles and tactical gameplay than ever before.

That’s it from me, keep an eye on the blog for further updates, where I’ll be able to share some of the new Invizimals, new captures and new special moves, as well as showing you some Tag Team Battle gameplay.

Thanks,

Phil

Since NGP, or next generation portable gaming system, was announced back in January, I know you have been itching to find out more about the hardware and the games we’re going to be able to play and how they make use of the innovative new controls.

Now, we are finally able to lift the lid on some of the NGP titles currently in development. I also managed to grab interviews with some of the developers at an event held in London recently, where journalists got their hands around all of the games listed below.

Without further ado, here are the games:

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Nathan Drake’s first portable adventure is developed by Bend Studio, the team behind the acclaimed Resistance Retribution on PSP. It promises to retain the crucial elements of the Uncharted titles – adventure, thrilling action and top-notch storytelling – and the familiar control scheme, while also introducing innovative options such as touch and tilt controls. Check out my interview with John Garvin, Creative Director at Bend Studio.

WipEout 2084

Taking one of the most celebrated PlayStation series in a new prologue, WipEout 2048 is set during the birth of anti-grav racing and features a greater near-future environments than we have become used to since the original soared onto PlayStation in 1995. Perhaps the most exciting feature is the ability to play against PS3 racers on WipEout HD Fury via cross-play with PlayStation 3. Check out my interview with Graeme Ankers, Game Director at Studio Liverpool.

Little Deviants

Little Deviants is a series of madcap adventures that will showcase the multitude of features and functions your NGP possesses, including rear touch pad, touch screen, the motion sensor, front and rear cameras, augmented reality and microphone. Check out my interview with Richard Ogden, Game Design Director at Bigbig Studios.

Reality Fighters

Previously unannounced, Reality fighters is an augmented reality fighting game in which you can capture yourself using the NGP camera and duke it out against other fighters around the world, in the world as you see it through the NGP camera.

Super Stardust Delta

The mesmerising PlayStation Network shooter comes to NGP using the dual analog sticks to control the action the familiar way, plus touch screen and motion sensing controls to add something new.

Sound Shapes (working title)

Play, compose and share on NGP in a unique take on the side-scrolling platformer, where you create music with your actions using the touch screen and share them with the PlayStation Network community.

Hustle Kings

The king of pool games rolls onto NGP, bringing stunning graphics and a stylish art style and adding precision controls via the touch screen and rear touch pad.

Everybody’s Golf
Tee off with the latest iteration of everybody’s favourite golf series from ClapHanz. You can shoot for a birdie using traditional, touch and tilt controls and take on the world in effortless online multiplayer.

Resistance Retribution

You will be able to play your PSP games from the PlayStation Store on NGP. Resistance Retribution is just one example, and you’ll be able to revisit James Grayson’s voyage across Europe using NGP’s dual analog sticks.

Suffice to say, this is just the very tip of the cherry and we’ll have a lot more to talk about at E3, which is just a few days away. We’re interested to know what you think of this line-up so please leave your comments and I’ll respond in kind.

Both games are out next week so not long to wait now! In the meantime we have a brilliant competition where you can win a home entertainment system, PS3 and PSP, as well as a copy of both games.

You can enter right here.

• UK and Ireland: 10 June 2011
• Australia and New Zealand: 9 June 2011
• Rest of PAL: 8 June 2011

And now feast your eyes upon our preview trailers.

First up, the story continues with White Knight Chronicles II:

And time to discover where the legend began with White Knight Chronicles: Origins:

Keep an eye on the blog for our launch trailers and a VERY exciting competition!

How does White Knight Chronicles: Origins feed into the wider WKC universe?

10,000 years before the original PS3 game takes place, there was a period of strife known as the Dogma Wars. This struggle is between the Yshrenian Empire who are harnessing the power of the Knights in a bid to conquer the world, and the Athwani Mage Kingdom who are trying to stop them. These events would shape history to come in the White Knight Chronicles saga, and White Knight Chronicles: Origins tells the story of the unsung heroes who lived through this period of unrest, only to be forgotten in the annals of time.

Can you tell us how the characters from the White Knight Chronicles universe fit into the game story?

There are some characters from the PS3 games who appear in our PSP title. For example, right at the start of the game your character will meet a young Eldore during the downfall of Xarmgand. The Black Knight Demian is another recurring character who plays a big role in the PS3 games. You’ll also meet the troll Thaumus who’s using guerrilla tactics to try and halt the Yshrenian onslaught. And, of course, the White Knight, the Dragon Knight and the Moon Maiden all make an appearance.

Can you tell us about the gameplay, specifically how the combat system will work?

In the game your character is a member of a mercenary group called the Mobile Corps. Your base is a train where you will be able to take on quests, choosing a team of soldiers to fight alongside you. The battle system is essentially the same as the PS3 version – you command you character to perform an action from a variety of skills. But we’ve done a lot of tuning with the speed of the battle flow and also tailored the controls to the PSP.

Were you fans of the White Knight Chronicles franchise before working on your game?

Yes, definitely!

Matrix Corp. has worked on quite a few RPGs up to now. In your opinion, what’s special about this one?

It’s got to be the transformation system. It’s really at the heart of the whole game and gives it its character.

We also put a lot of effort into the character creation system to ensure that players can create an avatar that really appeals to them. From a design perspective we’ve tried to keep the feeling of the PS3 version while also throwing in some new ideas.

What’s your favourite moment in the game?

The Unity Attacks are great fun. You can perform these in single player mode, but they’re much more fun when you pull them off with a group of friends!

Can you give us an insight into your personal playing style in the game?

My personal preference is using a red chroma and my weapon of choice is an axe. My tactic is to max-out my attack power by selecting the right skills and buffing my equipment. You might not always land your blows but when you do it really saps your enemy’s HP!

From the opening cut scene, Persona 3 Portable draws you into its unsettling world allowing you to explore the deep contrast between your character’s everyday school life and the mysterious Dark Hour, a time hidden between one day and the next where terrible creatures lurk. As a member of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, you have the ability to cross over to the Dark Hour where you can wield a special innate power – your Persona. When the Dark Hour comes, reality crumbles away. Your school mutates into a sinister and perilous tower known as Tartarus and the people around you transmogrify into coffins whilst the evil Shadow creatures prey on those who wander unsuspectingly into their realm. Using the powers of your Persona, it is your sole aim to root out the cause of the Dark Hour and protect all humanity from certain doom.

The contrast between your character’s ‘normal’ life and that of the Dark Hour forms the focus of P3P’s gameplay. You must carefully balance your time between improving your relationships with the characters around you and exploring Tartarus and fighting the Shadows; ignore either and you won’t have strength enough to defend yourself when the full moon draws the most fearsome of enemies hell-bent on your destruction.

I am personally really pleased to have had the chance to work on Persona 3 Portable, as the original Persona 3 was one of the best PlayStation 2 games I’ve ever played (that was until my save got deleted over 60 hours into the game!). As well as having the chance to experience this thrilling game again (with incredibly short loading times, I might add), this new enhanced version really does achieve a new level of excellence and offers some significant improvements and features over the original, including:

• The option to play the story as a new female protagonist, giving rise to new dialogue, special events and opportunities.
• An improved turn-based battle system, which now allows direct control of your teammates in battle.
• Five difficulty settings (from “beginner” to the hard-core choice of “maniac!”)
  The addition of rewards from new NPCs when they’re rescued from Tartarus.
• Part time jobs to raise player stats and earn wages.
• New social links, new Persona, Skill Cards, new characters as well as a completely new dungeon to explore
• Improved system dynamics – one button menu short-cuts, quick equipment changes, and a whole lot more!

The release date has been set as 29th April, so you won’t have long before you can all get your hands on a copy of this great game!