We didn’t know it at the time, but it was a cruel quirk of timing which meant that the PlayStation 2 arrived while the world was still stuck on dial-up (how far-off those days seem now) and before it was either easy or cost-effective to get broadband. Of course, the world has changed immeasurably since then – the Web, in particular, having transformed itself from a teeth-grindingly slow-loading curiosity into something which is central to most people’s lives. And at last, we have a PlayStation family member which is fully geared up to the world of Web 2.0.
Sony has wasted no time in commissioning games that you can purchase over the PlayStation Network and get running on your PS3s with the minimum of fuss. Typically, they’re basic in terms of gameplay, but invariably fearsomely addictive, with plenty of nods to retro classics, but more modern production values. So we thought we’d have a look at what you can currently buy from the PlayStation Store – as well as a sneak peek at some of the next wave of games that you’ll be able to download and play.
flOw
FlOw has become the PlayStation Network’s most popular downloadable game, and you can see why. It’s very original and unconventional – the developer, thatgamecompany, originally made it as a Flash demo before being encouraged to give full reign to their imaginations on the PS3. Set in an enchanting undersea world filled with plankton, you get to manoeuvre an organism around (using, hurrah, the Sixaxis controller), eating up smaller organisms and diving to different levels by eating red or blue objects. What is good about flow is that it doesn’t tell you how to play it and, as you explore and eat lots of different creatures, you evolve. All to an ambient soundtrack. flow is deeply soothing and rather charming.
Blast Factor
This one definitely takes its inspiration from retro shoot-em-ups – you have to “decontaminate” cells by shooting all manner of nasty things which resemble blood cells, bacteria, viruses and so on. Which is achieved using a gloriously simple control system – the left stick moves you around, while you shoot in the direction of the right stick. If you’re good at rubbing your stomach and patting your head, you should do well. The graphics are pretty good – the textures feel like the sorts of things you’d find in a human body. And the game is action-packed and pretty addictive.
Super Rub A Dub
SCE Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison’s obsession with rubber ducks is well documented – every time Sony comes out with a new console, virtual rubber ducks will feature somewhere in the mix, usually to show its physics processing capabilities. This mini-game is, in truth, more of a technical demo than anything else. Like flOw, it uses the Sixaxis controller. You simply navigate a big rubber duck around various water-filled tubs, rescuing baby ducks trapped in bubbles, then leading them to the plug-hole to make good their escape. But you must beware the wind-up toy sharks, also marooned in bubbles, which will eat anything they find. Although you do get to control a shark occasionally and go on a cathartic feeding frenzy. Not the most absorbing game, but it’s amusing and will delight youngsters.
Go! Puzzle
The name is a bit of a giveaway – this is a collection of three puzzle games, entitled Swizzle Blocks, Aquatica and Skyskraper. All of which are as thoroughly casual as they sound, and owe varying debts to Tetris (at least, in that they feature differently coloured square blocks). Swizzle Blocks is our least favourite of the three – it simply encourages you to rotate coloured blocks until they form squares of four or more, at which point they explode. By positioning the cursor on the appropriate corners of blocks, you can rotate anywhere between one and four at a time. Aquatica is the most Tetris-like of the mini-games – set in an underwater environment, you must manoeuvre sets of three coloured mines so that they form lines or diagonals of the same colour and explode. Our favourite game of the three is Skyscraper, in which you must get from one side of a skyscraper to the other by moving through blocks of a single colour. You’ll find yourself under fearsome time pressure unless you eliminate all the blocks of your chosen colour. Sounds silly, and it is – but it’s also hopelessly addictive.
Go! Sudoku
This one does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a Sudoku game which is surprisingly playable – you move the cursor around and select your number using the left and right bumpers. There are, of course, varying time constraints (you win extra time by completing rows, columns and 3×3 squares) and levels of difficulty. ‘Nuff said.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
If you don’t know what this is, we’d like to know what planet you’ve been on. It is, of course, classic beat-em-up action. And well worth downloading while we wait for the first full PS3 version of Tekken.
Lemmings
Another all-time classic from the days before games went 3D – you have to save defined numbers of lemmings from their default mode of committing suicide in a vast number of increasingly fiendish and ingenious levels by giving them the power to hold other lemmings back, dig, build, float using umbrellas and so on. If you’re too young to have ever played Lemmings, and like games which require a modicum of brain usage – rather than just making you blast everything in sight – you will be amazed by how good a game this is. Which is why it’s one of the best-selling games of all time.
By Steve Boxer
I’ve played each of those except for Go Puzzle, and have enjoyed them all. Like many I’m waiting for Calling All Cars and any other original PSN game.
Comment by Neil — Apr 17, 2007 @ 10:53 pm
Mostly all great games, hope to see more soon.
P.S: red-rant.com
Comment by Ben Furneaux — Apr 17, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
Hmmm… nice little summary, but what happened to “…as well as a sneak peek at some of the next wave of games that you’ll be able to download and play” ?
Comment by Topov81 — Apr 17, 2007 @ 11:58 pm
i bought Flow, blastfactor, tekken, gripshift and super rub a dub. i think flow and blastfactor are extremely addictive, but the other three, there all well and good, tekken is great and super rub a dub is cool, but sometimes frustrating. however the most regreatable purchase has to be gripshift, not great.
PSN: TheDirector
Comment by thedirector — Apr 18, 2007 @ 12:10 am
I didn’t know about ‘Go! Puzzle’ I hope there’s a demo of that.
I’m excited to see what ThatGameCompany and Q-Games are working on.
http://www.q-games.com/mess.shtml
http://www.thatgamecompany.com/games.html
Comment by Shin-Ra — Apr 18, 2007 @ 1:16 am
Hey! They didn’t fire Steve Boxer. Nice write up.
Comment by mega man — Apr 18, 2007 @ 2:20 am
Thanks for the overview, some of those games tend to get forgotten… Speaking of which, I hope you’ll cover the rest of the PSN games sometime.
But I’m really impressed at the caliber of downloadable games on the ps3, especially getting things like GT:HD for free. I’m also glad Sony’s putting out quirky experimental games like flOw and super-rub-a-dub. All they need is a lot more of them. So far there’s no retail games I really want, but I’m having a blast with downloadables, and I’m a bit jealous of the downloads the 360 has (even if I already own some of the ported ones, like Ikaruga). I do hope Sony keeps offering more arcade classics, more ps1 games, more originals… I never expected my favorite part of next-gen gaming would be smaller games.
Well, until Final Fantasy 13 and God of War 3 come out anyway.
And when’s that Home beta supposed to start?
Comment by androvsky — Apr 18, 2007 @ 2:42 am
Great round up
My fave is Super Rub a Dub, it’s infectious! It has wide appeal and is challenging on a number of levels:
Beat each Level (single player)
Beat online scores
Beat friends at home (multi player)
Beat friends in social networks
I’m stuck at trying to beat my pals over at http://www.gamesey.com - quite a few of our members are in the top 10 for a number of games and some have all golds!!
Comment by Timeless — Apr 18, 2007 @ 3:07 am
Where’s GT:HD ?
Comment by Vince — Apr 18, 2007 @ 7:24 am
So is “Go Puzzle” the only up coming game yet to go on the Playstation store. I thought we would have had more of a look into the future.
Comment by appmacguy — Apr 18, 2007 @ 8:00 am
So far I’m very happy with what PSN has offered me in terms of games. It’s got a few throwbacks (Tekken, Lemmings, MKII), but it also has a great amount of original games, and in the next 3 weeks it’s only going to get better. Super Rub a Dub, Calling All Cars, and Go! Puzzle. Where the Wii’s Virtual Console offers older games, and XBL Arcade consists of a lot of ports of cell phone/PSP/Arcade games, neither have games really designed to be used on that system. I’m definitely looking forward to David Jaffe’s next PSN (I’m assuming since it’s arcadey) offering with Incog, and Factor 5 said they have TWO PSN games in the works… not to mention some Capcom games and I’m sure there will be a few more random ones in there that are definitely worth looking at.
I also think these games are priced perfectly. In the past when previous game systems launched, it was a long time before you saw any kind of budget title for it that isn’t the full $50/$60, but now with these games, owners of any system have something to go to for low-cost fun.
What I would like to see Sony do (besides make more PSN games, of course :P) is advertise these games, and let people who don’t own a PS3 or haven’t taken theirs online yet what they offer. It’s a little saddening to not see a ton of PS3 games on the shelf like we’re used to seeing for PS2, so I think it would help convince those people still on the fence that there’s more for this system than *just* what’s on shelves, y’know? Also, I’d love to see their Japanese studios get more involved, or if they already are deeply involved, I’d like to be able to see more of it here in the States!
Cheers!
Comment by Matthew — Apr 18, 2007 @ 8:09 am
One big problem.
STILL NO PLAYSTATION STORE for Poland.
I’ve mentioned this once, i’ll mention it again.
Comment by arabek — Apr 18, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
[...] /blog/?p=385 /blog/?p=386 [...]
Pingback by Polski PSN Store » PS3 Site Polska | Portal PlayStation 3 | PS3 News — Apr 18, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
I am a happy, yet unsatisfied owner of the PLAYSTATION3 system i’ve bougt at the European launch date.
Almost a month has passed, and yet You still fail to deliver a Polish version of Your online store.
As a paying customer i hereby request, that you (SONY) reveal the date the store will be accessible from our country.
Comment by Kenet — Apr 18, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
I think its a shame that Tekken DR doesn’t have a online mode - would have made it fantastic. It’s merely ‘good’ at the moment.
Comment by Jimmy — Apr 18, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
When the hell will they finally release Tekken Dark Resurrection in the German Store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont care for no f’king Blast Factor (Geometry Wars rip off). Even though flow is quite nice.
Damn lately Sony is really loosing it. And all the exclusive titles they are loosing doesnt help them either.
Damn if they only would release Tekken: DR in the store…
Comment by Blammo — Apr 24, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
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