As most of you heard at the Sony Press Conference kicking off E3, we are proudly bringing the ModNation franchise to the much anticipated PlayStation Vita. It was a great opportunity to share with you all some of the things our team has in store. For starters, the ModNation Racers PS3 Community has created in just over a year’s time over 2 million Mods, Karts and Tracks. All of which will be available to anyone who purchases ModNation Racers (Working Title) for PS Vita on day one. That means by using the online capabilities and processing power of the PS Vita, the ModNation team has made it possible for users to download any PS3 user generated creation and bring it with them on the go.

The team has also made huge strides in creating a ground up effort to make a ModNation title that takes full advantage of the PlayStation Vita features. As mentioned in the Press Conference, this title is not a port of the PSP or PS3. On the creation side, we showed that in a matter of seconds how fast and easy it is to create a track by drawing it with your finger. The front touch capability of the PS Vita has kicked the door wide open for more intuitive ways to edit your track and place props to your personal liking. But without a doubt, the single most element that received the most “Oooos and Aaaahs,” was the power of the back touch.

Play puppet master in your very own ModNation universe and raise mountains by simply touching the back panel. The longer you hold your fingertips to the back panel, the higher the peaks rise. On the front panel, if you feel inclined to create a lake, simply press down until you strike water. We also demonstrated that the integrity of ModNation kart racing is still intact with the advantage of Dual Analog Sticks. With steering on the left stick, and performing stunts on the right, racing could not be more fun.

As you will watch in this never before seen video, creation is certainly at your fingertips. It is a great time for technology and the PlayStation Vita has given us a wealth of tools to work with. We are excited to say that this is only the tip of the iceberg. There is plenty more that will be revealed in the months to come so keep your eyes peeled.

Also, be sure to check out G4’s Best of E3 2011 special airing Monday, June 20 at 6:30pm ET/PT. We were nominated for Best Handheld and Best Racing Game!

In addition, the game also supports stereoscopic 3D and PlayStation Move functionality included on the disc to really simulate a genuine bowling swing. The game’s a blast to play and lets up to four friends play offline, or go head-to-head online to see who the better bowler is.

If you already own the original High Velocity Bowling game on PSN, you can get the PlayStation Move add-on functionality for free if you are a PlayStation Plus member. If you aren’t a member of PlayStation Plus, don’t worry: the PlayStation Move add-on is planned to be released in the near future.

For those late bloomers who haven’t played the game yet, now’s the perfect time to try it out. It uses the SIXAXIS motion sensors so you hold the controller and swing your arm like you’re throwing the ball. With 4-player local play and 2-player online, it’s great fun for family and friends, and can be had for only $9.99 on PSN. In addition to the eight quirky, unique characters included in the base game, there are a bunch of other downloadable characters and ball packs available via in-game commerce or the PlayStation Store as well, on top of Jarvis and Ginger coming this week.

Here’s the breakdown of the goodies coming this Thursday:

Characters

Jarvis

His love for pain, and fearlessness around danger has developed his strength as an extreme athlete. This has helped his power in the alley immensely. However, with recklessness comes carelessness. His accuracy isn’t the greatest, but this never detracts him from going all out.

Ginger

With her experience and proficiency at handling balls of all sizes, her accuracy in the lane is impeccable. But, since she loves the way she looks in her uniform, Ginger likes to take it slow down the lane to ensure she doesn’t get herself dirty.

Here’s a video of these two in action on their new lanes.

Ball Packs

Winter Holiday Ball Pack

The Winter Holiday Ball Pack was inspired by the gift of giving and puffy snow, including two showcase balls.

Animal Patterns

The Animal Pattern Ball Pack was inspired by the instinctual character of the world’s wildlife, including two showcase balls.

We hope you enjoy all the new goodies from HVB family. Happy Holidays, and thanks again from SD Studios for all your support!

The Patch
There were a couple things we wanted to fix up to make things a bit more enjoyable:

• Resolved network stability issues
• Background music playback is now available while not signed into PSN
• More than 1 additional costume is now allowed especially in Online Head to Head.

Characters

Don Carlos ‘El Gordo’ Caliente
Don Carlos is a lower tier Luchador from Mexico City, Mexico. Beyond his size, his love for spicy foods has equipped him with the internal power to launch the ball. Unfortunately, his brute force leaves him with very little spin success. Comes with the new Casa de Caliente lane.

Milan ‘Princess’ Travellage
Milan is the daughter of a wealthy motel magnate from Van Nuys, California. This wannabe celebutante sports knockoffs of the latest fashions, and plays with the best second-hand balls on the market, which are great for adding spin. But she lacks power because she’s scared of breaking one of her cheap press-on nails. Comes with the new Celebutante’s Row lane.

Ball Packs

Tiki Polynesian Ball Pack
The Tiki Polynesian Ball pack was inspired by the cool, laid back attitude of the islands, including 2 showcase balls.

60’s Surf Ball Pack
The 60′s Surf Ball Pack was inspired by the legacy and style of 1960, including 2 showcase balls.

The new characters and ball packs can be had for just $0.99. Stay tuned in because we’ll have a lot more stuff for you throughout the year. Don Carlos and Milan are out now, and the new ball packs will be out in the coming weeks.

We hope you enjoy all the new goodies from HVB family. For those late bloomers who haven’t played the game yet, we invite you to pick it up. It’s great fun for family and friends, at home or using online multiplayer.

Thanks again from Team RamRod!

Bruce ‘Flyboy’ Fitzpatrick

Bruce is a flamboyant flight attendant from New York, New York who happens to be fantastic in the lane. He’s definitely earned the nickname ‘Flyboy’ and has proven to have fabulous ball control. Though, his downfall is that he cares more about his precious manicure than pin action … so it’s nothing but light balls for him.

Carmen ‘Sordida’ Sanchez

Carmen is from San Ysidro, California, and with a chip on her shoulder, she has much to prove. She’ll do anything to win even if it requires dirty tactics. Carmen refuses to wear bowling shoes and as a result, her form leaves a lot to be desired.

We hope you enjoy these two new additions to the High Velocity Bowling family! BUT, if that wasn’t enough for you, keep checking back with us in a few weeks as we have more to ‘spare’ with a fun new add-on — Jill’s Trick-Shot Pack, available on March 19th!

We hope you enjoy all the new goodies from HVB family. And, for those late bloomers who haven’t played the game yet, we invite you to pick it up for just $9.99. It’s definitely great fun for family and friends, at home or online.

Team RamRod

As fans we pay for our ticket and expect a show, and then we go home after a few hours and go on with our day. These athletes have to live with the wins, the losses, the injuries, the hype, the criticisms, the business, and the drama. We need to remember that these basketball players are humans and go through struggles of their own. We wanted to explore what kind of character and integrity it takes to endure that and still perform on the grand stage of the NBA. Flash and money is certainly part of that lifestyle, but stuff like that does not last the test of time. The integrity and value of a character’s heart does.

In the past we did this by creating a compelling storyline centered on a point guard, driven by a unique gameplay experience. This year we raised the bar and created 3 unique storylines focusing on all five positions with gameplay that is customized to their role on the court. With the advanced features of the PS3 we have gone beyond the sim experience in our product and put the end user in the drivers seat of an entertaining, cinematic experience. To really put you in that role we’ve created scenes on the court that set the user up for what he’s supposed to do. For example, the user will watch a scene in the team huddle during the timeout and the Coach will give you some direction as to what he wants you to do once the game resumes.

To further support that, we’ve added dynamic overlays to give you a quick snapshot of the list of goals we want you to achieve. The unique thing about this, is that we have the ability to put you in game winning situations. We will give you goals that direct you to make a specific number of shots, in any given amount of time. If your team is down by 8 points late in the 4th quarter, we will put you in the position to turn the game around. Although you have control over every person on the team, your ultimate goal is to achieve these goals with your created character. This type of experience also extends off the NBA court. The user will experience scenes in a blacktop environment where the action and dialogue become the catalyst for the mini-game right after. These scenes are also accompanied by a dynamic overlay that explains the rules of the game.

What makes The Life stand out as a feature in NBA 09 The Inside is the storytelling and unique way the gamplay relates to that story. The majority of our story scenes take place on a playable court, and dialogue within the scene actually applies to the game you are about to play. In the past loading screens and extra UI pages disrupted this experience. We’ve minimized all of that by loading the scene and game together before the scene is even played, and created dynamic game instruction overlays that appear while the scene is playing. This gives us the ability to enter the game following the story scene seamlessly without any disruptions. The most engaging thing about this experience is that you get to be the hero in games and scenarios partnered with some entertaining cinematics.

You won’t find a cinematic sports experience like this anywhere else. It’s a labor of love for us and we hope you enjoy the unique perspective we are bringing to basketball gaming. Above is a trailer we created that gives a taste of what you can expect with The Life mode. We have two other trailers that we’ll be rolling out over the coming weeks so keep an eye out for them.