Journey also recently received the following nods so far this year. And while it’s such an honor to just be nominated for such prestigious awards, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this list grow even more over the course of the upcoming months:

• IGN Best of 2012 – Game of the Year, Best Overall Graphics, Best Overall Music, Best Overall Story, Best PS3 Graphics, Best PS3 Sound, Best PS3 Story, Best PlayStation Network Game, Best PS3 Game nominee
• Machinima Inside Gaming Awards 2012 – Best Art Direction winner
• X-Play Best of 2012 – Best Art Direction winner, Best Original Game winner

Today, on behalf of SCEA and the entire PlayStation Nation, I’d like to extend my congratulations to the extremely talented development team at thatgamecompany, including Journey composer Austin Wintory, whose brilliance and creativity has truly inspired us all. Thank you to the team at Santa Monica Studio and everyone else that has had a hand in bringing this transcendental and astonishing game to life. Journey, for many, remains one of the most amazing game experiences of our lives — one that we may never forget.

Please join me in congratulating the team by sharing your most memorable Journey moment.

We are so excited about the book and all of its special features that we wanted to share one of them with you today by giving away some of the exciting technology that is included in The Art of Journey. Our talented friends at Daqri have out done themselves and put together a truly unique experience for the Art of Journey. The Daqri team has developed an app that you can download for iOS here or for Android here and use it to enhance the book in a way we’ve never seen done.

The images literally come to life with scenes taken from some of your favorite moments in Journey! Check it out!

We’ve posted one of the images used for the 4D experience at www.TheArtOfJourney.com, labeled page 57, so you can try it on your own smart phone or tablet. There are several more 4D experiences in the book that you can play with once you have your own copy!

It works directly off your monitor if you don’t have access to a printer, but it works best when printed out in color so you can move it around however you like and show all your friends. Just launch the “Journey AR Viewer” app on your smart device, and point the camera at the image, and that’s it!

So be sure to order the book right away! And don’t forget that you can also now pre-order the Journey Soundtrack by Austin Wintory on CD here!

One final note: We wanted to say thanks to everyone who showed up at the book’s launch event hosted by Bluecanvas during the LA Art Walk! That night was really special for all of us, and we’re glad you could be a part of it. Also, For those lucky individuals that pre-ordered signed copies of the book, know that your books are on their way! We’re very excited to finally get to pull the curtains back on this spectacular book and release it to all the fans.

Seeing how Journey has resonated with players across the world, we wanted to work with the Santa Monica Studio to provide a deeper look into the visual development behind this critically acclaimed hit. So, we’re excited to let everyone know that we will be presenting you with a wonderful first-time look at the extensive artwork that went into bringing Journey to life. It’s the first book directly inspired by one of our games and is titled The Art of Journey and will be available for purchase in September.

This book, designed and written by and Matt Nava, art director on Journey, and in conjunction with BLUECANVAS Magazine provides an insider’s view into the stylistic influences, narrative functions, and game design goals that shaped the final look of the game.  Readers will discover how Journey’s landscapes, cut-scenes, and much-loved robed traveler came to be. For your enjoyment, The Art of Journey will come bound as an embossed hardcover book filled with gorgeous concept art, intricate pencil drawings, and 3D models printed in full color on art-quality paper.

In addition, the book has an innovative “augmented reality” feature powered by the Daqri 4D platform. By downloading a free companion app, readers will be able to point their smartphone or tablet’s camera at special images and see animated 3D models appear straight from the game. It’s a truly unique and innovative way to more fully experience the artwork of Journey.

We are especially proud to include a tribute in the book to the game’s players. Journey’s touching experience and memorable visuals have inspired many players to create their own artwork. Matt has collected some of the team’s favorites in a special fan art section which I hope will speak to those of you who have been moved by the Journey experience.

The Art of Journey will be accompanied by a voucher that will allow readers to download a free copy of the game’s soundtrack to their PS3.

Please continue to stay tuned for updates and sneak peeks for The Art of Journey. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the Journey Collector’s Edition, which will be available on store shelves this coming Tuesday, August 28, and take a look at the video below for some insight into The Art of Journey.

From the simplicity of flOw, to the beauty of Flower, to the awe of Journey, this special Blu-Ray bundle features thatgamecompany’s three award-winning PlayStation Network-exclusive titles, paired with exclusive new content and previously released digital content.

The complete set of bonus flOw, Flower, and Journey content includes:

• Thirty-minute behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Journey
• Creator Commentary playthroughs of all three games
• Three exclusive mini-games from thatgamecompany
• Concept art and screenshot galleries for all three games
• Original soundtracks for all three games
• PS3 dynamic themes and wallpapers
• PSN avatars including eight exclusive new Journey avatars never released before
• Official game trailers and developer diary videos
• Reversible cover art

We are particularly excited about the Creator Commentary play-throughs of all three games, because we get to share with fans insights about flOw, Flower and Journey straight from the minds of the designers, artists, engineers and composers who worked together to make these games so special.

Another really great treat for fans featured on the disc are the three exclusive mini-games. These were born out of a tradition we have here at thatgamecompany: the 24hr Game Jam. As the name implies, each of these games was created start to finish in just 24 hours. For the first time ever, thatgamecompany’s mini-games Gravediggers, Duke War!!, and Nostril Shot, will be available to play outside of our studio. We share these extra treats as a “thank you” to our players for supporting us over the years. In case the names didn’t already give it away, these mini-games showcase thatgamecompany’s lighter side with screwball competitive multiplayer action. We hope you sincerely enjoy their silliness as much as we have.

Please enjoy the official trailer for Journey Collector’s Edition, which highlights what’s in store for fans when thatgamecompany’s first Blu-ray disc release hits stores on August 28.

This pack also comes with a nice selection of stickers to help you create your own Journey levels in LittleBigPlanet.

However the fun doesn’t stop there for Sackboy this week…

Also Coming This Week: Escape Plan Costume Pack!

If Sackboy isn’t journeying somewhere, then chances are that he’s escaping from somewhere instead and now Sackboy has the perfect outfit for the job, thanks to this great new costume based on the iconic characters from Escape Plan by the lovely folks over at Fun Bits Interactive.

These lovely new additions to Sackboy’s ever-growing wardrobe of popular video game costumes will be available on the PlayStation Store this week!

Mm Picks!

Last week’s Mm Picks saw a wonderful array of levels including a couple of amazing mini-games that really push the boundaries of artistic design, two classic platforming levels for Sackboy and if you’re just looking to relax, why not just play a nice game of Snakes and Ladders with some fellow Sackfolk or against some bots?

Test your Taste! Cartoon [1- 4 Player] by little-big-playe

Cubefield by pate59

Paris is for Lovers by TOBSn08

Neon Nature by iDance360

Snakes and Ladders by NemesisNinja

LittleBigPlanet Wiki – How To Enable/Disable Your Comments and Reviews

With the release of last week’s update for LittleBigPlanet 2, we gave players the new ability to be able to enable or disable their reviews and/or comments via LBP.me

So with the new update, the very friendly folks over on the LittleBigPlanet Wiki published a step-by-step tutorial to help inform the community on how to do just that!

LittleBigPlanet Wiki – Comment and Review Disabling Tutorial

If you’re wondering how to use LBP.me to make the best use of this new feature, then be sure to check out this helpful little tutorial.

The LittleBigPlanet Wiki is an ever-growing community collaboration of information and tutorials for LittleBigPlanet, which anybody is allowed to contribute to!

So if you feel that you have something to contribute to this massive encyclopedia of LittleBigPlanet knowledge or wish to contribute your own tutorials to help educate the LittleBigPlanet community, just head on over to the LittleBigPlanet Wiki and help spread the word to the community!

LittleBigPlanet on the Web

LittleBigPlanet Twitter – @LittleBigPlanet
LittleBigPlanet Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/littlebigplanet

LittleBigPlanet Community Team Twitters

Steven – @StevenIsbell
Spaff – @thespaff

After we released Flower in 2009, players sent hundreds of emails about their experience with the game. They varied from a nine-year-old girl to a 65-year-old man, from a marine serving duty overseas, to a soldier returning from Iraq. There were even stories about a mother’s memory of her two children in the wheat fields, a surreal butterfly fantasy from someone’s grandmother who passed away, and a young man who spoke about his brother who has Down syndrome. Those kinds of letters are what drive us at TGC to keep working.

And now, the reaction to Journey has been even more overwhelming. We have received more letters from fans in the two weeks since Journey’s launch than we did for Flower over the past three years!

We owe a lot to our fans. In fact, idea of forming the thatgamecompany team to create games with Sony Santa Monica originated from several dozen emails that players sent in after playing our first student game, Cloud, from our time at USC. It was the players who told us how moving the game was and how it is important that we keep making these types of games so that more people in the world will realize what video games can be, and can grow to love games through our work. To me, that was a life-changing moment. I knew making games was my life calling.

This art piece expresses our gratitude.

Lastly, a lot of you have seemed to really enjoy the music in the game, which was composed by Austin Wintory. And we’ve received a lot of requests to release the soundtrack of the game. Well, I’m happy to announce that the soundtrack will be hitting the PS Store and iTunes on April 10, and there will be a limited CD release in the near future as well.

Thanks, again, for all your support. We’ll see you online!

It has been heartening to see the reactions from the press so far. We’ve had editors tell us how much the game moved them emotionally, or fundamentally changed the way they think about multiplayer in video games. Our goal was to change the impression players have towards each other over the network. We wanted to bring a thatgamecompany-style adventure to our players and create an emotional connection between them. And it’s been great to hear we might have achieved this goal.

We get very nervous before the reviews hit. With the early access for PlayStation Plus subscribers last week, we started getting reactions from the players. We couldn’t be more moved by what reviewers and players are saying about Journey on the web. Thank you for sharing your Journey experiences with us, they are what keep us going and make all of our hard work truly worthwhile.

Don’t forget to head over to Facebook to pick up your exclusive Journey avatar for your PSN ID. If you’ve played Journey already, let us know in the comments what you think of it. And if you’re waiting to get it tonight, let us know what you’re most looking forward to. I hope you enjoy the game, and I hope to see you online!

PlayStation Plus now not only offers gamers early access to demos and betas but also to full downloadable games, in addition to the tons of free and discounted content and extra exclusive features like online storage for game saves and automatic updates. That’s why we are so excited to be able to deliver Journey, one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year, to our most die-hard fans, our PS Plus subscribers, a whole week early so they can experience it before everyone else.

Journey is blowing everyone away, journalists and the PlayStation Plus subscribers alike. With an average score of 92 and 12 perfect scores so far, Journey is the crowning achievement of thatgamecompany, one of our top-tier studios. Their games have grown in scale, quality, ambition and emotion, expanding from the relaxing, experimental flOw, to the accessible and award-winning ode to nature that was Flower, and now to Journey, a metaphorical representation of life, the people we meet and the connections we make during the courses of our lives.

Our fans know that PlayStation is about bringing authentic, innovative, and unique experiences to gamers that they can’t find anywhere else. Journey is exactly that, and represents what PSN is all about. With other exclusive games like Dead Nation, the PixelJunk series, Rochard and games like Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack and Escape Plan for PS Vita, PlayStation Network is the ultimate online game platform and premier content destination for gamers looking for the most unique gaming experiences available.

We are just getting warmed up! PS Plus subscribers – you’ve still got a few more days to download Journey before everyone else, and I know you’re going to love it and remember your experience with it for years to come. So check it out today with your PlayStation Plus exclusive early access, or starting next Tuesday when it is released to the entire PlayStation Nation. And don’t forget to watch for more early, exclusive, free and discounted content coming to PS Plus month in and month out.

One last Journey note: later this morning, thatgamecompany will be chatting live with fans on PlayStation.com. Come armed with your questions; we begin at 10am Pacific right here.

Subscription Links:

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe via RSS here
• Download the MP3 here (Right-Click->Save As)

You’re in the big time now, baby. Game Developers Conference is where the brightest talent comes to shine….and we’ve lined up said talent for exclusive GDC interviews you won’t find anywhere else. Want to know more about Quantic Dream’s new tech demo “Kara”? Our exclusive interview with Director David Cage will give full new details. Want to hear what thatgamecompany thinks of early Journey reviews? President and Co-founder Kellee Santiago reveals all. Or perhaps you’re more interested in upcoming PSN stunner Dyad ? We even delve into the future of PlayStation’s digital strategy with our first interview with Senior Director of PlayStation Digital Platforms Jack Buser, and a check-in with Drinkbox Studios, creators of PS Vita’s highly reviewed launch title Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack.

It’s a big show with big, big talent. What are you waiting for?

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.]

If you have been following Journey, then you’re probably as excited as I am about its release next week on March 13, as the first game in our Spring Fever event this year. The reviews so far have been fantastic, and I can’t wait to get online and experience the game online with other Journey fans.

If you caught Friday’s update from Kellee, the last line of her post about big news coming Monday probably had you wondering what sort of news might be coming. Well, earlier this morning I’m sure you saw this month’s PS Plus blog post revealing that Journey will be available this week for all PS Plus members, one week ahead of the normal release date. What’s more, this early access purchase comes with a bonus, an exclusive PS3 dynamic theme featuring some concept art from the game.

And if you’re not a Plus member, we are also launching a special pre-order program as well. You’ll be able to put your money down for the game and get hold of the same concept art dynamic theme as Plus members for doing so. Then when the game hits on March 13 during the normal Tuesday publish, just head to the store and download the game for free.

Watch the Blog and PS Store, because we’ll have a few more videos for Journey, an additional dynamic theme (free for Plus members) that will showcase some of the beautiful vistas in the game, and more. We’re also launching a dedicated tab for Journey on the PlayStation Facebook page where you can get an exclusive Journey PSN Avatar starting today, so head on over to check it out.

And don’t forget to head over to the Journey live dev chat page to sign up for a reminder, and come back this coming Friday at 10 AM PST to chat live with Jenova Chen (Creative Director) and Robin Hunicke (Executive Producer) from the Journey dev team.