PS3 Fanboy

Looks like the Q-Games team is taking their sweet time with the next PixelJunk game. The team has been quite prolific, with three PSN games under their belt: PixelJunk Racers, Monsters and Eden. The brand has managed to garner a loyal following amongst PS3 owners, and we're sure many are eagerly awaiting the next title.

Unfortunately, it can be a long wait for the next PixelJunk game. Dylan Cuthbert told Parallaxed Game that the next game won't be unveiled for quite some time. In fact, nothing might be shown at next year's GDC show: "We can't talk about any of the future titles yet, we might not even show anything at GDC09, who knows! The next title isn't necessary based on the Dungeons prototype work as we develop several ideas simultaneously, finally going with the idea that has the most momentum."

It's going to be a long wait, but so long as their next game can match the addictive quality of Monsters and Eden, we're sure it'll be worth it. Stay tuned.

[Thanks, Adam T.!]

If you're curious about what's going on with Q-Games and the PixelJunk franchise, we've located a little bit of news to satisfy your 2D urges. First up -- PixelJunk Eden is to get a playable demo in July. This is coming from Dylan Cuthbert's mouth (well, technically, keyboard), so take it as official. Cuthbert wants everyone to experience the game before its final release, which is a nice gesture.

A second piece of information was the YouTube uploading feature, which isn't anything new, but still very cool. Finally, Cuthbert wants to do one more small, free patch to PixelJunk Monsters. He's requesting what you would like to see in the patch, so let him know. Our idea? A hint on how to best approach each level would be dandy.

Last time we heard anything from Q Games and Dylan Cuthbert about PixelJunk Monsters: Encore, we told you the Ice Tower was coming standard and the Tesla tower was getting a lowered cost. Japan got the game last week, but the rest of the world is still waiting. Now we get to hear from SCEA Santa Monica on the game's progress for US release. In their talk with Cuthbert, there are a lot of queries answered but even more to come, so we're only going to graze over what's most important and leave it to you to check out the rest.

The game took Encore as its title because, well, it's like at the end of a concert -- you just want a little bit more (plus it was easier for the Japanese crowd to understand). Also, some people complained of plasma TV's getting the game burned onto their screen because they just couldn't stop playing -- there's now an anti-burn option on the game's menu to prevent that.

As for Cuthbert himself, his favorite level in the expansion is Racer Gardens, since it's based off of a PixelJunk Racers design. He even gives you a hint on how to beat it -- the big guys always cross the bridge! Interestingly, the game's overall design is based off of Red Riding Hood concepts. At first, our Tiki hero was the girl in red, protecting grandma's house from wolves ... we're exaggerating, but that would have been the basic concept, for sure. Eventually, the design we see now took over. More information to come!

Dylan Cuthbert should be a name familiar to any real PS3 fan. Responsible for Q-Games, and their PixelJunk series of PSN games, the team has been hard at work at delivering unique experiences exclusively for the PLAYSTATION Network. Not only has the team delivered one truly stellar game (PixelJunk Monsters), it has worked on a few other technologies for Sony. Did you know that they're responsible for the Earth music visualization? We chatted with Cuthbert at GDC, and we're proud to present our interview.

I wanted to start with a topic that I'm sure no one has asked you about yet. Q-Games is responsible for the Earth visualizer, yes? Where did that come from?
Well, we've always had a close relationship with Sony. They came to us and asked us to make an intro for the PS3 before it came out. For the OS and everything. They had these ideas that were like the earth, and the PS3 logo were in a bubble. So we said instead of making a fake earth, we should make a proper rendering. We showed a prototype to them, but ultimately Sony wanted to go for a more simpler style. The intro became much simpler, orchestral. So we had a very well rendered earth and we didn't know what to do with it.

It's really quite impressive how much Q Games' reputation has improved over the last month or so. PixelJunk Racers was an attempt to bring back arcade-style 2D racers, but ended up an eyesore. Their second PixelJunk title, Monsters, was received much better and has become a staple download by many PS3 owners. So what's next? You've seen the Eden trailer -- what's Cuthbert and crew got coming?

The Independent Games Conference had Cuthbert as a speaker and talked a little about Q Games' philosophy: games that are simple, familiar, and original running in 1080P HD at 60Hz. PixelJunk is a brand, not a game title -- it's meant to teach consumers that while the games are different, they'll know what to expect somewhat. He showed off a sketch of the fourth title to be released after Eden -- PixelJunk Dungeons. It's going to be a top-down dungeon crawler. We're excited for that.

That's the end of the first "series" of PixelJunk games. The next round, Cuthbert teases, may use some 3D styles in ways we don't expect. He said that they would, maybe, "take some of the old 3D looks and bring them up to the full HD kind of style." There's so much more to read over at Gamasutra's coverage of the speech -- if you like the PixelJunk games, we recommend reading up on Cuthbert's plans, philosophies, and ideas.

You know you can't wait for the castle defense strategy game known as PixelJunk Monsters. The game looks like an image straight out of some classic like Where The Wild Things Are, but less menacing and more cuddly. Perhaps our childhoods were just riddled with fear. Either way. Dylan Cuthbert, executive producer over at Q-Games confirmed the game will appear next week as a part of the weekly update -- not this update, but next week's. Want to see what it's about? Watch the above video for a quick demonstration of what to expect.

[via 1UP]

We last checked in with PixelJunk honcho Dylan Cuthbert when he spoke about PJ Monsters -- now we're going to talk a little more about that but also delve into his next project, dubbed PixelJunk 1-3. As far as the hardcore audience not adopting to the PJ image, Cuthbert replies "by keeping the development cost down, and keeping the number of games we produce high, for each game, we can go with the style that we want to play with at that time and give people a much larger range of visual styles than they are used to at the moment." That really is a good thing -- it's nice to experiment with a wide array of styles. Each one will suit at least some consumers, you know? It's a great opportunity the PSN has offered Cuthbert and Crew, letting them tinker with any style they'd like.

The team at Q-Games have learned a lesson from PixelJunk Racers -- they tuned that game to their own skill set and as a result, it was perceived as too hard for many players. Monsters will have a much more manageable difficulty curve so more people will be able to get into it and enjoy it.

PixelJunk 1-3 is already up and in progress. They've enlisted a DJ to assist in the music whose rhythm creates "life" of some sort -- the title isn't going to be a rhythm game, but from what Cuthbert says, music is going to play a significant role. It's a "complete experiment" so expect something a bit outlandish, yet accessible. We'll keep you tuned into more Cuthbert and PixelJunk news as it surfaces.

The official PlayStation Blog has updated and you know what we found? Monsters! Monsters with silly pig noses that we want transformed into stuffed animals right this moment. From the makers of PixelJunk Racers comes the aptly titled PixelJunk Monsters -- Q-Games has given up a few pieces of concept art and some details on the game, which we'll spill to you below.

PJ Monsters is basically an RTS game with some additional elements set alongside the mining, research, and building bits we've all come to understand through the years. There's no mouse cursor for you to play God with -- you play as a cuddly monster creature that runs around and collects the materials you need to research and build stuff. Enemy monsters can drop gems, used to research more advanced defenses and buildings and such. These can also be upgraded by doing a dance in front of each respective tower. Neat.

There are online leaderboards for co-op and single player campaigns. Apparently the game supports voice chat, unless co-op is restricted to you and a physical buddy next to you. What's super cool: girls like the game, too. Girlfriend tired of watching you play Uncharted or finds no fun in Call of Duty 4? You two should enjoy this one together, so says Dylan Cuthbert. Expect the game to have more fantastic hand-drawn 2D art, hitting the PS Store in January.