PixelJunk 4am out this Spring, Play It In SF Next Week

Heya guys, ^^/

Next week during GDC, PixelJunk is collaborating with Super7 to host a FREE GDC Kickoff party in San Francisco. You can expect:

• A public preview of PixelJunk 4am available to play for anyone not going to GDC!
• Super7’s INSERT COIN COLLECTION T-shirt range launch.
• Prizes for the ‘best jam sessions’ on 4am.
• Free drinks, music, giveaways & fun!

PixelJunk 4am Art & Music Director DJ Baiyon will be on hand to deliver a performance at 6pm to kick things off, followed by free play for everyone. Attendance is free, so if you’re unable to make GDC but still want to checkout PixelJunk 4am, come down and say “Hi” to us.

Where: Super7 Store, 1427 Haight St (@ Masonic)
When: Tuesday March 6th @ 6pm
RSVP on Facebook

Even if you can’t make the party, here are some great details and images of PixelJunk 4am:

Do you have a PlayStation Move? You may be pleased to know that someone is experimenting with it to unleash its full potential. Being indie means you can experiment. You can take risks. Push hardware to new limits (do things no-one else has had the courage to try yet). :D With PixelJunk 4am, we’re entering unknown territory. Want to take a ride with us?

So orthodox music games tell the player what to do. It has them dancing to its musical demands *insert evil laughter*. We’ve created the exact opposite of that. Our players tell the music what to do. This is why we call 4am more of an instrument than a game. In fact, you’re not even really a player anymore. You’re a performer!

And that PlayStation Move you’ve got? Well you’ve never been able to use it like this before. There’s no pointers, no shooting, no ‘waggling’ mini-games. This is an instrument built from the ground-up to fully utilize the PlayStation Move hardware. Using all 3 spacial axes (X, Y & Z plus one more axis for twist), the accelerometer & the gyro, we’ve built a Virtual Canvas in space for you. Your PlayStation Move is then tracked through space using a vibrant palette of changing sphere colours. Imagine an intricate Audio Canvas floating in space that you can use to paint and craft music on.

The PlayStation Network has also never been used like this before. We are essentially empowering PSN with its very own radio broadcasting station. And the artists that will fill the waves will be you! Anytime you play, you will be streaming live on PSN for anyone to tune in and listen to.

“But how do I tune in”? “What if I don’t have a PlayStation Move?” We’ve got you covered! A FREE Viewer will be available to EVERYONE, downloadable through PSN. You can use it to stream any live performances currently happening worldwide. Follow your favorite performers, leave it running as live background music at parties or just enjoy the visuals powered by the PS3 SPU’s brute force. Nothing in 4am is a one-way street though. As a viewer, we want you to feed back into performances and let them know if you like what you’re hearing. You could even change a performer’s mind about what they’ll play next if they suddenly have a crowd to please.

Social networking worlds will also be feeding back into 4am unlike anything before. We’re giving people the tools to promote their performances using Facebook & Twitter from inside 4am. And again, as nothing is a one-way street, any activity around your tweets or posts in the social world have effects back inside 4am increasing your popularity within the game world too.

Every single owner of a PlayStation Move should be sitting up and paying attention. PixelJunk 4am is like nothing you’ll have played before. We’re blurring the lines of what can be called a “game” or an “instrument” using this hardware. PixelJunk 4am will be out in Spring this year. Exploring new territory is fun, so we hope you’ll join us there too. And for everyone else? Download the free Viewer, and turn up the phat bass. :)