One of the highlights of E3 for me this year was seeing Journey receive such an enthusiastic response from everyone (and it did look particularly stunning on a 50 inch screen in the SCEE press room). Here’s a few words from thatgamecompany, the talented team behind flOw and Flower, about their exciting new project…

Hello, there! Coming out of E3 a few weeks ago, we at thatgamecompany couldn’t be more excited about the reception our latest game, Journey, received from both the press and general showgoers. Journey is our third game for PS3 and PSN, and we’re trying something new, something that we hope changes the way people think about online gaming.

As you may have heard, in Journey, players take on the role of travelers headed to a mysterious mountain in the distance. But unlike our previous two games, flow and Flower, Journey presents our vision of what an online adventure can be.  As you explore Journey, you may cross paths with other travelers.  You can to join and play with up to one other player at a time.

But what makes Journey different is that there are no online lobbies, no matchmaking, no PSN IDs, and no chat. You are the character, limited to the ways of communication of the character itself. Will you choose to travel together – or go your own way? What secrets lie in the mysterious, sand-covered ruins of this world?

As mentioned over on the US PlayStation Blog, a small-scale closed beta trial will be taking place in the coming weeks, to test Journey’s innovative and unusual multiplayer functionality. Whilst it’d be amazing to open this out to everyone out there who’s excited about Journey, unfortunately numbers need to be kept very limited for technical reasons. But as it progresses, this trial will be extended into SCEE – the existing Beta Trial community and selected PlayStation Plus members will receive invitations in early July. Look out for more information about selection criteria and timings soon.

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Bodycount is back and I’m here to divulge all the juicy intel. The Codemasters Guildford studio has been tightly clammed since last year’s E3 so you’d be forgiven for asking, what is Bodycount?

Bodycount is an adrenaline-inducing, explosive torrent of action, destruction and gun ecstasy. It’s an FPS that puts the fun back into firepower. But these words can barely do it justice, so here’s our brand new gameplay trailer from E3.

Right off the bat you can see the explosive boom-stick that is the shotgun, and it really sums up what Bodycount is. This isn’t just another shooter; this is a gun centrefold that gives you amazingly satisfying guns that you will never forget. The mantra in the team has been ‘gun, bullet, world’ – everything is focussed on the experience of squeezing the trigger, hearing bullets tear through the air and watching them obliterate enemies and the environment. Every gun has been carefully crafted for your gaming pleasure. Bodycount has everything from a deadly pistol all the way up to super-charged futuristic weaponry used by your elusive enemies, ‘The Target’.

Bullets, naturally, are never in short supply but it’s their effect in the world that completes this glorious firing feedback loop as you shred through enemies and the environment. Whether it’s wood, glass, body armour… it rips up and splinters as you unleash the pain on the world around you. It doesn’t just look cool and make you feel great, but it gives you the opportunity to rip through your enemies cover, and they in turn yours. It makes for an unstoppable river of pyrotechnics as you travel the globe you get to tear through warzones in Africa, city streets in Asia and mysterious bases as you hunt the ‘Target’ across the globe.

There’s only so much we can fit into one blog post, so this is where we hand the reins over to you. Have you got a question for the developers? Who are the ‘Target’? Perhaps you want to know what multiplayer modes are up for grabs? Whatever your question just put it into the comments and we’ll pick it up for a Community Q&A in the following weeks.

If you want to keep tabs on all things Bodycount don’t forget that you can find us on Facebook, twitter, and YouTube. You can even speak directly to the Games Director, Andy Wilson (@andygwilson) and Andrew Parsons our Experienced Level Designer (@AP_Codies) on twitter.

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Puzzle-platformers are no rare breed on PSN, but one upcoming title, Papo & Yo, is looking to revitalize the genre in a number of intriguing ways. Papo & Yo tells the story of Quico, a young boy who has an unlikely best friend: a giant hulking beast named, appropriately, Monster. Together, the duo must navigate an ethereal world that’s reminiscent of a South American town but is set entirely in Quico’s imagination. The world itself is made up of dream-like neighborhoods to roam and populated with puzzles to solve.

After getting my hands on the game at E3, it didn’t take long to notice the unique approach developer Minority is taking when it comes to navigation and puzzle solving. Controlling Quico from a third-person perspective, I wandered a bit around Papo & Yo’s surreal world. Players can easily run and jump around the expansive environments, and also use visual cues to direct Monster (as well as a cute little flying robot named Lula) to points of interest. Utilizing all three characters to solve puzzles is key to progressing in the game, and once you learn a few basics—Monster is good at moving heavy objects, for example, and Lula can reach high areas inaccessible to Quico—the gameplay becomes surprisingly intuitive.

What really impressed me while playing is how the world changes according to Quico’s actions. Picking up a series of unassuming boxes near a line of houses causes the actual individual houses to lift off the ground and move according to where Quico places the boxes. Placing the boxes inside a nearby chalk outline causes the houses to create a rooftop bridge for Quico to cross. The entire segment really helped highlight the dream-like nature of Papo & Yo’s world.

There is, however, a dark side to Papo & Yo. If Monster happens to come across a poisonous frog (his favorite snack) and eat it, he’ll be thrown into a frenzied rage that puts Quico’s life in danger. Papo & Yo creative director Vander Caballero explained that Monster’s addiction to poisonous frogs is meant as an analogy to his own father’s substance abuse, which greatly affected the developer when he was a young boy (like Quico). Preventing Monster from eating the frogs, or hightailing Quico away from him if he does, is key to survival throughout the game.

There’s still plenty more of Papo & Yo that I can’t wait to see, but the game is already looking and playing wonderfully. Keep your eyes on the EU PlayStation.Blog for more news down the line.

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While still recovering from last weeks E3, the PlayStation.Blog team wanted to share some of their favorite interviews with everyone who didn’t catch them when they aired live. Dylan Cuthbert, Ariel Angelotti and Baiyon (!) flew over from Kyoto, Japan to show us the latest titles in the PixelJunk series.

Here we have the interview in which Baiyon does a live performance of his new collaborative title: PixelJunk lifelike! This title garnered a lot of buzz during the show. It’s nearly impossible to explain what it is, so Baiyon and Dylan decided to show us what PixelJunk lifelike is all about. While it may not be a game, per se, it definitely is a game changer! Hope you enjoy the video and Baiyon’s performance.

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Hey ya’ll! In case you missed it last week, here’s a broadcast segment we did with the PlayStation.Blog live from the SCEA booth on the E3 show floor. I get into a little about the character stories as well as talk about gameplay balance and the pros and cons between the game’s 15+ vehicles. I also gab a bit about the reveal of Iron Maiden, the biggest and most complicated boss we’ve ever had in a Twisted Metal game!

E3 was a blast this year! It was really cool to connect with fans at the booth while they went tried out Twisted Metal‘s signature Nuke mode. It was also fun showing off our newest level: New York City during the holiday season. The very first Twisted Metal game – released back in 1995! – takes place at Christmas time as well and I guess we wanted to pay a little homage. Also, I just love the idea of chaos and destruction centered around what is usually one of the happiest, warmest, most fun times of the year! Does that make me bad?!? So check out the video- hope you dig it!

And next up is Comic-Con in San Diego July 21-24 so hope to see ya’ll there. Thank you again for the support, thanks so much for stopping by to play our game and say ‘hey’ at the show, and please stay tuned for more announcements about the game over the next few months!

P.S. In the video, I also explain why – for the campaign mode only – we’ve limited the selection to three playable human drivers (versus the usual 10-12). Campaign still lets you drive and battle in 15+ vehicles but we have limited the driver roles. I know focusing on just three character stories for the campaign has been a bit controversial for some of our Twisted fans and I’m curious to see – in the comment section below – if you agree or disagree with our decision after you hear me state our reasoning in the video.

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