E307: 10 Days And Counting, PSP Progress

With just 10 days and a few hours to go until E3, the PSP looks to have quite a lineup already, even though many developers have been hush-hush on “new projects”, including SONY (ahem, LocoRoco sequel, ahem). What has been announced thus far to be on display at E3 looks promising–perhaps the biggest PSP game at E3 will be God of War: Chains of Olympus, but we’ll also get to see Castlevania, Syphon Filter, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, and the Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. All of these games show a renewed attempt at creating exclusive and must-have PSP apps, which is a good thing for the PSP. Even with all of this, we must speculate: which killer app will be announced at E3 this year? Will we hear anything of Crisis Core, Dissidia, or The Lion Wars, all expected to make it to the PSP in North America, Europe, and Australia in the near future? Will we see the promised Oblivion Travels that Bethesda has been hyping? Will Studio Liverpool have any WipEout Pulse news for us? Could we see the beginning development of LocoRoco 2 or a LocoRoco PS3 vert? The possibilities are endless, and while we were considerably disappointed at GDC this past year, are we to see more focus on the PSP for the E3 conference this year? We must wait, I guess.

Speculation: The Questions We Ask Thanks to the iPhone

As the iPhone fuss becomes even more crazier, there are a few questions to ask, and not just directly to SONY. To the gaming market as a whole. After our All Things Considered iPhone report, it’s clear that the iPhone is important not just to the technological market, but to the gaming market as well. Sorry, in case this was your iPhone-free zone! Check after the jump for the questions we now have thanks to Apple’s mega-hyped iPhone…

The Remakes and Ports Don’t Fare All That Well…

With the Final Fantasy reviews coming in this week all mixed, and PaRappa giving PSPFanboy an underwhelming impression, the truth is that while this is the year of the PSP, it could plausibly be the “PSP’s year of ports and remakes”. More than ever, it seems, more developers are choosing to port and remake games on the PSP rather than come up with new ideas or create sequels. Already on the horizon, Final Fantasy II doesn’t look any better than the first-port, Crazy Taxi looks utterly ridiculous, and we’re not seeing the exclusive titles that we’ve been waiting for.

Get Loco Turns One: Favorite Podcast, Vote Now!

As you know, Get Loco is turning one and we’d like you to vote in our Favorite Podcast poll (we’d really appreciate your help in choosing the winners). This is a change from the first poll, which was done on the forums, and is still running, by the way (you may see all of our upcoming polls here). Which podcast was your favorite?:

• Podcast #1 ~ The classic, original podcast, which consisted of several different segments, including MuiMui Tips, our tips section of the podcast, was most definitely the best.
• Podcast #9 ~ Where to find LocoRoco, Judgment Day (aka the reviews are in), and first impressions OH MY! The very first special edition podcast.
• Podcast #11 ~ Our post-TGS podcast covered everything SONY, PSP, PS3, and video game-related imaginable.
• Podcast #14 ~ This holiday podcast became our biggest and most-listened to; you must’ve liked it for a good reason!

You may vote two ways: anonymously by e-mailing us at contactlocoroco [AT] gmail.com or via comment. We would really appreciate your help!

LocoRoco Podcast #17- SPECIAL EDITION

Here we go: the big announcements & the beginning of our summer podcasts. In this podcast, you’ll find a bit better sound quality, thanks to a new mic. I’m working on configuring the microphone so I can bring the podcast to you all in different ways, but for right now, everything sounds good. Tell me how you feel about the brand new podcast .

This is the description of the podcast found at Odeo: To celebrate our anniversary and very big special announcement, here is podcast number 17, loaded with pre-E3 news, news on a Sonic Rivals sequel, the Killzone beta, Tsutomo Kounu’s recent interviews, mixed reviews for Hot Brain, Final Fantasy preorder information, and PSP Lite information. Enjoy!

Some publisher notes: New microphone, of course, and a few sound quality issues over my voice coming through to the microphone, but otherwise, everything sounds great. I had no technical issues. I decided to can my original podcast #17, as it was a bit rushed. Hope you enjoy it, and I should have a podcast down for next week to celebrate our anniversary. Big announcement= nice podcast!

*You can download the podcast/get the RSS feed in various places, just check our handy sidebar or About page. The best place to go is Odeo because it’s where we host our podcast. Click here to head to the PSP-friendly PodLounge, where we’ve recently hit #9 in the top 10. Also, you can now check us out on PodZinger thanks to requests from fans. You can additionally subscribe on iTunes; just search “LocoRoco” under the podcasts category and you should find it. Finally, if you have any questions/concerns/suggestions, please contact me at contactlocoroco[AT]gmail.com and check our podcast tag for updates. Thanks!

(EDIT: Added Digg link)

MetaReview: Final Fantasy I

The verdict is in for Square Enix’s $30 Final Fantasy I remake, which they’ve heavily advertised on the net and in gaming mags. The remake has promised to add a new dungeon, revitalize graphics, and bring back the storyline everyone fell in love with, but others were unsure that the game’s price was suited to a game that resembles the original AND all of its remakes. Some claimed that for the umpteenth time, this remake was shallow and added no depth to the game:

• PSPFanboy (8/10)- “Despite some dated aspects, such as ridiculous monster encounter rates and grid based movement, the game holds its own remarkably well for a twenty year old title and the improvements and extras are definitely worth the price.”
• GameSpot (6.5/10)- “Like most anything viewed through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, Final Fantasy I was better in the past than it is now.”
• 1Up (7/10)- “For such an antiquated adventure, a $30 asking price feels a tad steep…but highly dedicated FF fans will probably still get their money’s worth.”

Get Loco Turns One: Vote in Our Polls!

Get Loco Turns One: Vote in our polls for your favorite posts, memories, podcasts, and more in our forums; all you need is a membership, which is a click away! Here are our polls and upcoming polls:

Favorite Opinionated Columns
Favorite Podcasts
Favorite Events Covered
Favorite Games Other Than LocoRoco

Our winners will be announced early next week.

God of War will Unlock all 333MHz Possibilities for PSP

Cory Barlog, creative director for the upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus, isn’t fond of E32007, it seems, but he was ready to explain a bit about the PSP title at SONY’s new blog “Playstation.Blog”. Serving as a prequel to the first 2 God of Wars on PS2 and plausibly the 3rd, which will arrive in upcoming years for PS3, the game’s stunning graphics that we saw at Gamers Day had most of the gaming faithful wondering how much of the PSP’s graphical capabilities it took advantage of. With firmware 3.5, it unlocks the 333MHz possibilities for PSP, and Barlog revealed that Chains of Olympus would use all 333MHz to produce a graphically stunning product–perhaps one that rivals the most stunning Wii game (yes, I’m talking Legend of Zelda) or PS2 game. It’s no lie that all the PSP faithful (and PSP-haters) want God of War: Chains of Olympus, so this is more reason to pick it up once it arrives in November.

Introducing Beyond Get Loco

Our big announcement: Beginning today, Beyond Loco (our affiliate and fellow LocoRoco fansite) and Get Loco are announcing our big merge. The combination of these two websites creates the biggest, best, and only dedicated LocoRoco fansite in the world, featuring forums, a blog, podcasts, newsletters, and digital downloads, including custom user-created levels. This streamlined approach for the LocoRoco fans across the world is pushing the barrier; our community is more than ever growing faster. littlevish (Beyond Loco’s creator and a contributor to our site) and I have been talking about ways to further make Beyond Get Loco the ultimate LocoRoco fan club.

So what makes it so different? You’ll realize we finally have a homepage at www.beyondgetloco.co.nr and we have a link to the forums in our sidebar. Additionally, littlevish and I will be working together to come up with new, enticing projects for the sites, including a possible team podcast; littlevish and I could have podcasts together, discussing all of the latest LocoRoco-related issues. Moreover, there’s finally a community to discuss everything LocoRoco, PSP, and Off-Beat. You may continue to type in “http://locoroco.wordpress.com” to access our blog.

Thanks so much for your support and great help. littlevish and I appreciate the support you’ve given our two websites over the past few months and year. With our combined websites, the possibilities are endless.

Your friends,
–loco and littlevish

Announcement, Podcast, Anniversary Begins Tomorrow

Our much-anticipated announcement, anniversary podcast, and anniversary all begins tomorrow with a big bang. We are kicking off our biggest summer yet. Additionally, I will have to delay the newsletter until July 1st because of formating and editing problems. Thanks so much for your support and be there for our big events tomorrow!