Video Game Vintage Title: Ape Escape

Ape Escape

PlayStation Move Ape Escape, simply titled Ape Escape in Europe and known in Asian countries as Ape Escape On The Move, is a 2010 rail shooter and party video game developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 video game console. The game was originally announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2009 as one of the title supporting the PlayStation Move controller. The title was released on December 9, 2010 in Japan, an English version of the game has since been released in Asia on January 31, 2011 with a European release in June 22, 2011 and a North American release announced for summer 2011.

Unlike other games in the Ape Escape series, the game is an on-rails shooting game rather than a platformer. Players view the game from a first-person perspective with the motion controller acting as a gadget on-screen which include a floating net, a slingshot and a harisen. Players cycle through their arsenal using the Move button while either pressing the trigger button or performing gestures to utilize the gadget. For example, players swing the net to catch monkeys, press the trigger button to fire slingshots and wave the controller to use the fan.

Players traverse from area to area via an on-rails method. Each area is filled with monkeys and players must ultimately catch all of them using the net. Each gadget is used for a different purpose: slingshots are used to annoy monkeys, destroy objects, and shoot banana power-ups, while the fan is used to blow away debris. To shift the camera players press either the "X" or "O" buttons to turn left or right respectively.

Development
On September 24, 2009, at the Tokyo Game Show, an Ape Escape game for the PlayStation 3 (named "Ape Escape" working title) was confirmed as a PlayStation Move title. Ape Club, the official website for the Ape Escape series in Europe, announced that the game would be released within the second to fourth quarter of 2010. They also stated that if players liked the Ape Escape game, Pipo Saru 2001, that you would also love this game.

On May 14, 2010 the first official images of the game were finally released which included a working logo for the game as well as a promotional image for the game. They were part of a total of three clues given out to the public on that day with the other two being "Has something that no other Ape Escape games have" and "It's a keeper."

On July 5, 2010 a trailer for PlayStation Move was released. It displayed a one second clip of the game, which involved the player catching monkeys with a net, using the move controller, in first-person view. Another image was released by Ape Club, not seen in the trailer on July 9. It contained a picture of the "Gadget Widget", displaying the gadgets, and a new addition showing batteries. A full trailer for the game was finally released by Ape Club on September 3, 2010, which is shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2010 on September 16, 2010.

On January 31, 2011 an English version of the game was released in Asian countries like Singapore along with a PlayStation Move bundle, it was released under the name Ape Escape On The Move. On March 10, 2011 the US PlayStation Blog announced that PlayStation Move Ape Escape would be coming to the US PlayStation Store during the Summer.