PlayStationSpot

Hey everyone,

It took a little while longer than anticipated, but we wanted to revisit those who answered our call for your PixelJunk Monsters + Encore co-op stories.

With PixelJunk Eden hitting the PSN this week, we know the PixelJunk love will be spreading in a whole new way, and that even more co-op tales are in the offing.

So thank you for your continued support, and we’ll see you back around here really soon!

When my boyfriend and I first started going out we used to play video games together a lot. Actually, we used to do everything together a lot but especially gaming.

Suddenly we were college graduates who had been going out for almost three years and were jobless, clueless and living in different states on permanent basis. You might be able to guess what happened next. We broke up. Eventually, we got back together but warily, and hoped we be able to find some time to reconnect.

One day we’re sitting in his room and he suddenly turned on Pixel Junk Monsters. He says he thinks it something we can do together. Five minutes in and I’m hooked because not only is it something we can do together but I’m just as good at it as him! Now we turn it on every time I visit. It’s our special thing. Oh yeah, and dancing to level up towers? Totally the perfect time to make out.

- Jasmine, NY

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For the past two years, I have been a dedicated gamer wife. Before I met my husband, Isaac, I had little to no knowledge of any games since I’d never played before. Because of him, I’ve become acquainted with many different worlds. But none so endearing as the world of Pixel Junk Monsters, or what I have affectionately nicknamed the “Tiki Babies game.”

The first time my husband asked me to play this game, I was reluctant to join him. This was mainly because I am terrible at strategy and I can’t do more than two things at once, a problem which leads to repetitive and hilarious videogame deaths.

But I was so taken with the cuteness of the game and the creatures that have to be guarded by cleverly placing and using weapons against the assorted monsters that I couldn’t resist. It took a lot of fumbling, but we made it though a few levels.

This has become one of our favorite games to play together. Sometimes we even dance the upgrade dance! It’s a great way to start our days together; it’s both loving and silly and we get a kick out of it.
Thank you for creating a game that both my husband and I can enjoy!

- Beatriz, IL

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On television shows, they do all sorts of crazy things to test a couple’s relationship… getting them lost and having them navigate with a map, etc. The real test should be playing PixelJunk Monsters co-op together.

Let me start out by saying that my girlfriend hates video games. She thinks they are a complete waste of time… until Monsters. The adorableness eventually got to her and she gave it a try, and before long we were up until 4 am trying to get a rainbow on “Double Team”.

We’ve often debated why we both love this game so much. She believes the game brings out her maternal instincts (“Don’t kill the babies!!!” she often yells at me). I think I love it so much just to see the joy in her eyes as an arrow narrowly kills the last spider right before it is about to get a villager. Whatever Monsters is, it’s magic.

Thanks for creating such a fantastic game that has both brought us closer together as a couple and helped solidify our relationship by showing us how much fun we can have when working together.

- Jefferson, CA

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Early this year, I purchased a PS3 under the pretense of playing games of all sorts with my girlfriend. In my search to find something we could play together that was easily accessible, I stumbled across PixelJunk Monsters and purchased it from the PlayStation Store one lazy afternoon, not realizing the addictiveness or the enjoyment in store for us.

The quest has been fraught with casualties and arguments, including the countless times when I’ve yelled “Build on THIS tree, not THAT tree!” while gesturing emphatically with the controller. Each time, my girlfriend responds “WHAT tree, there’s nothing BUT trees in the FOREST!” Our playthroughs have not always resulted in heated discussions; the first time we figured out we could combine our dance powers to level up a tower faster, we broke out dancing ourselves in sync with our characters on the screen, hoping to hurry the process even more.

It’s been said that the couple that games together, stays together, and thanks to the endless entertainment given by PixelJunk Monsters, we’ll (hopefully!) be together a long time.”

- David, TX

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Okay, I’m not going to make any excuses for Sarah and me. Since showing her PixelJunk Monsters, it has occupied all of our time when we’re together, she adores it. We open a bottle of wine and settle into the couch for a few hours of rainbows and towers.
As a couple, especially a couple that plays games, we just have times where we want to do something silly for the sake of “just because.”

My award winning letter contains some Romeo-approved language like, “No golem as tall as a mountain, or army of overweight bumble-bees could prevent me from adoring you with the most precious gems. 5 gems for a kiss…” I even drew some characters on there, relying on my middle-school art skills. I gave the blue dancer some feminine touches like lips and a pony-tail.

She loved it. We laughed out loud. No excuses.

- Michael, TX

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Related Post:
- PixelJunk in the Trunk: Contest Winners (Part 1)

Hey everyone,

I’m back on the blog to thank all of you who answered our call for your PixelJunk Monsters + Encore co-op stories.

We love that the PixelJunk love is spreading and bringing gamers and non-gamers together. It sounds like many of you are clearly not alone in your PixelJunk Monsters addiction, and now we’re actually debating whether or not we need to form a support group on this very blog for some of you. Sure, we know what it’s like to duke it out over which tower to place on which tree. (Typical conversation between myself and Associate Producer Matt Morton: “No, not that one…THAT one!”)

And yeah, we know what it’s like to forget to call your significant other/friend/family member when the clock is already way past 2 am. (“OK so I’m this late already…why not just play ANOTHER round and get that rainbow, right?”). Go ahead…you can blame us. We’ll just turn around and blame Dylan Cuthbert and Q-Games. Trust us…we’re been there, we’ve done that, and we’re paying the price, too. And loving it.

So all that said, we just want to say thanks for your support and your stories. We love hearing from you so keep ‘em coming.

We received dozens of stories from the PixelJunkies out there, and the following won shirts for delivering the first 5 entries:

• Russ, Illinois (pictured)
• Aaron, Tennessee
• Christian, Oregon
• Kris, Tennessee
• Trevor, California

Narrowing down the stories we wanted to share… that was the tough part. So here are our favorite PixelJunk Co-op stories (and pics!) Thanks to all of you that shared your experiences.

My name is Patrick and I’m 33 years old. My daughter, Lauren, is 3 years old. She loves watching her daddy play video games. When I played PJM, she would love to warn me what kind of monsters were coming next, and tell me to “build more arrows for the spiders, daddy!”. I completed the first edition by myself, and then had a great idea: why not let her try and help with the co-op? She can use a PS3 controller, so I thought, why not?

She has been having a blast. Her job is to “dance the towers” and “not collect anything” because that’s daddy’s job. It has been a real help, having her levelling up the important towers and building the odd arrow here and there. We have now completed the entire game (both islands) with rainbows using co-op.

Thanks PixelJunk, for making a game so wonderful and simple my 3-year old daughter can play!

-Patrick, Ohio

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When my boyfriend was applying for a new job, he kept making a comment that confused me.

“If I get this job, I’m buying a PlayStation 3. I’m doing it”.

I looked around our apartment, with it’s three computers, Wii, Nintendo DS, HDTV, and Tivo. Why would he need something else to divert his attention from me?

“But it can play Blu-Ray discs!”

As someone who still cherishes her ten year old copy of Newsies on VHS, I wasn’t impressed. But I encouraged him to get it anyway. New job, right? So the PS3 arrived so after, and along with it, Grand Theft Auto IV. Niko and I took an immediate disliking of each other.

“Baby, how is that cab driver going to feed his poor family? His children will end up thugs now.”

My developing dislike of the PS3 was inversely proportional to my boyfriend’s obsession with it. Seeing his two loves at odds, my boyfriend had the brilliant idea of introducing me to PixelJunk Monsters.

“What is it?” I was suspicious.

“Look! It’s cute! They dance! And it’s two players!”

I gave it a shot. At least we’d be playing together, right? And I fell in love. I felt mighty, like a god, protecting the adorable stupid village people who refused to stay safely in their hut. It was a spiritual thing, I think. The PS3 and I have achieved an unlikely friendship thanks to PixelJunk Monsters. Now if they would only get Newsies on Blu-Ray…

-Julia, Texas

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I have two boys, age 9 and 10. We’ve been gaming together for the last five years. We play multiplayer games on our own PCs, such as Team Fortress 2, Battle for Middle Earth, etc. We never really played console games together until I got PixelJunk Monsters.

The first time we all got together in front of the TV and played it was a magical experience. We all sat on the couch together, huddled in front of the TV, playing this amazing game. We’d pass the controllers back and forth, taking turns on alternate levels, laughing, getting frustrated, and high fiving when we finally rainbowed a new level.

It never sunk in how much the game meant until Valentine’s day.

Being newly divorced, Valentine’s Day was difficult for me. I was pretty depressed until my younger son came home from school and gave me an envelope. It was on a day when my ex was going to have the kids for the next three days.

I opened the envelope and there was a hand-made valentine inside. It said:

“Dad, I miss you and can’t wait to play PixelJunk Monsters with you on Monday. Happy Valentine’s Day. Love, Kyle”

-Brian, Michigan

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My wife and I are huuuuge PixelJunk fans. My wife isn’t a “gamer” but she does enjoy games like Zuma, The Sims 2, and Peggle but her all-time favorite game (she said this to me the other day) is PixelJunk Monsters! We had been planning to buy a small dog around the time of the release of PJM and one day while we were playing the name “Pixel” jumped into my mind as the name we would give our future dog. Well we got the dog and she is now named “Pixel.” We play PixelJunk Monsters religiously. In the beginning I would tell my wife where to build and what to do, but now she is the one telling me what to do! She even plays when I’m not home and has almost completed the single-player campaign by herself. Overall PixelJunk Monsters is our favorite game to play together and we will continue to play it. We will never forget this game (we have a constant reminder running around our house everyday) and we hope that you guys enjoyed our story.

-Patrick, Connecticut

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OK, that’s it for Part 1. Look for more PixelJunk pics and stories soon!

Still spreading the PixelJunk Love,

Deb Mars

Hey everyone,

It’s Deb Mars here, and I’m back on the blog to announce that we’re having a give away. Oh yeah, that’s right…a give away. It’s about time we put some PixelJunk in your trunk.

As many of you know, we recently released PixelJunk Monsters Encore and just last week we put out the official PixelJunk Monsters Soundtrack on PSN. We hope you’re all enjoying the new levels and the awesome music. In case you missed out, be sure to go to the PlayStation Store and pick it up, and also be sure check out a very cool interview between Q-Games and Otograph here on the blog.

OK so here’s the deal: We’ve seen a large number of comments about fans playing PixelJunk Monsters and Encore in co-op mode with their wives/husbands, girlfriends/boyfriends, partners, non-gamer friends, you name it. Personally, I’d love to see Dylan Cuthbert, president of Q-Games, be able to sit down and play with the Queen of England, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Anyway, it seems that we’re not the only ones feeling the PixelJunk love, and it’s clearly bringing people together and making relationships stronger. Or maybe not. Who knows? Maybe you’re getting pissed off at each other for not getting that last rainbow? Or maybe you’re actually able to smile at the glory of finding common ground again with that special someone as you dance on those trees, collect those coins, save your flock and clear all those levels.

Either way, we want to know. Tell us your story about playing PixelJunk Monsters co-op. We’ll be sharing the best in a future PixelJunk post. Oh, and if you’ve got any pics of you and your special someone playing PJM together, send those in too. We’d love to see them! The senders (to pixeljunkcouples@gmail.com) of the first five qualifying PixelJunk Monster tales that we receive (under 250 words, please!) will get two (2) amazingly cool t-shirts – one for each of you. Wear them with pride!

Now for the gratuitous legal disclaimer: To enter, you must send in your qualifying story no later then June 11 , 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). Limit one entry per person and valid e-mail address for the duration of the promotion. Contest is only open to U.S. residents ages 13 or older who meet the terms set forth above. The senders of the first five qualifying applications that we receive will win (2) t-shirts each. Prize fulfillment is at Sponsor’s discretion and based on availability.

Still spreading the PixelJunk Love,
Deb

Hello, it’s Dylan Cuthbert from Q-Games, the company behind PixelJunk, and I’ve decided to write another blog entry to coincide with our upcoming release of the PixelJunk Monsters Soundtrack. Yes, you heard right! We are going to be the first people ever to release a soundtrack on the PSN store and it’s because we have been inundated with requests from all the fans out there! Here’s a sample track:

So today’s blog is going to be slightly different so I can simultaneously introduce you to Otograph, who made the music, and Kentaro Yoshida, who is studio director here at Q-Games and has worked hard as Producer on all the PixelJunk titles. Yoshida has a long history, having worked as an artist on all the Panzer Dragoon games for Sega, including “Orta” (for which he was art director) and he also worked for a few years at Sony Japan during which time I met with him and we made the duck-in-a-bath PS2 tech demo together. Anyway, today I am acting simply as translator because I have persuaded him to interview Otograph for the blog, so here we go:

Yoshida: To begin with please tell us a bit about yourselves, the genre of music you make and what you have been up to recently.

Otograph: We are creative unit consisting of two people, Iura Takashi and Oshima Sachiyo. We formed in 2004 and work to express ourselves in art as well as music, without limiting ourselves to any particular medium. We are often told our music doesn’t really fit in a particular genre, and that is probably because instead of specializing in one style, we place more importance on moments of touch and visual sensation to inspire us.

From 2007 we have been involved in a young modern artist group called “small-ness” and have been holding exhibitions here in Japan. We are planning to show this exhibition outside Japan in the near future. Also, we are considering holding our own independent Otograph exhibition.

Yoshida: It’s interesting but there seem to be many artists and musicians in Kyoto, why do you think this is so?

Otograph: Well the truth is both of us just happened to have been born here and we also went to University here in Kyoto. But we do think Kyoto is a very relaxed city that lets you concentrate on being creative and this might be one of the reasons. We also have a lot of artistic friends here. To use a phrase from Buddhism, Kyoto is a city with many threads of destiny. Of course, nowadays, no matter where are you are there are many ways to get your message across to the world. We plan to expand out of Kyoto at some point but wherever we go it will always be a very important place for us.

Yoshida: Ok, so name some of your all-time favorite games!

Otograph: Well, we like different games, Iura’s favorite game is Wizardry 1 thru 4 and Oshima’s favorite is the original Game&Watch Donkey Kong!

Yoshida: You’re making me nostalgic. Tell me your favorite musician.

Iura: There are so many musicians that I greatly respect so it is very difficult to choose a favorite. However, recently I have been listening to nothing but Wes Montgomery.
Oshima: Glenn Herbert Gould. The grain and quality of the sound is really beautiful.

Yoshida: Please tell us about the experience you had making music for Monsters.

Otograph: Well, first of all we were approached by Mr. Tominaga [Dylan side note: "Tomi" is the main director of PixelJunk Eden by the way] of Q-Games who would always came to our live music performances. We were interested in collaborating so we prepared a sample track (the raw material for “bye bye Monsters” which is on the soundtrack), and Q-Games signed us up. The rest is history!

Yoshida: I think this is the first time you’ve been involved in making music for a video game. So how was it?

Otograph: We progressed quickly with the music before the design for the game was finalized. After hearing the initial description of the type of music Q-Games was looking for, we were given a lot of freedom to create whatever we liked. Then, when the game started coming together we were nicely surprised at how the music, art and the player’s movement all fit together so strangely well.

Yoshida: What did you find difficult about working on Monsters?

Otograph: Well, for games, not only is there music, but there are also sound effects and we had to design both not to conflict with each other. For example, we tried to keep the rhythm sections and tones simple because of this. We also paid attention to giving the sound effects and music a sense of unity. The stages in Monsters are basically one screen so we attempted to use the music to expand the world beyond that for the player, and with just the music, our goal was to arouse the sensation in people to create puzzles.

Yoshida: So what is your opinion of the final product - PixelJunk Monsters?

Otograph: Well actually, we only got around to buying a PS3 just a few weeks ago and now we are totally addicted to Monsters! Of course we play-tested the game a number of times during development but the final tuning that went into all of the stages is exquisite! When we close our eyes we see those pink tower level meters and gems floating before us.

Yoshida: If you have the chance again, what genre or type of game would you like to be involved in?

Otograph: Well, PixelJunk Monsters was a very fresh but at the same time somehow nostalgic-feeling game, so next we’d love to work on a game style that has never been seen before and is totally new and different. Right now, we are very interested in puzzle games, or games that make you exercise your brain.

Yoshida: I think there are probably a lot of people in the West who heard your music for the first time when they played Monsters and I’m sure you have gained many fans. So finally what would you like to say to them?

Otograph: To everyone who listened to and enjoyed our music, we are hugely grateful to you all! We will endeavor to challenge ourselves more and more so keep cheering us on!

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Well, that wraps up the Q&A. Thanks to Yoshida and Otograph for taking the time to give us some detailed and thoughtful answers…I enjoyed translating them. Remember everyone, the soundtrack is available this Thursday May 22 on the US store for just $2.99. Support us and we’ll support you!

Matt Morton here picking back up where Deb Mars left off for part 2 of our interview with Dylan Cuthbert from Q-Games on PixelJunk Monsters Encore. If you missed Part 1, be sure to check it out here.

What we’ve learned from Part 1: We’re all fans of Lost, fan mail rocks, Dylan’s marriage is fine, Encore hint revealed, coinage of new word “WikiTiki.”

We’re happy to announce that the game will be releasing this Thursday, May 8th for $5.99. And we promised you some juicy new info about the expansion. Well here is what we can tell you: There is a secret landmass located between Tiki & Toki Islands. Suffice it to say you won’t get any of us to dish on this one. But if you clear all stages, well…you’ll find out.

And now back to the interview:

6. (Matt) What was your first “epiphany” gaming moment when you realized this was going to be your career?

(Dylan) When I made a Pac-Man clone on my friend’s ZX-81 (an old 8-bit computer made by an English boffin called Clive Sinclair). I found it fun programming the AI for the little ghosts in BASIC. It was awful AI and took up way too much CPU time, but it started me on my long and winding path to make games for a living. That was about 1982 and I was ten years old.

7. (Matt) What game did you wish you made & why?

(Dylan) Out of existing games by other people? The original Made in Wario/WarioWare. I had an idea that was almost exactly the same which I pitched to Sony Japan in 1998 but it got lost in the rush to make the rubber ducky bath demo on the PS2.

Out of non-existing games? I really want to make a character-based side-action shooting game with platformer elements, but right now our line up for PixelJunk Series 1 is pretty much decided so maybe that will have to wait for Series 2.

8. (Matt) What career would you be in if you weren’t in the games industry?

(Dylan) A novelist, probably sci-fi. I really like Iain Banks stuff. If I failed at doing that I think I would open up a proper fish and chip shop in Kyoto during the day, and a really cool laidback bar in the evening. Maybe those three things should be my retirement plan. I’d also really like to make some kind of tv drama - something really dramatic and dark - for Japanese TV as all their stuff is so light and frilly. They could never do something like Lost or Prison Break…everyone smiles too much.

9. (Matt) If you could play co-op mode on Monsters/Monsters Encore with anyone, who would it be & why?

(Dylan) The Queen of England. Why? Well, it would be a hell of a laugh and I think she’d enjoy it, too. The Kings and Queens of the world don’t get to wage war anymore so we should encourage them to release their stress by playing RTS games. (I am watching another TV series besides Lost called The Tudors and it is really good.)

10. (Matt) Can you honestly, in all truthfulness, really get rainbows on everything?

(Dylan) Me personally…oh yes, definitely. It takes a few tries for a few of them, but I am quite the master. I know how the towers fire and where best to place them for maximum damage. Sometimes you can even time the building of a cannon tower so it pops up just as a big crowd is passing by and fires right into the middle of them inflicting a lot more damage than when if it fired as soon as the crowd hit the radius line. My wife also got all rainbows, by herself, not in cooperative play.

(Matt) Seriously?

(Dylan) Seriously.

…
Still always spreading the PixelJunk love,
-Deb, Matt, Dylan and the whole team at Q-Games

Hey everyone,

We’re excited to be working with Dylan Cuthbert and Q-Games again on the upcoming release of PixelJunk Monsters Encore, a new expansion pack to the original game, which was released in late January 2008.

You may have recently read some previews of PJM Encore in a bunch of places. If you haven’t checked them out, here’s what 1UP, IGN, Gamespot, Crispy Gamer, and Gamespot (again!) had to say about it.

Of course we’re huge fans of all things Monsters, and totally biased about spreading the PixelJunk gospel but first, here’s a quick overview of some of the highlights in PixelJunk Monsters Encore:

• 1 new island, Toki Island
• 15 new levels
• 5 new music tracks from Otograph
• Ice Tower is now a stock item
• Reduced gem cost to buy the Tesla Tower
• Releasing in May 2008

We had loads of questions for Dylan and team, so we’re splitting this interview into two parts. Featured below are my top five burning questions for Dylan, and be sure to check back next week when SCE Associate Producer Matt Morton delivers the goods on the remaining five.

1. (Deb) How did you decide on the name for the expansion pack? Personally, you know we liked “PixelJunk Monsters: The Lost Island” or “PixelJunk Monsters: The Others”…we’re huge fans of the TV show Lost over here.

(Dylan) Heh heh. Yes I particularly liked “The Others” as I am a fan of Lost too…and am even signed up for that theories forum, 49153…whatever it’s called. However, we needed a name that could be understood in Japan as well, as we don’t like having a different title here, and Encore is understood by the Japanese (although it is pronounced “ahnkowlu”). Also, we wanted the name to reflect the fact that the reason we made this pack is because of the huge response we got from fans of the original, so Encore seemed particularly appropriate as it is what you shout at the end of a good concert etc, when you want just that *little bit more*.

2. (Deb) We get some fan mail here (thanks QA!), but we’re sure you get tons more. Can you spill the beans on what has been your most crazed fan mail to date? Anything PixelJunk juicy?

(Dylan) We’ve been getting a lot of fan mail every week. The bulk tends to arrive just after the weekend so I presume everybody is playing it non-stop during the weekend and they get back to work on Monday/Tuesday etc., feel the itch to play again but can’t, and then look up our mail address on the net. We haven’t had any crazy e-mails, but we’ve had lots of people suggest ideas for a sequel which is really cool. Also, we had a couple of mails about plasma tv burn-in, and rest-assured if we had known people would be playing this game the no. of hours people seem to be playing it then we would have discovered this problem. Therefore Encore and all future PixelJunk games will have an anti-burn option in the menu so as to prevent the PixelJunk logo being forever scarred into your TVs!

We get loads of mails from couples who are enjoying PixelJunk Monsters together. It’s surprising how RTS-like games (usually associated with war and destruction) appeal to both male and female alike, perhaps they even appeal more to women?

3. (Deb) Are the rumors true about your need to make this expansion pack? Was your marriage really in jeopardy if you didn’t turn around a quick XP?

(Dylan) Haha, no, not at all…but my wife simply loved the game so much she would badger me every day for more levels, so in the end I caved in. Of course, we were also getting mails every day from people asking for more so we simply decided to listen to everyone!

4. (Deb) What is your favorite map in PJM Encore & why?

(Dylan) Racer Gardens, because the rough layout is based on a track in PixelJunk Racers and it is a really tough map to beat, but really enjoyable once you learn the patterns. (Hint: The big guys always cross the bridges!)

The secret for the all-clear is rather superb, too, but of course we want the first real player to get there to spill the beans on that one.

5. (Deb) What was the inspiration for the unique and charming art style?

(Dylan) Well, our lead designer on the project, Andy Palmer, came up with some weird red riding hood style pics of a forest with a little girl in a hood and wolves in a kind of Sabre Wulf looking game (Sabre Wulf is an old game Rare made for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in Britain back in the 80s), but it also had hints of the SNES version of Zelda. Let’s ask Andy himself.

(Andy) Originally we were just throwing around game ideas on the company BBS. I was making concept images to illustrate how the games might look and as Dylan mentioned, one of the images I made was of a simple multiplayer game inspired by Red Riding Hood, which was set in a forest. When it was later decided that we were going to be making a tower defense game, Dylan said he liked the style of the forest image and from then it became the basis for the rest of the game’s look. Initially I didn’t really want to go in that direction because I didn’t really have any character design or 2D game experience, but Dylan encouraged me to stick with it and I’m glad I did. Not only did the game end up looking good, but I was also able to use a graphics tablet instead of a mouse for several months, which helped my arms recover from RSI

(Dylan) So I suppose those two games were subtle inspirations for the style, but then Andy took it all and slowly transformed it into the whole southern tropical island WikiTiki type thing and we ran with it. The monsters have all been animated by those weird witch-masks they are wearing, but underneath those masks they are probably all friendly folk you would invite around for tea.

(Deb) Very cool, and we should mention that Andy created some really amazing new themes, wallpapers and avatars so keep your eyes open on the PS Store for these very soon.

…
We’re going a bit long here so we’ll pick this back up again next week for the continuation of our interview. Five more questions and answers, plus a few more details about the expansion that you simply won’t want to miss.