PixelJunk Eden patch coming on January 15, ‘Encore’ expansion in the works

As gamers, we have a lot of hatred for the “patch culture” that we’ve been subjected to during this console generation, especially when it means that unfinished games are rushed to meet a release date, while issues — sometimes, major ones — are merely patched later. But a beneficial byproduct of that is that developers often listen to feedback and implement suggestions from users. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Q-Games’ PixelJunk Eden, if you ask me, was a brilliant (and overlooked) gem from 2008. The indie game was released on the PlayStation Network at the end of July, and it’s been relatively successful — but not as much as, say, PixelJunk Monsters. PJE is a lot of fun, but it can also be very frustrating; many complained about its difficulty (the timer, for example, is something that a lot of people wish wasn’t there). Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert posted on the PlayStation.Blog today, and he talked about the “namby pamby” patch that was hinted at last year. Here’s what he had to say:

As you move through the gardens, you’ll encounter more and more interesting ideas and concepts. In order to help people having trouble right at the beginning, we’ve changed the large crystals so they replenish a whole half of your oscillator (time) meter. Even if you run out of time, we allow you to continue from the last Spectra you collected. […] Oh, and before I forget, we fixed the multiplayer camera! It is now as smooth as a baby’s bum – get some friends around and give it a whirl!

This was all added in the hopes that more people will get to experience PJE, which, in the end, is all that Cuthbert wants. But don’t worry if your retro-skilled ass has already completed the game — the ‘Garden Complete’ trophy will only be awarded if you get through the game without using the new continue system. The patch will be out this Thursday, January 15th, and it’ll arrive shortly after that for European gamers.

Cuthbert also stealthily announced that Q-Games is working on an “Encore” version of PJE — but there’s no word yet on what exactly the “expansion” will entail (he promised to discuss it in detail soon).