Archive for the ‘empty clip studios’ Category
Auditorium Streaming to PSN November 23
Posted by Alvin Muolic in 3D, auditorium, cipher prime, empty clip studios, indiepub, PlayStation Games, playstation move, PSN, zoo publishing on November 15th, 2010
Along with the community we’d been building up, I’m playing and reviewing many of the entries for our first ever indiePub Games Independent Developer Contest. There’s plenty of variety and creativity on display here, but there’s one game that sticks out to me the most. Its minimalistic visuals and haunting audio drew my attention at first, but it was the unique gameplay that kept me in. That game was Auditorium.
Conceptually, you are transforming light into a symphony of sound. If you’ve played it before, you know what I mean. If you haven’t experienced Auditorium yet, you’ll have that “a-ha!” moment after a level or two. And then you’re hooked.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one who felt the same, and soon enough, Auditorium was voted and crowned the winner of the competition.
Following their victory, we at Zoo Publishing and indiePub partnered together with the folks at Cipher Prime to bring Auditorium to PlayStation consoles. Along with developer Empty Clip Studios, we’ve collaborated and put together what can be considered the definitive version of the game: Auditorium HD.
This being our first major release out of indiePub, we and Cipher Prime really wanted to do something for the fans. So not only do you get the original, 72-level Auditorium experience in full 1080p HD, now dubbed “Auditorium Classic”, you get a lot more. “Auditorium Modern” is an entirely unique experience exclusive to Auditorium HD. We’re talking 78 original levels and audio; essentially a brand-new Auditorium game in itself! And they’re really challenging—during development, I had to rely on the debug build level select cheat in order to see all of them. It’s not that I couldn’t have eventually figured some of them out, I just really wanted to see and hear what cool things were coming up next!
Besides that, you can also thank Empty Clip Studios for coming up with stereoscopic 3D and PlayStation Move support. 3D was done in a more subtle manner that compliments the gameplay experience very well. If you’ve got the proper 3DTV display, it’ll be a nice visual treat. And you’ll be glad to know that you can use your PlayStation Move controller to play through the game as well. The DualShock 3 is no slouch in the controls department, but I personally preferred the immediacy that the PlayStation Move brought when playing.
And there you have it, from indiePub contestant to full-fledged PlayStation 3 game. It’s been a fun ride getting here, and I’m excited that you’ll all be able to play the game soon. Auditorium HD for PlayStation 3 is slated to be released November 23 for download via the PlayStation Store for $9.99. I and the rest of the Zoo Publishing and indiePub gang will be here to answer any questions or comments you might have about the game up until release when you can finally experience it for yourself!
Groovin’ Blocks Out Now on PSN
Posted by Matt Shores in empty clip studios, groovin blocks, PlayStation Games, PS3, PSN, Trailers, trophy on March 23rd, 2010
Hey everyone! This is Matt from Empty Clip Studios. We’re a small game developer that aims to put out games that you’ll want to play over and over.
We’re stoked to spread the word about our first PlayStation Network title, Groovin’ Blocks. Groovin’ Blocks is a genre-bending music-based puzzle game. Many times people give it a quick look and say “Wait, isn’t this just a match-3 game?” HELL no! If you love graphics-based block puzzles and games set to rocking beats, then Groovin’ Blocks is your gaming dream come true.
In Groovin’ Blocks, you play directly with the beat of the music. See those bright moving columns on the side? You will notice that as the song plays, they come towards the board where all of your blocks are falling. Once they hit the side, they will “flash” and disappear. That flashing is where you want to hit down on the SIXAXIS controller and settle your blocks. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, now you add on that match-3 component and you have yourself something you’ll want to play all day long. But that’s not all! We give you bonuses and a player vs player mode where those bonuses become weapons against your opponent. When you feel like kissing and making up for the destruction you’ve caused, we also give you a co-op mode that really sets the game apart. I dare you to cooperate and survive long enough to finish the song.
One of the features we’re most proud of is our online scoreboard. You can make online friends and strangers green with envy by crushing their high scores on their favorite songs. We’ve also added challenging trophies for the hard core Trophy hunters. The game is running at smooth 60 frames-per-second in full 1080p resolution. Mmmmmm…1080p, yum!
We really enjoyed making this game. Sony Online Entertainment also deserves some props for all of their support.
I really hope you enjoy Groovin’ Blocks. There is no fix it patch if you can’t stop playing. Groovin’ Blocks is available on the PlayStation Store for $9.99. Also, be sure to look for the Groovin’ Blocks trailer, free theme and wallpapers in the Store this Thursday! Have fun!
