Subscription Links:

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe via RSS here
• Download the MP3 here on PS3, PS Vita or PC (Right-Click->Save As)

The US PlayStation.Blog team is taking a break for Independence Day, that uniquely American holiday fueled by smoked meats, cold adult beverages and deafening explosions. But we didn’t want to leave you empty handed, so we’re publishing this week’s PlayStation Blogcast a full 24 hours early. Listen and enjoy!

In today’s show, we put the spotlight on the new Tomb Raider, a survival-based re-imagining of the classic series that’s heading to PS3 in March 2013. Karl Stewart, Global Brand Manager for Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, sheds new light on the creative process driving the game’s ambitious goals, from re-introducing the iconic character of Lara Croft to integrating RPG-style character progression and redefining the series’ trademark action, platforming, and puzzles. This is a great discussion about the video game creative process, and worth a listen even if Tomb Raider isn’t on your radar.

Of course, we also share first details on next week’s PSN lineup, answer several user questions, and serve up another head-scratching Mystery Theme. Click the Play button already!

Update: In this podcast, we incorrectly reported that Mickey Mania would be coming to PlayStation Store. There are no plans to release the game on the North American PlayStation Store as the game only supports PAL video output, which is incompatible with North American television sets.

Stuff We Talked About

Tomb Raider (2013)

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Tekken 3

The Walking Dead: Episode Two – Starved for Help

Oh, and here’s a special Independence Day bonus! PlayStation Blogcast’s celebrated DJ Dormilón recently broadcast a scintillating set in PixelJunk 4am, and you can listen to the toe-tapping results below.

The Cast

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game
details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating
descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

Do you have a PlayStation Move motion controller? Do you like music? Are waffles delicious? If you answered “Yes” to any of the above questions, I have some delicious news for you!

PixelJunk 4am will be released later today on PSN for $9.99! The FREE PixelJunk 4am Viewer app will also be available to download today, and will enable you to stream the full library of 4am visualizers and songs from performers around the world.

If you’re not already familiar with PixelJunk 4am, it’s a Virtual Audio Canvas that uses PlayStation Move, giving you the power to craft music in a unique new audio-visual experience. Your creations are broadcast live on PSN around the world to viewers who can stream (and cheer you on!) in real time.

You can look forward to seven songs and six visualizers with 38 variations, 10 events and over 190 different sounds to play with. PixelJunk 4am supports both in-game Twitter and Facebook connectivity, enabling you to promote your performances with personal messages and start to build your own persona and audience. You can also use 4am as a stand-alone visualizer (no Move required) and play your favorite music from your PS3.

For anyone still yet to see 4am in action, we’ve been playing with it lately in the office here and did some raw filming. Here’s a peek at what can be done with just one song & visualizer!

4am also supports two two Move controllers, meaning you can mix simultaneously with a friend live, or dual-wield by yourself like a pro. :) We took it up onto the roof in the rain last night. Phat bass filtering down into the streets below… :D

Watching players in the early access live beta, we’ve already been blown away by people’s creativity. Some of you have been uploading performances to YouTube in suits and masks or adding your own digital GUI overlays. And that was just with the one song the Beta offered! o.O I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with using the full release library!

So please, show us how it’s done. We’ve provided the platform, it’s up to you guys to stand on it. Surprise us and show us what you can come up with! We’ll be streaming wherever you are in the world.

The PixelJunk series has been a huge success for us, so to celebrate Q’s 10th anniversary (and also PixelJunk’s fifth), for a limited time we are slashing the prices of Racers, Monsters, Eden, and Shooter to just ONE DOLLAR. Yes, you heard correctly! On top of this, we are also slashing the prices for PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (PSP), PixelJunk Shooter 2 and PixelJunk SideScroller by HALF! You have no choice but to snap them all up the very moment the sale goes live tomorrow afternoon with the PlayStation Store update! Spread the word and let’s go PixelJunk crazy for a week! Actually, make that TWO weeks because after the sale, PixelJunk 4am will be launched (May 15th) and it is simply an incredibly unique experience.

For those of you anxious to get your hands on PixelJunk 4am, we will be hosting a PlayStation PixelJunk 4am Event open to the community on Thursday, May 10 from 6:00 to 9:00pm at Harlot in San Francisco. The first 75 attendees will receive a free copy of PixelJunk 4am when it is live on the PlayStation Store on Tuesday, May 15. Spread the word, Baiyon and I would love to meet you (psst…you must be 21+ to attend).

In the 10 years since I started Q-Games we’ve made a huge amount of games and technology for the PlayStation family and I’d like to highlight a few key moments in our history. Did you know that we made the PlayStation 3 “ribbon” and “sparkly dust” background on the XMB, as well as parts of the XMB graphical frontend? If you let the “About PS3″ credits roll you will actually see the Q-Games logo! Before that, on PSP, we developed some of the really cool technology demos that were shown at E3 all the way back in 2004. We also developed the PS3′s music visualizers, beginning with the “valley” default and culminating in the awesome “earth” visualizer – which was actually developed initially as a possible boot sequence for the PS3!! Ken Kutaragi envisioned a boot sequence similar to the sequence in Kubrick’s “2001 – A Space Odyssey” where you see a simultaneous moon and sunrise, but changed his mind and it became the even cooler “orchestral tuning” sequence that it is now. However, we continued working on it in secret, adding more resolution and detail until they gave in and let us sneak-release it into a firmware update a few years back.

Five years ago, with the launch of PSN, one of the guys at SCEI (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. in Tokyo) casually suggested I consider making PSN games. I initially dismissed the idea, imagining SD 480i quality games, but once I plugged my brand-new PS3 into a 1080p TV via a HDMI cable and saw the amazing resolution and color reproduction it clicked that perhaps it represented a chance to rejuvenate 2D gaming. So I got to work preparing concepts for games that took some old ideas, added some new ones, and most importantly updated them to use the incredible extra detail and crisp colors of 1080p. Thus PixelJunk was born!

The first game was PixelJunk Racers, a game designed pretty much to only be playable in 1080p and a game that was impossible in SD because of the hundreds of tiny cars racing around the screen – quite often portrayed as a “black sheep” in the PixelJunk stable, Racers is really quite a unique game and is a great party experience, allowing you to play with up to SEVEN players simultaneously – young kids absolutely love it too and we have plenty of diehard fans which is why we updated it to become PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap. Anyway, Racers launched us into self-publishing here in Japan which was also a lot of fun (suddenly we were not just a developer but a publisher too!), and started our arrangement with Santa Monica Studios to release the PixelJunk series in the West.

We developed the PixelJunk games in parallel and a few months after Racers we launched the smash hit PixelJunk Monsters which has been extremely popular over the years (oh, and the “Deluxe” PSP version will even run on your PS Vita as of May 15th!). Also, during the development of Racers I had the good fortune to bump into a Kyoto-based DJ and artist called “Baiyon” at a party held by a mutual friend and he seemed like an interesting guy so I decided to make our third game a little bit more “artsy” and brought him in to collaborate with us on it, giving birth to PixelJunk Eden! Just look at those CMYK colours – HDMI pushed to the extreme!

For our fourth title we had a naming contest which helped us decide on the name for “PixelJunk 1-4″ to be “PixelJunk Shooter” (yes, “PixelJunk Elements” was also popular but sorry folks it didn’t capture the “sci-fi” spirit enough for me – besides the acronym would be PJE and we already had a PJE in the series…). The concept for Shooter was decided right at the start of the PixelJunk project but the fluid technology took a little time to develop and flesh out, and by the time we had got to the point where we were thinking about music I had persuaded my old friend Alex “The Orb” Paterson to work with us on the soundtrack. He had just started an interesting collaboration with Dom Beken in the form of High Frequency Bandwidth (HFB for short) whose style of music is a kind of retro “b movie dub techno” was a perfect fit for the world we were creating in Shooter. This led us to collaborate on the sequel “Shooter 2″ and our very latest release last year “PixelJunk SideScroller” (which is totally awesome by the way).

Which leads us to the upcoming release of PixelJunk 4am which, although it isn’t a “game” per se, is deeply engaging and a fun experience for everyone. Every time you play you are broadcasting live to the world! It’s really really addictive and you’ll find your PlayStation Move is being used in ways you never imagined!

Well that was a long post, but hey I hadn’t posted in a while – now PixelJunkies, go forth and spread the word, the PixelJunk BLOWOUT sale is ON!

This colorfully action packed 2D online multiplayer battler with split-screen gameplay is releasing on May 1st. You’ll storm the game’s online battlegrounds and unlock loads of new abilities and characters for your arsenal. For more details on Awesomenauts come back to the blog a little later today — developer Ronimo will have more details on the game and will stick around to respond to your comments and questions.

PSN hit Trine 2 joins the free games selection in May, boasting widespread critical acclaim and a dazzling fantasy world. Don’t miss out on one of the prettiest titles in gaming — grab Trine 2 for free on Plus this month. Not enough for you? How about getting Rock of Ages for free when it releases on PSN? The acclaimed mix of tower-defense strategy and rolling ball physics (trust us, it’s fun will keep you in stitches with the game’s quirky humor and ultra-addictive gameplay modes.

May also brings the free release of PS one Classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania Chronicles. For many of you, Castlevania: SotN needs no introduction. If you’ve never had a chance to experience what many fans consider to be the definitive Castlevania game, you now have no excuse. Castlevania Chronicles, on the other hand, is based on the original Castlevania but is no less engaging than SotN, especially given its blistering challenge. Gamers who are looking for a classic challenge need look no further!

Saints Row The Third will be available on 5/8 as a PS3 Full Game download. If you missed out on this insane open-world epic last fall, you may want to jump on it as it will have a 20% discount when it releases.

If you’ve had your eye on PixelJunk 4am, you’ll be happy to hear that Plus subscribers get exclusive access to the game’s beta! All PlayStation Plus subscribers will get access to the online viewer where you can watch performances built in this musical PlayStation Move experience that immerses you in the creative flow of making music. Select Plus subscribers will also get access to the performance beta, so watch your PSN messages to see if you’re selected.

There’s a ton more coming this month that isn’t yet on the list below, including free minis like Velocity and Floating Cloud God, exclusive discounts coming towards the end of the month and more. If you’re not yet a Plus subscriber, you can snag your subscription by clicking here or purchasing it on PlayStation Store.

Remember, some content and/or release dates outlined may change including the addition or removal of content. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or continue the discussion on the PlayStation Community forums in the Official PlayStation Plus Update thread.

Don’t have PlayStation Plus? Click here to purchase your subscription today!

PixelJunk 4am and the free PixelJunk 4am – Viewer will be released and available for download on the PlayStation Store from May 15th.

Lots of you have been asking for more details regarding the kind of ‘actual’ musical freedom you can look forward to using with your PlayStation Move. So here we go.

We’ve created various different events you can choose from to play live. Different events will present you with different mixes of songs, visualizers and a new mood to go with each one. You then take this event live on PSN and make it your own, crafting and performing it however you want.

Here’s some numbers for everyone. Each song has 4 track instruments you can use: a Drum, Bass, Rhythm and Synth. Each track then has 4 different looping samples and four one-shot sounds in space around you that you can use. All of the loops and samples are different for each song as well, meaning events can have up to (4 loops + 4 one-shots) x 4 tracks x 5 songs = 160 different sound samples to pull from and mix however you like. :)

Then, there are the Effects that you can apply on top of those. Each of the four tracks has unique Effects living on different axes in space around you (like a giant 3D Kaoss pad for those of you into DJing and synths). Using these effects (reverb, low/high pass filter, flanger, ringmod, chorus and more), you can modulate the original sound samples into something completely different. All Effects run independently on each track instrument using the power of the PS3’s SPU hardware, so you could have up to 16 Effects simultaneously modulating all your music!

For people who really want to hack the songs, you can even dub your Move motions into a loop and play that recorded path of motion back through the music. That means any cool sounds or rhythms you make could become the new bass line in a song.

PixelJunk 4am supports up to two PS Move controllers for performing together in an event. So you COULD have your friend over and mix beats side-by-side with them. OR you could rock it dual-wielding a PS Move in each hand… :D Our Live Viewer browser makes it easy as well to spectate the same events as your friends when you’re both online.

Finally, we’ve been getting asked for over a year now if 4am can be used just as a music visualizer on your PS3. The simple answer is, “yes!” PixelJunk 4am can be used as a stand-alone music visualizer to play your favorite music from your PS3. You won’t even need a Move if you just want to fire up and run a playlist to the visuals. All five original 4am visualizers will be available right from the start. To get some of the rarer visualizers, though, you’ll need to unlock them through regular play first. I’ve been running my work-time playlist through the PS3 here at the office lately just to watch the visualizers. Nothing better for ruining productivity. o.O

Very soon we’ll be holding an early access Live Beta for PlayStation Plus members. A limited number of codes will be given to PS Plus members who own a Move, allowing them to get a first taste of performing in 4am. There will also be a 4am Free Viewer beta download available to ALL PlayStation Plus members. During the course of the Live Beta, we’ll host some special live performances from around the world, including DJ Baiyon performing live from Japan. Any PlayStation Plus members with the 4am Free Viewer are of course welcome to spectate. The PixelJunk 4am Live Beta will start from May 1st and run for two weeks, so keep an eye out for further details very soon on how you can get in.

We can’t wait to see what everyone makes once 4am goes live, or what kind of performers will make a name for themselves. Surprise us! :D

But what exactly is PixelJunk 4am? A game? An instrument? To answer this question, we turned to Rowan Parker, who explained it from the floor of a launch party held during the 2012 Game Developers Conference where DJ Baiyon “played” for the lucky attendees.

PixelJunk 4am is easy to understand once you have the PlayStation Move motion controller in your hands and the visualizer appears. It varies with each “presentation,” but you can change it at any time by pressing the Select button. What’s important is for the music to “live” in the air, so to speak.

With PS Move, you grab hold of the sound from four different instruments (represented by the four control buttons) and unleash them onto the screen, creating a different sound depending on your movement. You can create layers of audio and then manipulate them as you wish. You can also invent new sounds using the controller and distort the effects by moving the PS Move closer to or farther away from the visualizer.

In the final version of the game, you’ll be able to share your presentations on the PlayStation Network, even with users who do not have the game — all you’ll need is the free viewer application, which enables you to tune into presentations as they are happening or listen to recordings from your favorite artists.

PixelJunk 4am for the PS3 will be available this spring exclusively on the PlayStation Network.

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. :)

Recently, Dylan Jobe detailed LightBox Interactive’s plans for Fantastic Fest 2011, Austin’s independent sci-fi/horror/fantasy film and gaming festival. He also showed off some badass new Starhawk space footage. You should watch it.

Today, we can reveal the full truth: PlayStation will serve as Fantastic Fest’s exclusive videogame company, and we’ll be holding court at The HighBall Club and Lounge. You’re invited! RSVP here. As Dylan mentioned, the LightBox team will be holding Starhawk tournaments on Thursday, September 22nd starting at 5:00pm. Additionally, you’ll be able to go hands-on with some of our hot upcoming PSN indie games like Journey, Okabu, Closure, and Retro/Grade, PlayStation Move titles like Deadmund’s Quest and Everybody Dance and SOE’s Sideway, Rochard, and Payday: The Heist.

Even better, you’ll have the chance to meet the devs, many of whom you’ve seen here on the Blog. Even Q-Games’ resident artist/DJ Baiyon is making the trip from Kyoto to spin PixelJunk 4am for you. There’ll be prizes and tasty beverages, all for the low, low price of FREE.

You in?

The Details

Date: Thursday, September 22nd (RSVP here!)
Time: 5-8pm (capacity is limited, so please arrive a bit early)
Location: The Highball Club and Lounge, 1142 S. Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX (map)

Playable games:

• Journey
• PixelJunk SideScroller
• PixelJunk 4am (formerly PixelJunk Lifelike)
• Okabu
• Eufloria
• Papo & Yo
• Closure
• Retro/Grade
• Sideway: New York
• Payday: The Heist
• Rochard
• Starhawk
• Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest
• EyePet & Friends
• Carnival Island
• LittleBigPlanet 2 PlayStation Move Pack
• Everybody Dance

You must be 18 or older to attend – please bring your ID! If you’re in the Austin area – I’m talking to you, Dallas/Houston/San Antonio gamers! – please join us. We’d be happy to meet you. Now RSVP here!

UPDATE: We’re also holding two free panels for Fantastic Fest:

PlayStation Network Developer Panel: Game creators speak about working in and out of the gaming industry. Panelists include Queasy Games (Sound Shapes), thatgamecompany (Journey, Flower, Flow), and Q-Games (PixelJunk) to name a few. Click here for more details.

Storytelling and Development in Videogames and Film: Feature film writers and writers of the game Starhawk will discuss storytelling and development in videogames and crossing over with film. Click here for more details.

So here we are creeping up onto yet another Tokyo Game Show and we have a big announcement to make… and an unusual one at that! We are announcing a name change – I’m sure many of you have seen information about PixelJunk Lifelike over the past year or so, including some live demo performances we did during E3, and a few of you might have noticed how much the core concept of Lifelike expanded and shifted since it was first announced as we explored more and more ideas. Well, after long deliberation we are changing the name to “PixelJunk 4am” to better match the atmosphere we are trying to create. And for more information about that, I have asked some questions and translated Baiyon‘s answers for you:

Why the name change?

Baiyon: PixelJunk Lifelike was originally conceived as an extension of the PixelJunk Eden world. Our idea was to create a kind of living speaker for people to play their music through, using natural imagery and taking strong visual cues from Eden. There wasn’t even the concept of a “player.” We’ve since moved far beyond that simple idea to new and uncharted waters, both visually and musically. The style has evolved now into something that is really quite different from anything we’ve ever made before. It was only natural that we’d want to chase this new concept and capture it with a new title.

Why 4am?

Baiyon: 4am represents the exact mood and feeling we’ve captured. 4am is that deep night hour. In clubs, the music drifts to a new level entering a deepened state that often seems removed from reality. Whether you’re in a club or not, 4am always feels like the night has gone on forever, where there’s still a little time left before dawn. This late night feel better represents our current visual and musical style.

So what can we expect now?

Baiyon: PixelJunk 4am is something unique that has never been tried before, so we’re treading in new territory. We’re using the PlayStation Move in truly experimental ways to give people control of making their own style of music. Being able to stream your music live on PSN also gives people the chance to broadcast a new kind of online performance. We can’t wait to see people playing 4am deep into the early morning hours.

So there you have it, from the horse’s mouth so to speak. To get an even better sense of this “4am” atmosphere Baiyon is talking about, check out the completely new trailer we made above and see Baiyon himself creating an awesome track.