One of the inspirations for Journey was Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey.’ The knee-jerk assumption is that something this big demands epic music on the most towering scale yet my gut led me in the opposite direction. While there are definitely some big moments, I would actually describe it as intimate overall. The orchestra seen here is the Macedonia Radio Symphonic Orchestra, conducted beautifully by Oleg Kontradenko in the Macedonian capital of Skopje.

I set up camp in a mixing stage at Sony’s San Diego Studio with the Music team and Randall Lowe from the Santa Monica Studio, where we linked with the orchestra in real-time in Skopje. Meanwhile we were able to Skype together the core development team at thatgamecompany in Los Angeles, in addition to our producer Kellee Santiago who was in Virginia at the time, and producer Robin Hunicke and lead designer Jenova Chen, who were in Shanghai speaking at GDC China! This ended up being a wonderfully 21st century session: a spider web of interconnectedness spanning the globe! In addition to the orchestra, I also had the great pleasure of working with a handful of great soloists, including my dear friend and cello superstar Tina Guo. Their performances brought a vitality to the score that far surpasses the mere notes on the page.

And yet for how “high-tech” we were, this music is utterly unconcerned with technology. It is all about emotional meaning. This is part of what makes Journey itself so special. The game has no fluff, no filler. I think of it like a poem.

There is a famous story where Steven Spielberg, after first screening Schindler’s List for his long-time composer John Williams, asked, “so what do you think?” John Williams replied very earnestly, “Steven you need a better composer than me for this film,” to which Spielberg reportedly fired back “Yes, I know, but they’re all dead!” This is basically how I felt about Journey, especially once I got my feet wet and I started to feel that this was no ordinary game. The one advantage I seemed to have was time. By the end I had spent about three years on it. I was able to get around any issues of inspiration through sheer elbow grease, or so I hope. In fact, Journey ended up permeating virtually my whole output during that time. In April 2011, I wrote a miniature cello concerto for Tina (called “Woven Variations,” linked below) that we performed together in Los Angeles. The piece is not really a suite of my music from Journey, but more of an extrapolation. It’s an exploration of the material, taken to entirely different places. This ended up going even further the subsequent summer when I conducted a concert featuring the LA Master Chorale, where I created a single hour-long piece (based on the same ‘Hero’s Journey’ archetype) by stitching together various works in the repertoire and using my Journey music as the glue. Because Journey was still being actively worked on, I would then take the lessons learned from these concerts and apply them to the actual score. A peculiar process emerged from this, where the tangents started informing the core project, as if my career were a table of people all talking back and forth to each other, instead of a normal, forward-moving single file line.

I love writing in just about any genre of music you could name, and likewise there are basically no genres of games that I categorically don’t enjoy playing … and yet, if we were in an alternate reality where Journey did not exist and you asked me what my ultimate dream of a game would be (both to score and to play), I suspect I would basically end up describing Journey. Amazingly, we live in a reality in which this game does exist. I feel constantly in awe of what both thatgamecompany and Sony Santa Monica do, and consider it an almost surreal bit of luck to have been part of their … um, journey. You see what I mean???

Click here to listen to “Woven Variations”.

We just hit a major milestone on Journey, and are super excited to take a brief break – when we return it will be pedal to the medal to finish it up and get it out to you! Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive over the last THREE YEARS (our longest project yet!). Your support really does make all the difference, and I can’t say “thank you” enough on behalf of everyone at thatgamecompany.

Because 2011 was such a long and intense year for us, we had a bit of a mellow party to just relax, hang out, and eat some good food.

TGCers gathering around Robin’s dining room table

We gathered with friends at TGC member Robin Hunicke’s house in Venice. A few family members happened to be in town and joined the festivities…..

Jenova Chen and… his mother! Who is visiting from Shanghai.

Although the event was meant to be low-key, I really wanted to give the team something great this year as a gift, in honor of the incredible work they do everyday, which completely humbles me. However, I am terrible at gifts, and have useless hobbies, like playing board games. Thankfully, Robin came to the rescue with an awesome idea, and the mad skills to make it happen. (Side note – when the apocalypse happens I’m making a bee-line for Robin. She’s the kind of person who knows how to PH soil properly to grow crops, how to build her own house, make a battery… I don’t know what I will provide but somehow this all works out great in my mind.)

Robin and our lead artist, Matt Nava, snuck out after work one day to begin the project. They chose the fabrics and paints that would be required to set things in motion. Then, over the course of a few weekends and Robin’s stint with the flu a couple of weeks ago, it all came together…..

You can probably guess where we’re headed now?

Robin sewed together the fabrics and Matt made the stencils for the symbols… which is unique for each person, and all directly from Journey.

They even made matching boxes!

And here are the final results…. of the real-life Journey scarves!

Happy Holidays from thatgamecompany! See you in 2012!

Coming out of E3 a few weeks ago, we at thatgamecompany couldn’t be more excited about the reception our latest game, Journey, received from both the press and general showgoers. Journey is our third exclusive game with SCEA’s Santa Monica Studio for PS3 and PSN, and we’re trying something new, something that we hope changes the way people think about online gaming.

As you may have heard, in Journey, players take on the role of travelers headed to a mysterious mountain in the distance. But unlike our previous two games, flow and Flower, Journey presents our vision of what an online adventure can be. As you explore Journey, you may cross paths with other travelers. You can join and play with up to one other player at a time.

But what makes Journey different is that there are no online lobbies, no matchmaking, no PSN IDs, and no chat. You are the character, limited to the ways of communication of the character itself. Will you choose to travel together – or go your own way? What secrets lie in the mysterious, sand-covered ruins of this world?

We had a great time at E3 talking to all of the press that stopped by the Sony booth. And we couldn’t be more proud after Journey took home some great awards like PlayStation: The Official Magazine’s Most Valuable Game award, Machinima’s Best Downloadable Game award and Examiner’s Living Art award, as well as Best PS3 game nominations from IGN, G4TV and GameSpy, as well as a Best Original Game nomination from the E3 Game Critics.

To test Journey’s innovative and unusual multiplayer functionality, we are conducting a small, invite-only beta that will run tomorrow, June 28 and will run through July 12. If you were one of the very earliest adopters of Flower, and you are a PS Plus subscriber as well, watch your XMB inbox for your invitation and entry into the beta. Additionally, we’ve been able to free up a limited number of additional spots for the beta. Please check thatgamecompany’s Facebook page, here on the PlayStation Blog, or our media partners and their sites for code give-aways.

We will be inviting players to join our weekly play sessions in order to help test our network code and all of the technical stuff running in the background of the game. You will also be able to provide feedback to the team on your experience. These sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 6 PM to 10 PM PST.

Thanks, and keep watching the blog, and our Facebook page, for the latest on Journey.

I’ve been trying to avoid hearing too much about Journey as I want to enjoy it without any presumptions – not the easiest to do when you work at PlayStation and not ideal preparation for an interview with the developers, you might argue. Regardless, here is my spoiler-free conversation with Robin Hunicke, Journey’s producer and Jenova Chen, co-founder of thatgamecompany.

I’ll be posting a few more video interviews from the PlayStation Experience event in London next week; check out yesterday’s chat with Insomniac Games about Resistance 3, if it slipped you by.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Jenova Chen, the creative director of thatgamecompany and designer of flOw and Flower. Chen’s latest project, the upcoming PSN exclusive Journey, may be his most enigmatic project yet. In talking with Chen, I was most interested in learning what drove his unique, minimalistic vision, as well as the challenges in creating a drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer game without the use of industry-standard matchmaking lobbies and voice chat.

Sid Shuman: Journey’s got a certain mystique. Who are you in Journey? Where are you?

Jenova Chen: I want the player to find it out, it’s part of the fun. This is a world where there are no plants, no animals, and not even a single water drop to be found. The only things that are moving are these things, these characters, made out of cloth.

SS: Journey’s a multiplayer game, but there’s no matchmaking or online lobbies. Would you say it redefines multiplayer? Is it a co-op game?

JC: We’re not really redefining. We make games for PS3 owners, but we also make games for their relatives or children. I don’t think your grandma is going to know what a [multiplayer] “lobby” means. I don’t think most children will understand what [internet] “latency” means. So after we eliminated the lobby concept, we had very few choices — other players have to be able to connect at any time, not just the beginning of the game, and a player has to be able to finish the game by himself he can’t find someone. All these technical issues came in with that one decision to get rid of the online lobby.

A lot of games design co-op for co-op play only. The best game I’ve played this year was Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. It’s very well designed, like a designer’s jewelry box. But it wouldn’t work for Journey. What if the other player wasn’t there? So we have to come up with other ways to make co-op more meaningful. We wanted something very primal, which forced us to make innovations.

We didn’t try to redefine multiplayer, we just wanted to create a more intuitive experience. If your grandma asked, “what’s Journey?” I’d tell her “Journey is just like hiking. You go to hike a mountain, and there are other hikers you might meet and if you like them you can hike with them.” And that’s it.

SS: What’s the core gameplay goal in Journey? What activities will I be engaging in?

JC: You will be…Journey-ing. Moving from point A to point B. [laughter] The problem is, moving is very boring. In World of Warcraft, you’re always moving…and waiting. So in Journey, we have things to spice up the moving. You can surf the sand dunes, collect cloth to fly over larger distances, cooperate with another player to get faster travel…sometimes you can ride things.

SS: It also looks like you’re collecting cloth patches, which seem to open up bridges or paths to other areas…

JC: Usually, players think about collecting as a “level up” experience. But we wanted to make the player feel small and weak. So initially, we did have a level up experience — if you collected 20 patches, you would jump higher or fly further. But that felt too empowering, which is the opposite of what we wanted. So instead of acquiring power, we made this metaphor for borrowing power. There are patches in the world, and when they hear your call, they come to help you out. Once you use them, they return to where they were. It’s not an ownership situation.

It also has to do with multiplayer. People would say, “I don’t want to play with you, I don’t want you to take my precious resources!” We tried various ways to eliminate that, but in the end, we decided to not give you [permanent] possession of them.

SS: Surfing on waves of sand looks like an interesting way to get around this very dynamic, shifting environment. It’s such a simple pleasure — a bit like Flower, actually.

JC: We had problems with walking. It’s frustrating, but there’s no easy way to make walking fun. So we tried surfing, because as a gameplay mechanic it’s fun — you know, SSX. But you could surf on the slopes but not on the flat surfaces, and most of the game is flat. So we had to come up with a reason why you could surf, so we made the sand have waves.

SS: Does Journey use any buttons?

JC: There are two buttons right now. “Calling” lets you collect patches and communicate with another player, a very primal form of communication. And then there’s a “Fly” button.

SS: I noticed that the camera is controlled by the DualShock 3’s Sixaxis motion sensor, not the analog stick.

JC: I have seen various non-hardcore players try a first-person shooter, and they couldn’t even aim. The two-stick camera system, using them at the same time, is just very difficult. It takes time to train. And every time I see a player struggle with that, he just puts the game down. So I wanted to think about a more intuitive form of camera control. The other problem with a stick camera, particularly in a third-person game, is that people tend to adjust the camera very often and very rapidly. When I watch them play, I get dizzy. And I want people to be able to watch others play Journey.

SS: Why does jumping not require a button press?

JC: We used to have a jump button, but we wanted to simplify the game. When you can jump, during the boring walk [laughs] people would keep jumping. And that’s not what we wanted to see! After we removed the jump button, people said “we want to jump!” So we added an automatic jump, and it’s working pretty well. I do miss pressing the X button sometimes when I’m walking, though!

SS: Are there enemies in Journey?

JC: There is something like an enemy, there is. [laughter] Nature is your enemy. If there is an enemy, you can’t do anything about it. You’re small and weak. You can’t slay the Shadow of the Colossus!

SS: Did any particular artist inspire the visual style of Journey?

JC: Do you know Chirico? If you see the original Japanese cover art of Ico, it’s an homage to Chirico. At an early stage, that was an inspiration.

SS: Journey is a very different kind of multiplayer game. Is it important for developers to challenge preconceived notions about what makes a multiplayer game?

JC: It’s important because your brain can be stimulated intellectually, emotionally, and socially. When people design online games, they often do lazy work. They bring an existing single-player game — an RPG, an RTS, a fighting game, a shooter — and duct tape on some online technology. They say, “okay, there’s multiple players, now do something cool. Here, play a kid’s game like Capture the Flag.” That’s the level of design. “Why don’t you kill each other until the last guy is left standing.”

If you really wanted to stimulate a social activity, you need to re-think it from the ground up. What is the skill they’re supposed to acquire? Accuracy? Or is it the ability to convince others? If the skill is social, it’ll be very relevant and useful. People still play poker. Why? Because the skill of deception is useful for real life. Look at online games. How many skills are based on social elements? Most games are based on grinding, accuracy, physical dexterity. They are not social games. They’re just old games with online features.

SS: Now, you’re saying this as a Call of Duty player, aren’t you? You like shooters.

JC: Yeah. I like fighting games too.They’re fun. But as I get older, what’s the point in pulling off another infinite combo? What does that do for your life? It’s not useful. People still play chess because strategic thinking is useful. Brain training games, fitness games…these have relevance. People don’t have much time to waste, so they want relevance. Whether it’s emotional relevance, like experiencing joy or sadness, or intellectual relevance, or social relevance.

SS: What other developers do you think are challenging gaming, perhaps in other areas?

JC: Quantic Dream. Team Ico — everything they make is very rich and deep emotionally. I think LittleBigPlanet is also very interesting. It’s not so much emotional as it is a different frontier. I also really appreciate whoever makes the best first-person shooter. Blizzard is always great, they have a lot of craft. We need those things too, because the game industry has to cover all sides. It’s not that I’m against fighting games or shooters — they need to be there, and they need to be good.

SS: Are you looking forward to BioShock Infinite?

JC: I liked BioShock but I didn’t finish it. I think I didn’t appreciate it as much as the fans, but I totally get the philosophies. I will try [Ken Levine’s] new game…it’s relevant. It’s not just about being strong and killing enemies. I appreciate that.

Hello hello hello! This is Kellee Santiago, and I am honored to fulfill thatgamecompany‘s final wish for 2010 – to show you more Journey. Most of you probably watched Jenova and I on SPIKE’s special pre-VGA show last night – well, I have more for you. Below is our very first trailer to showcase some of the great things to come.

I’m in NYC right now, where we’ve been talking more about the game, and specifically about our approach to creating a unique, intuitive, and accessible online experience. So keep a look out for more info to come!

As you might already know, we have an extremely iterative development process, which means that although we are still building out the game, we like to get feedback from players early so we can incorporate it into the final version. This is a great opportunity to see the game as it progresses, and get a look behind the curtain of game development. Also, we’d love to have folks from this community help us! Here’s the info:

Evening of November 19th, 2010

Requirements to participate are:

• Be between the ages of 18 and 35.
• Be an active PSN game player. We want people who are familiar with PSN games, visit the Store, and download games as a part of their PlayStation life.
• Live in Los Angeles, and have reliable transportation to the playtest in Santa Monica.

In case you missed our E3 announcement, Journey is our latest game we’re working on with SCEA’s Santa Monica Studio, following flOw and Flower for PS3. With Journey we are taking a departure from our previous two games, introducing a human-like playable character, and a narrative that is much more like an adventure. All the while we are aiming to keep the emotion and beauty that our previous projects have become known for.

If you are interested and qualified, please send an email with your name, age, address, PSN ID, and contact number to journeyplaytest@gmail.com. If you are selected, you will receive an email with confirmation and the specific details.

Chris B.
Great contrasting colors! The sky gives off a very cool feeling, and I dig the moon in the background.

Edward L.
Very clean and elegant! It captures a lot of iconic elements in a single piece.

Katherine M.
This looks like it was a ton of work! The piece has a great mood to it, and really shows the flowing nature of the game.

Lydia H.
Great close-up work and detail, there is a lot of great tonal range within the pink. Really an outstanding job with this piece.

Wilmaris S.
A true fan — takes a picture WITH the painting. Great job capturing the freedom that the wind gives the petals and the sway of the grass.

Oh yeah, there’s also this other REALLY cool tid-bit of news. The Flower demo was released on PSN last week! TGC put in the time and effort to really bring a nice demo to you few hold-outs who have yet to get this award-winning game! So don’t wait any further, rush over to the PlayStation Store and pick-up the Flower Demo to see what everyone is talking about. The other great thing is, since this is a trial, all you have to do is purchase the unlock key at the end of the demo, and the whole game is yours for just $9.99!

So thanks again to everyone who contributed , we really appreciate the effort, and congratulations to TGC’s five top picks!

The inspiration for Journey came from Jenova Chen’s feeling that in the modern world where man has so much power, we have lost an integral aspect of the human experience – awe towards the unknown. And we can see this in our video games as well. But don’t take it from me! Here’s Jenova to talk about it more:

In today’s society, man is powerful – We can travel at 60 mph; we can fly; we can connect with just about anyone, anywhere, at anytime. But on the street, people pass by each other ignoring the wonderful existence of other beings. We are overwhelmed by the attention needed to gain and execute our own power – just like we are in most video games. While we are doing that, we can become isolated and insecure deep inside our mind.

On the contrary, when we are hiking in the wild, we become tiny and weak again. These feelings make every other person we encounter much more important and enjoyable. We greet them, giving them genuine and useful help. We might travel together for a period, learn from and rely on each other. Struggling against the dangerous nature together, somehow, makes us warm and powerful inside. (This doesn’t make any rational sense, but somehow that’s how I feel. And I’m sure many of us do.) While most video games offer the sense of empowerment in the online gaming experience, we felt the player will pay more attention to the other players if they are less distracted by the power, and the online gaming experience will be quite unique if it carries the feeling of awe towards the unknown.

In a world where the majority of the players are distracted by technology, evoking a sense of awe and mystery could be very refreshing and powerful.

To realize these goals, we aimed to create a world that feels vast and somewhat unfamiliar. And so the game begins with a character waking up in a desert, with no clues as to what might have happened before or what will happen later. There’s only a tall mountain in the distance, beckoning the player to set out and explore.

As you travel through the world, you may encounter a stranger who is on his or her own journey. But we don’t want to talk too much about the online experience right now. In part, because we really don’t want to inform your own experience of it; also, because we really enjoy seeing what happens when experiences come without explanation. But there’s plenty of time left for us to talk about it in the future…

One thing is for certain: we love getting to talk about a new project! It means that we can’t just navel-gaze about our own work anymore. It’s out there. You’re responding to it! And it also means we’re that much closer to getting the game into your hands. So we’d like to extend a HUGE thanks to everyone who has already expressed words of encouragement – they really do help!

Now, for this second contest, we want to see how Flower impacted you. Create a piece of art that was either inspired by Flower, or has to do with the emotions and/or nature that you think Flower depicts.

You can flex your skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D software, or any other imaging software. You can even make something physical, like a painting, mixed media, or sculpture, and snap a photo of it as your submission. This is your opportunity to be a part of the Flower community. If you didn’t have a story to submit in the previous contest, then take this chance to participate. Express yourself in a way that reflects thatgamecompany’s expression through Flower.

The only requirements are that the submission be 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall, that it be your original creation, and that it be related to Flower as described above.

To help inspire you, check out some of the amazing concept art thatgamecompany created in the development of the game.

You have plenty of time to be creative and enter your submission because this contest will run from today, May 12th through May 26th, 2010. Thatgamecompany will judge the submissions and choose five winners, each of who will receive a $20 PSN card.

The official rules are below. We can’t wait to see what creations you all come up with. Good luck!

The following promotion is intended for viewing in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia only and will be construed and evaluated according to United States law. Do not enter this contest if you are not a legal resident of, and located in, the 50 United States or the District of Columbia at the time of entry.

OFFICIAL RULES & RELEASE
Flower Fan Art Contest

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN

Void outside the 50 United States and District of Columbia and where prohibited.

1. Eligibility. The Flower Fan Art Contest (“Promotion”) is open to only legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, who are at least 13 or older at the time of entry. Employees of the Sponsor and its parent, subsidiaries and affiliated companies and their immediate families are not eligible to participate in this Promotion.

2. Sponsor. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404 (“Sponsor”).

3. Timing. The Promotion begins on May 12, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) and ends on May 26, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. PST (the “Promotion Period”).

4. How to Enter. To enter send an email with your name, date of birth and email address along with a digital image as an attachment to myflowerart@thatgamecompany.com (hereinafter the “Submission”). Entrant must have played the game Flower. The concept of the digital image should be “inspired by the game Flower”.

5. Entry Conditions and Release. Limit one entry per person for the duration of the Promotion Period. Subsequent entries will be disqualified. The Submission must be a digital image which is the original and unpublished creation of the Entrant. Entrant must be the sole owner of the work. The Submission must be a digital image (jpg, png, or bmp format) at 1920 x 1080 resolution. The image can be digitally created with 3D software, painted using imaging or painting software, or created with physical media and then photographed and scanned to fit the 1920 x 1080 resolution requirement. Entrant waives any claims against Sponsor, and its affiliates concerning his/her rights in the Submission submitted under this Agreement. Sponsor reserves the right to reject any entries that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate including, but not limited to, foul language, gratuitous depiction of violence or sexual behavior, positive depictions of alcohol or tobacco or any other illegal activity. Entry cannot defame or invade the rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any third party personal or proprietary rights. Sponsor is not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures, malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions or unforeseen schedule changes that may limit an Entrant’s ability to participate in the Promotion, even if caused by Sponsor’s negligence. Sponsor has the sole and absolute discretion to modify, cancel or suspend this Promotion should virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control affect the administration, security or proper play of the Promotion or Sponsor otherwise becomes incapable of running the Promotion as planned. Sponsor is not responsible for changes to Entrant’s contact information. Sponsor has the sole and absolute discretion to disqualify Entrants who violate these Official Rules, tamper with the operation of the Promotion or engage in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to Sponsor, the Promotion or any other Entrant.

6. Winner Selection. Winners will be selected from all eligible entries received during the Promotion Period. Sponsor’s decisions will be final and binding. Winners will be notified by email no later than May 31, 2010. Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected based on the stated Judging Criteria. Chosen winners must respond to the prize notification within seventy two (72) hours from when Sponsor sent notification. In the event that a winner does not respond to Sponsor’s notification within the specified time, a new winning entry will be chosen from the remaining entries based on the stated Judging Criteria. Alternate winners will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond from when Sponsor sent the notification, this process will continue until all prize notifications have been responded to. Winners will be announced on or around June 3, 2010.

7. Judging Criteria. All Submissions received will be judged based 90% on creativity and quality and 10% on its relevance to Flower by a panel of judges composed of members of the thatgamecompany development team and SCEA’s Marketing and Product Development staff.

8. Prizes. Five (5) First Prize winners will each receive a PlayStation®Network card worth $20.00 for a combined total of ARV $100.00. Prize fulfillment is based on availability. Sponsor has the sole and absolute discretion to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize is unavailable. If a prize is returned to Sponsor as undeliverable, Sponsor has the sole and absolute discretion to disqualify a winning Entrant and select an alternate winner based on the stated Judging Criteria. Prizes are non-transferable, and Sponsor need not substitute a prize based on winner’s request. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of the prize.

9. Release and Grant of Rights. Entrants are solely responsible for their Submission and the consequences of posting or publishing it. In connection with the Submission, Entrant affirms, represents, and warrants that: (i) Entrant owns or has the necessary licenses, rights, consents and permissions to use the Submission in the manner contemplated by the Sponsor; and (ii) Entrant has the written consent, release and permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the Submission to use the name of those persons to enable inclusion and use of the Submission in the manner contemplated by the Sponsor. By submitting the Submission to Sponsor, Entrant hereby grants to Sponsor a perpetual, fully paid, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, distribute, display, transmit, and permit others to use and perform throughout the universe the Submission, his/her likeness and performance and every identifiable individual person’s likeness and performance in the Submission in any media. Entrant hereby releases Sponsor and its parent and sister companies, and their officers, directors, employees and agents from any and all claims, demands, actions or causes of action of any kind, nature or description, which you or any of your successors, or, assigns, may now, or at any time, have or claim to have any reason of, arising out of, relating to or in any way connected with the rights granted above.

10. General Conditions and Releases. Potential winners are subject to Sponsor’s verification. Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Potential winners must comply with the Official Rules’ terms and conditions, and receipt of prizes is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. Sponsor is under no obligation to use the winning submission in any media. Winners agree to the use of their name and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Additionally, winner agrees to release Sponsor and their respective parents, subsidiaries, agencies, divisions, and affiliates from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in the Promotion, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any Promotion-related activity and claims based on publicity rights, copyright/trademark infringement, defamation or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery.

11. Odds of Winning. Odds of winning are determined by the number of eligible entries received.

12. Publicity. By accepting a prize, a winning Entrant agrees to the use of his or her name and likeness for purposes of advertising, trade or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law, and agrees, if required, to sign and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and Release of Liability (the “Affidavit”) within a period that Sponsor specifies.

13. Promotion Results. To obtain a winners’ list by mail, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to “Flower Fan Art Contest”, Attn: Sony Computer Entertainment America Marketing, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd. 2nd Floor, Foster City, CA 94404. Sponsor will send requested winners’ lists within 4-6 weeks after it awards prizes. Requests for the winner’s list must be received by June 30, 2010.

14. Collection of Information. The information necessary to operate the Promotion was collected by Sponsor at the time of entry, and without limiting Sponsor’s rights under its privacy policies with regards to its use of the information, will be used to contact you specifically for operation of the Promotion. Information collected in connection with the Promotion will otherwise be collected in accordance with Sponsor’s privacy policy, available at http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/PrivacyPolicy. By agreeing to these Official Rules, you are also agreeing to the terms of Sponsor’s privacy policy.

15. Restrictions. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.