SPOnG has just discovered - via the magic of Sony’s official pre-E3 online video promo - that Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Lumines 2 for the PSP should be on show in LA next month.
The presenter on the show let this slip as he reeled off a list of PSP-exclusive titles we’ll be seeing at the show, which included LocoRoco, Gangs of London and Lumines 2. Check out the whole promo by clicking right here.
Lumines, as SPOnG noted at the time, plays on the deep-seated human instinct that allows us to derive enormous amounts of satisfaction from bringing order to a chaotic assortment of blocks – with the game’s real genius being the graphical and audio rewards; bursts of light and music that have been specially formulated in a laboratory to push the happy buttons in your brain. As with Mizuhuchi’s classic Rez, the music becomes more intense and immersive the further you progress into the game.
The game was touted by many as the PSP’s Tetris, and with the pinch of Mizuguchi genius behind it, it is one of the few (unfortunately) PSP games SPOnG returns to now and then, for a reminder of what Sony’s handheld might be capable of.
You might also like to check out THIS transcript from September last year of a quite interesting little webchat with Tetsuya Mizuguchi being quizzed about Lumines by a number of European journos.
What SPOnG loves more than anything about Mizuguchi is that he is one of those rare developers not afraid to speak his mind about the vagaries of the game development industry and of the many ways in which inspirations and ideas come to him – on the beach, at the bar, in a plane, in a dream etc.
When asked about why he set the score limit in Lumines at 999,999 for example, he merely replied that this was the limit which worked well with the two-hour battery life of the PSP. Simple!
He is refreshingly open about where his groundbreaking game ideas come from and how he and his teams nurture and develop them. Which, in these days where many previously ‘maverick’ developers are in thrall to their publisher's mighty PR machines – and not in the least bit keen to talk to games journalists unless it’s via the execu-speak of the official press release - is something to be cherished.
There’s a brief mention of Lumines 2 towards the end of this webchat, and Mizuguchi also drops hints that he’d like to see some Beatles tunes in the game. SPOnG hopes that this superb idea comes to fruition. We want to know what other genius ideas the man has for his next iteration of the must-have PSP puzzler.
We’ll be sure to check the game out at E3 and bring you the full details. In the meantime check out Mizuguchi's awesome blog right here. SPOnG doesn't have a clue what all the Japanese is about, but just check the pictures. The man's a dreamer. The games industry needs more of them.
The presenter on the show let this slip as he reeled off a list of PSP-exclusive titles we’ll be seeing at the show, which included LocoRoco, Gangs of London and Lumines 2. Check out the whole promo by clicking right here.
Lumines, as SPOnG noted at the time, plays on the deep-seated human instinct that allows us to derive enormous amounts of satisfaction from bringing order to a chaotic assortment of blocks – with the game’s real genius being the graphical and audio rewards; bursts of light and music that have been specially formulated in a laboratory to push the happy buttons in your brain. As with Mizuhuchi’s classic Rez, the music becomes more intense and immersive the further you progress into the game.
The game was touted by many as the PSP’s Tetris, and with the pinch of Mizuguchi genius behind it, it is one of the few (unfortunately) PSP games SPOnG returns to now and then, for a reminder of what Sony’s handheld might be capable of.
You might also like to check out THIS transcript from September last year of a quite interesting little webchat with Tetsuya Mizuguchi being quizzed about Lumines by a number of European journos.
What SPOnG loves more than anything about Mizuguchi is that he is one of those rare developers not afraid to speak his mind about the vagaries of the game development industry and of the many ways in which inspirations and ideas come to him – on the beach, at the bar, in a plane, in a dream etc.
When asked about why he set the score limit in Lumines at 999,999 for example, he merely replied that this was the limit which worked well with the two-hour battery life of the PSP. Simple!
He is refreshingly open about where his groundbreaking game ideas come from and how he and his teams nurture and develop them. Which, in these days where many previously ‘maverick’ developers are in thrall to their publisher's mighty PR machines – and not in the least bit keen to talk to games journalists unless it’s via the execu-speak of the official press release - is something to be cherished.
There’s a brief mention of Lumines 2 towards the end of this webchat, and Mizuguchi also drops hints that he’d like to see some Beatles tunes in the game. SPOnG hopes that this superb idea comes to fruition. We want to know what other genius ideas the man has for his next iteration of the must-have PSP puzzler.
We’ll be sure to check the game out at E3 and bring you the full details. In the meantime check out Mizuguchi's awesome blog right here. SPOnG doesn't have a clue what all the Japanese is about, but just check the pictures. The man's a dreamer. The games industry needs more of them.
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