Recently in Toronto we held an amazing event called PlayStation <3 Canada to promote and support Canadian indie game developers. In attendance were us here at Vblank Entertainment, Drinkbox Studios (Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack), Queasy Games (Sound Shapes), ][ Games (Dyad) and more. It was a blast! For me, the highlight was finally giving fans a chance to see and play the PS Vita version of Retro City Rampage for the first time. I've been going on for a while about how amazing it looks on the PS Vita, and now you can see what it looks like for yourself.

Those of you who are worried that the characters might be too small on the PS Vita screen needn’t be! It supports two screen modes. The standard mode designed specifically for the PS Vita scales everything up and ensures that the characters and everything else are easy to see. Alternatively, the second mode uses smaller pixels but displays the entire 16:9 widescreen image and supports the TV/arcade screen borders of the PS3 counterpart, so it’s entirely up to you.

The PS Vita’s touchscreen also adds a nice… touch. RCR is a love letter to the days of the d-pad, for core gamers who grew up with controllers and buttons –but that doesn’t mean that the touchscreen can’t be used where it makes sense. It really makes the menus, minigames and shops faster and more convenient to navigate, going hand in hand with RCR’s overall design philosophy, that is to emit nostalgia while still catering to our evolved expectations of games. This extends from the added touchscreen functionality to the game design and tutorials. For example, you won’t need to flip through a manual or call a tips hotline to figure out what to do ;). But if you’re an absolute purist, you can still play the game 100% with the buttons.

I’m willing to bet that if you have a PS Vita, you also have a PS3. Well, you’re going to be exceptionally excited to hear about just how good friends the PS3 and PS Vita versions are. If you’re like me, you want the best of both worlds. You want to be able to play your favorite games on your nice TV from the couch but still take them with you everywhere you go. With Retro City Rampage, your dreams have come true! It supports continuous play so you can play the game on your couch, save it, and continue where you left off from your PS Vita (and vice versa).

Not only can the PS3 and PS Vita versions share save games, they also share a single set of scoreboards. If you’re rad enough to blast a high score onto the board, your replay will be up there for everyone to watch no matter which platform. Show your friends how a game wizard plays Retro City Rampage!

While the PS Vita version of Retro City Rampage boasts everything that its PS3 counterpart does, I had fun making a few tweaks to tailor the experience to the handheld. The PS3 version supports tube TV simulation filters which curve the screen and add scanlines (allowing you to play on an LCD TV with the feel of an old CRT); similarly, the PS Vita version supports classic dot-matrix simulation filters giving it a heavy dose of Game Boy/Game Gear nostalgia. I absolutely love it and it’s my filter of choice when playing the game. If the LCD grid simulation alone isn’t retro enough for you, you can also change the color mode. The color modes let you make Retro City Rampage even more retro with options such as “Brick Handheld” (yellow-green monochrome) and “Virtual Burn” (all red), “Blurst Processor,” “SEE=64,” “PC DOS EGA” and a dozen more. These are also available in the PS3 version!

One question you’re going to ask is “WHEN!?” I don’t have a fixed release date just yet, but it’ll be out as soon as possible. I’m fixing the final bugs and working around the clock to get it into your hands as soon as I can. Keep your eyes peeled here on the PlayStation.Blog!

Let’s get right to it — Retro City Rampage is coming to PS3 and PS Vita! I couldn’t be more excited to finally share the news. For those not familiar with RCR, it’s an over-the-top open-world crime game that combines everything you loved in classic games and mashes them up into a “toon town” of nostalgia and parody. Steal cars, and then jump on pedestrians for big shiny coins. Collect power-ups and outrun the law while rampaging the city, shooting a light gun or swinging your bionic arm.

Fans of Grand Theft Auto will feel right at home with RCR, but the missions extend far beyond driving and shooting. They fuse classic gaming and modern mechanics to span virtually every genre, from stealth to platforming, adventure, rhythm and more—there are even underwater levels. What I’m most proud of is that everything flows together using the same mechanics and visuals. Even missions inspired by ’80s coin-op games seamlessly take place in the open-world.

It really is a massive game with something for everyone. It boasts a full story mode with over 50 missions, taking place in extensive city with stores, buildings and activities to interact with. For those of you who just want to jump right into the action and rampage the town, there’s also an Arcade Mode. It’s packed with over 30 fast-paced, score-based challenges where you’ll use the 25+ weapons and power-ups available to rack up points. You’ll be able to share replays as you try to dethrone your friends!

Bringing RCR to PlayStation has been a fantastic experience. Sony’s been so supportive and great to work with, since the beginning. This will mark the seventh year since I began developing games for the PlayStation platforms, and I look forward to many more to come. With the ability to bring RCR to both the PS3 and PS Vita, you’ll be able to play the full game anywhere you go with the best possible visuals. The PS Vita is an incredible system, one look at the screen and you’ll be hooked too. It takes RCR’s colorful art direction to the next level.

The PS Vita has been a dream to develop for as well. I’ve developed for every console and handheld from the past decade, and the PS Vita’s development system is the best I’ve ever used. Sony’s simply gotten everything right, from the hardware to the tools and support. With such a great development system, teams are able to focus entirely on making the best possible game, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come from other developers in the future.

Remember when you were on the playground with your friends as a child, talking about your dream video game? The one that had EVERYTHING in it? Where you could go anywhere and do anything? Well, as you can see, this is my dream game. It’s taken a long time to build, but thanks to the amazing team including myself, Brian Provinciano, artist Maxime Trépanier and the composers Virt, Freaky DNA and Norrin Radd, it’s finally been fully realized and it’s even bigger and better than I first imagined.

So are you rad enough to outrun the law and carjack the ’80s? Then lock and load your LIGHTGUN and power up your POWER-UPS, because you’re about to go on a RETRO CITY RAMPAGE!