Gravity Crash was $4.99 just a few weeks ago. I bought it and don't like it much, but it's okay for a retro-style shooter. The cool thing I suppose is you have your choice of either playing with dual-stick or retro Asteroid-like controls. Since any contact with the enviornment causes you to die, I prefer the easier dual-stick configuration, though the Asteroid style is more fitting with the retro look. There's a demo if anyone's interested.

Everyday Shooter is yet another dual stick shooter with a musical groove. It's not bad, but certainly not at the level of Super Stardust HD. I didn't know there was a PSP version of Everyday Shooter, but the PSP Super Stardust is less than ideal, It's hard to play a dual stick shooter without dual sticks.

Gravity Crash has a demo as well...or at least it did.

I'm pleased with the sales on PSN lately...not as pleased that I don't have any K-Marts around.

Super Stardust HD needs to go on sale...and Geometry Wars needs to get on PSN as well. Twin stick shooters FTW!!!!!1!!

Are there any other puzzle-centric games like Braid on PSN?

edit: Thanks guys. I already have Trine. I might check out that Echochrome though.

Trine is puzzle-centric but not to the extent of Braid. Echochrome is also puzzle-centric (it's also on the PSP as well as Echoshift.)

There are a few puzzle games on the PSN, but nothing like Braid. The other games are a lot more straight forward and don't blend genres like Braid does. The only game that comes close is The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, but that's only on the 360. With that said, I always found Cuboid to be enjoyable and quite challenging.

I really enjoyed the Echochrome demo, but I read that it gets frustratingly difficult after a little while and that's kept me from buying the full version. Anyone have any input on that front?

I'd describe echochrome as a near-miss. It's got some brilliant concepts, but it can be frustrating sometimes where you think something should work but doesn't. The most annoying thing is probably the jump since you're never sure where your jump might land and you die far more often than you land on the right spot. Not worth $10 in my book, but probably worth the $5 if it shows up in those sales (which it probably will). Haven't tried echoshift, but it's a game that looks like echochrome and plays like P.B. Winterbottom.

Cool, thanks. I remember thinking that the game was already challenging in the demo, so I can't imagine how frustrating it'd be if you threw jumping into the mix. But if it ever does hit $5, I'll probably bite.

As an aside, your description of it as a "near-miss" made me think of this:

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Oh, I forgot the ABSOLUTE WORST THING about echochrome : they have a completely arbitrary timer. If you don't complete the level in the given time, you have to start over from the beginning. That's right, instead of just getting a time penalty, you have to do the whole level over again. Awesome gameplay design there!

Fat Princess expands with two free DLC maps today
by Andrew Yoon { Mar 25th 2010 at 3:15PM }



Have you made a date with the Fat Princess on PS3 lately? If not, perhaps this news will entice you to jump back on: a new patch today will add two new maps to the online PSN game. Frost Bite and Candy Mountain are both snow-themed maps, ripe for cake eating and princess snatching. This update will boost the number of free DLC maps to four.

It appears that with this update, Fat Princess will switch hands to a new developer: Atomic Operations, helmed by former heads of Titan Studios. It seems that they may be working on that long-teased pirate-themed update, as a recent post on the PlayStation.Blog ends with a "Yo ho ho." Of course, we could be wrong, and SCEA's Deborah Mars may simply be saying hi to some cream-filled cakes.

Yeesh. Ok, screw that. Not even getting it for $5.

Picked up Everyday Shooter as part of the Spring Fever sale.

Does someone else want to pick up the PSP version and let me know if it's worth $5.

Wish there were demos (like of the Wakeboarding game.)

I don't understand why some of these games aren't playable on both the PS3 and PSP. Echochrome is an excellent example. It's so simple and basic, it should be playable on both. Everyday Shooter should be for both PSP and PS3.

PS Echochrome, though, is worth $5 in my opinion.

Oh, yeah, and yay! for new maps. This will probably get me to play FP again, at least for a little bit. I appreciate studios, like Titan and the Burnout people, providing so much great additional content for free. Sounds like the next batch of Fat Princess DLC will be paid. And I'm curious about FP switching to a new developer. That sounds... interesting and unusual.

You know, I was psyched for Echochrome and did a handful of levels but the timer killed it for me. I rarely quit on games, but I couldn't take the timer in this one. They take that away it would be an awesome game.

I have it on my GO, someone gave me a download card (I believe out of an old Ratchet PSP bundle). It's an okay shooter, but I prefer Super Stardust.

For some reason the PSP/PS3 feature where it plays on both systems is only for the 'minis' line of releases, except Tetris which doesn't work on the PS3.

Anybody here play Section 8? If so, any good?

I haven't. But I believe it's also available on the PC if you want to give that a try.

The Blue Toad Murder files looks interesting. Apparently each episode is only an hour or so and has no replay value. May wait until all 6 are out and see if they do a better bundle price.

50% off this week when the store updates (Thursday, 4/1):
(These prices are after the discount.)

Smash Cars $7.49
Magic Orbz $4.99
Mushroom Wars $4.99
Cuboid $4.99
Mahjong Tales $4.99
Interpol $4.99
Digger HD $4.99

Source: PS Blog

I've been waiting for a sale on Cuboid and Digger HD, so I'll definitely get those. Possibly Mushroom Wars and Magic Orbz, but I'm not sure about those.

I thought they looked interesting too....until I saw IGN rated them each a 4 out of 10.

I'll wait for a sale. Still something I want to play, but the price is a bit high. Times like these I wish there was a demo for all PSN titles.

Cuboid and Mahjong Tales I would maybe consider picking up. Anyone have any experience with these?

Also, these are not part of the Spring Fever sale, so more things will be discounted come Thursday.

PS Just won the Shatter soundtrack on twitter from Sony Playstation. https://twitter.com/SonyPlayStation

They may be giving more away.

I couldn't quite pull the trigger on Cuboid for $10, especially with the free flash version online. For $5, they'll have a purchase. I'll probably spring for Magic Orbz at that price as well (didn't that game launch with a different name, BTW?). I didn't really enjoy the demos of Mushroom Wars or Digger HD very much, but that $5 price point often causes me to reassess my opinion of a game, so it may end up as a very expensive week for me.

OK, here are the new deals for this week. Some good ones. Likely an expensive week for me.


April 1st - April 8th

echochrome (PS3) on sale for $4.99 (original price $9.99)
echoshift (PSP) on sale for $7.49 (original price $14.99)

April 1st - April 15th

Cuboid Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)
Digger HD Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)
Magic Orbz Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)
Mushroom Wars Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)
Smash Cars Sale - $7.49 (original price $14.99)
Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos Sale - $4.99 (original price $9.99)

UNCHARTED Eye of Indra Motion Comics Bundle (Includes episodes 1-4) - $2.49 -- Bonus: Buy the bundle and get (2) Free Multiplayer skins (Rika Raja & Daniel Pinkerton) for US in the multiplayer modes.