My Peoples, it’s no secret that PAIN is the People’s Game. Our community has asked us for certain features or types of gameplay, and we’ve taken that feedback and turned it into modes, characters, bug fixes, and so on. No doubt, continued development of PAIN is a time-consuming process filled with pitfalls and turmoil, but in the end, it seems to be working out for the best. We never seem to be able to give you enough content quickly enough, but we get some quality feedback every time we release new content (not just praise – constructive criticism is welcome, too).
PAIN was never designed with online play in mind. The sheer number of active objects flying around at any given time during a single launch is ridiculous to process, and then when you factor in the possibility of each of those objects hitting another object – perhaps an exploding one – the situation becomes even nuttier. With that in mind, we were a bit stupefied when the People said that they wanted PAIN online. That is by no means a small task, but somehow the evil geniuses at Idol Minds have managed to pull it off, and the patch is now live. The patch is free, and it will allow you to play all your favorite multiplayer PAIN Modes against your buddies online. You can get your text chat on, of course, but it wouldn’t be PAIN without being able to talk trash, so we’ve included voice chat as well. Personally, I think that getting a strike or even a spare in PAIN Bowling with Jarvis’ L2 + X pose says more than I ever could, but it’s your world.
We’re about to drop the Smack Pack on you (sold separately), which includes the Darts and Fortress game Modes. As I’m sure you know, traditional Darts wouldn’t be suitable for PAIN. We wouldn’t dare make something as simple as launching a character into an oversized dartboard. Instead, you have to launch you character toward a giant sticky billboard with multiple bullseyes painted on it, in the process grabbing another character (or bomb) and chucking it at the billboard. Sounds simple enough, eh? Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that your opponents have distractions to jack you up during your flight to the billboard. It makes it even more satisfying to clear the distractions and pull off a bullseye, so I hope your game is in order.
Fortress is the other half of the Smack Pack, and it pits you against up to three opponents, each of you with a giant fortress on a floating platform in the sky. On offense, your task is to aim at an opponent’s fortress, launch and grab an exploding object, and chuck it at their fortress to inflict maximum damage. Every bit of damage you do costs that player points, and when their score reaches zero, that player is eliminated. Obviously, we’d never make it easy for you to do something like that, so at the beginning of each game, every player gets a chance to select their defenses, which range from everything from reinforcements that toughen up your walls, to flying mailboxes and cereal that knock launching enemies out of play, to blue screens that fly up and take out enemies and/or their projectiles. Fortress is a blast to play (no pun intended), so make sure your trash talk is ready.
Like all of the current offline multiplayer Modes in PAIN, Darts and Fortress are playable offline, too. In both modes, the various objects and distractions in the game depend on the environment in which you’re playing. For example, if you’re playing Fortress in the Amusement Park, you’re grabbing and chucking exploding teddy bears. Likewise, if you’re playing Fortress in the Movie Studio, you might see some cameras being used to strengthen your opponents’ walls. Both Modes will be playable in all future environments as well.
As always, we look forward to hearing back from you all on online multiplayer once you get a taste. It’s a nice addition to the world of PAIN, and I have a feeling that everybody’s going to be “leveling up” their PAIN skills as a result of the new competition within the community. Let us know what you think. As always, we’re listening. So get out of here and GO ONLINE LATER TODAY!!!!!!
Reply to Jason Coker:
That’s true.. Having Mr Norris in PAIN would probably be devastating xD. Also, it would probably be tough to make him do the voiceacting himself, since he would probably not do it? Well who knows.. He used to be in TV-shop so it’s not THAT impossible:P
Yes there are alot of people who love to hate and hate to love.. Few of my best friends are like that (They did like PAIN when I introduced it though!). I just recently bought Killzone 2 and I think it’s a really good game and for being under production for so long I think they managed to come up with something really good for just being a shooter! And I asked one of my friends “How do you like it?” and he replied with only “lacking buddy AI”…. Yes…. Noo..! It’s not THAT impossible to spell out the good stuff about things, even though you’re not into it?
I think it is really good that you just continue to make this game an evolving one! And that you’re not just adding new levels but also new gamemodes!
Speaking of new Gamemodes.. I just visited PSN to check up on the Smack Pack add-on and I didn’t find it? Can it be because I’m in Sweden/Europe? If that’s the case, do you know when I’ll be able to download it?
I haven’t got around to PAIN in ages :(
Like I don’t really get the concept of the missions… I try really hard and get no where :(
PS thanks for the update and LOVE :)
@KSPRYDAD
1. At this point and time, as small as the margin of difference is – it’s still a difference. When sold in millions, it becomes more noticeable. Whether it be 20 or 40 GB drives, which ever make it more profitable would be the ideal choice.
2. PS2 manufacturing lines build DS2’s which are non-wireless controllers. The factory is there, costs for the transition would be much less than having to build new lines. (see DVD to HD-DVD factory lines) I never suggested creating a new product line of selling these controllers separately. That would not make sense.
3. Again – as small as the difference may be, it is still a reduced cost in manufacturing with technology and parts.
@40: So you basically want to turn a PS3 into 360? NOOO THANKS!!!!
Thank you Sony for make this awesome machine. Sadly some ppl never learn to SAVE!!. They are helpless, sorry for them.
Hi all,
I had a lovely evening of anonymously getting my butt kicked by a lot of you in a WHOLE lot of Bowling, HORSE, Fortress, and Darts. I’ve been having a lot of fun….well….except for the whole “getting my butt kicked by random strangers on the game the I help produce”, but my ego’s not too fragile, so I’ll be OK.
I wanted to point out a couple of odd things that you may have noticed. First off, there’s no PAINLab this week. As always, our launch was a hectic affair, and we decided to hold off on this week’s Lab. We’ll be back in effect next week, though. Secondly, sometimes it looks like you can get into a game room, but you get an error when you try to join. That happens because the game is actually full, but unfortunately our lobbies aren’t updating as quickly as we’d like, so either other players have filled the empty spots and you’re not seeing it yet, or the host of the game backed out. Either way, the issue is that you’re seeing a game room state that doesn’t actually exist because it hasn’t been updated yet. I wanted to let you all know that we’re aware and we’re on it.
I would to enjoy it also I have downloaded the new pack and this has installed however no darts is this a known issue
Amystar, is it safe to assume that you\’re in Europe? If so, there\’s an issue that being worked on to get the Smack Pack onto the Store as soon as possible. If you in North America, you can get it directly from the Store, or just fire up the game and go into Multiplayer, lelect the environment, and you\’ll see the Smack Pack icon there.