PixelJunk 4AM (formerly Lifelike) (PSN/MOVE)

[cliffbo]

PixelJunk Lifelike revealed, set to utitlise PlayStation Move
Acclaimed developer sets sights on Sony's new motion control
Written by Alex Seedhouse, 16 September 2010

Q Games' latest addition to the PixelJunk series has been revealed by popular Japanese gaming publication, Famitsu. PixelJunk Lifelike is its name and whilst details remain to be thin on the ground, we've gathered as much as we can.

Set to utilise the new PlayStation Move motion control device, the game will integrate a blend of both music and movement, tasking the player to respond to gestural prompts on-screen.

Pricing for the Japanese PlayStation Store is currently estimated to set you back 500 yen, which will be around £3.79/ $6 for western audiences, and is currently set for a Winter 2010 release.

For those interested to learn more, the announcement was also accompanied by an incredibly quirky teaser trailer that you can catch through the link to your right!

We imagine that more details regarding the title will be released during Sony's press conference at Tokyo Game Show, due to be held tomorrow.

http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/p...-lifelike.html

[solidsnakejej]

was just about to post this, teaser trailer.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

[cliffbo]

intriguing

edit: it's the visualizer that was mentioned a while back

[AC!D]

Is that supposed to be some kind of new game?

[cliffbo]

Is that supposed to be some kind of new game?

no, it's a Visualizer with a difference. you use the MOVE and change the music with gestures. the graphics change accordingly. i think you can also use in the traditional sense of a Visualizer with your music collection

[Unspoken]

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

This.

[cliffbo]

i was right AC!D:

What *Is* PixelJunk Lifelike, Anyway?

What *Is* PixelJunk Lifelike, Anyway?If you saw the debut trailer for Q-Games' new project Lifelike, you probably thought to yourself "Uh... what?" Fortunately, we caught up with Q-Games founder Dylan Cuthbert and visual artist-musician Baiyon at TGS to learn more about the PixelJunk spin-off.

Cuthbert says that Lifelike is not a game, but a music visualizer for the PlayStation 3. The team has some experience in that space; it created the console's music visualizers and worked on some of the abstract graphics featured in the PS3's Xross Media Bar.

Lifelike is interactive software that uses the PlayStation Move controller to enhance its audio-visual experience. Lifelike, not quite a game, features more than 40 minutes worth of music from Baiyon, who also contributed artwork to the project. The Kyoto-based artist did the same for PixelJunk Eden, so Lifelike's graphical aesthetic may look familiar to PixelJunk fans.

PS3 owners can also play with Lifelike to their own MP3s, if they're ripped to the system's hard drive.

Baiyon also told us that he's contributing some of his music to another PlayStation 3 title, LittleBigPlanet 2, a strong contribution to that game's soundtrack. Look for that game to hit this November. Lifelike does not yet have a release date.

http://kotaku.com/5639405/what-is-pi...l+%28Kotaku%29

[OmniStalgic]

You were right on the money Cliffy...GOod call...Gotta support Pixel Junk Team...

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Made sense when he said as much.

[solidsnakejej]

Game being demo'd @ 7:42:00
http://www.gametrailers.com/netstorage/e3/e3-live.html

[KRA]

yeah i was just watching this. and i like it!
and why the fuck wasn't this at sony conference?!
ehh they spend alot of time on move with nervous devs talking about things that
i don't even remember anymore.
i want it. give me a date.

GameTrailers: E3 2011: Exclusive Game Debut (Stream) HD

[KRA]

Eurogamer: PixelJunk Lifelike - Preview
by Martin Robinson 10/08/2011 @ 11:50

Music games are as nebulous and diverse as music itself, as we've very recently explored. Still, it's no surprise that when Q-Games turned its hand to the genre the results would be stranger yet - for if there's one thing that's defined the studio's PixelJunk series, it's a willingness to be different.

"I personally always feel uncomfortable if the game feels too familiar," says Dylan Cuthbert, Q-Games' founder and president whose long and illustrious career has taken him from Edgware to his current base in Kyoto, "but at the same time I like to have a small amount of familiarity in there."

And so the PixelJunk games have always used the most simple of concepts as a springboard, be that the tower defence template at the core of Monsters or the 2D shmup mechanics that the forthcoming Sidescroller is built around. From there, though, ideas are spun out and explored, accompanied by often breathtaking visuals provided by an impressive roster of collaborators.

Ask what PixelJunk actually means, however, and the answer is as freeform as the series itself. "Innovativeness and enjoyment and preferably with a peppering of technology," says Cuthbert of PixelJunk's overarching philosophy. "We don't want to make anything that just anyone could make so we always strive to make our games feel different - to each other and to other games."

Lifelike, the latest offering from Q-Games, fulfils that particular remit more keenly than any PixelJunk game before it. Perhaps more fittingly described as a piece of music software than a game, it left many perplexed after its most recent showing at E3.

The demonstration certainly didn't offer any easy answers. With little pre-amble, the assembled games journalists sat through an extended performance from Baiyon, the Kyoto-based multimedia artist who previously collaborated with Q on PixelJunk Eden.

With controlled gesticulations of the Move controller, tendrils of colour danced across the screen to a progressive trance soundtrack that pulsated and evolved over 15 strange minutes. The sound of heads being scratched was more prominent in the room than the usual screech of biro on notepad.

"Obviously one or two people just didn't get it or the music," says Cuthbert of the divisive E3 outing. "That's fine, because we certainly can't cater to people who only listen to heavy metal or country music for example. Music is a personal taste and those people who are into the club scene and like the kind of music they hear there will love Lifelike."

So what exactly is Pixeljunk Lifelike, and how do you play it? The Move controller's at the heart of the experience, and it makes for a brilliantly tactile conductor's baton. The face buttons open up different banks of sound, which can then be manipulated with sweeps of the controller. An upwards swipe sets off a rippling bassline, while swinging to the left starts a round of heavily reverberating drums.

Pointing the controller at the screen and twisting it filters the music, and all the while the visual kaleidoscope sends salvia swirls spiralling out in time. If you've been unfortunate enough to sit through Gaspar Noé's film Enter The Void, the effect will be familiar, but if not then the tendrils of Pixeljunk Eden offer another easy-to-grasp reference point.

It's an experience that's hardwired around its technology too, so it's surprising to learn that at the project's start, Move wasn't a consideration. Now, however, it's at the very heart of the game. "Lifelike is our first and probably our only foray with the Move controller," says Cuthbert, "and I think we've managed to discover a very unique way of using every single axis of motion it has - we use absolutely every bit of data we can get out of the thing."

Of course, it's not the only game this year that, through the magic of motion control, turns players into conductors. Pixeljunk Lifelike is more loosely defined than Child of Eden, though it offers more creative control: the tracks that spring forth after a few minutes spent experimenting are the player's own, and there's a performance aspect to the game that Q-Games is hoping to cater for.

Two players can conduct together, using two Move controllers to collaborate in sound.
Performances can be broadcast over the PlayStation Network, with players able to tune in and out of other people's sessions. How exactly this will work is yet to be revealed, though it's likely that artists like Baiyon will be highlighted in featured sessions, and other artists could well come on board.

Lifelike's appeal lies in how it levels the playing field between those wanting to recklessly tinker and those of a more professional bent; the results will be different, but they'll always be engaging. "We demoed it to two execs, neither of whom have any musical experience," recalls Cuthbert. "When we handed them the controller to play with it they took to it like second nature and were producing some really cool and original music that was completely unlike Baiyon's style, yet still very good."

As a piece of casual music software, Lifelike proves surprisingly powerful, though it's likely to confuse as many as it delights. Those won over by the often traditional mechanics that have been at the centre of past PixelJunk games will find little to latch onto; instead, it's a means to create and share music, and the game part of Lifelike is abstract to the point of being non-existent.

It is, however, a natural fit in the genealogy of a series that's always evolving, and that's as happy to take in bold experiments such as Lifelike as it is thoughtful spins on traditional shooters. And how long can this series run?

"Oh I doubt it will end... ever," says Cuthbert, and long may it continue.

not so much new info
but it's a good excuse for me to paste opening credits for "enter the void"
which is just brilliant

[OmniStalgic]

I have a better idea of how the game will play out now...

tks for the post @KRA;

[solidsnakejej]

Renamed:


interview and video
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/...pixeljunk-4am/

[Bsack]

Wow I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually not interested in this PixelJunk title..... I feel like I've betrayed them.... lol

[cliffbo]

i remember when some 'raves' used the PS2 for visuals, this thing opens up some interesting alternatives. imagine a DJ stood on a stage making music for the hoards of dummy sucking dancers. oh the good old days... and before you ask, yes my gums are in tact, only ever did weed

[OmniStalgic]

Wow I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually not interested in this PixelJunk title..... I feel like I've betrayed them.... lol

Well, this isn't really some much a game as it is an interactive music application. It has gameplay elements, but PJ next official game is PJ sidescroller.

[KRA]

and as much as i am not sure how much varied music you can make with it.
(i am affraid that everything will sound like baiyon remix) i would like to give it a try.
it's a shame they were wasting time on star fox 64 3ds version
and there is also this facebook monsters game as i would love me some sidescroller
or this or maybe something else from them...

[Bsack]

Well, this isn't really some much a game as it is an interactive music application. It has gameplay elements, but PJ next official game is PJ sidescroller.

Fair enough I definitely will get Sidescroller.