PixelJunk Eden: Oh Glorious Gardens…and Did We Mention Trophies?

Hey everyone,

Deborah Mars here again. We’re so excited to be releasing PixelJunk Eden tomorrow (Thursday, July 31) on the PlayStation Network. Dylan Cuthbert and his team at Q-Games in collaboration with Baiyon, a Kyoto-based multimedia artist and DJ, have really outdone themselves here.

Now I know I’m biased with all my PixelJunk love, but seriously…this is one outstanding, addictive, gorgeous, amazing game. So I just wanted to take a moment here and mention some of the really cool “firsts” that the team has achieved with this title, and highlight some of the things that we really love about it.

1. Trophies

This is the very first game to launch with trophies. And just so you know what to be gunning for when you play, here is a complete list:

BRONZE

All Seeds 01 – Open all seeds in garden 01
All Seeds 02 – Open all seeds in garden 02
All Seeds 03 – Open all seeds in garden 03
All Seeds 04 – Open all seeds in garden 04
All Seeds 05 – Open all seeds in garden 05
All Seeds 06 – Open all seeds in garden 06
All Seeds 07 – Open all seeds in garden 07
All Seeds 08 – Open all seeds in garden 08
All Seeds 09 – Open all seeds in garden 09
All Seeds 10 – Open all seeds in garden 10
All Gardens Clear – Get a Spectra in each garden
Combo Ten – Pollen Prowler combo x 10
Combo Fifteen – Pollen Prowler combo x 15
The Hundred Thousander – Get 100,000 pollen in one garden
500 Dead Pollen Prowlers – 500 Pollen Prowlers killed
Ten Minute Grimp – Get all 5 Spectra from a garden within 10 minutes
Fifteen Crystals – Get fifteen crystals in a single jump
Zero Wasted Pollen – Open all seeds in a garden without missing any pollen
Three Play Ping Pong – In 3p mode, trapeze jump between two swinging Grimps

SILVER

All Spectra Found – Get all the Spectra in all gardens

2. YouTube video upload support

How cool is this? It’s a great feature that allows you to capture up to 10 minutes of video footage of your Eden gameplay and then either save it to your XMB or upload to YouTube and share with your friends and the world. So hey, pulled a sweet co-op combo with your friends that you want to show off? Having trouble finding that last Spectra in garden 8? Now you’ve got the proof to back up your bragging rights…or at least accept the fact that you might need just a little bit of – ahem – help. :)

3. PSP Remote Play

OK so this isn’t a first. But it’s worth pointing out anyway so you can take PixelJunk Eden with you wherever you & your PSP go.

4. Accolades

Great news: We’ve just learned that PJ Eden won a Cheat Code Central award for “Best Puzzle / Arcade Game of E3 2008.” We’re really pleased with all positive response on the title, and thank you all for your support. If you haven’t played some of the other titles in the PixelJunk series, be sure to check out Q-Games’ other titles, PixelJunk Racers and PixelJunk Monsters + Encore.

5. Music & Art

We’re really loving the music and visuals that Baiyon created for PixelJunk Eden. You know the music is good when you can listen to it over and over and over again and it is still kicking. There’s more than 100 minutes of music in the game total, and be sure to stay tuned for an upcoming interview right here on this blog with Baiyon and PJE’s game director “Tomi” (Tominaga Shouichi).

6. Druck der Farben

Hands down, my favorite garden.

7. Cannons, teleports, gravity changing, oh my.

Enough said.

8. Top 5 Things Said While Playing Eden

Dylan Cuthbert sent us a link yesterday to a story on TripleTags.com about the top 5 things said while playing Eden. Matt Morton, Associate Producer on Eden, and I have our own here while playing co-op, so we’ll leave you with this list as parting thoughts

– “Seeding!” [And yes, I know I’ve been ridiculed for this one.]

– “Get off me!”

– “Where did you go?”

– “Combo. Combo! Combo!!”

– “Get on the plant. Get on the plant!”