JOURNEY set to launch March 13th for PSN

No, not the band I'm afraid, but the game Journey, developed by the guys behind flOw and Flower. If you haven't heard of it yet then where have you been? Games like these come but once in a generation, or in pairs of three, as thatgamecompany has so kindly been able to gift us. 

It's a puzzle adventure told in the sands, driven by a subtle soundtrack and vast environments that seem to go on forever. And that title finally has a release date; March 13th (US) and March 14th (EU) both available on PSN, with an asking price of $15.

The team's creative director, Jenova Chen had these positive words on the project and its near completion, 

"As you may know from my recent tweet, the development of our latest PlayStation Network game, Journey, is finally complete. And today, we’re very excited to announce the official release date for Journey. You will be able to download it from the PlayStation Store for $14.99 starting March 13th, 2012.

Three years ago, our last game, Flower, was part of the Spring Fever event on PSN, and this year Journey will kick off this year’s Spring Fever. Look for more information on the highlight games and sales of this year’s Spring Fever event on the PlayStation.Blog in the coming weeks."

...so for us, the Journey in the game has also become a metaphor for the development process of the game itself. Our team is very close to our own mountaintop; we are just a few short weeks away from letting the world experience what we’ve poured our hearts and souls into these last three years. I can’t describe how eager we are to let everyone finally play the game and hear about your experiences with it."

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a beta build of the game at CES earlier this year in January, and all I can say is that the experience seems to build on the elements first made famous by ICO and Shadow of the Collosus, in which a narrative is told by the ambient music, strange environment, and your very own power of discovery.