In this post we turn our attention to the music and sound design for Sorcery. Members of the development team talk about how Sorcery’s score fuses traditional Celtic music with more contemporary instrumentation, and about how the sound effects are used to boost the feeling of immersion you get by casting spells with the Move controller.

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In this installment of the making of Sorcery, we take a look at the fantasy surrounding the spell-casting gameplay. Different members of the development team talk about the origins of the story — the fantasy of having a magic wand, the relationship between the main characters, the motivation of the main villain, and the inspiration for world we were trying to create.

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Hi it’s Jan Kuczynski here, SCEE producer for Datura. I’m happy to let you know that Datura will available to download exclusively from PSN on 9th May in Europe, and I thought I’d give you a few more details on this uniquely atmospheric title.

In the opening sequence of Datura is a quote from Dante’s Divine Comedy:

“In the middle of our life’s walk I found myself in a dark wood for the straight road was lost.”

I think it sums up nicely what Datura is all about. You’ll find yourself lost in a strange forest where the lines of morality become blurred and nothing is black and white. In the world of Datura you will find yourself placed in a variety of scenarios which will require you to make a quick judgement call.

What you choose will determine how the scenario plays out and will have subtle effects on the overall experience. Once you finish, it’s great to discuss with friends what road they took and how that changed what they saw.

As you can see, Datura isn’t your average game and it will be no surprise for you to hear that it comes from our Santa Monica Studio who have a great pedigree for coming out with games that push barriers to offer gamers something new. The studio is now as well known for unique gems such as PixelJunk 4am and Escape Plan as for mega blockbusters such as the God of War series.

Datura is a collaboration with Polish developer Plastic who previously released the interactive art experience Linger in Shadows for the PS3. One of their goals with Datura was to use the PlayStation Move motion controller in interesting ways to add an extra level of immersion. Don’t worry if you don’t have a PS Move though – you can also use DualShock. I also should mention that if you’re lucky enough to have a 3D TV make sure you try Datura with 3D switched on – it looks absolutely stunning.

Datura is out tomorrow priced at €7.99/£6.49 and is a great addition to your PS Move compatible library. Oh and if you’re signed up to PlayStation Plus you’ll get an extra special 20% discount for a limited period.

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LittleBigPlanet Karting Hands-On Media Event

A few folks from the media recently got to have a hands-on play of LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Check out this video to see just what IGN.com have to say about Sackboy’s leap into the racing arena!

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This is the first post in a four-part series from the development team about the making of Sorcery. In this video, we talk about how artists, engineers, and designers at The Workshop designed the game to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Move controller in order to create a completely original spell-casting experience. While some motion-controlled games feel like you’re playing “Simon Says”, the gestures in Sorcery are fluid and organic. Aiming spells and chaining them together into powerful combos requires both creative thinking and quick reflexes.

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