PlayStation Network Games Steal the Show

Sony had no shortage of enticing gadgets and technologies on display at their CES press conference last night, but the most exciting display for this unabashed gaming nut was a pair of upcoming PlayStation Network mini-games: Flower—a trippy, relaxing follow-up to flOw—and the cute-but-controversial Fat Princess.

As with flOw, thatgamecompany’s previous effort, an aquatic Zen toy that nearly defied definition, Flower isn’t exactly what most people would consider a proper game. There isn’t a high score display. There isn’t a score at all, for that matter. The controls are as simple as can be: simply tilt the controller in the direction you’d like to go, and your floral avatar moves in that direction.

The goal, which isn’t entirely clear at first, involves bringing new life to brown and wilted areas of the landscape. That’s the official line, anyway. The real goal is to set your brain free and take you to a relaxing place rarely explored in interactive entertainment. As I floated and flittered around, not really worried about what I was supposed to be doing, I found myself completely lost in the way each individual blade of grass swings and sways hypnotically on the screen.

Product Marking Specialist Brian Dunn saw me playing and stopped by to give me the scoop on the other five levels and some of the finer points of Flower, but to be honest, I would have been perfectly happy just swimming through the windy, lush landscape in front of me for hours with no concern for what might follow.

Brian finally managed to pry the controller out of my hand, though, long enough to show me another highly anticipated PSN game, Fat Princess, which can only be described as the bastard child of capture-the-flag, Japanese anime, and a real-time strategy game, with delicious cel-shaded graphics. Although the game has been blasted for its lack of political correctness—after all, one of its goals is to fatten your own princess up with cake so as to make her harder to capture for the other team—Dunn said the brouhaha has mostly settled down after a few initially irrate articles. And after seeing how adorable the world of Fat Princess is, it’s hard to fathom anyone finding it truly offensive in practice.

What surprised me was the game’s depth, though: the specialization of different worker and fighter classes (all switched between with a flick of the Triangle button) and the diversity of the game boards, one of which revolves around anchored pirate ships on either side of an island filled with strategically placed drawbridges. 

Before, I hadn’t really given much thought to picking up Fat Princess when it launches. Now, it’s at the top of my must-have list, right alongside Flower. Both games launch this spring, and although no prices have been announced, Dunn confirmed that both would weigh in at less than $15 apiece.

Contact: PlayStation.com, thatgamecompany.com