PS3 Attitude

PS3 news, views and gossip from PS3 Attitude - a PS3 site with bite!

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

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!

Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, 20 September 2007

European PS Store updates for 20th September


The Euro PS Store has been updated again and includes the following:

  • MediEvil - PS1 game for the PSP and PS3 - £3.49
  • Syphon Filter - PS1 game for the PSP and PS3 - £3.49
  • LocoRoco Cocoreccho! - PS3 'interactive screensaver' and game - £1.99
  • Jericho Trailer - Free

I'll be downloading LocoRoco in the next few minutes and will put up my views later. I was a huge fan of the original PSP title, so I'm keen to see what is hype and what is true about this particular title.

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, 13 September 2007

Expect Locoroco Cocoreccho! on your PS3 next week


According to our friends at PS3Fanboy, Locoroco Cocoreccho! will hit the European PS Store next week. And here's the great bit - it's expected to be only £1.99 in the UK.

Now everyone knows by now that after we revealed the first footage and we revealed that SCEE were referring to it as an 'interactive screensaver' that this particular title has been a bit of a PS3 Attitude favourite.

Why?

Because of all the titles I have on my PSP, Locoroco remains the one title that can always remove the stresses of the day and put a big smile on my face.

I do hope there is enough in this title to make it still feel like Locoroco 2, although I'm still a little nervous about the gameplay. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when it hits the Store next week.

Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, 11 September 2007

European PS Store release dates

Dutch website PS3only.nl have stumbled across a number of European PS Store release dates, apparently given out at a recent Benelux region press event.

Here's what they discovered:

LocoRoco Cocoreccho!: 20th September
Feel Ski: 4th October
Toy Home: 11th October

They also list Pixel Junk Racers and Snake Ball as coming in October; WipEout HD, High Velocity Bowling and Everyday Shooter coming this November; Elefunk, Pain and GT5 Prologue hitting the Store by this December.

Down for 'quarter 3' releases are Operation Creature Feature, Trials of Topaq, Aqua Vita and Eye Create. Since theses titles are all tied in to the PlayStation Eye release, I'm guessing that they mean 'Sony Fiscal Year Quarter 3'and not the actual third quarter of the year, so expect these before Christmas.

This also makes sense as they list Echochrome as 'Quarter 4', which would mean between January and March 2008.

PlayStation Home is listed as 'middle of Autumn' and Little Big Planet doesn't yet have a release date.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, 3 September 2007

Forthcoming European PSN releases

Whilst we still can't be happy in Europe at the short end of the stick we seem to get when it comes to PSN or even full game releases, it's always welcome getting new content to feast our eyes and ears on.

ThreeSpeech have been good enough to announce a bunch of releases for our viewing pleasure:

  • MotorStorm Coyote Revenge Weekend VIP Pass 06/09
  • MotorStorm Vehicle Set 1 13/09
  • MotorStorm Vehicle Set 2 27/09
  • Heavenly Sword Making of and anime part 4 6/09 (which you should already have downloaded from the US store, frankly)
  • Heavenly Sword Making of and anime part 5 13/09
  • Lair trailer No.3 6/09
  • LocoRoco Cocoreccho trailer 13/09
  • inFamous trailer 13/09
Enjoy!

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Locoroco Cocoreccho is just an 'interactive screensaver'


This may not be as bad news as it seems, but I've got to tell you I'm mightily disappointed.

One of my favourite games of recent years, Locoroco, is getting it's first outing on the PS3 in the very near future.

The catch?

All the marvellous gameplay seems to have gone and the official word from SCEE is that Locoroco Cocoreccho is "an interactive screensaver".

Instead of tilting the ground with the Sixaxis or shoulder buttons as you'd expect, the new gameplay mechanic has you controlling the Locorocos by interacting with the little flying blobs they used to collect in the PSP version.

I am sure it will still be fun. I am sure it will still make me smile. But something tells me this isn't going to be the PS3 Locoroco experience I was looking for...

Labels: , , ,

Saturday, 28 July 2007

PS3 Attitude YouTube Channel

PS3 Attitude now has a YouTube channel...

Granted, there's not much in there at the moment but you will find the LocoRoco video I found if you swing by...

I need subscribers and friends, so if you have a YouTube account please drop by and subscribe to the channel and add me as your friend! Thanks!

Labels: , , , ,

Friday, 27 July 2007

LocoRoco Cocoreccho trailer from Develop 07

I couldn't make it down to the Develop Conference this time around, which was especially galling as it was held only 40 minutes away from where I live... oh well.

Fresh from the show though here's a trailer of LocoRoco Cocoreccho as it will be called in Europe at least - otherwise known as LocoRoco 2 or Buu Buu Cocoreccho by LocoRoco. Regardless of what you call it in your region, the gameplay looks as great as ever and check out the numbers in the top left corner... yes, that's up to 200 LocoRocos on screen and under your control at once! Crazy!

Labels: , , , ,

Sunday, 22 July 2007

Tsutomu Kouno announced as a keynote speaker at Develop

The Develop Conference is nearly upon us, taking place on the 24th to 26th July in Brighton, UK.

Adding to the list of speakers already announced, we're going to hear what the director of LocoRoco has to say about creating the phenomenon. We hope he will go into details about the PS3 version and what is coming in the next instalment of the popular franchise.

Other keynotes come from Richard Garriott of Tabular Rasa and NCSoft fame,
who will be talking about online gaming in general.

Unfortunately we can't be at Develop this year - just a clash of diaries. If you're going to be at the conference drop us a line at [email protected] so we can publish your take on anything PS3 related.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, 17 July 2007

News from the PlayStation Premier event in Tokyo

As we heard from Kojima-san at last week's E3 keynote, he is showing a real demo of MGS4 in Tokyo today.

While we wait for any video footage we can get our hands on let's wrap up the rest of the news from today's PlayStation Premier press event.

First up, we found out after the demo that a new Metal Gear Solid title is coming our way! Kojima-san announced they are producing a PS3 version of the online game that was included in MGS3 Subsistence. It looks like they will show this at the MGS 20th Anniversary Party next week in Tokyo.

Tekken 6 is announced as a full online title. We know that we are going to get an updated Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection title on the PS Store soon that will provide online battles, so this isn't a great shock.

News from the floor is that Final Fantasy XIII is only 13% complete at this time! But that's ok, since Final Fantasy Versus XIII is supposedly less than 2% complete, so in comparison they're storming ahead.

Grand Turismo 5 Prologue, as announced at E3, is supposed to be arriving in October.

White Knight Story will be playable at this year's Tokyo Game Show which is being held in September.

And my favourite news of the day - LocoRoco for the PS3 is on the way. Slated for release via the PS Store in the near future (it is 95% complete) the tentatively titled "Buu Buu Cocoreccho! by LocoRoco" will feature over 200 LocoRoco characters and full use of the SixAxis as its control mechanism.

Check back soon for the MGS4 demo video assuming I can get my grubby mitts on it!

Labels: , , , , , , ,