Ubisoft PS Vita Week: Building on a Classic with Lumines Electronic Symphony

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Ubisoft PS Vita Week: Building on a Classic with Lumines Electronic Symphony

Lumines Electronic Symphony for PS Vita

In 2005, Lumines was released as the number one-ranked title for the PlayStation Portable, and still holds its place as one of the top five games currently available for the system. Now, we are taking steps to build beyond the PSP classic and bring the best Lumines experience to PlayStation Vita with Lumines Electronic Symphony.

For the newcomers to the series, Lumines Electronic Symphony is a music-puzzle game that merges vivid colors and shapes with the intoxicating beats of an electronica soundtrack. It’s easy to play for five minutes, but you’ll tend to find yourself entranced for hours. Here are a few ways that Q Entertainment and Ubisoft are working to create an amazing experience that takes full advantage of the PS Vita hardware:

Lumines Electronic Symphony for PS VitaLumines Electronic Symphony for PS Vita

· Updated graphics and highly integrated sound. Let’s kick this off with saying that Lumines Electronic Symphony is a brand new game. We are now using animated 3D blocks instead of 2D sprites, which allow us to integrate dynamic lighting and animations mechanics. Along with our high quality graphics, we have tailored the audio in our game to be highly integrated with music and game sounds.

· Alternative control methods. We are taking big strides in terms of accessibility of Lumines Electronic Symphony. The game will support the front touch screen controls to move and rotate blocks. This will be perfect for new comers to the series. For those focused on boosting their scores, Lumines Electronic Symphony also supports analog and d-pad controls.

· A new XP system. In previous Lumines titles, a player unlocked skins based on their ability to successfully reach that skin. This meant that there was a potential that some players did not see certain skins. However, in Lumines Electronic Symphony, we have integrated an XP system. Now all the points that a player receives in a session are converted into XP, so as you level up, you will unlock additional skins and avatars.

· New avatars and abilities. Speaking of avatars, we have revamped our avatar system. Previously, the avatar was nothing more than a visual representation of the player. Now, each avatar has a single player and multiplayer ability mapped to them. Unlock more avatars and find the abilities that best suit your style of play.

Lumines Electronic Symphony for PS Vita

That’s a quick breakdown of the key features that you will find in Lumines Electronic Symphony. We’ll have more information on Lumines coming soon, so keep your eyes on the PlayStation.Blog. Look for Lumines Electronic Symphony to hit the PlayStation Vita on February 14th — just in time for the First Edition Bundle!

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68 Comments

18 Author Replies

  • Will this be getting a demo during launch day as well? Thinking about getting this along with Rayman Origins :)

    • There will be a demo and I believe it is releasing on launch day. Will need to confirm though.

    • There will be a trial version that features two playable skins: Safri Duo’s ‘Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)’ –as featured in the screenshot above– and Goldfrapp’s ‘Rocket (Tiesto Mix).’ If you like what you’re playing you can unlock the full game by purchasing it from the trial version and be playing the full game in a matter of seconds.

  • How much?

  • I like puzzles. But a music-puzzle game, that’s even better. Can we purchase this PS Vita version from the PSN?

    • There will be a digital version of our game releasing the same day as the retail version. Hooray! *throws confetti*

  • Will the digital version also go for $39? Wouldn’t be too bad if there were some PS Plus perks in the form of PS Vita game discounts :P

  • How much the digital versiob (PSN) ?

  • This is the ONLY Ubisoft Vita title that I fee is actually worth the MSRP of $39.99. But I’d love to buy the PSN version for $29.99 or $34.99.

  • How big of a download would it be if I bought it over PSN?

    • I’m hearing that it is going to come in at about 700 MB, so if you pick up a 4 GB card you should still have plenty of room.

  • Apologies, Rayman Origins also looks to be a quality Vita title from Ubisoft if the console version is any indication. So that and Lumines are two stand out launch titles from Ubisoft.

    And hopefully all of this silience on PSN prices will lead to some positive news, much to the dismay of physical retailers.

  • Yo Mielke. Really excited about the game.

    Is there going to be online VS gameplay? The social features sound cool, but I wasn’t sure if there was going to be head-to-head via Infrastructure.

    Also, any word on how many skins will be in the game?

    Thanks, man!

    • There will be multiplayer in Lumines Electronic Symphony. Even better is that all the avatars have unique multiplayer abilities, so there’s a lot variety.

      For skins, we can confirm that there are 33 licensed tracks and 10 Q Entertainment created tracks.

  • @8 Wouldn’t hold my breath on that rumour about PS Vita games being 40% cheaper on PSN…

  • Rather than getting the game at retail, I’d much rather buy it through the PlayStation Store so I can always play Lumines regardless of what game card is in my system. Because I am getting the first edition bundle, I will only have a 4 GB memory card. How big is the game file? Could I fit Lumines: Electronic Symphony on a 4GB card and still have plenty of room to spare?

  • @11 I know, not holding my breath at all. I’m expecting the worse (full MSRP), but hoping for the best (some small discount).

  • Is there Wi-Fi multiplayer for Lumines: Electronic Symphony?

  • LOVE LUMINES !

  • Just placed my pre-order. Looking forward to it – I’ve never played Lumines before. :-)

  • Excited for some more Lumines. Going to wait to see the PSN digital prices before i pre-order the Vita. Hoping for like $20 to $25 downloads for new releases which will make the price of the 32GB memory card worth it over time.

  • It’s Bought already!!!

    Ray “WrekGar”
    AKA PS Blog Stalker

  • I’m stoked for a new Lumines! Love this game much and the music is amazing.

  • Will be getting this and Rayman for sure!!

    BUT I’ll have to wait for a price drop. :(
    I can’t justify $40 on a puzzle game no matter how good it is.

    One question Alex:
    I know there’s different TYPES of avatars, but are those avatars customizable???

    • Avatars aren’t customizable, but there are quite a few of them so you can choose the one that best suits your play style.

    • You can customize your Lumines profile with the avatar who’s appearance or single and multiplayer abilities best suits your playstyle. There are 41 in total to choose from.

  • Awesome news this is a launch title. I will definitely be buying this day 1. I loved Lumines on the psp.

  • Never played this series on PSP before, but will definitely pick this up together with the 1st bundle on the 15th. This and Rayman seem very interesting.

    Will there be any additional songs or puzzles as DLCs for this game in the future?

  • At about 700MB for a digital version? Now I’m definitely more interested in getting it in digital version! Booyah!

    • The digital version is the same size as the cartridge version. Dunno if that helps your purchasing decision or not, but thought I’d mention it.

  • When will we be hearing digital version prices? The fact they haven’t been released makes me think they won’t be much better than retail prices. But to announce that early would be to hurt memory card pre-order sales, as everyone leaves their digital-only strategy. In other words, Sony is delaying the bad news as long as possible.

    On the other hand, an exciting announcement (like 50% off) right before launch could boost impulse buys of both games and hardware.

  • Hmmm. I bought the original for my launch PSP. I still haven’t decided on all of the games that I will get with my first edition bundle. Lumines with trophies sounds very promising… will it have a platinum?

  • as much as I like Lumines $40 is too much for a game like this

  • @#21 “Yuuno12265”

    It is, though they have not announced it formally yet, they are already placing some extra songs available as an incentive for those that pre-order.

    From Amazon.com

    “Order LUMINES Electronic Symphony and receive three exclusive MP3 downloads of in-game music composed by Q Entertainment! These rare tracks were created by famed Japanese composer, Makoto Asai, and are composed specifically for some of the game’s secret unlockable stages.”

  • Is this the Mielke from the old EGM?

    Missed his FFXI monthly journals.

    Great guy, looks like he moved on from journalism.

    • It sure is, and thanks for the kind comments. I miss FFXI, too. But I don’t have as much time to invest in MMOs. I play most of my games on the go, now, which makes the Vita extra convenient. :)

  • Definitely picking this up day one, but I’ve really wanted to ask if “Shinin'” by Mondo Grosso made its way back into Lumines: Electronic Symphony? It was in the original Lumines game and has always stayed with me as my favorite song in the franchise. I’d even take it as DLC if offered!

  • Is the blog post about Rayman Origins tomorrow?

  • I wasn’t interested in this game until I read this blog post, nice work.

    Also that box art is amazing.

  • Can the PSN downloadable version of Lumines Electronic Symphony for the PS Vita be played on the PS3 as well, and if not, is there ever going to be a PS3 Version of the game?

  • with 30 comments with 14 replies already… Alex Monney, you sir have earned my preorder! =)

  • Was thrilled about Lumines: ES until I saw the price tag of $39.99. Ubisoft is sending so many titles to die with their nonsensical pricing strategies. First the crazy prices on the iOS ports, and now this on Lumines. Hopefully the digital price hits the sweet spot of 29.99

  • Just want to congratulate you on what looks to be a killer sequel to the original classic.

    Any chance you could go into a little bit more detail on World Block mode? It sounds really interesting, and there doesn’t seem to be any information on it anywhere on the web.

    • The World Block is actually our global community goal/feature. By simply playing, your (and everyone else who connects to the online leaderboards and uploads their experience gain daily) EXP earned contributes to an overall global tally. If the prerequisite EXP requirement is reached daily, everyone who participated gets a nice EXP bonus, enabling you to level up faster. In this way, everyone can contribute and get extra EXP.

  • – A LOYAL SONY CUSTOMER (Avid PS3 & PSP user and consistent PSN spendah’!!!)

    IF there is absolutely NO PSN digital download discount for VITA games (when I check on the 14th). THEN I will immediately cancel my VITA preorder & save for the NextBox…Sad to say, but it is the ONLY manner in which I will be able to voice an audible opinion on such greedy tactics. Hoping for continued symbiosis…

    Graywolffe

  • Can you comment on how many different skins there will be or if there will be any that feature full motion video?

    Also, I can’t say how excited I am that you guys worked with BUILD. I love their Wipeout work.

    • In the primary Voyage mode we’ve included 33 skins featuring licensed music from a wide range of brilliant electronic artists, and hidden 10 unlockable skins featuring music composed specifically for Q Entertainment.

      Regarding the visuals of the skins, we use a wide array of visual techniques, including some FMV, fully polygonal 3D animated visuals, video textures, 2D art and animation, and too many to count. But even where we use FMV, it’s not a simple matter of plugging in a video and letting it roll. Each skin evolves in three separate micro-transitions that change the look of each stage and song multiple times. This keeps things much fresher than ever before in a Lumines game, and gives players a greater sense of progression and accomplishment. :)

  • Aw I missed your answer above. Sorry for the redundant question.

  • How are the trophies looking? Platinum? How many trophies? Any hidden?

  • I see Lumines is still resting on its laurels. Nice.

    I, for one, enjoy playing the same game ad infinitum with different skins.

    I am also not the sort of person that thinks poorly of sarcasm.

  • I have been a big fan of original Limines for PSP and am looking forward to getting hands on this new LUMINES for VITA! A few comments and wishes below.

    1: What I love to see is more cooperative aspect of multiplayability. The VS mode is fine (Player to Player), but it would be nice if there is something like 2 players working together to “jam” and beat the CPU, or something like that. For example, a game has 2 sheets of “music” to play on. 2 players can flick to choose the sheet to play on, which are running simultaneously (Would be fantastic if each player could choose their own “instrument” to “jam”)

    2: The EXP earning the skins is a nice change for repeaters like me who are not so skillful. Thanks.

    3: Not about LUMINES, but I am also waiting for “Child of Eden” to make its way to VITA! Any words??

    Thanks for your time. Waiting patiently till the time of LUMI release…

    @IsanaAtABEDEATH

    • Thanks for your support. We won’t be able to please everyone all the time, in terms of everyone’s specific wishlists, but we did put as much as we could in the time we had, and I think you’ll discover there’s quite a lot of replay value.

  • This and MLB The Show are the only reasons I’m buying a Vita. THANK YOU!

  • I can speak for the dev team when I say that none of us were satisfied to ‘rest on our laurels’ as you say. We had to strike a careful balance of creating compelling new additions to the formula, without disrupting the balance of the finely-tuned game mechanics. Instead of changing things, we decided to add to them. We retain the core mechanics, but we allow for more flexibility by adding 41 new avatar abilities. These are used in situational ways, and don’t affect the basic game flow. There are also 41 new multiplayer power-ups that you can customize according to your playstyle.

  • Of course, visually and sonically (and socially), there is much more user interaction than ever before, and within each skin we’ve created three tiers of visual and audible escalation to create a climax in every song. Plus there are global community goals, a new hardcore mode for the best Lumines players, and 34 hand-picked songs from the best electronic artists in the world, augmenting Q’s own musical contributions. The graphics and audio engine has been built from the ground up, using tools we created for Child of Eden, and there’s zero repurposed content from previous games (except for the classic avatar designs). Where we’re resting on our laurels I have no idea. We put 110% effort into rebooting this series in the spirit of the original game.

  • I’m definitely getting this on launch. I must have spent thousands of hours with the originalLlumines, just throwing on a pair of headphones and zoning out to the music. Can’t wait!

    Also, I will be doing like others here have stated and buying the digital version so I always have a copy with me, so I really hope there’s some kind of discount for it. For one, my wallet would really appreciate it seeing as I’m already spending over $600 on games in February. :/

    • I don’t know about the US, so don’t hold me to this as I really have no idea what pricing policies are in the States, but in Japan the digital versions are generally cheaper than the packaged versions.

  • Awesome that there will be a demo since I’ve heard many great things about Lumines, but never got around to play it myself. Great that you clarified the hard work that you guys put into it and I hope that the gameplay and soundtrack are as impressive as Child of Eden which is one of my favorite Move games.

    • You really need to play this with decent headphones on. The difference between playing with or without headphones is like watching 2001 A Space Odyssey or BEING IN SPACE.

  • Mielke, thank you for your comments and feedback. Developer commentary like this is what pushes me off the fence and into a full on purchase. No matter the PSN price on 2/15/12, I’ll be downloading this game so it’ll always be available on my Vita. Thanks again!

    • We really thank you for the support. LES is a really high production value product. It’s hard to convey until you see it in action, but I think you’ll see how much more work went into each skin than you’ve ever seen in any Lumines before. I’m sure you’ll love it.

  • Wait a second…did a develop actually ANSWER some direct questions and ADDRESS some legitimate concerns? WOW. That’s refreshing. I’m tempted to buy this game on that fact alone. I’m also tempted to buy this game based on another fact: LUMINES is the most addictive game of all time.

    I just wish there was more reason to be tempted to buy a Vita. With games at $40 a pop (and more), it’s just way out of whack with the pricing model of handheld gaming in 2012.

    And the proprietary memory card scam is simply ludicrous.

  • Hurmm …. has no one looked at history before? o.O

    I’m shocked at the number of people who think a PSN version would be cheaper. Sorry, but with both the PSP and the PS3 the digital version is always equal or higher in price than retail.

    Equal to start, but retail drops in price MUCH faster than digital, thus making the digital cost more than retail at times.

    Retail stores lower prices to get the boxes off their shelves. Holding inventory costs a store money, they want it gone and new stuff in its place. Digital dosen’t have that.

  • Looks great. While I won’t be able to get a Vita, I would absolutely love to see this on iPad or at least update your current iOS app to be iPad friendly. Lumines is by far the best puzzle game out there on any platform. Good work.

  • I’ve loved Lumines since the first one on PSP, and I’m super excited to get my hands on this! Can’t wait ’til Feb 15!!!

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