Coming Out of the Shadows: Rusty Buchert Talks Latest Project

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Hi all, my name is Rusty Buchert and I am the Sr. Producer for Linger in Shadows. Some of you may have heard about it already from coverage here and there, but there are a lot of questions surrounding this unique title. It will be releasing on the PlayStation Network on October 9, so I wanted to explain today about what Linger is and what it isn’t. I’ll start with the easier side, and that is Linger in Shadows is NOT a game. It was never meant to be a game and it will never be a game. Yes it has trophies, but it still isn’t a game and I’ll explain why a little later on.

So then, what the heck is it? There are a few different answers to that question and I’m going to try and cover them here. So here is the short version and then I’ll ramble on in more detail. Linger in Shadows was created by Plastic, from the demoscene. It is an experiment with the demoscene and it is an experiment in Interactive Digital Art.

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Now for the first part: what the heck is the demoscene and why does it matter? The demoscene came from an underground digital art culture that started in the 80’s. A “demo” is an audiovisual program created to demonstrate and push the limits of a machine through the devotion, creativity and originality of the demosceners who created the “demo”. Like games, “demos” went from being made by individuals to being made by groups. The demoscene has created some amazing pieces over the years, and that is why we decided to reach out to the demoscene and see what they could do with the PlayStation 3 hardware. The results are pretty amazing. The kicker is that the folks who made Linger in Shadows did it part-time after-hours. This is a work of passion for them; they have day jobs too.

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Previously demoscene productions were passive experiences. You ran it, sat back and watched. One of the things that Plastic wanted to do with Linger was to move in a new direction. Linger can be watched passively, but you won’t get the whole experience that way. It is meant to be an experience that you explore through. Look beyond the frame of what you see. Search for new things, experiment with the SIXAXIS, and you might be surprised by what you find.

I hope you’ve had a chance to check out the trailer on PSN. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a look. You can also find out a little more about Linger in the Shadows here.

I’ll be back here on the blog soon to talk more about Linger in the Shadows, Plastic and how this all got started.

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102 Comments

  • So, you decided that this would make a good birthdaay present to Yours Truly? Sounds good!

    Aa Home beta key would be nice too…………….

  • Hmmmm, not to sure what to say about this tech demo. It’s not a game but it does have Trophy support. Which is a good thing in my book. Can we use this demo as background on the XMB? How much does it cost? To be quite honest. I’m not sure if I’ll be buying Linger in Shadows.

  • Its awesome that Sony is doing this:

    1. It shows of their hardware
    2. It gives a good and needed attention to the demo scene.

    Just a quick correction to the post:
    “, and that is Linger in Shadows is NOT a game.”

    Later on you write:
    “You can also find out a little more about the game here.”

  • I’m hoping that this ‘demo’ is free. I would assume so since you, the player, really aren’t controlling anything. BUt if they do charge, it better not be a cent over 2 bucks.

    On a semi-related note, I’ve taken a look at the list of trophies…and quite frankly they don’t make a damn bit of sense to me <_<;

  • Wow. This demoscene is truly beautiful. I’ve seen the video a few weeks ago… and I was hooked. As an Ico/Shadow fan, I kind of admire ‘games’ that aim towards fantastic artistic talent. Can’t wait to download this one.

  • in the trailer the graphics look amazing,did they say how much its going to be yet

  • Looks absolutely amazing! And I love the entire concept behind this and I sure hope there is much more to come! :D
    Even since seeing tech demos on the PS2 with things from Square and others, I had always hoped things like that would be released just to watch in real-time, it’s always fun to see how a designer can push the limits besides it being within gameplay.
    I don’t suppose there is any way that the PSN could get ahold of or cooperate with SquareEnix to get a real-time demo of the recent FF7 tech demo for the PS3. Things like this are absolutely amazing!
    I’ll definitely be purchasing this experience!

  • I’m officially intrigued. you have my interest in a choke hold plastic. keep it there. seeing as how the 9th is next thursday are you gonna be back b4 then to give us all some more insight?

    thanks,
    Lh

  • Also, it’d be sweet to see Plastic or another group create a full length film in real-time, that’d be pretty much amazing! :D

  • This is FREE, right? Don’t get me wrong, I do think that this is worth paying for BUT it’s just not right to charge for it. It would be the exact opposite of demoscene.

  • Thanks Rusty…will have to check this out.

    Sounds interesting.

  • from what i gather, it is a demo to show us the true power of the Cell.. i only wish this ‘demoscene’ is free or it is the power of the Cell that will buy the game for me..

  • @Rusty Buchert

    I personally have been looking forward to finally seeing the final result of that “Linger in the Shadows” trailer we all saw right here, in the so small internet. Now that we have learned a bit more about “Linger in the Shadows” such as: release date, trophy support and that, to my knowledge, it is going to be the first interactive demoscene.

    >>I have to ask: 1)What is the purpose of LiTS? 2)What is next?

    I know this questions might be what you guys are trying to find with this experiment, but any info you can share would be nice.

  • I still don’t know what does it mean… is confusing. =/

  • sweet looking forward to this one

  • Is this “demo” going to be free?

  • Cant wait to see this and how its able to push the limitations of the ps3. Thanks guys.

  • It must be FREE. Even people from plastic were saying this (I’m from Polnad, BTW). Sony would have to pull a [DELETED] move to charge for this.

  • I’ve been looking forward to this.

  • If it’s not a game, do they expect us to pay for it? If I want to see the push of the hardware of the PS3, I doubt I’ll see it in an ‘interactive screensaver’ made by people working on it on their spare time. I’d much rather buy a game or just play through MGS4 again. I’m sorry, but it just feels like a waste of time.

  • I’ve been looking forward to this for long time now, ever since i heard about it..

    also FlOWer looks really intriguing..

    thanks for this post, i look forward to ANY info on this interactive digital art!

    peace

  • Free I hope and guess.

  • Plastic comes from the same place i do – from POLAND:)

  • cool we get to pay for a tech demo

  • Ive been keeping an eye out for this for quite some time! Cant wait to try it out.

  • As a kid I was inspired to become a 3D artist by a simple demo on the Amiga computer named “The Juggler”. This animation was the 1st time in my life that I saw realtime 3D graphic possible on personal computers. I am sure I am not alone in being profoundly affected by the demos of that time.
    I really love that SONY is thinking outside the box and expanding the notion of games beyond the norm. “Linger in the shadows” reminds me why I chose SONY as my platform of choice.

  • As I said, this should be FREE. Stop complaining, please. I can’t see Sony charging for it. But if I’m wrong and they’ll indeed charge for it… Damn, I’ll be the first one to send the hate mails.

    @GordyNYC: I totally agree with you about demos of that age. Those were the day…

  • I’m looking forward to this little experiment. I’d love to code on the PS3 and the demoscene is a perfect opportunity to showcase the underlying architecture of the CELL BE architecture and the PS3 architecture specifically.

    I hope SCEA/SCEE will encourage other such exercises in the future. It could only showcase to developers how to tap this massively parallel architecture.

  • Can’t wait to buy this!

  • Is it coming to Europe?

  • This is a very cool looking game I cant wait to get a taste of it first hand

  • Does anyone else see the panda?

    Was it meant to placed there?

  • @shinra1003

    Yes, I see a panda.

  • The panda is a lie, lol.

  • How much is it?

  • Yeah, I think price is very important here. I really don’t see how you can charge anything for this . . . it’s not a game. It just kinda sits there. You can manipulate it, but . . . I don’t know. Anything higher than $2.99 is going to be a hard sell.

  • @86 Evoanubis

    What are you talking about… you dont even know what is Linger in shadows all about,you dont know how it works so before telling us the price we should pay, lets wait for some more infos about it, what do you think?

    For my part, i’m getting it w/e the price is, it looks original and weird so im getting it :)

  • Trophies are a little weird…

  • so this is coming to EU/Pal stores too? yes?
    im like amped for this.. so i really hope it will be here too!

  • Hello to anybody who reads this first.

    Somehow, I got an extra LBP beta key this weekend. (Thank you Playstation Blog, the game rocks).

    To whomever reads this post first, here is my extra beta key.

    Thanks and have fun!

    [beta key] : PH5A-ELBE-AA9T

    -jared

  • Weirdest. Trophies. Evar!

    But cool to get some insight into the demoscene

  • I saw a trailer a while back…not sure what the heck it’s suppose to be about. Looks somewhat cool, but without further info on what it does I’m not sure I can put down any money for this. Right now, if it’s not free…don’t expect me to download it. Let’s not beat around the bush here. A demo is in order for soemthing that is unkown to us all.

  • this is mad cool… i can’t wait to try this out.. i love art

  • From Plastic-demo-groups site.

    “Linger In Shadows has a release date!

    One of our most anticipated productions has got a release date. After passing all three QA stages and receiving gold state we can announce that “Linger In Shadows” will hit PSN on October 9th. I hope this information is both valid for US and European PSN. We will make another news entry on 9th of October and then add “LiS” to productions section.”

  • This looks so awesome. I am imagining pushing the PS3 to it’s graphical limit. This should look like a constant cutscene from today’s best games. Count me in as a Day 1 purchase, even if it is a screensaver for the PS3. It could even be added to Life with Playstation as a channel, that would be Sweet!!

  • I have to thank you for the key Jared, I tried it thinking it wouldn’t work but it did! I am grateful that you shared it as I am now enjoying the beta! Thanks again!

  • You are very welcome, JuJuRMJ.

    Glad you’re enjoying it!

  • LOL! I was just updating my account wishlist and spotted this game… I was looking for more information and found that this blog had just been posted!

    It looks fascinating! What is the pricing on this and what is the size? Also can “interactive art” download be stored on an external USB drive or does it have to stay on the PS3 HDD? With the 60GB unit I am running out of room and have to watch the amount of space I use up until I get around to upgrading the HDD.

  • So, you’re charging for it after all.. A BIG MISTAKE.

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