PROTOTYPE; Q&A reveals side-missions, devastation

PROTOTYPE is a forthcoming title where you play as Alex Mercer - a genetically mutated shape-shifter with no memory of his past - who travels through New York trying to regain his memory and find out what has happened to him.

The citizens of NY have been mutated with a virus, and the military have been sent in to deal with the situation. A true 'sandbox' game, Alex must fight both of these opposing factions in his quest for the truth.

We managed to get some time to ask Tim Bennison, Executive Producer at Radical Entertainment, to fill us in on some of the unique game elements in PROTOTYPE.

[PS3A] With PROTOTYPE being a 'sandbox' game, will you have lots of extra little side-missions and tasks you can choose to complete, or ignore, such as have been seen in other games of this type?

[TB] PROTOTYPE will deliver a wide spectrum of gameplay experiences throughout the story/missions. Because Alex Mercer can use his shape-shifting powers at any moment, players will be able to choose how they wish to complete a mission. There are also side missions we call the Web of Intrigue that accompany the key storyline missions, though we’ll be releasing more info on these in the future.

[PS3A] We've heard a little bit about the 'disguise or destroy' concept in this game. What do you mean by that and how does it work?

[TB] Alex can use his shape-shifting powers at any moment throughout the game, so the concept of 'Deceive or Destroy' is absolutely essential to our design process for each mission. Essentially players get to mix-n-match how to play a mission by deciding whether to unleash hell via Alex’s ability to turn his body into deadly weapons, or try and use deception and shape-shift into a civilian or military form and sneak into a scenario.

[PS3A] Just how flexible are Alex's superhuman capabilities? What can gamers expect to see in terms of abilities?

[TB] At any point, in any mission in PROTOTYPE, we want players to feel completely free when engaging enemies and situations. Alex Mercer can shape-shift his body into many different deadly weapons. He has offensive abilities like the claws, blade arm and whipfist; defensive abilities like the shield and armored skin, and some sensory abilities that allow him to see things the normal human eye can’t. And then there’s the part where Alex can consume and become anyone in NY, where he gains their knowledge, appearance, memories and abilities instantly.

The attack and defensive shape-shifting abilities add layers of choice to players. And we’ve really beefed up the concept of traditional power progression. The goal is to make players feel extremely powerful from the start of the game, whilst correctly balancing the enemy threat so that you’re always on edge. The devastation that any one of these powers can cause is pretty spectacular, this is not a Tekken-like one-on-one fight, this is one man taking out 20 elite soldiers with a single killer move.

We have quite a few other powers up our sleeve that haven’t been mentioned yet. We have an array of sensory powers for example, that make the PROTOTYPE a hunter on the par of the Earth’s most dangerous predators.

[PS3A] As well as Alex's abilities, what weapons, vehicles and other items can we expect to see available for use in the game?

[TB] One of our favorite internal memes is that we want Alex to kick butt in a hundred different ways that no one has ever seen before. Alex has the ability to consume and become anyone in New York City, plus Alex can shape-shift his arms into lethal blades, whip fists, ground spikes and claws among others. Some of the defense powers will include forming large arm-shields and a powered, armored form that lets Alex literally smash through vans and large vehicles unhindered.

If that wasn’t enough, we know gamers want to be able to run-n-gun, so yes, I’m glad to say that we’re also offering the use of traditional weapons in PROTOTYPE. We’re really trying to show off what we feel is next-gen gameplay and next-gen ‘choice’ of gameplay. It's pretty fun just ripping a missile-launcher out of a Blackwatch soldier's arms and taking down their own Apache gunships with it.

[PS3A] Back in December you showed a build that was around 20% complete, according to some reports. How far down the line are you now, and when can we expect to see the game released?

[TB] PROTOTYPE is looking better by the day. Our goal is to create a different kind of open-world/action experience. We’re going to polish it and release it when it’s ready in 2009.

[PS3A] How long did it take to create New York City in PROTOTYPE, and to what lengths did you go to to make it accurate?

[TB] One of our guiding principles in making PROTOTYPE is that everything should revolve around the concept of ‘reality plus one fantastic element’.

Having a very topical, believable environment lets us make the fantastic action become so much more stunning because you can contrast it against something you understand and recognise. We took 22,000 photographs of New York City and many hours of 7.1 surround sound-compatible recordings, so the first point to make is we're really keen to do New York City 'right'. Previous games have shown New York City and when you enter their version of Time Square, it has no more than 20 people walking around. That’s definitely NOT New York and so we're really happy with the sheer density, intensity and bustling nature of our game world.

We're talking hundreds of cars, thousands of pedestrians – so when things start to explode you really get the impression the world is caving in around you. Importantly though, we're not trying to recreate a slavish replica of NYC like you might find on Google maps. If you're going to include say, an alleyway, then you'd better have something fun to do in that alleyway. Hence we're going for a slightly modified vision of the city that builds in more action-per-square-foot than all of our previous efforts.

[PS3A]What is the best thing about being a game developer in Vancouver?

[TB] There are dozens of game development companies here so the pool of talent is very deep. We live in a great city, and it’s easy to find a lot of great things to do. But we ignore all that stuff until after we ship our game, of course.

Our thanks to Tim and the team at Radical for sparing us the time. Keep checking back for more on PROTOTYPE as the year progresses.

Haze Week; interview with Rob Yescombe and Derek Littlewood

Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Rob Yescombe and Derek Littlewood of Free Radical about Haze. Well, it wasn't going to be about anything else, was it?!

During our 15 minutes with the dynamic duo we found out a lot more about the game. We discovered Rob has an uneasy obsession with his crotch-area, and he can do a Rebel Sidekick like.no.other. We hope Rob likes the size of our 'censored' sticker... Finally, we saw what happens when someone interrupts an interview with Rob and Derek!

Check back later this week for our 'gag reel', which includes some possibly NSFW chat about monkeys and dogs!

Our Haze Competition is now live - go win yourself a signed copy of the game and more...

D+PAD Editor speaks - PS3 flak, Italian food and Wii worries

We managed to get some time between issues to quiz David Scammell, Editor-in-Chief at D+PAD magazine, on all things gaming.

For those of you that don't know, D+PAD is a PDF-based web magazine that is frankly so well put together it makes us feel mildly envious. This month's edition alone had a great review of GTA: IV and some exclusive Motorstorm: Pacific Rift screens that made us sit up and take notice.

Here's the interview in full:

[PS3A] What is your background and why did you start D+PAD magazine?

[DS] Video games have always been one of my greatest passions, and as a kid growing up in the late 80s/90s when gaming really started to take off in the mainstream, it was hard to avoid them.

Back in the day when the internet wasn’t readily available, I remember picking up heaps of gaming magazines at a time to get my fix, and I was even an avid reader of ‘Sonic The Comic’ if anyone out there can remember that!

As a result I always wanted to be a part of the gaming press and found myself writing for a few websites before wanting something I could call my own. I thought about starting my own fansite (albeit with an added twist) but felt the market was saturated and that it would struggle to gain a decent following.

With the industry leaning towards digital distribution, the idea of D+PAD came along with the plan to give consumers a free digital publication with high quality content and a design comparable to that of equivalent print magazines.

[PS3A] How long does it take to put together each edition?

[DS] D+PAD’s a monthly publication so we generally turnaround the magazine from start to finish within four to five weeks. However, with D+PAD being digital we can be a lot more flexible with dates than print magazines could ever be.

So, if postponing the publishing date for a few days allows us to fit in a review of the next big title, we’re able to do so. An example of this would be way back in Issue 3. We were just about to hit the upload button when review code for Call of Duty 4 landed on our desk.

Delaying the issue by a few days allowed us to provide one of the world’s first reviews of the multi-million selling title.

[PS3A] What does a PDF-based magazine offer that you can't find at the newsagent?

[DS] Well, not only is D+PAD completely free and available without having to trek down to your local newsagent, being PDF-based allows us to experiment with other ways to deliver content to our readers.

We’ve introduced video streaming into the latest issue of D+PAD so our readers can check out gameplay footage and trailers on the same page as reading the review.

There are also some other exciting features that we’re currently working on implementing into future issues...

[PS3A] When you're not putting D+PAD together, what do you enjoy doing instead?

[DS] I’d be lying if I said I didn’t play a lot of videogames, but there’s plenty more I get up to besides. I’ve recently put a lot of time into GTA IV in a desperate attempt to gain membership to Rockstar’s 100% Club. And with that 19th May date looming there’s not that long left to achieve it!

But of course, with summer approaching, I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time out in the sun with my fantastic girlfriend and our little puppy dog.

[PS3A] Where do you stand on the 'console wars' debate?

[DS] It’s a very touchy subject and admittedly not one that I like to get myself involved in all that often. I’ve never considered myself to be a fanboy of any sorts, and as editor of a multi-format magazine it’s crucial to remain open-minded.

With that said, I think the PS3 took a lot of unnecessary flak early on and I believe we’re really going to see it come into its own later this year with the exciting 08/09 lineup. I recently had the chance to play Killzone 2 at PlayStation Day which has the potential to blow every other FPS out the water should it all come together for February.

Having said that, the Xbox 360 has proven to be a fantastic console with some great exclusive titles, and in my opinion at least, it still houses a superior online experience – even if it does come at a cost.

Wii, as much as I love the little white box, bothers me slightly. It’s home to a few classic titles, but I’m concerned that targeting casuals as much as it has done and being host to some truly awful, yet worryingly popular, ‘casual’ games may harm the industry in the long run.

It’s great that a wider audience is being introduced to gaming, as long as it doesn’t harm the hardcore that the industry has grown on.

But with all that said and done, I always had a huge fondness for the SEGA consoles and was shocked when they pulled out of the console race. Hopefully one day they’ll be back...

[PS3A] What's the best place to eat at in St. Albans?

[DS] There are so many great places to eat in St. Albans it’s unreal! One of my favourite places though has to be Sazio, a lovely little Italian restaurant that offers an all you can eat lunchtime menu. More than enough to fire you up for a productive afternoon back at the office!

[PS3A] We can vouch for that - we've been there and the food is excellent! Bonus question: Was it really necessary to point those things at us on pages 21 and 22 of Issue 7?

[DS] This is going to sound like a horrendous generalisation on my part, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about the majority of gamers it’s that they love their female leads dressed in revealing outfits. And with assets like that, it would be rude not to.

You can get the latest edition of D+PAD at their website, and add yourself to their subscription list to be notified when the next edition is available.

Our thanks to David and please keep up the good work - D+PAD is truly a great read every month.

Holy Baterangs! Interview with Jonathan Smith reveals more Lego Batman details...

PS3 Attitude got a chance to talk with Jonathan Smith of TT Games today about their Lego titles and, specifically, Lego Batman.

Before getting into the interview, here's what we already know about Lego Batman and TT Games.

Recently acknowledged as the leading UK developer in the Develop 100 report, TT Games was acquired last year by Warner Bros Interactive, a result we guess of their relationship with movie licences and tie-ins. They are certainly one of the most respected names in the UK development community and have two big Lego titles coming out this year; Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Lego Batman.

Lego Batman is based on an original story where all the lunatics have taken over Arkham Asylum and succeeded in escaping. It's your job to round them up, of course. The campaign to re-capture the likes of Catwoman, the Penguin, the Joker, Killer Croc, Scarecrow and others takes you across 18 Lego infested levels. But that is literally only half the story.

As you play through the 'hero' levels, you'll unlock another 18 levels where you play the game from the villain's point-of-view.

The success of the gameplay in the previous Lego titles is mirrored in Lego Batman with grappling hooks that are similar to those in Star Wars II, the chance to build new items out of Lego pieces and the usual mix of action and puzzle solving. However, in Lego Batman the emphasis will change somewhat - let's find out more from Jonathan Smith:

[PS3A] This is the first time you've developed a title outside of the Lucas arena...

[JS] I suppose it is. We just think of it as a natural progression of our work on Lego games. Obviously, the Lego company has been making play materials for a long time for a wide range of different properties including loads of characters from TV series and movies over the years. So we don't see it as a radical departure for us.

[PS3A] What has been different about working with the PS3 over the years?

[JS] Traveller's Tales (the developers) are experts in working with the PlayStation 3. Obviously they were strong on all Sony platforms from PlayStation 1 through to the PS2 and PSP. They have a lot of expertise in those areas that they've brought to the PS3 when they first starting developing for it a few years ago. With Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Lego Indiana Jones on the PS3, and with other PlayStation 3 titles already in development, it is really a platform that everyone is extremely comfortable with and enjoys working on.

[PS3A] What is your approach to producing multi-platform titles?

[JS] Traveller's Tales has been brought up over the last 17 years or so as a specialist in multi-platform development and right from the start their culture and technology has been built up around that. They have proven over the years to be extremely effective and being able to share assets, models, animations, sounds and elements of design between platforms with a common engine at heart but with different modules that allow the advantages of each platform to come to the fore. It is a technology and approach that has served them in good stead over the years.

[PS3A] Batman is an interesting choice because of the different incarnations of the character. There's the mildly camp TV series, the sometimes grittier films, the animated series, the original comic books and the graphic novels. As far as Lego Batman is concerned, which style of Batman are we going to see?

[JS] Lego Batman is really both its own version of Batman, and all the other versions of Batman as well. It is a sort of distillation of many of the common elements that have appeared in the different in carnations over the decades. Elements of it will seem familiar from the comic books in particular but also from your memory of the different things that Batman and the other Gotham City characters have got up to or meant to you across all the other versions. But the game does have its own distinct look in terms of style, the colours we use, vehicles and costumes. They're unique, but I suppose it is best to say they are compatible; compatible with all the other different versions of Batman.

[PS3A] With previous Lego titles there are areas that you can't access until you have played the game through. Once completed, you can access other areas when playing as 'the bad guys'. Is this feature in Lego Batman?

[JS] You're right, but we're taking it to a whole new level. You're right to say that in our previous games we've had the concept of 'story mode' and 'free play', and in 'free play' you can go back and access areas with all the characters you've unlocked, including the bad guys. We still have that, but what we have done that takes this to a new level is 'villain mode'. In 'villain mode' you won't just be able to go back and look at new levels, we're creating an entirely new and separate campaign that tells the whole story of the game from the villain's point-of-view.

[PS3A] Is 'villain mode' unlocked when you finish the hero campaign?

[JS] No - it is actually unlocked as you progress through the game.

[PS3A] What new game mechanics can we expect from your Lego Batman title?

[JS] In Lego Batman it is all about the gadgets and technology that Batman has researched, or have been researched for him. We have the concept of different suits he and Robin can wear that give unique and distinct abilities in order to progress through a level.

[PS3A] I guess that's why Robin is wearing scuba gear in the trailer!

[JS] Exactly, Robin's scuba suit is one of them and both characters have a range of very cool suits that give them special abilities.

[PS3A] What else is new to the series?

[JS] On top of that, people that play the Lego series of games will find plenty of other fundamentally new approaches to the gameplay that suit the action of Batman including a greater emphasis on cool hand-to-hand combat and fighting. In terms of weapons, whereas in Indy we have lots of different firearms, Batman is not a character that needs to use guns to deal with the bad guys, so as well as the cool hand-to-hand combat he has baterangs as well.

[PS3A] How do they work?

[JS] Baterangs work in a very cool way in Lego Batman that you won't have seen in the series before where you can manually target a sequence of different objects with a baterang, then send it off and destroy a group of objects and enemies from a distance.

[PS3A] On the PS3, will that be controlled using the SixAxis or with the analogue sticks?

[JS] The targeting system is stick-based.

[PS3A] You don't have to comment, but that's probably a good move! So what's next for you and the Lego series?

[JS] I'm going to have to be coy about specifics, but the thing about Lego is it can become anyone and do anything. So it's just down to your imagination really. We spend a good deal of time imagining cool directions for the series and all I can say is that we're sure fans won't be disappointed with what comes next. Traveller's Tales are working on another game that will be out this year, and we're very excited about our Guinness Game of World Records. Based on the famous Book of World Records, the idea is that all the most amazing feats of human achievement you've previously read about you can now undertake yourself - in a game, with your friends, you can break those records and become a real record breaker.

PS3 Attitude would like to thank Jonathan Smith for his time and we look forward to catching up with him in person later this year at GameCity 3. Check back soon for more Lego Batman details, and watch the trailer below for some sneak preview action.

Lego Batman is currently planned for release in September this year. Lego Indy is being released on the 6th June, which you can pre-order now.

Play.com Live 08; Exclusive Far Cry 2 developer interview

Direct from Play.com Live 08, we just spent 12 minutes or so with Patrick Redding and Louis-Pierre Pharand about their forthcoming FPS title, Far Cry 2.

The few details we know from the demonstration at Play.com Live leave us wanting more. Watch our two-part interview to discover more about the features that really make this FPS shine out above the competition.





Our thanks to Patrick and L-P for their time, and we look forward to finding out more about this intriguing survivalist-shooter in the near future.

Insomniac explain more about their recruitment video

Our friends over at PS3 Fanboy scored an interview with Ryan Schneider of Insomniac (not to be confused with Rob Schneider of 'Saturday Night Live' fame). Ryan explains a little more about the 'wacky' music video they debuted at GDC 08 this year.

Hop on over to PS3 Fanboy for the full interview and a link to the original video (in case you hadn't seen it already).

10 Questions with Qube on 'Q'

Qube Software recently announced a new middleware offering for all current platforms including the PS3.

The product, simply named 'Q', is being officially launched at GDC this month. Founded by Servan Keondjian and Doug Rabson, the software pioneers who between them created Reality Lab and Direct3D, and based in West Hampstead (London), Qube has designed and built Q to provide a consistent software framework for development studios.

"We've designed and built Q so it rocks on the current generation of platforms; the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and hi-spec gaming PCs. It positions us well for next generation mobile devices and it’s both fast and compact enough so that last generation devices can handle it. It’s a solution that works for every genre; RPG, MMO, FPS, racing, sports, action and even the latest stars like rhythm action games.” - Servan Keondjian, Managing Director

We caught a few moments with Qube Software's Program Manager, Jamie Fowlston, and asked him 10 questions on 'Q':

[PS3A] What does 'Q' bring to the PS3 development community?

[JF] Q brings a number of high-end technical features to the PS3, including background data streaming for huge seamless worlds, a texture manager that allows scenes to have gigabytes of visible texture and a novel n-dimensional animation blending system.

But Q's real innovation is its extensibility, the extent and ease with which it can be customised and specialised by developers.

Extensibility may be much less glamorous than a shiny graphics feature, but it is vastly more important to the process of creating a game. Q has been designed and built to let developers in at every level so they can make the PS3 hardware sing.

[PS3A] Why is it different to other middleware offerings?

[JF] The real problem for middleware has always been the difficulty of customising it.

Existing middleware typically comes in two flavours: game engines and low-level renderers. Game engines give you a naked game and the tools to clothe it; if the game you're building is similar to the original, it'll work great.

But if a developer wants to do something differently, it takes a huge investment in understanding and re-engineering the original game. For low-level renderers, there's lots of work to be done on top of the renderer to complete the game.

Q is a totally different beast.

Q provides high-level features and tools like a game engine, but it is built from small, modular components. Developers can pick and choose the standard components they like, add their own when necessary and even bring in pieces from other developers. We don't know of any other middleware that gives developers such freedom to mix and match the pieces they need.

[PS3A] What challenges did you face in bringing your platform to the PS3, and how was it different to other platforms?

[JF] We actually found the PS3 pretty easy to work with. I don't recall any major challenges. It took us about a month to get everything up and running.

We brought Q up on a PS2 first to make sure it was small and fast so when we ported to PS3 everything went like a rocket. We had some minor performance issues running expensive shaders on early dev kits, but that's ancient history now.

The Cell is obviously quite different to anything on other platforms, but that's just given us the opportunity to offload various tasks onto the SPUs, which is nice.

[PS3A] Which titles are already in development using 'Q' and are any of the PS3-based?

[JF] I'm afraid we can't say anything about the games in development using Q at the moment as they belong to our customers, not us. But I can say that Q's PS3 capability has played an important part in the decision making process for a number of developers.

[PS3A] After seeing the videos of 'EarthSim 2' my immediate reaction was two words - David Braben! What would it take to bring a next-generation 'Elite' sequel to life using 'Q'?

[JF] Earthsim 2 adds a number of custom plug-ins to Q to bring its planets to life, using dynamic tessellation and procedural detail techniques. To build something like Elite on top of that base wouldn't be hard - the technology's been done, the rest is gameplay!

[PS3A] How well will 'Q' work alongside other exciting middleware offerings, such as the Havok 'ragdoll' physics engine or the forthcoming HydroEngine that allows developers to 'flood' levels with realistic water?

[JF] We haven't worked with those specific middleware offerings, but from our point of view integrating another middleware component is just like a developer adding their own components: it's what Q was designed for.

[PS3A] How many people are there in your team now?

[JF] There are 7 of us working on bringing Q to market right now. There are another 3 engineers on the Earthsim 2 team who make sure what we do is useful.

[PS3A] What's the most amazing part of your life?

[JF] Finding out that BAFTA awards bend when knocked off a table.

[PS3A] Where is the best place to eat in West Hampstead?

[JF] The Banana Tree Canteen: the chicken laksa noodle soup is a marvel.

[PS3A] What does the future hold for Qube and what's at stake if you don't reach your goals?

[JF] We're currently working on Q and Earthsim, we think both projects are now ready to take on the world, so we're working hard to make them successful. If we don't reach those goals, we'll have to see what happens; we're not planning for it!

We'll wait to see what Q has to offer when it is fully launched at GDC. In the meantime, take a look below at the three-part Earthsim 2 run-through.

Many thanks to Jamie and Qube Software for sparing us their time - PS3 Attitude will watch what happens next closely.

The PS3 Attitude Interview; LocoRoco Cocoreccho's World No. 1

We have a love/hate relationship with LocoRoco Cocoreccho here at PS3 Attitude. We love the LocoRoco franchise and have spent many an hour smiling happily away at the PSP original. You just can't help yourself! It's certainly a great way to de-stress. In fact, if you gave everyone in the world a PSP and a copy of LocoRoco, you could probably deliver world peace!

But we've not always been that complimentary about the follow up on the PS3. When SCEE told us it was an 'interactive screensaver', we winced. Screensaver or not, it turns out there's a reasonable amount of gameplay in a title that cost only £1.99, and there are world leaderboards to boot.

Not only is 'bunnyho' the world's number one at LocoRoco Cocoreccho, he happens to be from the UK as well - which makes us even happier at PS3 Attitude!

Recently, we spent a few moments with bunnyho finding out what it takes to be the leader.

PS3A: Thanks for spending time talking with us. What first drew you to LocoRoco Cocoreccho?

BH: I usually check the PlayStation Store every day. I saw the trailer via the store a week or two before the game was available and that was enough to convince me to downloaded it when the game came out. I'll be honest, I downloaded it at first glance with no hestitation simply because its LocoRoco!

PS3A: And what is your current high score?

BH: I am at 1,303,060 at the moment.

PS3A: LocoRoco Cocoreccho is a game that involves a number of different mechanics. We don't need to 'tip the land' anymore, but there is a lot of shaking the SixAxis in order to uncover all the LocoRocos and Mui-Muis. What tips and tricks can you offer to other players who want to score big?

BH: The answer to the bigger scores is to spend more time on the mini-games, especially the first and third ones. Interestingly, you can let the LocoRocos do pretty much whatever they want to do. You don't have to keep them all in one place - they're perfectly safe doing their own thing! In the first instance you need to find enough of them to unlock all the different areas so you can get to the third mini-game.

PS3A: What's so special about the third mini-game; the one with the big owl?

BH: It is where you can build up some massives scores. The tactic is simple. Try to coax the bigger LocoRocos in to the mini-game and then lose most of them straight away, leaving just three or four of the larger LocoRocos on his wings. Then, just learn the pattern of eye movements and stay on the wings. And don't get too close to the edge. It's tempting to go for the high scoring 'flashing bee' that comes close to the owl's wingtips, but it's too high risk. You just need to stay on for long enough. I cant stress enough you need A LOT of spare time to get a good high score - a minimum of at least 4-5 hours! I only stopped at 999,990 for this mini-game because I was worried what would happen if I reached a million - there didn't seem to be enough space on the screen for seven figures!

PS3A: Did you find it natural or does it take a lot of practise to be number one?

BH: I'll say that it came naturally, since the day it came out I never left the top 10. The first day alone I was in fourth place, and day-by-day I was moving up and down off the number one slot until the day I got THAT high score. I wouldnt say that practice is needed but mainly time and patience and a good memory of where everything is and when you should perform certain tasks. I always knew in myself I could beat any of my scores on any given day - it just takes a bit of luck on the mini-games not to be eaten and a lot of time. So whilst it comes naturally to me I think most players could beat their current scores if they had the time and patience.

PS3A: If LocoRoco Cocoreccho 2 came along, what would you like to see in the game?

BH: I would like to see more than the one map. Whilst it is a pretty big map with different sections to unlock as you go along, I'd like to see other maps too. That way people could have their own 'map high scores' and then the game could have a master high score for all maps. An option to play the mini-games without going in-game to play them, much like how the original LocoRoco was on the PSP, would be welcome. This would give the game a longer life span, because currently there's pretty much nothing more to do other than the day I get beaten or if I feel like extending my score - which I'd need to put a whol day aside for! Right now positions 1 to 20 of the leaderboard has hardly moved in weeks except for the number two spot who I have seen finally bringing life into the leaderboard - he/she is slowly creeping up my score. I'd also like to see an actual screensaver option for the PS3 just like they ill-advisedly stated in the video preview.

PS3A: Do you prefer LocoRoco on the PSP or the PS3 sequel?

BH: It is a close one but the original PSP title just takes it. Don't get me wrong - I love the new one. It is a different game to the original so a comparison is a bit harsh but in terms of gameplay, the original one is better. Yes the new one is great with the online scoreboard and the cheap price but i guess you pay for what you get. Cocoreccho is not really a long-lasting game or rich in material whereas the original one is 'pick-up-and-play' anytime of day. The PSP original has so many levels and you can play the mini-games whenever you want. The LocoRoco editor is a lot of fun too. In a ideal world if they bought out a LocoRoco 2 on the PS3 with BOTH types of games then they would have a huge hit and I definitely would snap it up in a heartbeat.

PS3 Attitude would like to thank bunnyho for a great interview. Maybe we should all go back and give LocoRoco Cocoreccho another chance, and by all accounts at least a whole day of our time!

Whilst we're thinking about Super Stardust HD...

If you're one of those people who is wondering how on earth some players are managing to score 700, 800 or 900 million on the PS3 phenom that is Super Stardust HD, you'll love this interview at PS3 Fanboy.

'Zafro' can be found in the top five of the high score list and although he starts off a bit slow, he soon gives up lots of valuable information on how you too can reach the dizzy heights of Super Stardom.

Apparently the answer is to build up at least 70 bombs!! Seriously, it's more complicated than that. You may need some actual talent to play this game after all (something I'm sadly lacking at the moment!).

Read the full Super Smashing interview now...

[via PS3Fanboy]