Beatshapers has been a relatively strong supporter of the PlayStation platform, helping to port several titles over to the PS3, PSN and Vita. The company also has a healthy portfolio of games that it develops on its own, including its 20th PSN release Z-Run, which will be releasing in May for the PlayStation Vita.

Z-Run involves a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies out to get you. As an action runner game, you’ll have to stay on the move and utilize guns, swords and other melee weapons to effectively survive. Melee attacks will help keep you running and you can even slide to take down zombies. You’ll have to keep your stamina in mind though since running low on energy is the best way for the zombies to get you.

There will also be multiple routes to take as you decide the best way to navigate the teeming masses of the undead. Sound good to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

But will it be heading to other consoles? What exactly is the game like, given the sparsity of details at this stage? GamingBolt spoke to Beatshapers CEO Alexey Menshikov about the above and much, much more.

Rashid Sayed: Why is Ready to Run exclusive on the PlayStation 4 and not Xbox One?

Alexey Menshikov: Well, it’s timed exclusive and first platform. We are still talking about an Xbox One version as we are don’t have dev-kits yet. Hope to know more after GDC.

Rashid Sayed: We haven’t seen much of the game yet, when can we expect some more footage or details?

Alexey Menshikov: We are working hard on final render, we have the city geometry and all 15 cars already finished. I expect to reveal something in a month.

Rashid Sayed: Will the game run at 1080p/60 fps on PlayStation 4?

Alexey Menshikov: Currently it’s running at 1080 p60 but we might sacrifice some fps to have better visuals.

"We expect to have few async modes but the first thing will be to race against for top times on tracks and against your friends. Each track has its own scoreboard with 10 best times, you will able to pick one and race against it. In future, players will able to send each other challenges and race against each other."

Rashid Sayed: Can you please talk more about the single city environment that has endlesss track configurations, and how that will work?

Alexey Menshikov: So the race happens in the retro-futuristic city. This is like every city which has network of roads. For the race we simply lock all other roads except currently selected track. For the next race we unlock another road’s configuration and so on. We found that a good alternative is to have 10-15 separate tracks. Internal toolkit allows us to quickly modify and add more tracks, so currently we have 40+ various tracks.

Rashid Sayed: Will there be more than 15 cars after launch via DLC?

Alexey Menshikov: That’s planned, yes. Can’t say how many though.

Rashid Sayed: We know the game is targeted for second quarter of 2014, but can you give us a bit more info on the release date?

Alexey Menshikov: When it’s done!. We are working really hard on game.

Rashid Sayed: How do you like the PlayStation 4 and what do you think of the system having 8 GBs of GGDR5 RAM? Does this allow you to do more things with Ready to Run than you previously intended too?

Alexey Menshikov: We totally love it. Having huge amounts of RAM gave us opportunity to reduce load times. The game loads very fast. Also with this horsepower we have on PS4 we can have more physics effects, more cars on tracks.

Rashid Sayed: What kind of soundtrack can we expect for a game like Ready to Run?

Alexey Menshikov: That’s the question we are working on right now as we are currently exploring different styles but I’d stuck with old school techno in modern sounding. Something like Underworld meets Daft Punk.

Rashid Sayed: Can you please decribe how asynchronous multiplayer will work?

Alexey Menshikov: We expect to have few async modes but the first thing will be to race against for top times on tracks and against your friends. Each track has its own scoreboard with 10 best times, you will able to pick one and race against it. In future, players will able to send each other challenges and race against each other.

"We haven’t experienced any performance issues yet. Maybe when we finish our physically based rendering, we will have some issues but we ready to deal with them."

Rashid Sayed: Why did you decide to make a racing game for the PlayStation 4 and not something else?

Alexey Menshikov: There are 5 types of games that sell on consoles best: shooters, sports, RPG, racing and platformers. We are a small team and the choice was obvious. Plus there are not many RC cars games on the market. It started as a PSP game, than we ported it to PS Vita and then (mainly because of Motorstorm RC) moved to PS4. We also have 2 more PS4 games in production. You will hear from us soon.

Rashid Sayed: Do you have information on pricing?

Alexey Menshikov: Don’t know yet but it is not a AAA priced game.

Rashid Sayed: From a development perspective, what are your thoughts on the PlayStation 4’s GPU? How has it helped in the development of the game?

Alexey Menshikov: It’s very good to have platform with a lot of resources: we can have faster iterations (because of load time, fast memory access).

Rashid Sayed: How have you tackled the slower core speed of the PlayStation 4? Has it resulted into any development challenges while developing Ready To Run?

Alexey Menshikov: We haven’t experienced any performance issues yet. Maybe when we finish our physically based rendering, we will have some issues but we ready to deal with them. The wonderful BitSquid Tech is powerful on these matters and we are working with their engineers closely.

Ready To Run is an upcoming RC car racing game that is under development at the Ukraine based studio, Beatshapers. GamingBolt recently had a chance to chat with Alexey Menshikov who is the CEO of Beatshapers.

Ready To Run is a timed PlayStation 4 exclusive and even though it won’t be the most technically demanding game out there, there is no doubt that the console’s architecture has made life easier for Beatshapers. When asked what kind of development advantages does the super fast GDDR5 memory of the PS4 brings, he replied with the following:

“We totally love it. Having huge amounts of RAM gave us an opportunity to reduce load times – the game loads very fast. Also with this horsepower we have on PS4, we now have more physics effects, more cars on tracks,” he said.

We also asked him whether there are any plans to bring the game to Xbox One, he said: “Well, it’s a timed exclusive on the PS4. We are still talking with Microsoft for Xbox One as we don’t have devkits yet. We hope to know more after GDC.”

Ready To Run is expected to launch in Q2 2014. Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Housemarque and Beatshapers have announced that Furmis, the critically acclaimed physics based action puzzle will be coming to the PlayStation Vita in October 2013. Players will attempt to guide the titular animal, Furmins, across complexly designed levels by means of rearranging certain elements of the map and utilizing timing and precision movements by interacting with field objects such as bumpers.

Here are some of the game’s key features:

• Unique physics based game play
• Multiple ways to complete each level
• 108 levels and 9 distinct worlds
• HD graphics
• Both touch and non-touch screen controls
• Global scoreboard
• 12 Unlockable PSN trophies

“We are really excited to work with such an acclaimed developers like Housemarque team and have Furmins in our PSN publishing portfolio.” said Alexey Menshikov, Beatshapers’ CEO. “We know each other many years and now both of teams brings its best to release this awesome game to PlayStation Vita“

“As a challenging physics puzzle game” said Ilari Kuittinen, Housemarque’s CEO. ”Furmins” is the obvious choice for demanding fan of the genre owning a PS Vita“

About the game:

Game Overview:

Supporting the action is a robust Stash system, where everyone can track their progress, upgrade their gear and buy new gadgets for Barry. Grab one of many jetpacks including the classic Machine Gun or the colorful Rainbow Jetpack, suit up in a vast wardrobe of unique costumes and make sure Barry’s best friend Flash comes along for the ride

Publisher: Sony

Developer: Beatshapers

Platforms: PS3

Release Date: Already released.

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

Playing as a down on his lucky gramophone salesman, who discovers a secret lab with insane technologies, you essentially commandeer a jetpack and go wild, hopping and bopping through an accessible and highly entertaining adventure.

Alexey Menshikov, CEO of Beatshapers Limited stated,“We at Beatshapers are very exicited to work with Halfbrick Studios, license and publish such a big mobile IP like Jetpack Joyride. We hope the PlayStation® users will enjoy the game.”

You can look out for Jetpack Joyride to be available for €3.99 in European PSN stores, and for just $3.99 in the North American PSN stores. Check out the trailer below and see if the gameplay pleases you enough to channel those Rocketeer fantasies.

About BreakQuest: Extra Evolution:

Game Overview:

BreakQuest is back and is twice the fun! Stunning visuals and shapes, energizing physics and exciting sounds! Enjoy 100 сcompletely redesigned action-packed levels, each featuring own colorful design, elements behavior and visual effects.

Publisher: Beatshapers

Developer: Beatshapers

Platforms: PS3, PSP and PSV

Release Date: Already Released

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution is a complete throw back to classic games like Arkanoid, which I spent hundreds of hours playing both in the arcades and at home. With those games well carved into my past gaming experience, it was a no brainer on figuring out how to play BreakQuest. You simply shoot the ball into the play field and keep the ball from getting past you.

As with Arkanoid, there’s no need for a huge back story or plot to this game. Just pick up the controller and start plugging away at each level. In essence each level is like a puzzle. In some levels you need to hit certain objects first, such as power reactors, in order to turn on the main reactor. Once the main reactor is on, you can then knock it out of the field.

With over 100 levels, you certainly get your money’s worth. With each level being completely unique, there’s no real sense of grinding or repetition in game play either. Each level is broken down to ten each, with a boss battle at the end. The boss battles are hard and certainly rewarding when completing, but I found that if you lose the boss battle, you have to start back a level instead of jumping right back into the boss battle.

Much like Arkanoid, you get power ups along the way. Some power ups are helpful, while others can be hindrances, so you need to be careful which ones you choose. You also have a wall defense below you and once you figure out how to use it, it becomes a huge tool.

With Breakout: Extra Evolutions being released through Playstation store as a Mini, you can either play Breakout at home on the PS3, or you can take it with you on the go with the PSP or PS Vita. With clean solid colors, reminiscent of Loco Rocco, this game looks good on any console.

Although the physics of Breakout clearly rival that of older games like Arkanoid, I found at times that the physics would simply break. If you get your ship to the ball a little too late, it could cause a glitch where the ball breaks through your shield and can get stuck inside your ship. Whenever you break physics, a game wigs out, and in the case the ball will immediately shoot out in a random direction. If it shoots back into the field all is good, but if it shoots past you, it could mean certain doom if your defensive wall is not up, or in some cases it can bounce off the defensive wall and then bounce back to the ship. This causes a dribble effect and eventually the ball will shoot past the broken wall and you lose.

Even though the graphics are clean and vibrant, it’s very hard to tell what you need to hit until you’ve hit it. This makes starting each level very confusing. It’s hard to tell if you’re about to shoot the ball into an open space, or a block half and inch from the ship. There are also some blocks with physics that change up game play, however if the physics wigs out, again you’ll have no chance for recovery.

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution is one of those games that is fun to play without having to worry about story, plot, leveling up, or any other nuisance when you want to just get into a game and turn your brain off. The puzzles are challenging, although sometimes the challenge comes unexpectedly from bad physics or blocks that blend into the field. This game feels like it’s built so you can jump on a bus, or subway, pop out the PSP/PS Vita and hit a few levels before your stop, although it might be too much fun, and you might miss your stop. The graphics are solid enough that it looks good on a big screen too, and if you don’t want to sit next to strangers and play this, PS3’s got you covered.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution is a remake of BreakQuest which was released in 2004, and contains a lot of new levels and other innovations. It is also quite a competent game too. The studio that remade the game called Beatshapers have a lot of games in the pipeline for the Vita and PSP, and we talked to the founder Alexey Menshikov, about the challenges they encountered and also about the future.

It’s a physics based game, features 100 new levels, and a lot of boss fights. The game’s on the PS Vita, PS3 and PSP.

Questions by Kartik Mudgal.

Why did you guys think about remaking BreakQuest? I understand it’s much more polished than the previous game, but remaking minis are definitely not something most developers do. Tell us what made you guys think about this?

It was quite a random decision that started with ideas of quick refresh levels and artwork which later grew to the total conversion of whole game. So BreakQuest: Extra Evolution is totally new game based on original BreakQuest idea. We’ve reused the most successful and fun elements from original game but re-wrote the game completely. I can only imagine, how Felix Casablancas from Nurium Games, an original BreakQuest author created the game in 2004. At that time, it was one of the first physics interaction titles.

It’s on the PS Vita as well, and as you know, Sony has said that it’s extremely easier to develop for. Did you guys find it challenging to develop for it?

The development process actually happens on PSP devkits, the minis are using same package to play on PS Vita and plays through emulator. But from our StarDrone Extreme PS Vita launch title development experiences and other games we are developing right now – yes it’s easier to develop than even on iOS. The difference is there is a certain knowledge threshold to engineer qualification applied but it is easy to develop for sure. PS Vita is amazing device, very powerful and solid, it’s a pity that other developers are not jumping the wagon.

Let’s talk a bit about the remaster quality. Has the graphics been significantly improved? What other technical improvements does this version feature?

In the beginning, our designer, Alexander, told me that it’s not possible to make a new set of artwork (as I wanted to keep the old school look ), it is easier and definitely better to make everything from the scratch. We spend some time solving technical issues trying to fit all 100 levels to the minis format, its took some time on R&D process – as result, every background is unique and created from constructor, all 100 levels squeezed to the 2Mb (compare to 100 x 480x272x32bit = 52mb of raw data). We also optimized the physics and particle system – unfortunately PSP is quite old hardware – physics requires faster CPU, more than 222 Hz (another minis limitation), but we got 30fps in 90% of levels action.

Tell us something about the new content in Breakquest: Extra Evolution?

What makes BreakQuest Evolution is is definitely the 100 new levels – each has unique art, sound and game mechanics. Than we have 10 boss levels – each is a unique kind of mini-game, which requires strategy and skills to defeat. Bosses attacks players with weapon which freezes, reverses control, removes bumper for a short amount of time. Player receives award and new shuttles will activate power ups – each boss have their own shuttle, so we recommend starting play the game from different lines. Bonus shuttles really help on various levels.

Talk us through the gameplay mechanics as well. It will be helpful for people who haven’t played the previous game.

BreakQuest Extra Evolution is a unique block breaking game. Each of the 100 levels as I mentioned, has different game mechanics – one level contains handing bricks on ropes, another bricks are floating in the space, some levels have bricks moving. I’m calling them “bricks”, but they are rather elements, sometimes it is not an easy to understand which elements to smash but players will be able to figure it out quickly. This is what inspired me when I saw the original game and we developed it to the new Extra Evolution game.

Another game mechanics improvement is the Energy Shield. The PSP screen is quite wide and we have learned lessons from the previous game, so made this always working shield mechanics. So one ball launched, players see the charging lines coming from left/right sides – this is charging process. Player may activate Energy Shield any moment and shield can survive 2 ball bounces – this is complicated with active multiball bonus but in other cases works perfectly – player has to master this, the only thing to defeat bosses, especially when shuttle damaged by boss weapon.

PS Mini’s doesn’t feature trophies unfortunately, do you guys think for smaller games such as these not having trophies reduce the sales potential?

Yes, we believe this have a major affect on this type of games, also any kind of global scoreboards affects replayability. I’ve followed many of forums and blogs posts, many people requests for trophies. I totally understand why it’s been made from the Sony but its seems players demands more nowadays.

The game costs $3.99, which is a fantastic value when you take into account it contains 100 remastered levels, what other things are there in the game that makes this worth the money for people on the fence.

Its not really only remastered levels – most of them are brand new, than 10 bosses which are quite challenging, new sound track, unique Energy Shield mechanics, 21 integrated awards, a nightmare complexity secret level  – this gives new experience to players and makes BreakQuest Extra Evolution unique.

What other games are in the pipeline right now at Beatshapers? Can we see some unique new title for the PS Vita?

Yes, we have more games coming. Two Minis: Carnivores SKU and secret_title, than one work-for-hire PS3 went to tests and ETA early next year but its publisher and we working on 2 titles: PS Vita exclusive game and PS3/PSVita/PS4 title (not sure about all platforms same day but we aiming next-gen).

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution comes out on the PS Vita, PSP and PS3 today, and we interviewed Alexey Menshikov, CEO and founder of Beatshapers, and asked him how it was developing for the Vita and whether trophies are something that people actually demand for Minis.

“The development process actually happens on PSP devkits, the minis are using the same package to play on PS Vita and plays through an emulator,” he revealed. “But from our Star Drone Extreme PS Vita launch title development experience and other games we are developing right now – yes it’s easier to develop on Vita than even on iOS.

“The difference is, there is a certain knowledge threshold required to qualify, but it is easy to develop for sure. PS Vita is amazing device, very powerful and solid, it’s a pity that other developers are not jumping on the wagon.”.

The game costs $3.99 on PSN and considering Minis do not support trophies, even a low price sometimes is not enough to make the game attractive for people.

“Yes, we believe this has a major affect on these type of games, also any kind of global scoreboards affects replayability,” he said. “I’ve followed many forums and blogs posts, many people request for trophies. I totally understand why it’s been made by Sony, but its seems players demand more nowadays.”

Stay tuned for the full interview soon. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.