Good news! Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is available today, 19th June! Now that the wait is over, we’d like to share with you the history behind The Sisters.

Armin Gessert (code), Manfred Trenz (graphics) and Chris Hülsbeck (music) were the masterminds behind the original The Great Giana Sisters back in 1987. Their company back then was called Time Warp Productions and the final game was published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MSX2, and Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts.

The Great Giana Sisters is a 2D side-scrolling arcade game in which the player controled either Giana or her sister Maria. Each level contained a number of dream crystals which awarded points to the player. Enemies could be defeated either by jumping on them or shooting them after obtaining power-ups. The “Fire Wheel” transformed Giana into a punk with the ability to crush rocks by jumping beneath them.

As you can see, these old concepts of the game are still in place in 2013, especially the change to the punk version of Giana, but let’s get back to the old days …

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Hi everyone! It’s time to update you on all the new PlayStation Plus content coming your way in July.

As usual, there are three new PS3 games and two PS Vita titles to enjoy, as well as great titles such as Demon’s Souls and ICO and Shadow of the Colossus that are already available.

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Today the Jak and Daxter Trilogy launches on PlayStation Vita. Now, over a decade since the Jak and Daxter series originally premiered on PS2, we are so proud to see the legacy of Naughty Dog’s work brought together for users to enjoy anywhere their adventures take them.

The Jak and Daxter Trilogy brings three of your favorite Jak & Daxter adventures – Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II and Jak 3 – to life like never before. Mass Media has faithfully recreated the unique gameplay mechanics that you all know and love and added touch screen support for a selection of the mini games included, so get ready to catch those fish and hunt down that eco.

The Jak and Daxter Trilogy also features over 100 trophies (including three platinum) for you to unlock while you play through all three titles. These trophy sets are separate from the PS3 version so that means three more Platinum Trophies for you Trophy Hunters out there.

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PS Home will briefly be offline from 8.00am BST on Wednesday 19th June for routine maintenance. Here’s what to expect after the update…

Granzella – Yukata
New Rhinoceros Beetle and Stag Beetle patterns are here for Granzella’s Yukata. Following a summer tradition in Japan, Rhinoceros Beetle and Stag Beetle Yukata patterns were created for the summer. The characteristic silhouettes float a vivid background. Available in red, green, blue, pink, and black. Wear a Yukata made up of these insect patterns and enjoy the summer!

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Hello all, I hope you’re well. So we’ve looked at the story, the characters and the art of Diggs Nightcrawler and today it’s the turn of the music. My name is Jim Fowler and I wrote and arranged the score for Diggs – and a lot of fun it was too.

The idea with the music was that it should add to the atmosphere of Library City as well helping tell the story and enhancing gameplay. Working with Moonbot, the idea came up pretty early on that the best way to go would be a jazz-based score, which then led to the idea of doing the whole thing with a live big band. We also wanted to make the music seamless, so although it’s pretty interactive (changing to match your progress and actions through Diggs’ case) – it should sound like complete cues. As if the score was written to your specific playthrough.

Because the music is the soundtrack of the story, the city, its jazz haunts and alleyways, I wanted the score to not just reference classic Film Noir but big band and jazz bands of the ’50s as well. As part of that we put together an incredible band of some of the best players in the UK – and we were even able to include some improvised solos for extra authenticity (and awesomeness!).

And in keeping with the ’50s sound, the only digital element of the live session was the computer we recorded to. All the audio processing was done through hardware (valves and all) and we even mixed through ½” tape.

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