Juggernaut Does Steampunk
by SealWyf, HSM Editor
This Wednesday marks a quantum leap in content for fans of the steampunk genre, as Juggernaut Games releases its Steampunk Adventure Pack. This is the first of a projected series of Adventure Packs, each with a coordinated set of clothing, furniture and companions designed to let you hold a themed party or decorate a personal space.
Juggernaut is a small, relatively new development company based in San Diego, California. Their list of Home products is short, but it includes some very heavy hitters. This is the group that brought us the spooky Cutteridge Estate, which was one of the most innovative personal properties in Home when it was introduced. It is even more impressive now, as the developers continue to upgrade and modify the space free of charge, adding features like an interactive weather control, a programmable poltergeist, and some brand new ghosts. The developers have committed to continuing to develop the story line implied by the weeping ghost, the mysterious child, the moving scarecrow, the permanently locked room and the rat-sized bar under the stairs. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with next!
Juggernaut is also the group that created the ground-breaking MiniBots game, which somehow packs a full third-person shooter into a 22-slot active object, and uses your apartments and furniture as its playing fields. MiniBots will become even more addictive later this summer when it becomes a multi-player game, with a free MiniBots Training Facility personal space to play it in.
So, the release of a small collection of Steampunk clothing and furniture is a major Home event, simply because it is Juggernaut that is releasing it. Everything this company has done in Home sets new standards in technical wizardry. And it’s pulled off with panache, exquisite detail, and a wickedly understated sense of humor. (What other company could have brought us the Necromicopedia (pocket edition) hand item? Or would have presented it to us free, as a little extra something to go along with the updated estate?)
The steampunk space that never was
Plus, this is steampunk we’re talking about — the wildly popular genre of Victorian-era science fiction that seems to be everywhere these days. Everywhere, that is, except PlayStation Home. Yes, we have a few items labeled steampunk this and steampunk that. But they’re dropped in without rhyme or reason, not as part of a coordinated package. Home users, including this writer, have been begging for major steampunk content on the official suggestion threads in the Forums since Home was founded. So far, we’ve gotten very little.
There were even plans for a full Steampunk space back in 2010, an innovative space with a detailed story line and its own private economy. But those plans either fell through, or they passed into a permanent state of non-disclosure. We haven’t heard anything about this space for months. So Home users make do with bits and pieces — a Victorian costume here, a mechanical-looking furniture item there — an ongoing quest described by HSM team writer Kassadee Marie in her recent article “Go Steampunk on a Budget“.
So what will we get in the new Steampunk Adventure Pack? All we have to go on are the official promotional poster image and video, as revealed in the Playstation blog.:
The poster and video reveal an attractive assortment of clothing and decorative items. For personal adornment, there are male and female costumes suitable for an adventurer and his companion (or an adventurer and her companion — this is no fainting Victorian lady!) There is also a companion in the Home sense, a mechanical insect with steam-jet wings. The animation of that big brass bug is superb. Watching it in the video, I was reminded of the mechanical insect in the 1983 film Cronos, which had a definite steampunk aesthetic long before the genre was fashionable.
In the furniture line, there is a table with an animated clockwork top, which takes two object slots, making it, just barely, an active item. There is also a deeply quilted, bucket-like chair that would look at home in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
We also have two wall decor items. One is an active-item clock, beautifully animated, which nonetheless takes up only three object slots. This is such a relief after 22-item minimalist digital clocks that look like they took maybe ten minutes to design!
Furniture for the discerning adventurer
There is also something that looks like the door of a wall safe, which has a drawing of the mechanical insect mounted on it. (The drawing is labeled “Mechanical Spider”, but it has six legs, and a pair of vaporous wings. Our heroes may be brilliant inventors, but they are not taxonomists!) Is this where the Big Brass Bug lives when he’s not following you around? I’m sensing a story line here. I hope Juggernaut develops it.
There’s also a another object glimpsed in the distance in the video, a “weird science” device sitting on one of the tables. It’s the sort of equipment Dr. Frankenstein would use if he moonlighted as an optician.
All in all, this is a very promising collection. It’s visually exciting even when displayed in the sterile modern box of the Harbour Studio. I can just imagine how wonderful it will look in the Paris Clock Tower, Aurora Island, or the submerged Metro Apartment.
As I stated earlier, the Steampunk Adventure Pack is the first of a series of Adventure Packs, each with a different theme. The other themes have not yet been announced. In fact, Juggernaut Games is holding a contest to determine them. You can follow Juggernaut Games on Twitter. Send your suggestions for new themes via Twitter to @Juggernaut_News for a chance to win the Steampunk Adventure Pack. But even better than receiving free goods is the chance of seeing your suggestion in PlayStation Home, brought to life by this remarkable developer.
July 10th, 2012 by SealWyf_ | 7 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer, who has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is obsessed with creating new aesthetic experiences in PlayStation Home.
FINALLY!! Kudos to Juggernaut. I am already waiting in line to buy buy this. And yes I would still like to the the Victorian/Steampunk space to come alive again.
Though I am not a huge fan of Steampunk in real life, the idea of it is very cool and a perfect fit for Home. With the MiniBots multi coming out and them now bringing this new content line in I can only wonder what they have plans for in the future. They have now got companions, a very cool game, a very cool personal space and now they are adding more furniture and a clothing line. I have a feeling that this may be the start of a new public space. It would be the logical next step in Juggernauts evolution on Home to create one, and why not make one like the Steampunker one that never got finished and everyone was clamoring for? It would be an instant hit.
OMG IM HAVING A NERDGASM! Finally, Im a huge steampunk fan and I can’t wait to see what they do with it all. I just wish the contest was based through Home or the ps3 I don’t have a twitter. Anyone want to help me? I could give you my suggestions and you could gratiously give me the redeem code if we win.
I’m feeling that nerdgasm from here, kinda havin’ one too! I do like the mesh of victorian and sci-fi, but hen I’m for anything sci-fi really. That table will be instantly bought by me for my Paris Clock place (the Cogs gold award items went particularly well in there also) and the spider reminds me of the steam powered spider pet from Skyrim, in fact, it’s nearly identical! Wonder if we’ll get a spider rod to go with it lol.
I’m impressed by this stuff Juggernaut, keep going!
Agreed Krazy. The spider reminded me of a Dwemer construct as well. Makes sense since the Dwemer technology was based on steam and gears, same as steampunk.
Here’s a pic for anyone interested. http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/f/ff/Dwarven_spider.jpg
Taking a second look, the Darven Spider looks more like a crab. Also, interesting how the Home model looks more detailed then the skyrim model.
When does the space come? I want the ballroom with the waltz heh… Next Project -Rick’s from Casablanca.
If you’re asking about the space in the pic… it’s darn near 100% certain that it won’t see the light of day.