Hey everyone. We’re happy to follow up PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale‘s win for “Best Fighting Game” at the DICE Awards (the awards where all of the voting is done by other games industry pros), with a gift to all the players that have supported the project from the start.

I hear from a lot of you guys, and I know you’ve been waiting patiently… but that wait ends tomorrow! We’ve got two new PlayStation All-Stars joining the Battle Royale: Kat from Gravity Rush, and Emmett Graves from Starhawk.

Any fighting fan will tell you how much it means to have new characters joining a game, but it’s even better because – as promised – these DLC characters are totally free for two weeks!

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Hi everyone.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to purchase this fantastic PS Vita exclusive yet, here’s a reminder that the Gravity Rush ‘Special Edition’ promotion on the PS Store ends tomorrow afternoon – on Tuesday 19th June, 4pm GMT. Until then, if you purchase the full digital game from the PS Store, you will receive the Military Mission DLC pack at no extra charge!

If you’re still unsure whether the game is for you, check out this game preview or see what the development team themselves had to say about Gravity Rush in this series of essays devoted to the Characters, the open-ended World and the gameplay aspects of the game.

If you’re as hooked on the game already as we are, then don’t forget the DLC packs available from next Wednesday 27th June!  (See the Gravity Rush launch post for more details.)

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Hi everyone

The wait is finally over as Gravity Rush is set to hit retail shelves across PAL from today. To celebrate the occasion, we’re bringing you a brand-new trailer to give you a taste of what the game has in store for you:

If you missed out on the opportunity to pre-order the game and receive the Military Mission DLC pack, we have some more exciting news: If you purchase the full digital version from the PS Store, you will receive the Military Mission DLC pack at no extra cost – this promotion ends on Tuesday 19th June, so be sure to purchase the game until then if you haven’t already!

And speaking of downloadable content, I’m excited to announce that we’ll be bringing more DLC Mission Packs to your PS Vita, each offering a bespoke costume and additional storyline and side missions for hours of additional gameplay:

From June 27th, you will be able to get your hands on the Spy Mission DLC Pack while the Maid Mission DLC Pack will be available from July 11th. Lastly, if you missed out on getting the Military Mission DLC Pack as a pre-order bonus or as part of the launch promotion until 19th June, you will be able to purchase this pack again from the PS Store from July 25th.

“I hope that you enjoy experiencing Gravity Rush and these three DLC packs as much as the team and I enjoyed creating them!” ~ Keiichiro Toyama, director Gravity Rush

Read on after the break to hear what else the director, Keiichiro Toyama, had to say about the launch of Gravity Rush this week:
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Hi Everyone,

Ever experienced the incredible sensation of falling upwards? Or tumbling feet first onto the side of a building before leaping off into the unknown? Gravity Rush will put you right at the centre of a physics-bending adventure and it’s only two more weeks to go now until the game launches exclusively on PlayStation Vita on June 13th (June 15th for UK/IRL).

In the meantime, we’ve got some great things to keep to occupied:

To give you a sneak peek of what’s to come, the Gravity Rush Demo will be available on PlayStation Network from today.

The demo introduces you to our protagonist, Kat, as she awakens with no memory of her past in the mysterious city of Hekseville. Play as Kat and discover your gravity-defying new powers while testing out the game’s unique mechanics brought to life with the PS Vita motion sensor. Begin your journey of exploration of Gravity Rush’s vibrant open world environment and try your hand at defending the city and its people from an array of enemies.

Once you’re done with demo, make sure to look out for our Gravity Rush Challenges and be in for a chance to win some amazing competition prizes:

Are you a Pinterest addict? This challenge is for you then! Help Kat re-build her world by picking the right images from Kat’s Pinterest profile and repin them in the right order to create 3 Gravity Rush boards. Once you’ve done it, tweet your Pinterest profile to @VictorLudus and let Mr Ludus know “what would you do if you had the power to defy gravity”?

If you’re feeling more creative, then challenge 2 might be for you: Show us your Gravity Rush world, either drawing from scratch or using the asset kit – available from the Gravity Rush challenge page on PSVITA.com or ask @victorludus for it. Once you’re done submit your masterpiece to the Gravity Rush Tumblr Page.

Last but not least, if you always wanted to defy gravity, here is your chance to show us and win exciting prizes. Be Newton’s worst nightmare, and send your images to Mr Victor Ludus gmail. Remember to stay safe – a simple shift in perspective and angle can yield the most exciting results!

If you haven’t already pre-ordered the game, be sure to check with your local retailers for a chance to receive the exclusive Military Mission DLC Pack at no extra cost.

Move the world around you!

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With Gravity Rush releasing in June, I wanted to share how the artwork of this game came together as well as how the style of “Bande Dessinee” influenced the title’s art direction.

Gravity Rush incorporates the theme of Bande Dessinee (BD), a popular Franco-Belgian comic book art style. There are various types of BD style and they can be perceived in many ways. We first approached an element of BD we thought would fit well into the pre-existing game art. One of the differences between realistic expression and schematic expression represented by BD is that BD exaggerates the information that author wants to convey to the audience. By doing so, it conveys more of the accurate information that the author wants to be recognized.

While considering the gravity mechanic in the game, we brainstormed with these elements in mind. If a player can move around freely, the level should not only be big horizontally, but also vertically. Therefore, we designed the city with multiple levels of layers and structures.

Additionally, the line drawing method was used to exaggerate buildings and allow them to be more easily recognized. The color of the sky was also enhanced to give additional sensory information to the players.

The direction we chose to use for the game’s graphics conveys the necessary information with exaggeration that matches the player’s sensation. Taking that into consideration, we also wanted to use line drawings, the characteristic of BD and the simulation of beautiful air effects. I think the broader the game art expression becomes, the more interactive a game becomes.

Another important factor is the concept of a “living background.” This is the idea of bringing the game world itself to life so that users can actually ‘feel’ it. Basically, players can interact with certain objects in the game and they can actually get into the scenery within the remote background. Environmental background is not a piece of a picture, but it actually exists within the game, and we can use that background with our gameplay. That was our ultimate goal. By combining the unique art style of BD and the idea of living background, we created a sensation that could only be brought to life with a video game.

As a special treat, I am happy to share this concept movie that we created during the early stages of Gravity Rush’s development.

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