Still there? Then allow me to add that Guacamelee! is a metroid-vania style brawler that supports Cross-Buy, Cross-Save, Cross-Control, has a precious Platinum trophy, and comes complete with rapid punching action.

Punch, punch, punch! Speaking of which, you may now be saying, “Hey guy, what’s up with all of the punch talk?”

Well, when we started making Guacamelee! we knew we wanted to include punching, but not just ordinary punching. We built a proof-of-concept demo, a video of which I have included below for your approval.

As you can see, we had blocking, we had holds, and we had charge-up moves. You’ll be interested to know that we now have none of those things! Why, you ask? Turns out that stuff slows down the pace of exploring an open world game, and like my wife always says, pacing is everything! But now I’ve disappointed you, so let me tell you what we do have:

• We have punching and kicking… and posing!!!

Punch, Punch, Kick, Punch, Pose

• We have throws! You can even buy more powerful throws as you progress.
• We have rolling! If you’re overwhelmed or just feeling fancy, you can roll through enemies and parry their attacks.

Like a graceful cabbage, the Luchador Roll screams “style!”

• We have overlapping worlds! Enemies can exist in different parallel dimensions, and if you’re not in the same dimension they are invincible. It’s just that simple.
• We have special moves! They are extra powerful, and some enemies have aura-shields that can only be broken using specific attacks.

An explosion of color… into the face

Add that all up (punching, rolling, throwing, overlapping worlds, special moves and aura-shields) and I hope you’ll agree that Guacamelee! is the Number-1 Mexican-Themed Co-op Multiplayer Dimension-Swapping Metroid-vania Beat-em-up Platformer of the season. Hmmm?

We’re excited to finally announce our launch date and pricing details for Guacamelee! The game will be released on April 9th in the Americas, and will support Cross-Buy for $14.99. This means you buy the game once and get both the PS3 and PS Vita versions. And that’s not all… there’s also a Platinum Trophy!

With GDC being this week, and the IGF award nomination for “Excellence in Visual Art,” we also thought it would be cool to share some early concept art and video footage of the game, so that you can see for yourself how much things have changed. As you can see, Guacamelee! has really come a long way visually since its inception.

We began working on Guacamelee! in February of 2011. For the first two months, the game existed solely as a PowerPoint presentation and some concept art. Here’s the very first screenshot mock-up of the game from that presentation:

We brought these materials and another game idea with us to GDC to gauge publisher interest in the two titles. Guacamelee! was clearly the more popular of the two ideas, and after returning from GDC we spent some time making a prototype to test out how the combat would work, and also took some time to make a “Target Gameplay” video in Flash:

This video was shown to publishers at E3 in 2011, and was also used as part of the materials that helped us get the Canada Media Fund award and actually have the funding necessary to make the game. You can see that most of the initial ideas for the game’s design have made it all the way through to the final product, with one notable exception being the “World of Nightmares”.

Since then, we’ve worked hard on pushing the game much further visually (going through about four style revisions), which can clearly be seen by comparing to our latest trailer, which you can see at the top of this post!

If you’re going to be at GDC, make sure to stop by the IGF Pavilion and say “Hi” to two of our amazing artists; our Art Director Steph, and animator, Augusto. Without them, Guacamelee! would not look as great as it does!

Hello good-looking, internet-savvy PlayStation.Blog readers. Now that you’ve been buttered up a bit, DrinkBox Studios is excited to announce that our new Mexican-themed co-op-multiplayer dimension-swapping Metroid-vania beat-em-up platformer, titled Guacamelee!, will be released through the PlayStation Pub Fund program!

If you have never heard of Guacamelee! the best thing to do is to open your mind, relax, and watch the below trailer:

I know what you are probably thinking…“What is this ‘Pub Fund’? And what does this mean for ME?”

Well it simply means that you can expect Guacamelee! to exclusively launch on the PlayStation®Network for both the PlayStation®3 and the PlayStation®Vita. That’s a lot of ®’s! You can also expect the game to take advantage of the special features offered by each of the platforms (details of these to come later – stay tuned).

Set in a world inspired by Mexican culture, Guacamelee! features a down-on-his-luck agave farmer named Juan Aguacate, who sets out to save the world when El Presidente’s Daughter is kidnapped by an Evil Charro Skeleton. The story takes place in and around a small village in Mexico, and has the player travelling through “The World of the Living” and “The World of the Dead” on his quest to rescue the girl he loves.

We’ll be showing the game next week at E3 running on both the PS3 and the PS Vita. And for up-to-date development news, make sure to follow us on Twitter @DrinkboxStudios, and check out our blog here. Also, feel free to shoot us any questions you have in the comments below, and we will try to answer them the best we can!

Finally, we leave you with a chicken.

While listening to PlayStation Blogcast in the weeks following GDC, I made a sudden realization: There are a lot of Canadian indie developers working on PlayStation titles right now.

With that realization, the PlayStation.Blog staff began planning a trip to Toronto to meet with Drinkbox Games (Tales From Space: About a Blob), Queasy Games (Sound Shapes), ][ Games (Dyad) and other indies working on PS3 and PS Vita games. Our friends at Sony Computer Entertainment Canada suggested that we invite the media and, well, we thought it only fair to include our Canadian fans in on the fun. That means you!

So here’s the formal invitation: Please join us next Tuesday for our “PlayStation <3 Canada” meetup in Toronto. You’ll get first crack at playing Canadian-born PlayStation titles such as the stereophonic side-scroller Sound Shapes (PS Vita), glorious 8-bit homage Retro City Rampage (PS3 + PS Vita), the brain-meltingly beautiful Dyad (PS3), and more that will be revealed at the event. We’ll have refreshing beverages on hand and maybe, just maybe, a musical act. Best of all, you can leave the Loonies, Toonies, hockey dollars and maple money in your wallet - this event is completely free.

Here are the details:

Facebook invite
When: Tuesday, May 8th from 530-8pm
Where: Camp Oochigeas Downtown [464 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S6]
What: hands-on gameplay with unreleased games
Admission: $0.00 (that’s $0.00 Canadian)

Our last Canadian meet-up was a rousing success, so we’re looking forward to meeting you again, for the first time.

Oh, and one final suggestion: Bring your PS Vita and a copy of Mortal Kombat. Sid will be in attendance and he’s got a taste for sweet, sweet Canadian blood. Will you be the one to stop him?

Hey everyone, it’s Graham from DrinkBox Studios here again, and today we’ve got some seriously rockin’ news for you soon-to-be PS Vita owners and for you PS3 owners, too.

We obviously want everybody to download and play Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack for PS Vita, and so we’ve decided to release the game at a great price. Starting February 21, 2012 in North America, PS Vita owners will be able to download Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack from PlayStation Store for $7.99. Make sure to watch the official trailer below to check out some of the awesome stuff we’ve packed into the game:

Wait, There’s More?

Heck yes, there’s more! In celebration of the upcoming release of Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, yesterday we created a new bundle for our previous PS3 game Tales from Space: About a Blob, which includes the full game PLUS both downloadable content packs (the costume pack and the co-operative map pack) for only $9.99. The base price for the game has also dropped from $14.99 down to $7.99. We hope you check this one out too if you have not already!

We hope you enjoy the game and please feel free to send us some love via the official Mutant Blobs Attack blog at www.mutantblobsattack.com, @MutantBlob on Twitter, and DrinkBox Studios on Facebook.

First, you enjoy platformers but are maybe a bit tired of the typical offerings, and are looking for something fresh. You were thinking of buying a Vita, and need something fun to play in between your sessions of Michael Jackson the Experience. You also have a sense of humor and are tired of games that take themselves too seriously. Maybe you also enjoy monster movies that feature the destruction of all mankind, or perhaps have a slight Blob fetish?

And, if all of the above items apply, then this is REALLY the game for you.

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack is a follow up to Tales from Space: About a Blob released early 2011 on the PlayStation 3 (via PSN). Mutant Blobs Attack differs from its predecessor in a number of ways. We want to leave SOME surprises for those who buy the game, so without giving too much away here is some more info about what’s in Mutant Blobs Attack.

This time around the Blob has some new abilities that were designed to take advantage of the Vita’s inputs. The first of these is Telekinesis, which allows the Blob to move objects/platforms around in the game world. These objects are indicated to the player with a green dot, which can be touched and dragged on the Vita’s touchscreen. Having movable objects in the world allows us to challenge the player with unique platforming puzzles.

The second new ability the player will encounter in the game is Rocket Mode. While in this mode, the Blob begins floating in the air, and is controlled using a rocket thruster. While flying around, the back touch pad of the Vita can be used to apply an additional “boost” of speed to the Blob.

Those of you that played Tales from Space: About a Blob will already be familiar with the Magnetic power, which is making a return. Magnetism allows the Blob to stick or repel from fixed metal surfaces, and also pull / push smaller metal objects that are not fixed in place. This power is often used in the game to solve puzzles.

As a break to the normal platforming gameplay, and utilizing another input feature of the Vita, we have spread tilt-based bonus levels throughout the main story. We made these levels all take place in unique and interesting environments like a wooden labyrinth, an old-school retro hand-held device, and maybe even Tom Selleck’s moustache (Editor’s note: Tom Selleck moustache level is not actually included in the game).

We are really proud of how the game turned out, and can’t wait to share it with the world! With the Vita and the game coming out very soon, we really hope that you guys & gals will take some time to check it out.

For up-to-date development news, make sure to follow us on Twitter @DrinkboxStudios and @MutantBlob, and check out our blog at www.mutantblobsattack.com. Also, feel free to shoot us any questions you have in the comments below, and we will try to answer them the best we can!

Greetings once again, opaque and bipedal earthlings! It’s been awhile since I, Orange Blob, have been in touch. You may remember me from my PSN game Tales from Space: About a Blob, where I grew and consumed your world and all its inhabitants.

I’ve been away recently, you see, visiting a strange and unusual planet in a not-too-distant solar system. I was accompanied by my good friend Green Blob. It’s nice to travel with friends, although Green Blob sometimes snores.

Exploring an alien planet is not for the faint of heart. Throughout our adventures, we were often confronted by tricky alien contraptions that required BOTH of us to get past. All this puzzle solving leaves a Blob feeling pretty hungry. Luckily, we were able to sample some local delicacies, i.e. the alien life-forms. They taste exactly like chicken.

Once again, the folks over at DrinkBox Studios have been kind enough to re-create our adventures in video-game form. If you have a friend nearby, toss them a controller and see if you can put your brains together to solve these wacky alien puzzles!

The new Co-operative Map Pack for Tales From Space: About a Blob contains two new levels which require two local players to complete. The pack will be available for download on PSN in North America on July 5th for $1.49.

It’s the Brady…..er; BLOBBY Bunch!

Today’s mouthwatering patch adds a sweet new Costume Editor to the game for free! Once the patch is installed, head over to the in-game pause menu and select the new “Blob Costumes” button. There, you’ll find a fun in-game editor that lets you dress up your blob with all sorts of tasteful accessories like hats, glasses, ears, skin textures and more!

Kanye Blob approves of 90s Blob’s ugly sweater pattern.

You’ll probably notice that some costume accessories aren’t available right away. Never fear! These are unlocked by collecting the yummy little points that are located throughout the levels. Finally, a new reason to snag those hard-to-get floating blue dots of joy.

Bird Blob does NOT approve of Pig Blob.

And if that wasn’t enough, March 8th will also see the release of a Premium Costume Pack for anyone who wants to show off a REALLY stylish blob. This pack doubles the available accessories for a fashion feast fit for a king. We hope you enjoy it!

In the beginning of the game the blob has only his wits, his ability to spit objects, and his infinite appetite at his disposal. As the game progresses the blob also attains the powers of magnetism and electricity.

Since we haven’t focused on it on before, in this post I want to touch on the kind of size changes the blob undergoes in the game. At the start the blob is around the size of a marble, but by the end he’s absolutely huge. As the blob gets bigger he can eat bigger things, jump higher and move faster, and as a result previous threats suddenly become inconsequential. Above, for example, you can see the blob as he starts in one of the levels. He’s about the size of the people nearby, and while he would certainly intimidate me, he’s not monstrous. A little while later however, you can see the blob is able to make things much less comfortable for the people around him.

The blob’s size is potentially limitless, and below I’ve provided a preview of some of the scales you play at. In the game the blob goes from threatening cockroaches, to people, to buildings, to cities, to the Earth itself.

We certainly hope everyone enjoys the game, and you should all know that DLC is forthcoming. There are Home Rewards in the game already, and additional items should appear in PlayStation Home soon. A free theme will be provided to PlayStation Plus users, and of course we’ll have a Dynamic Theme, Avatars, and Wallpapers. Most importantly, there will also be in-game DLC, both free and for-purchase, which we’ll start revealing over the next few weeks. Finally, if you’re interested, every week for the next while we’ll be talking about the process of building the game on our development blog at http://www.aboutablob.com/.

Thanks for reading!

For the last few months we’ve been hard at work putting the finishing touches on our upcoming PSN platformer Tales from Space: About a Blob. I’m very excited to announce that the game’s release is now just weeks away! In North America, the game will be released as a PlayStation Plus exclusive on February 1st, with a general release to follow a week later on February 8th.

First, a quick recap for those of you who may have missed our previous PlayStation.Blog postings: Tales from Space: About a Blob is a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer about a race of alien Blobs that land on an Earth-like planet and start eating everything around them. The game features a retro-inspired art style, local co-op gameplay, a monster-movie theme, and a healthy dose of humor.

Collection is a big part of the game. As you make your way through the levels you must find and eat objects that are smaller than you, which causes you to grow. Little by little you get larger and larger, eventually becoming large enough to absorb cars, people, buildings, etc. Collectible points and hard-to-find “Blob friends” are also scattered about the levels. These are used to provide secondary achievement targets to players looking for an extra challenge.

The Blobs have a variety of abilities at their disposal. Basic abilities include jump, absorb, slam,
and “run” (if you can call what a Blob does when it moves fast “running”!). From the start of the game, player Blobs can also spit out objects they’ve already absorbed and then pull them back from a distance using a special “attract” ability. In co-op play you can use the spit/attract abilities to pass objects back and forth between players.

Over the course of the game, the Blobs are given a couple of additional powers. The first of
these, “Magnetic”, allows Blobs to pull toward and/or push away from metal objects. In-game, these objects are outlined with a purple glow. If a Blob uses its magnetic ability near a fixed metal object like a steel wall, it will be pulled toward or pushed away from the wall. Blobs can use this ability to hover in mid-air around certain areas. When used around loose metal objects, the magnetic ability causes these loose objects to fly away from or toward the player.

A second special Blob ability – introduced a bit later in the game – is the “Electric” power. This ability allows Blobs to pull electricity out of special machines (outlined in blue) and push it back into other machines. This can be used to manipulate objects in the environment: Turning moving platforms on and off, for example, or causing platforms to rotate. The electric ability is particularly useful in some of the puzzles found in the second half of the game.

The full game features a healthy amount of content. Each of the game’s seventeen levels contain special speed run and collection achievement targets. We have also included online leaderboards to track top speed run times for each level.

There will be a free trial version of the game from day one. If you decide to give it a try: Grab a friend if you can – co-op is really a lot of fun. I hope you guys have as much fun playing the game as we did making it!