I’m Phil Gaskell, a producer working in External Development here at SCEE Liverpool which just shipped Super Stardust HD. We’ve been following all of the feedback and praise that you’ve given this game lately and we wanted to simply say THANK YOU!
SSHD was a fun product to work on and the overall reception has been amazing. I’m honestly quite astounded by the high-scores that some of you have already achieved on this game. Zafro is currently sittin’ pretty with more than 640 million. Wow, the gaming community never ceases to amaze me….
For those of you who don’t know, Super Stardust HD is a download game available now only via the PlayStation Store, and was developed by a small team in Finland called Housemarque. In the end, the team at Housemarque was able to get over 10,000 active objects with physics and collisions, and over 75,000 particles simulated and drawn at 1080p 60fps…It’s truly a sight to see.
SSHD is an ultra intensive action game that raises the shoot’em up genre to the next level. You battle to save five planets on the brink of extinction from massive asteroids and a horde of enemies…sent by the evil penguin Professor Schaumund (yep, a penguin…a real nasty one too!). The stars of the show though are the asteroids, made of rock, gold and ice. Check out some of the images above and below and you’ll see what I’m talking about. You can slice, shatter, melt, and pummel them into tiny pieces – it’s very therapeutic! Perfect for a quick fix or the long haul.
One of the things we’re really proud of with SSHD is the sphere concept. Unlike other shooting games where you’re confined to a play area maybe a couple of screens big or scrolling along uncontrollably, the action in SSHD takes place in orbit around a planet. This means you can boost around it infinitely (and sometimes you might need to). From a player point of view you never worry about hitting the sides, and it allows you to concentrate more on dodging around the rocks and enemies, and blasting anything that moves. It gets really intense at times, quite simply if you blink, you’re dead.
Simply mindblowing. Plus, evil penguin king?!
looks great, going to definately buy it when i get a ps3
This game i awesome! I was pleased with my 7 million rekord… but 640M?
Holy crap!
I got it the instant I saw it at the PS Store. It’s an incredibly awesome game. I’ve never yelled [DELETED] at the tv so much. Well, maybe when climbing those damned spiked pillars in God Of War : ( The action is nonstop and I can’t seem to stop playing. It’s calling me now…
I absolutely LOVE THIS GAME. SSHD came out of no where for me.
Any reason why there wasn’t a demo? Blast Factor and Nucleus had demos. I think it looks cool, but I would like to try before I buy.
super star dust hd is the best 8 bucks i have ever spent. I hope we get more games like this there really fun!
Great game. I’m not the best at the game, but my high score so far is 11.5 million.
I’m trying to go to 50 million at least.
Best game on the PS Store by far, Keep up the good work guys!!
I would like to try this game out but theirs no demo for it in the Playstation store. Every downloadable game should have a demo. Please make this a standard for all PSN games.
Between this and CaC, the PSN is a formidable force of quality content. I love this game, I was so upset when I had to wait a day to add funds to my wallet for this. And yes, the high scores are racking up. Last I check it was in the 500 mil range but 600+, WOW. Keep it up Housemarque and maybe some DLC for this game, add on music possible?
Game is awesome.
Was extremely hard to get over 100 million but I DID IT!!!!.
After playing it through normal, HARD is definitely harder. I got the last planet and last phase a second time with no lives left and choked. I could have had a higher score.
I can HONESTLY say that his is the MOST fun I’ve had by myself(single player) on PS3. DAMM, it’s soo hard but sooo addicting and fun. It’s really fun, unique games like these that makes the Playstation Store awesome! Im only on the 2nd level, but just looking at the graphics are beautiful and the game itself should easily get a 10 in gameplay. Honestly, the scores were ALRIGHT for this game(8.7), because anything under 10 can still have improvement and this game simply CAN’T. It’s the PERFECT game, and the most fun that I’ve had on any game downloaded on PS Store!
This game is simply amazing. It looks excellent and plays extremely well. It is a very addicting game. I can’t stop playing it even with all the new games released this past week, I find myself going back to SSHD. It’s a great game and an absolute steal at $7.99.
Something happened to my comment guess it didn’t get through or whatever.
This is a bit off topic, but I’m just wondering why it seems that Sony’s third-party relations are in the gutter. I mean you have Medal of Honor: Airborne coming to the PS3 2 to 3 months after it 360/PC release. And Virtua Fighter for the 360 is getting online Vs, while it seems the PS3 version will be getting no such update/feature. This sort of stuff is already disappointing to PS3 owners, but looks even worse in the eyes of the people sitting on the fence (you know the people you need to buy your console). I know you guys (Jack Trenton) are saying you don’t buy exclusivity/bribe developers, but it looks to me like you guys and gals (sorry, I know there are ladies there too) need to just get over that and start back money trucks to some developers’ door. Anyways, I’m just wondering if third-party relations are in shambles? Of course, I don’t expect a real answer, but hey it doesn’t hurt to ask. Oh and get some exclusives, and not one that Microsoft can buy off in 6 months to a year (Metal Gear Solid 4 ??). Well best of luck.
P.S. I like what your doing in the first-party space, and I can’t wait to see more of your games. But, you nor PS3 owners can live off first-party forever. It is like having a car with just two front wheels, but none in the back. Basically, the butt of your car is dragging in the dirt, so get that back wheels put on (i.e. third-party).
Sorry, about the spamming. Forgot about the whole moderation thing.
this same is awesome, thank you :)
same = game, of course :)
http://site.gravatar.com/images/files/thumbs/176795.jpg?226682
Off-topic but, How do I put my custom gravatar in the box to the right? What do I type in?
The best PSN game yet!
Please tell me their will be more awsome games that are fun like this, they don’t have to be shooters just somthing that has a fun experience like this.
how do you get into the 10 Million+ mark just not kill the targets to complete the stage? i can’t seem to get over 7 million oh well great game hardcore hand-eye coordination
I still haven’t bought this because i bought the map packs for RFOM. I am so broke it is not even funny. And I bought Blast Factor when it first came out. Then I bought the add-on so me and my wife could play together. AWWW how cute. I know I will love this game. I will get it soon enough.
P.S. – Before anyone says it I know its nothing like Blast Factor.
I would love to buy this game, but Sony hasn’t brought out their PSN cards yet. All the money they are loosing. :-(
Anyone?
Great little game.. A definate winner imo.
Keep up the good work.
On the Gravatar site your Avatar has to be on the bottom and on the top box both. What it is uploaded then you have to select it and add it to the top box.
Gravatar Help really f’ing sucks. Everybody has the same problem. There is a problem with their design.
This game is pure sex. Congrats guys on an awesome game and I look forward to more of your work.
Too good game for just 8$. My girlfriend adores it : )
I bought it and IT ROCKS! There ain’t no denying it, it’s better than geometry wars. Far better.
I think this game is better than Geometry Wars, plus it runs in 1080p.
[]^XO
Thanks for the commercial Sony.
This is by far the best PSN downloadable game.
this is the best PSN download i have ever bought.
but that dude who got 640 million took away my motivation.
is there going to be any downloadable PLanets as extra contents? i wouldn’t mind buying more of this awesome game
Three things:
– Gravatar is horrible.
– Why can’t I have an easy password to remember for this blog?
– Why can’t I try a demo of SSHD before buying it? I’ll buy it once you put a demo out there. If and only if.
Thanks.
BTW, I got one complaint about this game. I played this on the 4th of July and it ruined my 4th of July because when the fireworks went off I was disappointed because not even real fireworks match up to this game with all the explosions.
Two thoughts:
1. Downloadable content like planets and new weapons would be bought in a second.
2. Downloadable content like online co-op and online vs. would be bought in a nano-second.
Keep up the good work and hopefully E3 will put Sony where it belongs, in the spotlight.
Sony made a very good game congrats,
Though I have not played it it is the best ps network game network game so far.
Superfun game, if you havent tried it yet, what are you waiting for? :)
Sorry my post was incomplete,
Though I have not played the game according to the sony bias site gamespot, they sate that its th best network game before warhawk. Thanks sony and congrats on a network game rated at 7/10
By the way, the URL encoding is broken on your link to the Dallas Morning News in your post, guys.. it’s kind of smooshed together with the neogaf link.
By bias I mean the site that brings up the worst things about sony and nearly never talks about the good things, wha I cant believe is that rainbow six on ps3 got a 9,and 360 a 9.1, I really dont know what they were thinking rating this game a 9 its just that it makes me so mad of how much the media talks so much negativity about sony, they are trying they were the ones that brought the games, sony is one of THE best companys out there why are you talkin smack about sony so much? Not getting of topic NIce game.
Thanks jonabbey, we are fixing now.
Yeah, I downloaded this game myself as soon as it went up, and all I gotta say is that I’m very impressed. I really wished more would download this excellent game.
IMO, there should be a demo for the game (like, for 3-5 minutes, then shut the game off), because I think that would convince more to get this. But as for me, I wanted this so much a demo didn’t really matter, but it would be nice if more could be sold on this game.
Excellent game, I am so addicted. The 1up show had a section on SSD today. They seemed really impressed.
But how come Housemarque doesn’t have their own website? Someone needs to get on that and stick a message board up there and maybe add a tab on the game’s history or developer interviews.
Also what are they up to next?
Oh never mind Housemarque does have a website. Your link sent me to wiki so I assumed they didn’t have one.
@ 25 PS3_is_Cool
I made a tutorial on the PS forums. This should help.
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=pslounge&message.id=322300#M322300
@Seybold
Patrick dammit!*grabs by the collar*
*stares with bloodshot eyes*
…This has been keeping me up at nights… I MUST know.. does SSHD have home trophies!*shakes maniacally* Tell me! Tell me dammit!
First I’d like to say that I love this game. It beats Geometry Wars!
BUT…why was there no demo? Why are there demos for some titles on PSN but not for all? On Xbox Live Arcade all titles come with a demo, plus you don’t have to download the game twice, since the demo is actually a full version which is locked, so you just unlock it.
Please copy these features. It’s not just something MS does, but is a practice used in other places as well for different types of content. The current solution for PSN seems a bit “amateurish” :P