Ubisoft PS Vita Week: Building on a Classic with Lumines Electronic Symphony

In 2005, Lumines was released as the number one-ranked title for the PlayStation Portable, and still holds its place as one of the top five games currently available for the system. Now, we are taking steps to build beyond the PSP classic and bring the best Lumines experience to PlayStation Vita with Lumines Electronic Symphony.

For the newcomers to the series, Lumines Electronic Symphony is a music-puzzle game that merges vivid colors and shapes with the intoxicating beats of an electronica soundtrack. It’s easy to play for five minutes, but you’ll tend to find yourself entranced for hours. Here are a few ways that Q Entertainment and Ubisoft are working to create an amazing experience that takes full advantage of the PS Vita hardware:

· Updated graphics and highly integrated sound. Let’s kick this off with saying that Lumines Electronic Symphony is a brand new game. We are now using animated 3D blocks instead of 2D sprites, which allow us to integrate dynamic lighting and animations mechanics. Along with our high quality graphics, we have tailored the audio in our game to be highly integrated with music and game sounds.

· Alternative control methods. We are taking big strides in terms of accessibility of Lumines Electronic Symphony. The game will support the front touch screen controls to move and rotate blocks. This will be perfect for new comers to the series. For those focused on boosting their scores, Lumines Electronic Symphony also supports analog and d-pad controls.

· A new XP system. In previous Lumines titles, a player unlocked skins based on their ability to successfully reach that skin. This meant that there was a potential that some players did not see certain skins. However, in Lumines Electronic Symphony, we have integrated an XP system. Now all the points that a player receives in a session are converted into XP, so as you level up, you will unlock additional skins and avatars.

· New avatars and abilities. Speaking of avatars, we have revamped our avatar system. Previously, the avatar was nothing more than a visual representation of the player. Now, each avatar has a single player and multiplayer ability mapped to them. Unlock more avatars and find the abilities that best suit your style of play.

That’s a quick breakdown of the key features that you will find in Lumines Electronic Symphony. We’ll have more information on Lumines coming soon, so keep your eyes on the PlayStation.Blog. Look for Lumines Electronic Symphony to hit the PlayStation Vita on February 14th — just in time for the First Edition Bundle!