PlayStation LifeStyle » Echochrome

echochrome ii Gameplay Proves it Could be Move Killer App

Anthony Severino — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:59:50 +0000

It may not be the hardcore PlayStation Move experience many are after, but after spending some time with echochrome ii we’ve come away floored and excited. Excited because we’ve only played through the tutorial and a mere three full levels, which just barely scratches the surface of the 100 levels the game promises when it releases. As for why we were so blown away? See for yourself in this echochrome ii footage.

PlayStation World Reveals Possible Details on “Cloud” [Update]

Dan Massi — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:31:59 +0000

New information does not stop for PlayStation Cloud, as the most recent issue of PlayStation World magazine may have revealed the first details.

In the July issue of PlayStation World (PSW), new details on “Cloud”, a system that will first be compatible with Echochrome, are touched upon. After an update, users will be able to upload their custom-built Echochrome levels through “Cloud”, without the need for Sony to check the content.

How would you feel about this system? Could Cloud be a system in which you can submit user-generated content, and view it on the PlayStation Cloud site? Post your comments below.

Update: “Cloud” is part of the latest Echochrome patch (released a few weeks ago), and is seemingly not related to PlayStation Cloud.

[Source]

Latest Echochrome Patch Brings Community Together

Dan Massi — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:08:27 +0000

Ecochrome was released last year on both PlayStation Network, and PlayStation Portable. Though the game is over a year old, that doesn’t mean Sony will stop supporting the game. The PlayStation Blog has released details on Ecochrome’s latest patch, 1.02.

The latest patch for Ecochrome is a hefty one, which includes features such as PlayStation Eye support, and the ability to upload to Youtube.

Cloud:
This is a game mode that allows players to upload levels they have created, and also download levels that others have posted. We have added a simple search function to go with it. For example, if you find someone whose works you like, you can search for their levels by ID.
Our Picks:
For those of you who do not want to search through the sea of user-generated content, we have weekly updates of 8 recommended levels for you to enjoy.
YouTube Uploader/PlayStation EYE support:
Another great feature update is the YouTube uploader. Once players have played through a level successfully, they have the option to upload the replay to YouTube (you will need a YouTube account of course, but the process is very straightforward).
Even better, if you have the PlayStation Eye peripheral, you will be enabled to capture yourself playing the game. This capture will appear as a “picture-in-picture” image, that you can also upload to YouTube. Capture that moment of successfully solving that mind breaking puzzle and share with friends!

Click here to view the embedded video.

[Source]

Trophy Guide – Echochrome

Anthony Severino — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:58:27 +0000

echochrome

Half the journey (Bronze): Complete all stages in A to D.
- You have to complete each individual stage for courses A to D, not the actual course.

Traversal (Silver): Complete all stages in A to G.
- You have to complete each individual stage for courses A to G, not the actual course.

Total traversal (Gold): Complete courses A to G.
- You have to complete each full course for A to G to unlock this trophy. I would suggest doing each individual stage first so that you can get through the courses without any problems. YouTube uploading will be coming to echochrome in the form of a new patch, but until then I would suggest using LegalArcade’s YouTube Channel for all your echochrome puzzle solving needs.

Rock bottom (Bronze): Fall 100 times while playing stages.
- You have two options. Play the game the way it was intended and you will get it eventually. Or create a level with a starting point and hole on the next square, making an endless loop of falls.

Flyin’ high (Bronze): Leap 100 times while playing stages.
- You have two options. Play the game the it was intended and you will get it eventually. Or create a level with a starting point and a jump pad on the next square, making an endless loop of jumps.

Take a hike (Bronze): Take 10,000 steps while playing stages.
- There’s really no quick way to get it, it will just unlock eventually. You can hold the X button down to speed walk which will assist in getting it quicker, but not that much quicker.

Shadow (Bronze): Collect 500 echoes.
- Play the game naturally, or if you are impatient create a level with a starting point and 4 echos right next to you. Hold the X button down, rinse, and repeat.

echochrome (Bronze): Complete 100 stages in any mode.
- Play the game, and you will eventually get it. Or use one of the custom levels noted above and play it over and over again.

Gimme five (Bronze): Upload five stages.
- To upload a level, go to the level creator and make a level with a starting point and at least one echo. Make sure you test the level. Go to main game section hit right trigger to find your custom levels, and then the X button to see the upload option. You can upload the same stage 5 times for this trophy.

echochrome master (Gold): Collect all the trophies.
- Easy enough right? Just unlock all other trophies and this will unlock.

PSN Review – echochrome

JohnDraisey — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:35:49 +0000

Phil Harrison was onstage at E3 2007 when he first showed off echochrome, a title he described as having “possibly the least graphics and most gameplay.” And I find it hard to disagree with him on those two topics. But despite the innovative gameplay and irresistible aural presentation, there are several glaring problems that end up hampering the overall enjoyment of this title.

Echochrome offers three modes to choose from:

Atelier is the level select system that allows players to either choose pre-built levels from the developer, or levels that they themselves have built. Atelier includes 56 levels, and shows the recorded stats upfront so that players can immediately determine whether to retry levels, or simply move on to new ones.
Canvas is the level editor, and is very easy to use. It’s a lot of fun to build levels out of common words, or sculpt them to look like random animals.
Free Form is the download system for user-generated content. It automatically downloads levels built by fellow echochrome enthusiasts, but does nothing else.

Echochrome is a very innovative game, and benefits from a clean, Escher-like presentation. The graphics are a blend of soft and hard edges; cel-shading in its purest form. The gorgeous classical music, which can be heard in the video preview below, is the most important element as the graphics themselves emote very little. The music ends up elevating the production values, and the intriguing melodies fit very well within the context of Echochrome’s puzzles.

The controls are simple. You adjust the camera angle with the analog stick, and raise the speed of your character’s pace by holding down the X button. The gameplay, however, is not. The goal is to have your character walk through the flickering shadows scattered throughout each level. To do this, you must rotate your point of view to reveal or obscure gaps, jumps, and holes. The jumps are indicated by white circles, and the holes are indicated by black circles.

These three gameplay elements are supplemented by the game’s orthogonal perspective. When your character falls, he doesn’t fall to the bottom of the level. He falls down the screen and lands on the first platform he comes into contact with, regardless if it was technically on the other side of the level. The same rule applies to the jumps, though the jumps are trickier since your character is also propelled forward, as well as up. Remember though, “forward” is a relative term in this game.

Obscuring gaps, jumps, and holes is a vital part of solving these puzzles. You have to rotate the level in such a way that your character can walk across a gap to the next platform. When a piece of the level obscures one of these three items, the game engine assumes that it no longer exists. The holes and jumps will have no effect on the character if you can no longer see them. The gaps between platforms also connect when they are obscured. Think of gaps as their own special objects, rather than just open spaces.

The last feature is both the source of the game’s brilliance, as well as its frustration. Gaps can be eliminated rotating the camera, such that the edges of each gap are overlapping each other. Successful conjoining is indicated when the dividing line between the two platforms disappears, allowing your character the cross the newly formed visual bridge. Very nifty, very cool. But these visual bridges are a little hard to create since the camera moves freely on a pivot, and the lock-on system in place is very weak. Oftentimes, you’ll create a visual bridge for a fraction of a second, only to overshoot the camera and miss an opportunity.

This problem becomes more pronounced when dozens of jumps and holes are placed throughout the levels. What used to be a minor nuisance in the earlier levels (i.e. missing a visual bridge) can escalate into frustrating situations, such as when your character turns back around and falls right through a hole or jumps to his death. The real problems arise when the game engine malfunctions. If you watch the video, you’ll see two examples of when the game notifies you that the visual bridge is complete, but acts as if the gap is still there. I’m actually amazed that the game shipped with such a major flaw. Other various glitches can happen from time to time, such as when your character lands on a new platform.

Your character sometimes keeps his orientation after landing, while other times doing a complete 180 into a jump, a hole, or even the wrong path. It’s good that the character always turns to the left, which keeps things consistent. But the orientation-based errors are just unacceptable. And when your character ends up falling through a platform that he should’ve landed on, expect your hair to start falling out.

There are a lot of levels included, the level editor is a lot of fun to play around with, but echochrome suffers from glitches that unfortunately hold back the level of enjoyment. While innovative and fun to play at first, the game definitely needed more QA testing, and maybe even a design overhaul. If you check out the echochrome arcade game on PlayStation Home, you’ll find that without the ability to hide gaps and create bridges, the gameplay is less frustrating. Hopefully the developer will attempt subtractive design for the sequel, or simply fix the glitches found in their first foray.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

Innovative gameplay with simple controls.

Elegant music and good audio work.

Collision glitches and graphical errors hurt enjoyability.

Top 5 PSN Games You May Have Missed

Anthony Severino — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:59:07 +0000

Following up our Top 5 PS3 Games You May Have Missed, is our list of PSN titles, that for some reason or another, many people have missed, but really shouldn’t have. After you’re done reading this list, make sure to check them out.

#5.) Blast Factor

To sum up Blast Factor… well… it’s a blast. The first dual-stick, top-down shooter to grace the PSN released to a small user base, and most likely was missed by many of you. Its use of the SIXAXIS was brilliant at the time, being the first PSN game to take advantage of it’s motion sensing goodness. The graphics are nothing to shout about, but the gameplay sure is, the game is fun, addictive, and was a great way to kill time between bouts of Resistance: Fall of Man, which was really all that was worth playing around the PS3 launch. Blast Factor recently got patched to include trophy support so those of you who haven’t picked up this game have more reason to do so than ever.

#4.) Calling All Cars

Another great game that suffered the pains of being released to a slow to start PS3 user-base. Directed by David Jaffe, of God of War and Twisted Metal fame, this game is as fun as it gets. The premise is very simple, you drive around trying to catch “robbers” and bring them to “jail”, using any means necessary (in Calling All Cars, the necessary means are missiles, magnets, and more). This game really shines playing at home with some friends, since you have the pleasure of laughing in their face with a Nelson Muntz-esque Haw-haaaaw! when you “steal” the robber from them just as they were about to score. If you are still on the fence about buying an annual subscription to Qore, Calling All Cars comes bundled to sweeten the deal.

#3.) Echochrome

Many PS3 owners will be instantly turned off by Echochrome… blindingly white screen, no explosions, or violence, just an artistic puzzler that is as elegant as it gets. The classical background music, helps relax your mind to focus on the task at hand. As you start to figure out how to play Echochrome correctly, twisting and turning the puzzle, to reach “echoes”, you start to appreciate it for what it is, and that is one of the finest puzzle games available on the PSN. Yet another title that received the trophy treatment recently, Echochrome is worth picking up even without the trophy support, but ever since the patch, its value has increased exponentially.

#2.) High Velocity Bowling

Move over Wii Sports bowling, this is the closest thing you’ll get to real bowling, aside from strapping on some stinky, overly used and stretched out bowling shoes, and walking up the hardwood lanes yourself. HVB has received a ton of free DLC, and has plenty of premium DLC that you can customize the experience with… it even has custom soundtrack support, so you can jam to your favorite tunes while you try to bowl a 300!

#1.) Everyday Shooter

Jonathan Mak’s first game on the PSN (also the only one, but we sure hope he releases more) is a dual-stick, top-down shooter at heart, but is really so much more of a stimulatory experience than most others in the genre. Beautifully designed abstract art styled stages, and geometrically shaped enemies impress, but more impressive is the guitar riffs as you shoot and destroy each enemy which seem perfectly intertwined within the game’s all-guitar soundtrack. Each level offers a comepletely different way to chain your attacks, which in turn increases your overall score. You use the points you have earned to purchase extras from the in-game menu which can change the whole look of the game. Because this game offers no trophy support, this game will most likely will be passed by the many PS3 owners who picked up their console after its release. However this game is good enough to reach our number one spot, so if you value an excellent game, then the fact it doesn’t support trophies shouldn’t steer you away from this experience.

echochrome To Receive Trophies

Phoenix8387 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:08:35 +0000

Written by Phoenix8387

On what is almost a daily activity for me now, I stumbled across a new Trophy listing. This time for that amazing perspective puzzler we all know as echochrome. What makes this even better is the fact that it’s on sale right now for $4.99 at the PS Store until December 4th. So if you’re a Trophy whore or just looking to build your Trophies to be a little more respectable you might just want to pick up echochrome now.

Half the journey (Bronze): Complete all stages in A to D.

Traversal (Silver): Complete all stages in A to G.

Total traversal (Gold): Complete courses A to G.

Rock bottom (Bronze): Fall 100 times while playing stages.

Flyin’ high (Bronze): Leap 100 times while playing stages.

Take a hike (Bronze): Take 10,000 steps while playing stages.

Shadow (Bronze): Collect 500 echoes.

echochrome (Bronze): Complete 100 stages in any mode.

Gimme five (Bronze): Upload five stages.

echochrome master (gold): Collect all the trophies.

Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow

Azariah Ellington II — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:53:02 +0000

Tomorrow has the makings to be a great day. No, I’m not just saying that because I’ll be done with my first final. I’m saying that because Echochrome will be available for purchase. The title will only cost you $9.99 and will leave you tons of fun. If you haven’t read Sev’s hands-on experience with it, give it a read. The demo became available last week and I suggest that you at least try that if you’re on the fence about the title. It’ll definitely throw a nice change into your MGO or GTA4 routine that you’re in.

Thanks for reading.

US PlayStation Store Update April 24th 2008

Anthony Severino — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:17:21 +0000

Sev1512 yet again comes through with info before anyone else…

Here is what to expect in this thursdays PlayStation Store update. Its really a great update.

Iron Man Demo (PS3)

Echochromo Demo (PS3)

LocoRoco (PSP) Full game

Kingdom Of Paradise (PSP) Full Game

COD4 Map Pack (PS3)

Eye of Judgement Add-On (PS3)

Resistance 2 Trailer (PS3)

PSOne Classic – R-Type

Also look out for some new wallpapers and themes, along with GH3 tracks, Rock Band tracks, and Karaoke Revolution tracks.

Thank you for visiting the site.

Echochrome Hands On Impressions

Anthony Severino — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:49:18 +0000

To sum this game up with one word, DIFFICULT. I can honestly say there is nothing else like it on the market.

Stages range from small, to large maze like structures, that have you twisting and turning the stage all around to figure out how to get your character to the finish.

Controls are very simple with the left analog stick being used to rotate the stage, and holding R1 while rotating, speeds up the process.

The music, takes a classical tone, which can relax, but just as easily frustrate. It gives the game an elegant appeal that is unlike any other game.

The game definitely invokes the thought process, and challenges the mind to no end. I got past a few of the first few stages, only to get stumped by a stage that looked very simple. Simple can be deceiving in Echochrome.

There are 3 options of game to choose from, “Infinite” which allows you to play stages at random. “Box” which allows you to play the main game, aiming to get the best time in each stage. “Canvas” allows you to create your own stages, and test them out.

I had some fun toying around with “canvas” mode as you can see by the main picture above.

Below are some more pictures of the game in action….

Here is a shot of “Box” main screen

Here is 2 of the more difficult stages I encountered…

Here is a slightly tilted view of the main story picture and an idea what “canvas” mode is…

On a final note, I dont know if its from all the spinning, and rotating, or if I was just feeling sick. But while in the middle of playing, I suddenly had to run to a trash bucket, and I puked my guts up… You can file that under too much information.