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[Takao]

Platform: PlayStation Portable

Developer: Novarama

Boxart:

Genre: Augmented Reality Collectible Creature Game

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Available on the PlayStation Network?: Unconfirmed, but unlikely.

Release Date(s):
October 12, 2010 (NA)
November 13, 2009 (EU)

Multiplayer:
Ad-Hoc & Infastructure
-Trade Invizimals with friends
-Battle with friends and would be foes!

MSRP:
$39.99 (NA)
A fairly cheap amount by now I'd assume (UK)
A fairly cheap amount by now I'd assume (EU)

Contents of Bundles:

- One PSP (1000-3000) Camera, Model 450
- One copy of Invizimals on UMD
- One trap card

Console Bundle ($199):

Includes:
-PSP 3000 (Vibrant Blue)
-PSP Camera (450)
-1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo
-Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs PSN Movie Voucher
-Invizimals UMD with trap

There was also a bundle for Europe.

Story:

Told through live action cutscenes, help Kenichi Nakamura, a researcher at Sony's PSP Research and Development department in Tokyo learn more about a new species of animal that can only be seen with your PSP! But, like in any situation with special animals there’s always an evil corporation trying to use them to conquer the world (It’s not Microsoft), so suit up and roll out!

Overview:

Announced at E3 2009 (take that Kinectimals!), Invizimals is the first title to make use of the PSP’s camera peripheral. A peripheral first announced years ago, released in Europe and Japan years ago, but never seeing a release until now as it offers a unique experience for gameplay.

The title was released in Europe, and Hong Kong to solid reviews late last year. SCEA remained bullish on a North American release, so many (including myself) imported the game. From here we found a game very much aimed towards children, but a game that’s a lot of fun. It seems it connected with audiences well, as the game sold over 400,000 units just in Europe, and at E3 2010 SCEE announced a sequel, Invizimals: Shadow Zone. It’s currently unknown if the game SCEA is releasing as Invizimals will feature any enhancements over the original release.

NOTE: The included camera is crap, it’s the one the “Haters Ain’t Gonna Appreciate” image is taken with. PSP Go owners ain’t gonna appreciate Sony not releasing this

Screenshots:

Trailers

E3 2009 Trailer
E3 2010 Trailer
Shadow Zone Trailer

Metacritic

Official Site

 

[rainking187]

Eh, sounds kind of interesting, and getting a camera as a bonus is nice, but I bought Eye of Judgement for the PS3 and could never get it to read the cards properly, so I'm not too sure about getting this.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Eh, sounds kind of interesting, and getting a camera as a bonus is nice, but I bought Eye of Judgement for the PS3 and could never get it to read the cards properly, so I'm not too sure about getting this.

It's been out for like a year in europe though so maybe they have nailed any QA issues

 

[Snuggles]

They don't look invisible to me.

Seems kinda cool, though.

 

[Takao]

The game works pretty well most of the time. I had some issues with how you capture some of the creatures (I remember a fish one being incredibly difficult), and if you play around with the camera in weird angles, it won't read. But the camera works for the most part, does well in poor lighting too.

You may need to get a cotton swap and some clean out the copper connectors on the mini-USB port on the PSP though. Mine never read the camera until I did that.

 

[Takao]

On the day of release, not a single fuck was to be cared.

Early on with my NA copy, there are some slight changes.

 

[Fraeon]

They don't look invisible to me.

Seems kinda cool, though.

You just don't see it. :lol

 

[BooJoh]

This game looks kinda cool, but I'd be worried if it would work well in my dimly lit house. I never had much luck with the camera-based DSi or EyeToy games.

 

[Gravijah]

oh shit @ that psp!

 

[Salsa]

oh shit @ that psp!

was about to say that, best color ever.

 

[Dead Prince]

i saw the blue psp on TV it's so fucking beautiful.

 

[Takao]

If anyone wants, I can try out some stress tests in terms of lighting. It's pretty flexible.

Also, today it was confirmed as a "No" for the Go, and was a no show on PSN.

 

[DarkWish]

I love augmented reality stuff, so I'm considering getting this. Is there much depth to this game? Is there much replay value? If so, then I'll probably pick this up later this week.

 

[TheSeks]

On the day of release, not a single fuck was to be cared.

*Charmander"NotaSingleFuckwasgiven".gif*

Pokemon > this. Sorry.

Spoiler

</trolling>

"Invizimals |OT| of Invizimals, Invisible Animals!"

More like:

"Invizimals |OT| of Invizimals, not playable on the PSPgo! 'Um... borrow a friends PSP-3000 I guess?' -Sony"

 

[Persona7]

holy shit i think this actually looks kinda cool

plus I need a new PSP anyways, I can either get this bundle or wait for the god of war one

 

[nli10]

We got this around Xmas for my 11 year old cousin. We picked up a mint pre-owned copy in the UK.

He had a bunch of other games at the same time and told me that he played it, but after all the hype and excitement I don't think he really got into it. He traded it this summer, and got rid of his PSP altogether about 2 weeks ago.

I'd be interested to see how deep and engaging GAF thinks it is as I never got to see it in action!

 

[SSJ1Goku]

PSP2 needs that camera built it, this game has a lot of potential.

 

[Gravijah]

someone give me that damn psp

 

[Bog]

We got this around Xmas for my 11 year old cousin. We picked up a mint pre-owned copy in the UK.

He had a bunch of other games at the same time and told me that he played it, but after all the hype and excitement I don't think he really got into it. He traded it this summer, and got rid of his PSP altogether about 2 weeks ago.

I'd be interested to see how deep and engaging GAF thinks it is as I never got to see it in action!

We may never know.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Does this game actually have these bizarre cheesy Command and Conqueresque campaign movies like this commercial would make one believe? :lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2q8Tcqqll4&feature=related

I really dig them. I'd hate to think they just made it up for this commercial.

 

[Takao]

The game isn't incredibly deep, as it is a game really aimed for children. However, your animals do gain Exp., evolve, level up, and learn new moves. The game keeps things fresh by encouraging the user to catch the monsters in a variety of styles. From blinding the animals with sunlight, to smacking bugs, or reeling in fish.

The developer added a few bonus creatures that can only be captured if you spend at least ten battles in the online modes, and they've released some special traps that host legendary Invizimals (the Anubis looking one in the OP is one of them). Those kept me coming back. Hopefully I'm able to get some friends to buy the game and play some multiplayer locally, as while the online mode supports voice chat (IIRC) the goofiness of the game isn't carried over quite well with a stranger.

Does this game actually have these bizarre cheesy Command and Conqueresque campaign movies like this commercial would make one believe? :lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2q8Tcqqll4&feature=related

I really dig them. I'd hate to think they just made it up for this commercial.

Yeah, that's how all of the single player campaign is told by. The overacting is kind of amazing.

 

[DarkWish]

Just bought the game today and played with it for a bit. Yea, campaign stuff is pretty cheesy and the battle system is pretty simple, but the augmented reality stuff works well. That's what I was really looking forward to. The camera itself is decent for what it is. Overall, not bad... need more time with it to really say how it's going to be in the long run.

 

[yurinka]

BTW as I remember it was 2009's 3rd best selling PSP game in Europe (being released the same year than Gran Turismo PSP, Little Big Planet PSP, Motorstorm Artic Edge, Ass Creed PSP, FIFA whatever).

Its sequel has been announced in Europe, and its called Invizimals Shadow Zone. By Novarama, too.

 

[DeadGzuz]

My almost five year old would love this, but it is probably too hard to play alone. In the least he would need to know how to read.

 

[Takao]

BTW as I remember it was 2009's 3rd best selling PSP game in Europe (being released the same year than Gran Turismo PSP, Little Big Planet PSP, Motorstorm Artic Edge, Ass Creed PSP, FIFA whatever).

Its sequel has been announced in Europe, and its called Invizimals Shadow Zone. By Novarama, too.

It seems it connected with audiences well, as the game sold over 400,000 units just in Europe, and at E3 2010 SCEE announced a sequel, Invizimals: Shadow Zone. It’s currently unknown if the game SCEA is releasing as Invizimals will feature any enhancements over the original release.

 

[Mzo]

The real-time combat is already 100x better than any Pokémon game. Everything after the amazing sequel that was the original Gold/Silver has been the same repetitive garbage. I'm a huge fan of AR tech, though, dunno if I could recommend this particular game to everyone.

The biggest drawback is that the game is undoubtedly aimed at children leading to Blue's Clues-style cutscenes and a complete lack of difficulty and complexity.

The "come back in 20 minutes" messages are also awful (and yes, I know most people change their PSP clocks to circumvent the problem).

Still! AR tech is awesome, they are little 3D models moving around your desk/floor/bed/hairy, naked stomach. You can give losing invizimals the finger after you beat their asses. I hope that it hurts them, deep down inside.

 

[yurinka]

Oops

 

[Takao]

After months of speculation, SCEA has announced that Invizimals: Shadow Zone will be released in North America this fall.

 

[TheSeks]

After months of speculation, SCEA has announced that Invizimals: Shadow Zone will be released in North America this fall.

Will it work with the PSPGo?

Spoiler

Thatsthejoke.jpg

 

[Takao]

Will it work with the PSPGo?

Spoiler

Thatsthejoke.jpg

Never forget:

 

[Agent X]

I wonder if a downloadable version (if it were made available) could work with the camera in the PlayStation Vita?

Also, if they ever do make a downloadable version, they'd have to be sure to point out that the camera is required (not sold separately in North America), and that it wouldn't work with the PSP Go (unless you get that doohickey in the post above, also not sold in North America). To avoid confusion, they're probably better off making a Vita-specific version, or (if they want to go the lazy route) repackaging the PSP games as "Vita" downloads.

 

[CaVaYeRo]

After months of speculation, SCEA has announced that Invizimals: Shadow Zone will be released in North America this fall.

And Novarama just announced Invizimals: The Lost Tribes, which is the third installment. They're really big here in Spain.

 

[mrkapawutzis]

So is the Invizimals series going to work on the Vita? I always wanted to try it but it was never high on my priority list.

 

[darkwing]

So is the Invizimals series going to work on the Vita? I always wanted to try it but it was never high on my priority list.

is there a PSN version?

 

[yurinka]

Hi!

Today started in Barcelona Gamelab 2011, with keynotes done by Trip Hawkins, the guy from Minecraft and others. I saw Kojima and the guy who made Limbo around there, and tomorrw Molyneux and others have lectures.

In their keynote, Novamara announced "Invizimals 3", called 'Invizimals : The lost tribes".

Its release date is 11/11/11 in Europe (they always release their Invizimals the same day of the year). It will be released for PSP.

This new game will feature tag battle and on-line tournaments. It will include 75 new monsters and the 75 favorites of the community.



Novarama also announced today that they are now oficially a Sony 1st party studio, so they will develop forever in PlayStation even they are still an independent studio.



They talked about Reality Fighters, their Vita 60fps AR fighting game where you are the main character (to make your 3D character from a picture takes less than 5 seconds). They you can custom the body and use a ton of clothes, fighting styles, weapons or even vehicles or to customize it (mentioned like more than 3 trillion combinations as I remember). Whey you modify the body the clothes are automatically stretched to fit it, and you can color it.

It also was mentioned that you'll have a photo mode to post 1080p images in Facebook, taking advantage of the Vita native (this is new, unnanounced until now I think) FB support. The game also will take advantage of the Near features, like to fight some other player that are close to you, etc.

They mentioned to had Vitas in the studio since more than 2 years ago. Since they were the most successful AR devs, their feedback was key for Sony when designing or tweaking the Vita camera, accelerometers, etc. They mentioned that a same point they were the studio with more Vita units in Europe, more than SCEE offices itself.

He mentioned to be honored to see Nintendo copying their AR ideas.

They also mentioned that Invizimals IP sold more than 1 million copies, and that Invizimals : Shadow Zone outsold the original Invizimals. Mainly in Europe, and like 25% in Spain + Portugal.

is there a PSN version?

No, because Sony made an exclusive camera for the game that is only sold bundled with the retail game. The other one that is sold alone here at least here in Europe isn't the same camera.

 

[Takao]

Invizimals: Shadow Zone is out in the US this Tuesday.

I'd make an OT, but as this one didn't get much of a response I won't bother.