Check out all this and more, starting this Wednesday:

Studio ][ and Codename Games — A Game About Bouncing

Indie studio ][ and Codename proudly present a new arcade cabinet for PlayStation Home: A Game About Bouncing.

][ (pronounced “right square bracket left square bracket” or “RSBLSB”) is perhaps best known for this year’s trippy PSN exclusive DYAD – and if “A Game About Bouncing” looks familiar, there’s a good reason. Creator Shawn McGrath originally designed “A Game About Bouncing” as a quick game jam that ended up becoming one of the early sketches for DYAD.

In “A Game About Bouncing,” the goal is simple, to propel yourself using the thumbsticks, bouncing from one body to the next, while avoiding the dark comets that increasingly seek you out. The controls are simple to learn, but it takes some definite skill to master and earn the high scores and rewards.

Speaking of rewards, there are some great ones packed in the game for cabinet owners. First up is a pair of custom Bouncing-inspired bow-less specs, featuring animated art from the game.

Next up, your very own version of Shawn McGrath’s signature hat and beard (with a less fuzzy version for the ladies) awarded to players who show Shawn-like skills at the game.

And finally, a complete avatar replacement, built entirely from the artsy game’s unique assets, seen here with the attractive custom cabinet.

Friends can play on this cabinet, and there’s a leader board to track who in the Home community can bounce the longest.

Heavy Water – Avalon Keep Update

The exterminators have taken care of your little pest problem and now you can enter your Dungeon. This addition to the popular Avalon Keep opens up the entire Dungeon area while you and your friends all remain in the same personal estate – no loading between scenes! Purchasing the Dungeon also adds new items to earn in Crystal Hunter, the free update to the Avalon Keep. Oh, and did we mention there are two dungeon styles? Switch freely between Mystical and Spooky dungeon scenes dynamically. Each version has an interactive feature in the center of the dungeon, and one of them earns you a few more rewards as an owner, so make the upgrade and explore your Dungeon!

There’s another free update to Avalon Keep. This game is open to owners and guests alike. Crystals have started appearing on the grounds and in the sky around your Keep! Luckily Barlow, the merchant, trades in crystals. Collect as many crystals as you can to buy new items for your Gift Machine or donate to the Noble Houses of Avalon, or the Avalonian Kingdom itself.

“Why should I donate to the different Houses or the Kingdom of Avalon?” you might ask. There is a good reason – Community rewards! When each of the coffers reaches a certain amount, all who enter Avalon Keep from then on are gifted a full-sized guard companion to honor your generosity. The community can earn all five guards in each of their uniforms.

The Avalon Kingdom has manufactured some more Royal Clothing for its denizens. Try out the line of Royal Dresses and Slippers for the ladies, or the Royal Tunics, Pantaloons and Ren shoes for the gentlemen.

And don’t miss out on the Animated Royal Crystal Mohawks – the next item in the line of Royal Crystal wear from Avalon. If you missed out on the Royal Crystal Crowns early adopter bonuses from Avalon Keep, these are the next best thing. Heck they might even be better!

JAM Games – RaceOn!

At Jam Games we’d like to say a huge hello to PlayStation Home members in the USA and beyond! We’re racing onto the scene with our first collection that includes a range of male and female clothing inspired by the world of motor sport. We also have a small range of furniture to complement our Garage Apartment and we can’t wait to see how you guys use it — whether you convert it into an urban apartment, turn it into an underground nightclub or use it for something completely different! We’d love to see your pictures! Visit us at www.jamgames.co.uk.

Now get to the starting grid…. JAM Games are ready to race!

Juggernaut Games – Hoverdiscs and MiniBot Training Facility Update

Juggernaut Games introduces their new Hoverdisc locomotion items that boost your avatar’s speed to 150%. Available in five unique designs, or grab the bundle to ride the rainbow on the exclusive “Nyan” style Hoverdisc!

Juggernaut is also pleased to announce another update to the MiniBots Training Facility personal space: you can now take to the air with your MiniBot in-game with the Hoverdisc Gadget! Ownership of any Juggernaut Hoverdisc will unlock the Hoverdisc Gadget for use in MiniBots Multiplayer. There’s also a lot of new content available in Alvin’s Armory – including the fan-requested “Tozt-9” flamethrower, new decos, companions and more. Be sure to check out the first ever MiniBots content designed by Home users!

HellFire Games – New SpeedWings and New Vehicle Colors in Home Tycoon

Boost your avatar’s speed up to 150% with six new SpeedWings locomotion items from Hellfire Games, available this Wednesday. Blaze through PlayStation Home with the Macabre Skeletal Wings, Brilliant Lightning Wings, Dark Raven Wings, Enchanted Fairy Wings, Sky Monarch Wings, and Stellar Phoenix Wings. Each set of SpeedWings features upgraded flying and floating animations and doesn’t require any clothing slots, so you can wear them with any outfit!

Cruise through your dream city in style with eight new car colors in Home Tycoon from Hellfire Games! These new paintjobs are available in the Vehicles section of the Home Tycoon in-game store, including:

• Cilantro – Yellow
• Cilantro – White
• Nexus LX – Blue
• Nexus LX – Brown
• GS 828 – Silver
• GS 828 – Green
• El Valiente – Red
• El Valiente – White

Granzella – Teahouse and Shoulder Suits

Introducing the new Japanese Teahouse personal space from Granzella – peacefully situated on this secluded mountain side you can host a tea party and welcome your guests. The small teahouse is designed to bring guests closer. Forget the hustle and bustle of the city for a little while and enjoy a peaceful moment. The Tea Ceremony Tool Set includes a Japanese Teacup, a Japanese Teakettle, and a Dango. By building this personal space according to wabisabi thinking, the small teahouse is designed to bring guests closer together.

The Tea Ceremony Kimono, Japanese Sweets, and Flower Arrangements have arrived in the Japanese Teahouse personal space from Granzella. Carefully dressed in the Tea Ceremony Kimono, peaceful moments are wrapped in the aroma of tea. There are sweets that go well with the green tea, and colorful flower arrangements decorate the teahouse. If preparations are in order, it’s time to welcome the guests.

Granzella introduces the Shoulder Draped Suit Jacket and Hunting Cap set. Wearing this jacket over your shoulders is a wild fashion statement. In addition to the top and bottoms of the suit, the content of the set includes a Hunting Cap, Leather shoes for men, High Heels for women. Coordinate your whole body in style. For both men and women, this set is available in black, white, and red. In addition, if you wear this jacket in the Neon Downtown lounge, you’ll earn a cool nickname such as “Dragon,” “Wolf,” or “Tiger”. There’s plenty to go around.

Wander the streets aimlessly at night with your suit flowing from your shoulders. You’ll look cool all night.

Game Mechanics – Customizable Chairs

Game Mechanics is introducing themselves with a bunch of cool stuff from their Contender Series. Start with some canvas chairs that you can write on adding your own custom text. Whether it is people’s names creating assigned seats, a title as in a director’s chair, or some fun game you can play with your friends. They come in eight colors plus regular and tall size. There are also tables that seat four but only take up three furniture slots – bar style tables and a picnic bench. These are tables that you can place where you can sit close to the tables and people face each other. Formerly that was only available in furniture that was built into spaces. There are also tables with built in lamps for those intimate dark corners. In addition, a giant tire clock that hangs on the wall that is so big you can read it from across the room and a clock made out of a steering wheel. The clocks only take up three furniture slots, not twenty-two like the old days. Finally they created a desk out of racing car parts: seat, cylinders and all. Cool stuff for sure. A great start. Congratulations and welcome!

PlayStation Home Mall Update

Magnus is back in his 65th volume of the Virtual Item Showcase. This week he showcases new Racing gear from the new developer Jam Games, new SpeedWings, a few cute outfits from Granzella, and more.

Check out the video below for all the details.

Midway – Ca$h Carnival Last Few Days!

This is it! This is the final few days you have a chance to win a fabulous prize at the Midway Ca$h Carnival Sweepstakes! Go to the Hot Zone to sign up for the Sweepstakes and every green ticket you spend playing any Midway or Hot Zone game earns you an entry into the weekly drawing! And you’ll win a cool $1,000 cash along with the prize! This is also the last time your entries will count toward the Grand Prize drawing for $15,000! Real prizes! Real Money! Real Fun! Don’t miss it! Hurry up and play! For official rules, click here.

Where to begin?! I’d start in the game store in the Mall to start bouncing, then peruse what else your heart desires. There’s always new fun in PlayStation Home! See you there.

Mare Sheppard of Metanet Software, David Kanaga (Dyad’s composer) and I worked tirelessly through the night to create a new trailer announcing the launch of the demo. It’s a playful take on the first Dyad trailer and other game trailers. I got to star in my very own trailer; that’s pretty neat! I hope everyone has a good laugh, and yes, that’s my real hair!

If the (overwhelmingly positive) reviews are correct, then Dyad is a game you have to play to fully understand — now’s your chance! Check out Dyad’s first five levels, and see if you groove with it. If you do, the PlayStation Plus discount continues this week.

If you’re curious about the game, check out this blog post, and maybe this one too.

If you’re more of an “official site” kind of person, you’re in luck! There just happens to be an official site for Dyad, and it’s located right here.

I’ll be hanging out on the blog throughout the day to answer any questions you may have.

It’s been a crazy amount of hard work to finish it and bring it to you on the PlayStation 3. It’s out today and I am extremely proud of it — thanks for all the love and support!

When Tim Rogers, director of Action Button Entertainment, first played Dyad he literally died. When he resurrected he demanded to be allowed to direct and co-star in his own Dyad advertisement with Vito Gesualdi. I hope you find their take on Dyad as hilarious as I do.

July 17th PlayStation Plus Update

Dyad – 20% Off: Dyad is an abstract game that is influenced by many genres, including racing games, fighting games, puzzle games and classic arcade shooters. Each of the game’s 27 different levels utilizes a variety of mechanics and present unique challenges: forming long combos, racing, surviving as long as possible, hitting certain top speeds, and more. Releasing as part of the 7/17 PlayStation Store Update, we’re proud to present this highly-anticipated game to all Plus members at a 20% discount on day one! Want more info? Check out all the coverage from the PlayStation Blog on this title, or hop into the PlayStation Forums thread to discuss it with the community.

The Games (PlayStation Store Promotion): Start Your Training. Once again four years have gone by in a flash, and the world is getting together to compete in The Games. To celebrate, snag two bonus sporty PS one Classics free: International Track & Field and Hot Shots Golf 2. International Track and Field is a 3D update to the classic Track & Field series and offers fun competition in over 11 different Olympic Events. Hot Shots Golf 2’s gameplay still shines as well, with easy to pick up and play golf action. If you own a PSP and have a Plus subscription through your PS3, you’ll be able to activate these free Plus downloads on your PSP, as well as your PS3. In addition, the sale will feature 50% discounts on select titles for Plus members too.

July 24th & 31st PlayStation Plus Update

PSN PLAY – 20% off: This legendary PlayStation Store event returns with a killer lineup of new releases and special incentives. PlayStation Plus members get the edge though as each of these highly anticipated new releases will have a 20% discount for all members during the first week! By participating in this event, you’ll not only get discounts on each week of a game’s release (including the pre-order week), but the more you buy, the more actual dollars will end up back in your wallet! So watch out for the pre-order of Expendables 2, starting 7/24 and game release on 7/31.

Sound Shapes, Papo & Yo, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive are also in the wings to rock your PSN world in PSN PLAY, which continues into August. Want more info? Read more about the PSN PLAY event right here or discuss it in the PlayStation Community forums.

Malicious – 20% off: In Malicious, you’ll take control of a “Spirit Vessel” awakened by prophets to defeat Holders, evil giants bent on destroying The Kingdom. You’re armed with the Mantle of Cinders, a magical artifact that takes the form of weapons or a shield. This awesome new PSN title sports a 20% discount in its debut week on the PlayStation Store on 7/24!

That’s it for now, but keep your feedback coming in by posting your thoughts on this update in the comments section. We got some great feedback from the questions posed in the update earlier this month, so thank you for making your voice heard. What games will you be picking up this month? Thanks, and see you in the comments!

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?

Last week in New York City I was fortunate enough to show off Dyad, the almost-ready-done-really-soon-I-promise game coming to PSN for PS3. During our NYC showcase, the PlayStation.Blog crew was kind enough to stop by and conduct a quick Q&A and gameplay session, and you can watch the results in this new original video.

Each of the game’s 27 different levels touch upon a variety of mechanics and goals: forming long combos, racing, surviving as long as possible, hitting certain top speeds and more. And the game’s 26 special Trophy levels have challenging alternate goals, whether it’s playing just by using sound or collecting objects as quickly as possible. Since each level has a corresponding leaderboard to track online rankings, Dyad boasts a huge number of leaderboards — 52 in all, each requiring a unique set of skills to master.

I also wanted to mention that David Kanaga did the game’s interactive music. Here’s his Dyad EP, and you can hear more of his interactive music here.

I’ll be hanging around here all day, so after you watch the video, feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I’ll answer what I can!

Below is a new gameplay video showcasing one of the later levels in Dyad. Don’t worry if it looks too complex! It’ll make perfect sense once you’ve completed the earlier levels.

When you hear the term “interactive music” you might think of “rhythm games” such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Frequency, or others of that nature. Dyad’s music system is very different from those games. There’s no beat matching or imposed rhythm in the game. The music doesn’t dictate play, nor does it judge you. Dyad’s music is reactive, meaning it’s mixed dynamically on the fly, based on the current game state and how you’re interacting with it. Each time you play a level, the music is different — playing Dyad can be viewed as a “performance” in a sense.

There is a tremendous amount of variety in Dyad’s rules and mechanics and the music is equally varied. Each level is treated as a unique piece of music and is composed to match the structure of the level. Certain levels challenge you to race as quickly as possible, and the music intensifies, matching your speed. In other levels you collect objects or perform certain actions quickly, and, likewise, the music becomes richer with the fulfillment of these goals. Levels have many sub-goals, sometimes only a second or two long, and even here the music shifts and reacts accordingly.

An individual level consists of up to 300 different loops and scale notes. Dozens of loops play simultaneously and are mixed dynamically based on your interactions; loops are also swapped in and out constantly to match the continually changing game state. Dyad’s music system is built on the foundations laid out by some of our favorite games such as Rez and Everyday Shooter but we’ve taken it to a whole new level. Interactions do more than simply play a musical event in the key or pulse of the background music. Different interactions change the mix of loops, play new loops, stop loops, change effects and filter parameters, change the tempo of the music and much more.

Track #1

Track #2

Track #3

Download the three songs for free from David Kanaga’s Bandcamp page here.

Follow Dyad Game on Twitter, and Facebook.

Dyad is an abstract racing game that has influences in many genres including racing games, fighting games, puzzle games and classic arcade shooters.

Dyad does away with the traditional racing game mechanics of break and accelerate and replaces them with puzzle-like mechanics. You must interact with your enemies in unique and varying ways in order to gain speed.

I’ve always loved the visceral feel racing games provided, especially the WipeOut series, and I wanted to translate that feeling into a puzzle game. In most racing games, each track has an ideal ‘racing line’ which players must memorize and translate into muscle memory in order to be successful – I remember months of repeating tracks in WipeOut XL for the PSX! With Dyad I replaced the mental process of memorizing a racing line with various combo mechanics. Dyad begins with very basic comboing rules centred around the polarity of enemies, and continuously adds new mechanics throughout the course of the game. You race quickly in Dyad by making smart decisions, not by memorizing static tracks.

While discussing the contrasting differences in the mechanics in Dyad versus traditional racing games, we found a very strong correlation between the mental process of playing and learning Dyad to meditation. Dyad subtly plays off the meditation theme in order to aid you, and maybe get you thinking about new and different things you wouldn’t expect from a game. Without giving away too much, you’re also on a quest in Dyad… similar to the quest a particle might take in the Large Hadron Collider.

I really wanted Dyad to be something anyone could enjoy; by “anyone” I mean literally “anyone,” not “anyone” in the context of casual games. Dyad is a very deep hardcore racing/puzzle game, but it’s designed to be enjoyed at many levels. The audio and visuals were designed to be appealing both actively and passively. I’ve shown Dyad at several public gaming and non-gaming events and people will stand around watching and listening without any idea what they’re seeing. New players and casual players get a lot out of the unique, intuitive mechanics, and hardcore players can really dive in to maximize their performance.

We’ve been hard at work on Dyad for the past 3 years and I’m very happy with it, and it will only get better as it gets closer to completion. Dyad runs at 60fps at 1080p on the PlayStation 3. Thanks for checking it out! I’ll post again on the PlayStation blog when we’re ready to release.