PS3 News: Flower Couldn't Possibly "Look The Same On Any Other System" - PS3 News

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Flower Couldn't Possibly "Look The Same On Any Other System"

There's no doubt that Flower is one of the most unique and impressive accomplishments of the current generation, but did you realize that without the PlayStation 3, it may never have happened?

In a Gamezine.co.uk interview with ThatGameCompany's co-founder and president, Kellee Santiago, we learn that the designers took full advantage of the system's significant SPU capacity. Said Santiago:

"We learned so much on flOw, especially about SPUs! The grass system really leverages the PS3 to render 200,000 blades of grass simultaneously, and gives the player this sense of blowing wind through them."

Yeah, we distinctly recall many blades of grass, all bending and swaying in the wind that we - for all intents and purposes - control. There's little doubt that it was visually appealing, as the only minor drawback centered on the lack of texture detail in the individual petals that comprise our colorful "tail." Santiago spoke more about the SPUs:

"An artist friend of ours came to us, really hoping that we could tell him some clever trick that we used to make it look like we had so many blades of grass. He was reluctant to believe that really John Edwards just made it happen on the SPUs. It really would be impossible to make it look the same on any other system. But, it's one of the pros with knowing your game is exclusive to a specific system - you can really design everything towards that one platform."

We've often said that if a developer wishes to focus on the PS3, we'll see some seriously polished titles. Flower is just a downloadable game one can nab for only ten bucks on the PSN; it's not a giant mega-blockbuster and yet, it proves that Sony's machine boasts certain hardware and architectural advantages.

Related Game(s): Flower

3/16/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (27 posts)

PANICinc
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:45:20 PM
Reply

Flower is an amazing game! Beautiful to watch, innovative, fun and well, just straight up an amazing PSN exclusive!
Linger in the Shadows is another great PSN download!

I will continue to support and enjoy Indi games/interactive art on the PSN!

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Kowhoho
Friday, March 20, 2009 @ 10:01:32 PM

And, since Linger in Shadows is only 3 bucks, there's no reason not to buy it! Now what I'm saying? I mean, I spend three bucks just about every time I go inside a gas station, for gum and whatnot.

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rell
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:55:50 PM
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Its so relaxing, after I play kz2 I need to take a chill pill and flower is what the doctor order.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 6:50:37 PM

LOL I did that, too.

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Zemus101
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:57:04 PM
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I gotta pick this game up still, maybe next month.

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VinTheDean
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:05:01 PM
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@Zemus101 - Pick up the game.

It's really fun and relaxing to play. If you are into trophies, there is some great replay value there.

I was a little put off by the $10 price tag but after playing it, it's well worth that.

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slugga_status
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:05:50 PM
Reply

I agree. Linger in the shadows is awesome. Haven't played Flower but I have no doubt that it's visually impressive.

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photo K
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:09:19 PM
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It's really relaxing and visually impressive. The replay value only takes you so far, so IMO I can only play one or 2 levels in a sitting, but very impressive indeed, I hope more developers take a look at this and build around the ps spu's.

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dlte
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:09:50 PM
Reply

I still can't get that stupid pure trophy
Last edited by dlte on 3/16/2009 1:09:59 PM

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firehahahahaha
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:57:14 PM

same here

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HeXeN
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 4:05:27 PM

yeah that trophy is a bitch.

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Alienange
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:11:24 PM
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It'll be nice when other developers see this game and realize that they're imaginations and therefore their games, are limited by the hardware they develop for. They need to stop porting and start using this machine to it's full gaming potential.

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NightHawk17
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:24:16 PM
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This is really a great game. i hope Sony continues to publish their games

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Zemus101
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:40:18 PM
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I am actually quite heavy into trophies. I was mostly worried that my $10 wouldn't go very far, I got the Noby Noby Boy trophies in a day :P but that was $5 and ...well yeah, i know i'll pick up Flower. I've just put it off cuz i found other things to spend my $10 on. How much value does Flower have? like ...replay value at least

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Kowhoho
Friday, March 20, 2009 @ 10:04:18 PM

The replay value is decent, if only to get the trophies or if you have a headache and need some love from Flower... Ahhhh, so relaxing...

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Random_Steve
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:59:43 PM
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ive got all the trophies on flower but 'pure'. try to get that and all the relaxation goes. Apart from that its a great, quite strange, game

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maxpontiac
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 2:40:13 PM
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200,000 blades of grass. Wow. That in itself is worth the price of admission..

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kidgrid
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:14:08 PM
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I think you hit the nail on the head with "if a developer wishes to focus on the PS3, we'll see some seriously polished titles." When they do that 1 thing, a game, even a 10 dollar game becomes top notch one. But a lot of developers just take the game to as good as it is on the other port systems. I think this system will make more independents shine the stronger the PSN gets.

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tlpn99
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:15:15 PM
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I played the demo of Flower and thought it was ok but didn't warrant me enough to download it. Maybe in the future for now though I can leave it.

I did like cuboid though but again im still to download that also.

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LegendaryWolfeh
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:27:51 PM

oh snap i didn't even know there was a demo for flower, i bought it immediately tho so lol

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SPS3
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:38:41 PM

There isnt. I just looked for it! LOL! But they need one. This is where Sony should stand up in terms of advertisment. They definitely need a demo for all PSN exclusives. These games are so innovative that its tough to figure out if you even need to spend ten bucks on 'em!

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Ogibillm
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 6:36:23 PM
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flower's a great game to play, but i gotta say i like just starting it up and let it run - like i am right now - while doing other things around the house.

it's like a moving painting.

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Qubex
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 9:18:12 PM

Here is an idea... why don't Sony make a run of beautiful artistic screen savers... some free, some you pay for... But really beautiful tech routines that people can leave on while reading or something...

The music visualisers that Sony have now for the system are getting old... and they don't have enough community input with regards to letting demo crews or the like make some tech routines for the console.

The only demo crew that was officially permitted to do anything were the makers of "Linger" :(

Q!

"i am home"

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 6:50:57 PM
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I really want to try Linger in Shadows...

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dveisalive
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 7:15:27 PM
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Linger in Shadows is really weird and scary to me, but flower pawns it.

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Qubex
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 9:16:03 PM
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I have both "Linger" and "Flower"... 2 awesome games...

Great stuff really!

Q!

"i am home"

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Scarecrow
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 @ 12:43:51 AM
Reply

Beautiful...

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