Coming to PSN this Week: Inferno Pool

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It’s been five months since the exclusive launch of Inferno Pool on the European PSN Store, and after a bombardment of emails asking when it was going to hit North America we can finally say, Thursday!

Just before the European PSN Store launch, there was a nervous excitement within the team here. When the people who have been developing the game for months on end are still hanging around at lunch and after work for yet another four-player battle royale you feel confident that you have something special. But would the rest of the world get it?

The answer was a resounding yes. There was a real buzz in the studio as the first glowing reviews began to roll in calling it an essential PSN purchase and waxing lyrical about evenings lost in a frenzy of multiplayer action, but the most satisfying thing of all was the reaction from gamers themselves.

Dedicated forums began to pop up discussing strategic ballzooka targeting, how to pull off a kickshot-multiball-combo and how to amass a devastating Endurance Mode time by stringing together a huge potting streak multiplier. In fact, as revealed in our European PlayStation.Blog entry, we were compelled to publish our own Inferno Pool Masterclass tips after the community identified some of our PSN IDs and began to gang up to take us down!

So, now the time has come for gamers in North America to get their hands on the game. Once again the feeling in the studio is one of nervous excitement, but maybe a little less of the nervous and a little more of the excitement.

We know that the game isn’t well known over there (if that includes you then check out the games homepage). However we’re confident gamers will be won over once they realize it’s a fiery, four-player, backstabbing, adrenaline pumping, online party game and not merely a kick-ass pool simulator.

So, fingers crossed here for Dark Energy’s first North American release…we can’t wait to see what you think.

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-3 Comments

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  • Give me a code…. yes!

  • Looks pretty cool.

  • Looks quite fun, actually. Is there a price to this? Hopefully this is priced right, the game looks like it could be fun in a party setting with some buddies.

    • Party gaming is where it\’s at… a little tip – instead of sending all your potted ball to the person in the lead, wipe out the person who is losing and take him/her out of the game early. It cruel but oh so satisfying.

  • This video promo is not enticing at all. The voice over seems really cheesy. It would’ve been best to just previewed the actual game play. I’ll give the demo a shot though.

    • Yes… it would have been, whoever accidently gave Sony the wrong video should be forgiven though… esspecially if he responds with a more appropriate video:

  • cool i want to play this now

  • Interesting take on the concept of pool.

    • Thanks! We want to get away from the straight simulation and go for something easy to pick up and play but difficult to master. We also wanted to get away from boring turn based 2 player and get 4 players fighting it out to the last second. It\’s great fun to save up your potted balls and just when somebody thinks they have won… unleash the fury!

  • Needs a new promotional video. The guys on the couch just don’t do it for me. I’d rather have the other pool game coming to PSN.

    • Oh dear… I sense this video slip up might come back to haunt me! Once again here\’s a gameplay focused trailer for you… it ain\’t straight Pool, it\’s battle Pool baby!

  • What a cheap and stupid video.

  • What in the world is this? I think the Demon voice may keep players away.

    • You know you love it really… I mean Mortal Kombat, Unreal Tournament, Pool – they all have one thing in common: over the top violence! Oh, wait, hang on a minute…

  • Are you guys kidding me, the voiceover MADE the video. I am still laughing at how awesomely awful it was. Great promo video guys, way to not take yourselves so seriously.

  • that sounded like Christian Bale when he’s got his batman suit on.

    • HAHAHA. Yeah, when \”The Voice\” isn\’t wearing his Inferno Pool commentary leotard, he sounds rather feminine.

  • Will the online mode feature Voice Chat?

  • thanks but i’ll wait for Hustle King..

    • You\’ll miss out on the opportunity to see flames flying out of pockets as you fire a bombardment off potted balls at your granny!

  • Wow…..I have to agree that this video does not make me want this game at all. You guys should put out another video fast. At this point I’m not going to buy this game. Maybe a demo would change my mind.

  • i gotta say, this video made me want to to wait for HUSTLE KING even more. when is HUSTLE KING ever gonna come out? Any one know of its release date?? oh by the way funny promo video. couldnt possibly take this vid seriously. But at least we have another pool game option.

    • Give the demo a try, the important thing to get across is that this is not just a straight Pool simulation… it\’s a whole new take with 4 player battle play to clear your table while firing potted balls at opponents. Think puzzles fighter crossed with Pool and you get the idea. See the video in the post above.

  • Really? lol. I bet someone computer altered their voice to sound like that… but I can sound like that without. The video is just poor though, and doesn’t make me want this game at all. Likely won’t pick it up, but may try the demo out for kicks.

    • Send us your best impression of \”The Voice\” from Inferno Pool and maybe we\’ll dig out a download code for you!

  • Man the narrator voice was so bad… but the pool looks cool xD

  • It looks really insane and those attacks will probable get pretty annoying for the most part when trying to make a shot. :/

    • Actually, you\’ll find they don\’t interfere with lining up your shot. Also the control are designed to be simple and allow fast potting: left stick aim, right stick fire and move onto the next ball immediatly without having to wait for the balls to come to rest.

  • I agree about it not holding a candle to Hustle King. Maybe some answers to these questions will help me:

    1. What’s the native resolution? 1080p? 720p? using FSAA or no?

    2. Are the audio assets lossless? 24-bit?

    3. Is there local co-op play against AI? Is splitscreen co-op the only option? (We prefer non-splitscreen.)

    Looking forward to answers,
    Thanks! :)

    • 1. Native resolution is 720p, FSAA yes absolutely and most importantly it\’s 60fps even in 4 player split screen which is vital because it\’s such a fast paced game

      2. Yep

      3. You can play local and fill up to 4 slots with whatever combination of human and AI you like e.g. 1 human versus 3 AI, 2 humans versus 2 AI, 3 humans versus 1 AI etc. All the AI can be scaled in difficulty and yes for 8 ball and 9 ball you can play turn based full screen versus AI or human online and offline

    • You don\’t have to fill four slots btw, so you could do 2 human versus 1 AI for example.

  • The narrator voice was horrible and the four guys playing looked retarded. But the inferno pool seemed pretty nice to me.

    • We prefer to call them special rather than retarded. The Inferno Pool is nice, it\’s very, very nice and cuddly and kind… but at the same time brutal and vicious!

  • Before you read this comment, know that I’m human and not a troll.

    I comment VERY, VERY little, but I just had to say that the video for the game is awful.

    It didn’t show very much gameplay, and what gameplay it did show was very confusing, primarily because of the frequent cut-aways. Now I know this isn’t a huge budget AAA title, but the “metal” voice-just doesn’t do it. It’s hard to understand anything he’s saying. As for fun factor, the people sitting on the couch don’t quite look like they’re enjoying themselves.

    My advice (I know, who am I, right? Just a dude in an art school (Game Design) who has only a little bit of knowledge with his own opinion. Nobody special) would be to release a new video showing just gameplay and big text in place of the metal-voice. Get some catchy music, look at/listen to trailers of successful PSN downloads.

    However, that being said I’ll definitely check out the demo. It looks pretty fun.. is there single player VS. computer though? I couldn’t really hear all of the features too well.

    • Here\’s a straight gameplay trailer (follow the link to YouTube for better quality):

      Yes there is single player versus AI in all modes

  • That game is interesting, sort of like detuned.

  • is there online multiplayer in this game? if so i’ll buy it, if not then i wont buy it.

  • That announcer sounded really mad that he had to read the description to that game.

  • Stupid Game!!!

  • where is hustle kings? that game was announced a long time ago and I haven’t heard anything else about it. this game only support multiplayer so I’ll pass

    • Are you asking me? Actually, no it doesn\’t only support multiplayer. You have single player 8 ball, 9 ball Inferno Pool versus AI and Endurance Mode inaddition to all the multiplayer modes.

  • where is hustle kings?

  • But what about Hustle Kings??

    We haven’t heard anything about Hustle Kings in many months… is it cancelled or still on schedule for release this year?

  • @21 hAd this game since its EU release and hardly play it, only due to my tele not displaying the native 720p of the game. the game only has split screen and is not your typical pool game. upto 4 players at once all playing at the same time. its a good party game, only if my buddies played games…
    @all protractors, are you people that stupid. no ones telling you to buy the game. don”t like it, move on then. why comment and leave such an idiotic comment at that. looking at you 27 especially.

  • @21 almost forgot, yes local and online multiplayer.

  • hustle kings was announced in July

    https://blog.playstation.com/2009/07/hustle-kings-the-king-of-pool-games/

    I think this is a much better game. They said the problem was that the AI was too hard even on novice. Hopefully it comes out soon I been waiting for a cool pool game and inferno isn’t it

    • Hustle Kings does look like a nice straight Pool simulator… which is exactly what Inferno Pool is not. Give the demo a try, you\’ll see what I mean

  • Hey when I hover over the video with the pointer it video goes nuts reseting it self over and over, I’m using Firefox last version.

  • LoL like your monkey avatar Rob :D

  • that game suck. and the video for advertisement is awful. Do you guys really want to sell this game?

  • that game and video suck. are you trying to actually sell that game?

  • Man i’ll be glad when ps home add more urban clothing wear, jewelry, & cars to make it more fun cause my avatar be “ballin” ya dig and it will be nice to have a “slab sit’n on sum D’s playa”. Hook us up PS Home.

    • Yeah… and I wish they did a better promo video for Home too. The one I saw makes me never want to go to my virtual appartment ever again. ;P

  • WOW! That video was horrific on so many levels. I’m hoping there’s an official trailer in the works that shows some actual HD gameplay without a 4 split screen, goofy guys playing and some horrible voice over. I love pool games…

  • This game looks pretty cool thats saying a lot since im not a fan of pool at all

    • Great to hear! We deliberately set out to make a great multiplayer game that happens to feature Pool… so you don\’t have to like Pool to enjoy it. I feel a promo code coming your way, where should I send it?

  • the voice was making me angry lol

  • sorry to say but that video was kind of a turnoff

  • Damn, I didn’t know Cookie Monster did videogame trailer voiceovers.

    ME LIKE INFERNO POOL!! NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!

    (wtf?)

    • Hahaha yeah he\’s branching out, his agent ran a hard bargain but we were delighted to get him onboard… he is a demon at the game too!

  • FINALLY! TY…I have read reviews and wanted this game…looks and sounds kewl… “Inferno Pool can be played with up to 4 players, local and online, and offers various ways to play.  In addition to the Inferno Pool mode you can play a straight eight or nine ball pool match, and even play in race mode with first to clear their table winning the match.  There is also a tense endurance mode in single player that will test both you skill and your nerves.  Dark Digital wisely gave us a practice mode too, which is highly recommended for anyone looking to compete with the best”

  • “The graphics are nice, with the environments consisting of exposed brick and rough metal, and the tables having worn edges and stains on the baize, giving the feeling of an underground retro bar location.  The game runs at 60 frames a second never dropping a frame even when playing 4 way multiplayer.  The ball physics are fantastic, it never feels scripted or too arcade-like and I’ve never felt cheated out of a shot due to a flaw in the simulation.  The colours are lush and vibrant, with the option to customize both the balls and table colours and patterns.”…..check out these pics… http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/06/01/review-inferno-pool/ …i’m sold…i’ll take a code…besr not be more than 10 like uk

    • And on that high note I have finally reached the end of the comments… remember guys I am over here in the land of GMT so if you do add more comments or replies I won\’t get around to responding until you are far away in the land of nod… but I will get round to it so be patient!

      Thanks for all the comments :)

  • This game looks pretty awesome, unlike any other out there. I’m going to have to check it out, and prepare to battle my buddies for Inferno supremacy!

  • WOAH! a comment for every comment.. i believe that is a first.. things like this give me confidence that a studio actually CARES about their game and will not just throw it out there for quick bucks and never look back to fix issues that its players are having.. *cough* *cough* battlefield 1943

    props to you guys.

  • OMG!, a response to every post including videos!! well done Rob, well done.

    Thanks for taking the time to answer and respond to questions. It does make a difference.

    • You\’re welcome, thanks for taking the time to read the blog and comment… it\’s great to hear what everyone has to say.

  • So Yoda is now doing Voice overs? I sware at one point I thought it was Yoda. Use the force only then will you win the Inferno Pool Challenge.

    • Actually, we bred Yoda, the Cookie Monster and Cristian Bale when he\’s dressed as Batman together to create The Voice of Inferno Pool

  • from the first screenshot that came out for this game i was very interested in purchasing this game, and now that i see what it really is i will not be getting this at all, at first it looked like a good straight up pool game, now it’s like you used the mortal kombat fighters balls and voice effect and scred up the game with special effects flying all over on the table, sorry, no money from me.

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