PixelJunk Eden: Oh Glorious Gardens…and Did We Mention Trophies?

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Hey everyone,

Deborah Mars here again. We’re so excited to be releasing PixelJunk Eden tomorrow (Thursday, July 31) on the PlayStation Network. Dylan Cuthbert and his team at Q-Games in collaboration with Baiyon, a Kyoto-based multimedia artist and DJ, have really outdone themselves here.

PixelJunk Eden

Now I know I’m biased with all my PixelJunk love, but seriously…this is one outstanding, addictive, gorgeous, amazing game. So I just wanted to take a moment here and mention some of the really cool “firsts” that the team has achieved with this title, and highlight some of the things that we really love about it.

1. Trophies

This is the very first game to launch with trophies. And just so you know what to be gunning for when you play, here is a complete list:

BRONZE

  • All Seeds 01 – Open all seeds in garden 01
  • All Seeds 02 – Open all seeds in garden 02
  • All Seeds 03 – Open all seeds in garden 03
  • All Seeds 04 – Open all seeds in garden 04
  • All Seeds 05 – Open all seeds in garden 05
  • All Seeds 06 – Open all seeds in garden 06
  • All Seeds 07 – Open all seeds in garden 07
  • All Seeds 08 – Open all seeds in garden 08
  • All Seeds 09 – Open all seeds in garden 09
  • All Seeds 10 – Open all seeds in garden 10
  • All Gardens Clear – Get a Spectra in each garden
  • Combo Ten – Pollen Prowler combo x 10
  • Combo Fifteen – Pollen Prowler combo x 15
  • The Hundred Thousander – Get 100,000 pollen in one garden
  • 500 Dead Pollen Prowlers – 500 Pollen Prowlers killed
  • Ten Minute Grimp – Get all 5 Spectra from a garden within 10 minutes
  • Fifteen Crystals – Get fifteen crystals in a single jump
  • Zero Wasted Pollen – Open all seeds in a garden without missing any pollen
  • Three Play Ping Pong – In 3p mode, trapeze jump between two swinging Grimps


SILVER

  • All Spectra Found – Get all the Spectra in all gardens

2. YouTube video upload support

How cool is this? It’s a great feature that allows you to capture up to 10 minutes of video footage of your Eden gameplay and then either save it to your XMB or upload to YouTube and share with your friends and the world. So hey, pulled a sweet co-op combo with your friends that you want to show off? Having trouble finding that last Spectra in garden 8? Now you’ve got the proof to back up your bragging rights…or at least accept the fact that you might need just a little bit of – ahem – help. :)

3. PSP Remote Play

OK so this isn’t a first. But it’s worth pointing out anyway so you can take PixelJunk Eden with you wherever you & your PSP go.

4. Accolades

Great news: We’ve just learned that PJ Eden won a Cheat Code Central award for “Best Puzzle / Arcade Game of E3 2008.” We’re really pleased with all positive response on the title, and thank you all for your support. If you haven’t played some of the other titles in the PixelJunk series, be sure to check out Q-Games’ other titles, PixelJunk Racers and PixelJunk Monsters + Encore.

5. Music & Art

We’re really loving the music and visuals that Baiyon created for PixelJunk Eden. You know the music is good when you can listen to it over and over and over again and it is still kicking. There’s more than 100 minutes of music in the game total, and be sure to stay tuned for an upcoming interview right here on this blog with Baiyon and PJE’s game director “Tomi” (Tominaga Shouichi).

6. Druck der Farben

Hands down, my favorite garden.

7. Cannons, teleports, gravity changing, oh my.

Enough said.

8. Top 5 Things Said While Playing Eden

Dylan Cuthbert sent us a link yesterday to a story on TripleTags.com about the top 5 things said while playing Eden. Matt Morton, Associate Producer on Eden, and I have our own here while playing co-op, so we’ll leave you with this list as parting thoughts

    – “Seeding!” [And yes, I know I’ve been ridiculed for this one.]

    – “Get off me!”

    – “Where did you go?”

    – “Combo. Combo! Combo!!”

    – “Get on the plant. Get on the plant!”

PixelJunk Eden

Always spreading the PixelJunk love,
Deb

Comments are closed.

263 Comments

8 Author Replies

  • I hate the demo… it was awesome and it made me addicted to the game!!

    NOW I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT YO BUY IT!!

  • “Beat Dylan? Cmon now, don’t you know by now that I’m all about the PixelJunk love? Plus, he’s bigger than I am. Suffice it to say, we’re as eager as you are.”

    Come on! Did you miss the part about the cake? I swear; the cake is NOT a lie.

  • everything looks amazing but if this had custom soundtracks that would make it the perfect game

  • Does this game support XMB music?

  • Custom soundtracks is a must have. I plan on playing this game with the original soundtrack for a very nice amount of time but having the ability to have XMB music is nice as well.

  • I love Q-Games’ willingness to exploit the features of the PS3 that we owners salivate over. The money is there for the guys who want to give us Trophies and Remote Play support. Good on ya guys. (Next let’s work on online co-op.)

  • Cant wait to pick this game up tomorrow and start on my trophies i trophy section in the XMB is looking pretty dry.

    thanks for the Blog post i always love reading what you guys/gailsO__o and other DEV’S put on the blog

    @Devils1stBorn your right about not giving credit where its not due but this is not that case.

  • The game looks and plays simply amazing. As I described the demo, it is pure “greatness” and I’m sure the full version will be even more steallar. I do have to say I’m disappointed in the trophy department though (Though it holds no strike agains the game). They really feel unbalanced to me, with no gold trophies. 20 trophies with 19 of them spread across the bronze and 1 spread across Silver. Surely 2 or 3 of the trophies could have been dispersed to Silver (Ie The Hundred Thousander, Ten Minute Grimp) and thus freeing up Find all spectra to that Gold trophy. In any case, the game definitely has quality written all over it, and I will be buying it ASAP :).

  • Any news on Life with Playstation?

  • purchasing the game tomorrow! can’t wait to start pluggin away at those trophies and uploading some vids.

    peace,
    Lh

  • I’ll be getting this tomorrow. Excited

  • Trophies in PJM please!!! I’m gonna get the Hot Shots Golf Trophy demands rolling too. Gimme TROPHIES!

  • PJE soundtrack on PSN or Burst >:(

    :)

  • one question how do i get my gravatar on the blog

  • Yeah i was afraid this would cost $9.99, instead of $4.99 or even $7.99, but judging from my experience with the demo and considering the features the full version includes, its worth it.

    Now personally, i think having custom soundtrack support in PJE might ruin a bit the whole atmosphere to it.. if it was there, i dont think i’d use it.

    Hopefully PSN games support at least a few gold trohies, balance feels a bit off when you see a list of 19 bronze trophies, 1 silver, 0 gold, let alone platinum.

    Some of these could have been silver rather than bronze, i think the same happened with SSHD, a few punishing tasks granted you a silver trophy only.

    Anyway, im quite sure this will be a PSN hit, keep up the good work!

  • Thanks for creating such a truly unique experience. I have really been enjoying the demo. All in all the gameplay, presentation, art style and music really convinced me that this paticular PSN title is a definite “must-buy/day-of” for me!

  • Is there ever going to be online multiplayer? Or will it always be offline co-op?

  • How pretty are the trophies? xD The SSHD look was okay. i hope these will look just as artistic as eden. Will get tomorrow when it’s up. Hopefully Sony doesn’t let the PSN store become a problem like last time xD

  • Where’s online support? A game now-a-days WITH co-op that doesn’t have online is just not a game. I’m sorely disappointed. Not only in that it’s yet another game I can’t get all the trophies in but it’s another game that’s awesome and lacks online co-op play.

    Hey Sony, force dev’s to either make no co-op trophies or force them to have online if they make co-op trophies.

    It’s just not fair to those of us gamers that have no one to play games with in person. No one around me shares the same tastes. I spend 80% of my gaming time online in games like burnout, rock band, gta…and it makes me sad that this doesn’t have online. It’s gonna be one of those games that I play until I beat it and then it’s gonna collect digital dust in the XMB due to no online support.

  • What I’d like to know – about every single new PS3 game is…

    Does the game feature:-

    1. Game server hosting (or lobbies) – offering the ability to play online with others including friends (from friends list) and also kick + ban functionality (as per warhawk)?

    2. XMB custom soundtrack support?

    3. Open mic voice chat between friends / (as per warhawk)?

    4. Trophies?

    These are the top requested features for every single PS3 game and people will be asking for them with every single release.

    Sony’s E3 statements were about the games and the community. Complying with points 1 and 3 would somewhat justify those statements. Point 2 only covers what was promised in f/w 2.4. It is good Sony are now making some progress with point 4, but the other things really do need to be in each title as well. It is clear that many older games will never be patched, so the sooner games are being released with these features built in from day 1 – the better.

  • Hi,

    A few things I’d really like to throw out there:

    1) Wow, those trophies look like some of them will be pretty tough. I’m also going to need to buy another controller. You guys should get points with Sony because I think a lot of people are going to be buying another controller because of Eden.

    2) Definitely release the soundtrack out there like with Monsters. $2.99 is an amazing price point. It means that I don’t have to have a second thought at all about whether or not I’ll download it.

    3) The biggest flaw of echochrome was the time limit. From playing Eden’s demo, I can tell you that that time limit is pretty annoying when I just want to explore a garden and I have to backtrack to some crystals or else I’ll be booted out. I’m really hoping there’s a mode that lets me just play without worry.

    4) I’m also kind of wondering the thought process behind not letting the grimps shoot silk as they fall, sort of like Spider-Man. It would have helped me stop quite a few frustrating falls from near the top of some gardens all the way to the bottom.

  • Looking forward to picking it up. You guys make great, simple games.

  • Beautiful!!! god its going to be a horrible day for me though…because im broke until friday…thats one whole day knowing that eden is out and that im not playing……soooooo sad im gonna cry man its horrible.

    awesome thought I love this game with a passion that burns in the pit of my soul!!! for $10 this game is AMAZING!!! if you guys would have charged $20 I still would have bought it!!! thanks!!!

  • Great Game and great price ( only surpassed for PixelJunk Monsters 5 US$ Summer Sale)

  • only problem i have is with the trophies, i mean all bronze 1 silver, why not make some silver and gold ones in there, maybe for * All Spectra Found – Get all the Spectra in all gardens

    that could be a platnum one

  • Hey Deb,

    Can’t wait to pick up Eden. Quick question, I loved the soundtrack from PJM and have enjoyed what I’ve heard so far from the Eden Demo. Any chance we see the Eden soundtrack in the PSN Store like we did for Monsters?

  • For those that are asking about why there are no gold trophies and whatnot, let me post my understanding of the system. I just posted this on N4G as well.

    —-

    No platinum. Gold, they (PSN titles) can have, but no platinum.

    The thing is, under the hood there’s a point system for the different levels of trophies. A PSN game can only have so much upon release, and then so much for an add-on. PJ Eden clearly needed more trophies. More trophies = lower levels for each one.

    That’s why PJE w/o any expansion has 20 different trophies, while SSDHD only had 12.

    Let me do a further breakdown:

    SSDHD: 7 Bronze, 4 Silver, One Gold
    PJE – 19 Bronze, One Silver
    SSDHD 1st expansion – 2 Bronze, 2 Silver
    SSDHD 2nd expansion – One Gold

    Now, let’s apply a point value for each one, for argument’s sake.

    We’ll say Bronze = 1, Silver = 2, and Gold = 6. Let’s look at it keeping that in mind.

    SSDHD – 21
    PJE – 21
    SSDHD 1st expansion – 6
    SSDHD 2nd expansion – 6

    That make sense?

  • Any word about when the PSN cards will be available here in North America(Puerto Rico)?

    I read somewhere that they’ll be available in August. I hope it’s true.

    I can’t wait for those, so I can start buying every PixelJunk game out there!

  • Like my grand pa says to his fav nephew “Keep the trophies comin!”

  • My only concern is the trophy that requires 3 players. I can’t say I’m a fan of being required to find other people (or have 2 other controllers) in order to complete all the trophies. Other than that, I’ll definitely be picking this one up.

  • @ Mars- Why did u change ur DP? :(

  • Day -1 for me :-D

  • Awesome game guys, I’ll be buying it day one. And Deb? Thanks for replying to the negative comments of others, some people are pessimists and some just don’t conceive that there are games out there they don’t like and as result, try to demean them without purpose. It’s nice to know that you guys work your arses off and I personally am very grateful. The content you provide is very nice, and frequent, and will be much appreciated once the reviews of this game hit and it gets 9/10 and such…

    Now, hitting on the trophies. I don’t think that Sony (or anyone for that matter) has properly said to these raving crowds of people that EVERY GAME HAS A PLATINUM TROPHY!

    It is the trophy you attain when you complete EVERY OTHER TROPHY available! It’s basically a *games completely finished* trophy. Get it right people.

    • Hi there,

      It was Dylan Cuthbert who actually responded to the negative post, not Deb. And Dylan is right… we can\’t please everyone, even though we try.

      Also, in regards to the Platinum trophy, unfortunately those are only available for Blu-Ray disc based games, not PSN titles.

  • I absolutely loved the demo, this is most definitely a Day 1 purchase for me. The music/visuals are amazingly polished and original. This, coupled with addictive, yet relaxing gameplay should make for plenty of “chill out” weeknights after eight hours at the office. Great job on PJE guys!

  • @whatisdelicious

    Hey man, saw your post and just wanted to throw out a couple of thoughts on your comments.

    1. Agreed, people probably will buy more controllers because of Eden, but frankly, I would hope that more games have led to that than just this one! I bought 2 controllers up front at launch because of Resistance. Multiplayer gaming on PS3 isn’t that dry, right?

    2. I bought the OST for Pixeljunk too, just because of the price point. You know what’s fun? Put a song on repeat, they loop perfectly!

    3. The time limits imposed on PJE are there to create a purpose, the game would just be a time waster, no real tension or objective if it wasn’t there. I as well as many am enthralled with the art direction and such, and would love to explore the gardens further, but from the demo alone I learned that you can basically infinitely climb, and there are enough time tokens to do so. The only thing that limited me in the demo was the fact that it stops you after you collect 5 spectra.

    4. That’s where the SixAxis comes in dude! Shake it to make the Grimp fall down faster. Helps with the whole process, and while I can’t argue that it is as efficient as say, the Spider-Man technique, it definitely adds challenge, which I think too many small casual games lack. You can climb up quicker too based on how fast you can tap X and whatnot also.

  • @wholearmor

    Off topic dude, please, spread that in the FW update thread from yesterday.

  • @LordvonPastor

    Hey man, just thought I’d chime in on your thoughts for the sake of community.

    1. No online, sorry man, Dylan has stated that the games idea is requires too much fine tuned timing to be played online, because any lag whatsoever could screw up a session. They choose this on the developer half, they rather have you playing with your *real* friends in your living room. That’s what games like Warhawk are for…

    2. Again, no custom OST support. The music was designed from the ground up by Baiyon, and as a result, they did not include custom soundtracks. It was a choice based on what they thought fit the game man, sorry.

    3. Once again, no voice chat support, but there is Youtube support! Chat with your friends on the PS3 as they watch your replays!

    4. Trophies? Did you even read the title of this post??

  • Great job on Eden guys! Can’t wait to really dig my teeth into this tomorrow. And I’d just like to clarify whythis title has no Gold trophies. Every trophy has a behind the scenes value to them. Developers have a limit to how many trophies they can have in a game based on what the trophy’s value is. So even though this title has no gold trophies, the overall value of trophies you’ll get is still there. And just because there are’nt any gold trophies does’nt mean some of the tasks won’t be challenging. Remember Late Boomer?

  • Sure wish that I could go to a local Eb Games here in St. John’s Newfoundland Canada and pick me up a couple PSN CARDS and then buy this and a whole bunch of other things in the store that I know I would spen over $100 on in the next few days but alas they’re nowhere to be found. The demo of this has got me hooked that it has taken over my GTA time( that’s hard to do, not even the missus can do that). Please tell me when and where to buy the cards, they were supposed (key word) to be out by the end of June.
    So what’s with the hangup?
    I want my Eden!

  • @wholearmor

    Actually, on second thought, go play a 360 for those features, I didn’t initially notice that you posted so many times man. I understand your angst, but you aren’t going to get your answers here.

  • Thanks ^ – ^`

    we also would like to see trophies in PJ Monsters.

  • @JDog09

    Haha, I STILL haven’t been able to get that Late Boomer trophy! It’s a tough one!

  • @CitizenInsane27:

    1) Nah, man, I mean I’ve got to go for that third controller. Don’t know how many games I’ll use it for besides Eden, though. I guess SSHD.

    2) Hm, I hadn’t tried that. That’s actually pretty cool.

    3) Yeah, but there’s times when I don’t really want a purpose; I just wanted to explore. The crystals are pretty abundant but occasionally I found myself kind of resentful that I had to look for them in the first place. Personally, I think that at the very least, the option to get rid of the time limit for a garden should be unlocked after you get all the spectra in it, if not sooner. Honestly, I’ve loaded the Eden demo up multiple times now just to tool around in the main area since I can’t access the gardens anymore. It’s just fun swinging around and stuff.

    4) Falling faster doesn’t really help me though. Just gets me all the way to the bottom quicker. When I first started the demo, I was actually really annoyed that the grimp couldn’t Spider-Man his way across the garden. Even though I’ve definitely gotten used to the game without it, I still wish they would’ve put it in there. Sometimes I’ll fall like a couple pixels away from a plant that could’ve saved me. That’s a little frustrating occasionally, but again, I’ve gotten used to not having that ability.

  • @Citizenlnsane27

    That trophy requires alot of skill. But more that skill, it requires TONS of luck! LOL!

    Also, I really hope the PixelJunk team’s schedule allows them to add custom soundtracks and trophies to PixelJunk Monsters.

  • @wholearmor

    You are missing the point I was trying to get at. Just because they read this stuff doesn’t mean they are going to respond. Sony has a crew, specifically dedicated to the blog and maintaining it, the requests of the users are taken into consideration, when posted in the right context. Life With PlayStation will launch when it’s ready to. Don’t get uppity with me, a friendly user when you are the one demanding things from a company when you know not a single face behind it. I’m just telling you how it is, sorry for the negativity, but you are trolling, pure and simple. All I’m asking you to do is take it somewhere where your concerns are being read by people who can make the change. Deb Mars will check back on this post, as it is HER post. Not Eric Lempel’s. He is the man to talk to about firmware stuff, and as far as LWP goes, they will post on it when it is coming, might be tomorrow, so chill out!

  • @wholearmor:

    Dude, just wait until later today. Life With PlayStation is supposed to come out TODAY. So they’ll be posting details about it later. Just be patient; holy crap. Just go like, live your life for awhile, come back, and your new Life will have arrived.

  • @whatisdelicious

    Agreed about the LWP thing. Just wait it out, Sony has been doing this for a while now, they will talk about it when ready. As a long time poster on this blog (see: top posters @ first year of PSB) I can attest to it. Be patient and things will be sorted out.

  • @CitizenInsane27

    That reminds me, I need to update my Gravatar icon with a picture of my shirt I got in the mail…

    Thanks for the shirt Sony!

  • Haven’t seen your other posts about it; mind repeating the main points?

    I mean, I haven’t been keeping up with LWP all that much because I already had my fill of that kind of experience with the Wii News Channel back before I sold my Wii, and I realized that yeah, the news is still boring even when delivered by a videogame console, so I wasn’t aware they’ve released a whole lot of info about it yet.

  • Thanks Deb and Dylan, I’m going to download it right now!

    Absolutely loved the demo. And you’re right, the music never gets old.

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