Greetings from E3, my peoples. It's been a lovely week in the City of Angels, and I'm headed back to San Diego to continue work on the Amusement Park. With all of the fantastic announcements from SCEA's press event on Tuesday morning, you just KNOW we couldn't let the week go by without announcing something new for the world of PAIN. Enter "PAIN Labs".
If it's true that all geniuses are a bit insane, PAIN Labs are going to give you a glimpse into the Idol Minds of madness. You see, all of the modes and layouts in PAIN are products of sick, twisted experiments in taking objects from the game environment and placing and using them in different, often new and unusual ways. Take Mime Toss, for example -- Once the Grab mechanic was finalized, the Design team at Idol Minds was experimenting with how to use it effectively. After several attempts at chucking different objects and what not, throwing mimes through panes of plate glass proved to be fun, challenging, and hilarious, and from there it was a matter of perfecting placement of the panes of glass for the different levels of difficulty.
OK, so how does this relate to PAIN Labs and what the heck are they? Well, Mime Toss and every other Mode you play now came from such experiments and lots of trial and error. So, what if you were able to see some of that? Wouldn't it be kinda cool to see some of the bizarre things that Idol Minds does with PAIN behind the scenes. Well, with PAIN Labs, you'll see just that.
Basically, PAIN Labs are going to be very small areas where Idol Minds practice their bizarre craft. Ever wanted to throw an exploding teddy bear at a huge stack of precariously stacked cinder blocks? You can do it in PAIN Labs. Ever imagined launching a character into a group of bicyclists riding around a track...with a clown on a pogo stick thrown in for good measure? OK, you should probably seek help for that, but even so, you can do it in PAIN Labs.
The real beauty of the Labs is that we'll be bringing you a new one every week or two, and they will be completely free. In addition, we're hoping that all of you will give us feedback here on the site and let us know what you like/dislike, what works/doesn't. what has potential/doesn't and so on. In all likelihood, we'll end up putting out some stuff that will end up as new Modes or maybe even a whole new environment. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship, folks. I'm telling you -- it's gonna be good.
So when does this all go down? Coming live to a PS3 near you when the Amusement Park Add-on drops later this summer. Holler!
