Tag Archives: flOw

Journey: Collector’s Edition has hit PSN today, compiling all of developer thatgamecompany’s work, and a host of other bonus collectibles.

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The Journey: Collector’s Edition, which features trio of games as well as mini-game, is out today in the US.

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In case you were not aware of the fact that thatgamecompany has made some of the most beautiful games of this console generation, this trailer for the upcoming Journey Collector’s Edition should educate you fully.

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Thatgamecompany’s confirmed the Journey: Collector’s Edition, featuring the trio of games made between the developer and Sony as part of its three game deal, will launch on August 28 in the US.

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OPM has posted a shot of an advertisement culled from the August issue of the US Official PlayStation Magazine showing the contents of the Journey Compilation GameFly inadvertently outed ahead of time earlier this week. The collection, which in the ad is called the Journey Collector’s Edition, includes not only Flow, Flower, and Journey, as previously reported, but a PlayStation Plus membership trial, all three soundtracks, exclusive mini-games, documentaries and “much more”. The game is slated for August 28, with thatgamecompany confirming its existence, but Sony yet to announce anything.

A listing called the Journey Compilation has popped up on Gamefly, and set for releases on August 28. Spotted by Superannuation, thunder the PS3 game’s description it states “coming soon,” but it’s assumed to be a compilation of thatgamecompany titles Flow, Flower and Journey. Sony has yet to comment, but thatgamecompany has confirmed it’s existence, (thanks, Get_crazy) but said it was unable to provide further details at this point.

Sony’s investment in thatgamecompany really paid off, producing two of the PlayStation Network’s top performers.

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Sony has put up a video featuring a message from thatgamecompany, as part of the make.believe project.

The mantra of the video is “Believe that anything you can imagine, you can make real”, which has led to the development and release of games like flOw and Flower.

Check out the inspirational video of it below, or through the US PS Blog.

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While speaking at develop regarding thatgamecompany’s flOw and Flower, Jenova Chen told attendees that games need more mature content by way of emotional engagement, not necessarily violence. Otherwise titles become nothing more than “toys”.

“I never see that sense of thrill any more in today’s games,” he said. “Yes, today’s games are more real and satisfying but the underlining mechanics are no different from toys. But the human brain likes information – it’s like a sponge that sucks up information and wants more all the time.

“Other pursuits are enjoyed by adults and not viewed as toys. As grown up gamer I don’t want to see the games I have been playing with love turn into toys. I think games need to have more mature content – but not like [Dead of Alive] or [Manhunt], but more sophisticated works.

“Games should make the player think and touch the gamer’s emotion. Gameplay needs to be like any other medium – it has to evoke all kinds of responses. Otherwise our industry will flatline.

“It shouldn’t be about one feeling – like excitement or happiness. Humans have a range of emotions, and life is stressful. Games should reflect that.”

Chen said developers could accomplish this by incorporating contemporary themes and approaching games as one would approach the creation of art.

“Most people in the games industry are jaded with this argument about games being art,” he admitted. “But it is important. I’m not an artist, I’m a computer science guy, and as game designer I think art is a component that is necessary.

“Look at the greatest artists and their works [Van Gogh, Tolkien and Alan Moore], they reflect the time and the world around them at the time.”

More over on Develop.

PlayStation show Pulse is reporting that PAIN is the most downloaded title on its PlayStation Network this year.

The game released on US PSN back in 2007 and in Europe March of this year. High Velocity Bowling rolled in second and the seminal Super Stardust HD third.

In fact, considering most of the titles in the top 10 (below) came out in the US last year, we’re left wondering if its a worldwide chart.

1. Pain
2. High Velocity Bowling
3. Super Stardust HD
4. PixelJunk Monsters
5. Flow
6. Warhawk
7. Aquatopia
8. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection
9. High Stakes Poker Edition
10. Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty

Thanks, PS3F.

By Mike Bowden

flOw for PSP’s releasing in the US tomorrow, SCEA’s announced. Find all the details after the link. Interestingly, the weird bio-organism game is apparently in a genre all by itself, entitled “zen gaming”. You want to sort that out, Sony. The last time anyone used the words “zen” and “gaming” in the same sentence, no good came of it.

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Offbeat theories kicked off the sessions at the Independent Games Summit in San Francisco today, as the first keynote was delivered by That Game Company’s Kellee Santiago, Everyday Shooter developer Jon Mak, and academic developer Pekko Koskinen. The three-person presentation focused on provoking thinking about the relationship between games and gamers.

Santiago, the developer of flOw, argued that the personal value of games to players is something that needs to be better quantified if both developers and publishers are to get a better grasp of the importance of the medium. She argued that a focus on longevity and content was to the detriment of games being memorable and therefore valuable to players.

Mak looked at how the attitude of gamers towards a game changes depending on how a game looks, and whether we get to “own” the output we see on the screen, citing Guitar Hero as an example of how remarkably basic systems enthral gamers by producing output in direct response to their actions.

But it was Koskinen who had the most interesting and complex take of the session. He argued that while other media was tied to particular physical formats, games could be made out of anything at all. He cited the fact that chess could be played with physical pieces, on a screen, or even mentally. This, claimed Koskinen, means that games are all about how a player behaves, and his or her behaviour is the medium in which game designers work. Game design “is the art of fictional behaviour”, said Koskinen.

The Finnish developer suggested that game designers could “design players in the same way that we design games”, and that behavioural aspect of games would become a great tool in shaping how people live in the years to come.

SCEA’s dated the PSP version of water-based little animal game, FLOw, as March 6. We’re still waiting to hear when we can expect the new version – the original was an early PS3 title – in Europe.

“I’m afraid we’re not announcing a date at the moment,” a SCEE rep told us this morning.

Sony’s UK site is listing odd water puzzle game flOw as a PSP release, although with a release date for the download as “January 2008″ a slip may be on the cards. The game will be available from the PC-PSP store and will feature ad-hoc multiplayer for up to four people.