The three new downloadable Sound Packs will be available for $0.99 each and the Curved Terrain Pack will be free, both in the PlayStation Store as well as in the new in-game Sound Shapes Music Shop, which launches today. The following Sound Packs each feature five new instruments, Beat School levels and Trophies:
Acoustic Sound Pack: Players can bring some clean analog tones to their game with five new acoustic instruments. Strum and pick a masterpiece with guitars, dance across the ivories on the piano, or thumb up the unique sounds of the kalimba.
Drum Kits Sound Pack: This pack is all about rhythm. Snares, hi-hats, toms and more will let you groove out everything from a cool jazz backdrop to a driving rock beat. There’s even an electronic kit for some 80’s hip-hop style jams.
8-Bit Sound Pack: Compose in the key of chiptune with retro bleeps, bloops, coins and other sound effects from classic games as well as modern electronic synths, bass lines and loops.
Curved Terrain Pack: Bend, stretch and shape curves to add smooth surfaces to accompany smooth beats.
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In addition, as a way to spotlight the best of the more than 15,000 amazing user-created levels, a curated album component will debut later this month as part of the community redesign in a section called the Community Milkcrate. Visitors to the The Milkcrate will be able to flip through albums of levels curated around themes and enjoy the exact experience that fits their mood.
The Community Milkcrate, like a personal music collection, will be growing. Coming in 2013 are a set of albums curated by entertainment industry luminaries including game developers, music composers and other notable fans of the game. Also on the horizon in early 2013 is the introduction of more vehicles. The new vehicles will include new music styles and their physics will dramatically change the possibilities in the level creation process.
Sound Shapes overview: Equal parts instrument and game, Sound Shapes represents a unique take on the classic side-scrolling platformer in that a player’s actions actually make the music. Each album (a collection of levels) fuses music, artwork, and the classic 2D platformer mechanic. The campaign features artwork by Pixeljam, Capy, Superbrothers, among others, and music by I Am Robot and Proud, Beck, Jim Guthrie and deadmau5. In the Level Editor, players can use the same musical and visual samples from the Campaign and remix their own unique musical levels to share with the world. The result is an ever-changing and growing musical community to enjoy at home or on the go. Sound Shapes Shapes is rated “E” for Everyone and is available for the PS3 and PS Vita systems for one price – that is, buy one version for $14.99 and get the other automatically for free – with the ability for users to Cloud SyncTM their content between versions.