flOw PS3 dated

By Tom Bramwell Published 4 December, 2006

Sony signs dev for more.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has agreed a deal with thatgamecompany, developer of downloadable PlayStation 3 game flOw, to produce additional titles.

The three-game deal will see the former University of Southern California (USC) students moving in at Sony's Santa Monica headquarters.

flOw, originally released a Flash-based web-game, is due to be sold via download through PlayStation 3's online store from December 19.

USC Dean Elizabeth M. Daley described Sony's arrangement with thatgamecompany as "a watershed moment in the history of the school".

"It builds on our tradition of expanding relationships with the professional community, and opens the door for our students and graduates to showcase their creative talents in an incredibly dynamic market."

The original PC game flOw, originally created as part of thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen's thesis research, can still be played online on the developer's website.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mkreku #1 5 years ago

    Looks good. I love the visual style of that game. But what is it about, really?

  • JHuxley #2 5 years ago

    Pacman mixed with Asteroids I'd say. There's no maze involved.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #3 5 years ago

    And boring non the less.

  • NoCodeNed2 #4 5 years ago

    You've played it?

  • Psychotext #5 5 years ago

    Don't forget you can play this online for free. It's fun but easy to lose interest after a while.

  • Beano #6 5 years ago

    I wonder if the flash version (free download) will run on PSP ? :)

  • gamesport #7 5 years ago

    so where is the Gran Turismo HD?

  • jack_klugman #8 5 years ago

    My game of the year.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #9 5 years ago

    I was down way more than two levels. Maybe I should give it another try. It does look nice and maybe I really need more time with it, Geometry Wars also had me only after a few days.

  • SBfistfun #10 5 years ago

    "It builds on our tradition of expanding relationships with the professional community, and opens the door for our students and graduates to showcase their creative talents in an incredibly dynamic market."

    Translation:

    "W00t I can't believe I'm gonna make money from this shite"

  • Arganoid #11 5 years ago

    "The three-game deal will see the former University of Southern California (USC) students moving in at Sony's Santa Monica headquarters."

    ... with hilarious consequences.

  • doctor__no #12 5 years ago

    >>so where is the Gran Turismo HD?

    It'll be available FREE on December 23rd as GT: HD Concept. They canceled all that microtransaction bullshit and decided to make it into GT5 instead.

    >>Pacman mixed with Asteroids I'd say. There's no maze involved.

    Game is more like Snake, new version is suppose to be full-3D with particle effects and is suppose to be entirely new compared to the Flash version.

  • Darkedge #13 5 years ago

    dull as ditchwater - sorry

  • Pooley #14 5 years ago

    I loved the music, very ambient. This would sound good as a surround sound mix from the PS3 through a nice set-up.

    Kinda like a chilled-out Rez?

  • Huntcjna #15 5 years ago

    Lovely game this just been playing the flash version for about 20 minutes. :)

  • Xerx3s #16 5 years ago

    Just played this for a bit, don't really get what all the big fuss is about. It certainly isn't on par with GW. :/

  • urban #17 5 years ago

    its really quite fun :) its quite tricky when it comes to "bosses" which makes it grand :)

  • Kiigan #18 5 years ago

    "flOw is Pacman."

    You're doing Pac-Man a grave disservice there, I feel. Pac-Man is a fucking masterpiece of game design that still stands up today - as proven by the sheer number of shitty clones and wannabes that never ever manage to be as good as the original.

    flOw is just a case of style over substance IMO, there's not much of a game there. I like it though, quite relaxing.

  • ProtoformX #19 5 years ago

    I think it's a good idea. I played it a couple of weeks ago and I did enjoy it. But I don't think Sony should charge much for this, otherwise no-one will buy it. There's not enough depth to warrant parting with significant money for it.

  • spongebob #20 5 years ago

    More of this, Sony, and you are golden.

  • numptyboymatt #21 5 years ago

    Erm.... Wasnt this supposed to be a free tech demo??? Mind you, I suppose if you can afford a PS3 you can afford to pay for something that everyone else is getting for free......

  • dredd97 #22 5 years ago

    oooh adam your anti ps3 bile knows no limits...

    you give fanboys a bad name by actually being worse...

  • JediMasterMalik #23 5 years ago

    It's not the same game geniuses...

  • BlackANUS #24 5 years ago

    So Sony will offer this to PS3 users as a downloadable game from their online STORE? Which means they will be charging money for it right?

    So then what is to prevent people using the PS3's integrated web browser to go to the developers web site and play it for FREE over there?

    Oh, I just remembered, you'd be able to play it in fullscreen as a PS3 game rather than part of a window from the web site.

    Still...something doesn't seem right if Sony intends to charge money to play something you can play for free.

    edit, I'm a schmuck and didn't read the prior posts that mention the exact same thing
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/06 @ 23:02

  • Xerx3s #25 5 years ago

    It's not the same game geniuses...

    Explain please. :|

  • KillahSouljah #26 5 years ago

    this game is RELAXING, the sounds, visuals. Nice one Sony for getting this developer to be apart of Sony Studios.

  • JediMasterMalik #27 5 years ago

    The game is like a reimagining of the basic premise, they are making a full game of it, probably alot more, content wise, then the net version, aswell as different visuals. Though if you really disliked the net version, I wouldn;t say that you will enjoy this one, just that they may well be different enough for people to simply wait to see the final product.

  • BettySwallocks #28 5 years ago

    This wasn't originally designed to be a "game" as such, but if you read the original thesis and its meant to aim at a form of relaxation and explore the 'zenning out' ability of games to remove indidvuals from there surroundings.

  • T4RG4 #29 5 years ago

    Good half hour waste your time type game. Make more of it? C'mon... three game deal off the back of this? Jesus.

    I agree most traditional games these days are a waste of space, but this is swinging too far back the other way :)