Tonight I sit typing my the light from my PS3. It came to me today in the form of a devious week long planned surprise. I was caught completely off guard by this surprise. Tax returns were hidden, I was rushed out of the house to run "errands" while the onyx machine was purchased and brought into the house.
Today has largely been spent downloading updates and games. We now own Pixel Junk: Eden, Warhawk (that's right Hiro) and Little Big Planet. I had no idea that I'd have to download so many updates for almost every game I have, each one a fairly sizable download. It doesn't really bother me either, It's just unexpected to see such PC-ish behavior from a console. It takes me back little.
I'm quite pleased with the games I've purchased so far. I've played both Little Big Planet and Warhawk before but Pixel Junk Eden is entirely new to me. It's beautiful to the point it makes my daughter go all goggle-eyed. It makes me happy to see so many artistic games a part of the PS3 repertoire.
I've always been fascinated by games like flOw and Pixel Junk Eden. Besides being great to look at, these games focus on a single often very simple concept. Often times, these concept games stick with me longer than most bigger games like your Halo's and your Killzone's might.
To focus on one concept for gameplay forces you to explore the rest of the game space to make the games more interesting, either by creating stunning visuals or perhaps by extrapolating all the various things you could do in the game that are associated with the core concept.
In a way this describes all games, but Games like flOw and Pixel Junk Eden are different in that they don't ever stray from the core concept. Every little action you preform in flOw is directly related to the consumption of your enemies, while Pixel junk Eden forces you to jump and swing everywhere you go.
I'd like to see more games like this hit the market. I think it's high time we started recognizing the simple beauties again. These are the only games I've played since the old cabinet days that have held my interest with such a basic premise. Simplicity is beautiful and if you don't believe me, download flOw, Flower, Echochrome or Pixel Junk Eden.
