Cocoreccho Not a Screensaver?! and More “Reviews”

Despite generally negative reviews for LocoRoco or Boo Boo Cocoreccho, the PS3 “interactive screensaver” that made its way to the general public on Playstation Network today, many LocoRoco fans and other reviewers across the net had better hands-on looks, impressions, and reviews. Because I do not own a PS3, it’ll be hard for me to tell who to base your opinions on, but feel free to look at the better side of the spectrum…

The Nays Have It: Cocoreccho is “unenjoyable”…

The Playstation Network-version of our favorite game isn’t liked by reviewers from across the spectrum. Not only have they pelted it left and right, but they’ve criticized the fact that it’s only an interactive screensaver. Despite being cheap and continuing the franchise, Joystiq went as far to complain that the game lacked the simplicity of the first. This is not good as LocoRoco, which seems to be suffering a “mid-life crisis”, is just two games into the franchise. IGN perhaps put it most lightly: “a celebration of characters…if not the gameplay”. littlevish at the forums has a nice compilation of the current previews for the game and BGL will have a metareview out sometime soon.

TGS07 Coverage Plans

TGS07 is on its way and Beyond Get Loco will have all of the latest coverage. Expect head-on commentary that holds nothing back, a feature-packed post-TGS podcast on the way, all of the latest updates, and everything/anything we know about LocoRoco Cocoreccho or any other LocoRoco projects in the works (as well as our routine coverage of Patapon and Echochrome):

• Day-by-Day analysis and coverage of PSP games and Cocoreccho at TGS
• Commentary that pushes the limits by far, asking questions and taking names
• Every single LocoRoco rumor that exists in the world.
• All the Cocoreccho coverage we can muster from those who will be there
• Continuous updates on the VodPod featuring a slew of TGS-vids and Cocoreccho videos.
• Any updates we can find on Patapon, Echochrome, or any other SONY projects ahead.
• The latest news updates & discussions on a specialized-TGS board on the forums
• Exclusive polls and reviews from Beyond Get Loco-members via the uRcd feature.
• Announcements about our team podcasts & the upcoming Reviewrama

So get geared up as Beyond Get Loco readily prepares for the Tokyo Game Show 07 and stick with us for everything and anything you’ve gotta know about the show! See you there.

Cocoreccho Mania!

Cocoreccho doesn’t drop until next week in Europe and Japan [and possibly the USA] (9/21), but it seems clear that SONY is getting a jumpstart on advertising the game, promoting a new trailer video that we’ve gladly uploaded on our VodPod. It exhibits some of the features, but mainly shows video of the beautiful graphics the PS3 has taken advantage of. Check it out here.

More News on Cocoreccho

We were displeased–okay, a little bit more than displeased–to hear that LocoRoco Cocoreccho, or as it’s been called, Buu Buu Cocoreccho would be merely an interactive screensaver with a few minigames. Now, we’re hearing more about the game from the “official unofficial” or semi-official blog SONY runs, ThreeSpeech.

KEY FEATURES
High resolution at 1080p HD
SIXAXIS™ tilt functionality
3 Mini-games
Ranking modes:
Total score ranking: The player competes using the total number of LocoRoco collected plus the score of the mini-game.
Time Attack ranking:
The player competes using the total time taken to get to the goal. So all depends on the route chosen to reach the end of the game, the shortest it is, the better.
Characters:
LocoRoco: The mysterious creatures who love to bounce and roll around.
Mo[j]a: Loves to gobble up LocoRoco! Don’t let the LocoRoco get eaten!
Muumuu: LocoRocos friends.
BonMucha: The big bad Moja boss!
Online features:
Online ranking board

It’s nice to hear that there will be an online ranking board and 3 minigames, but I’m still not satisfied. I was looking forward to a full-fledged LocoRoco game, but it seems highly unlikely PS3 owners will see one anytime soon. There’s always hope for the PSP-vert. Cocoreccho will be playable at TGS.

How Much Would you Pay for a LocoRoco Screenshot?

If the future of the LocoRoco franchise is turning the critically-acclaimed PSP game into a screensaver for PS3 that costs money, it’s easy to say that it won’t be around much longer. Thanks to Eurogamer, we finally receive confirmation that Buu Buu Cocoreccho, which ships September 21st in Japan to the Playstation Network for PS3, is merely a screensaver with a few minigames. An interactive screensaver, but nonetheless, a screensaver. Yet again, a butterfly named Cocoreccho will awake LocoRocos by chanting “Boo Boo” and lead them to safety away from the Mojas and the new boss “BonMunchas”. We had hoped that the PS3 version would be a full-fledged game on the online network similar to Calling all Cars and Tekken: Dark Resurrection. So the big question is: how much would you pay for an “interactive” LocoRoco screenshot?

LocoRoco PS3 Arriving 9/21 in Japan, Much Different

Buu Buu Cocoreccho was announced back in July after E3 as the first of [hopefully] many in the LocoRoco franchise. Kouno and other developers claimed that it would have a different feel, and longtime LocoRoco fans like myself got that impression from the first gameplay video that hit our forums in early August. Now, more news, this time from IGN and from browsing YouTube. IGN confirms that Buu Buu Cocoreccho will arrive September 21st in Japan on the Playstation Network for PS3, and it will be quite different than the first that we’ve come to love. For one, you control a butterfly who wakes sleeping LocoRoco by saying “Boo Boo” and leads them to the finish line. Of course, this adds in more obstacles, but some are worried, including myself, as it almost seems to alienate the original feel of the game. You can judge that for yourself in our VodPod with a new gameplay video. Get Loco will continue to have all of the latest coverage…

BREAKING: LocoRoco2 planned for PSP!

BREAKING NEWS! According to Joystiq, who spoke with Tsutomo Kouno at Develop 07′ where Kouno spoke about a PS3 sequel to our favorite game, LocoRoco, he’s not forgetting about the PSP LocoRoco-fans who enjoyed the first so much:

…when asked if there will be a Loco Roco 2 for the PSP, he [Kouno] responded, “Yes, there will. I’m thinking about a sequel for the PSP right now. I got a lot of feedback from players that they bought a PSP just to play Loco Roco so I feel like I have to make a sequel for them.

This is big and great news! We can’t wait to hear more of it. No trailers, gameplay, or screenies was announced, but yet another confirmation proves that LocoRoco’s tenure on PSP ain’t over just yet. More updates soon.

It’s Official: LocoRoco Coming to PS3!!

It’s Official!
After hearing confirmations of a second LocoRoco again and again, we finally have an OFFICIAL confirmation. SONY has announced Buu Buu Cocoreccho by LocoRoco, a PS3 vert of the popular game we have loved to love. The only screenshot shows a very unique LocoRoco environment with tons of LocoRocos on the screen–136 to be exact. SONY says that up to 200 LocoRocos will be available. Obviously, it’s a much larger environment that we’ve been hearing about.

Here’s what SONY says about it:

“It’s LocoRoco, but it’s not — a peculiar extra chapter.” That, and a sentence with three different uses of the world play: “Even if you don’t play it [as in control the game], the world and the LocoRoco will play [as in both playing amongst themselves and as in playing back like a video] on their own.”

SONY says now that the game is 95% complete and that it will make use of the SIXAXIS motion controller, which tilts–this is perfect for LocoRoco.

All I can say is that this is both great news and bad news. For one, the 80% of people worldwide who cannot even afford a PS3 at this point in time, will be unable to continue the LocoRoco saga. It’s great news to see Tsutomo Kounu again working with SONY, though, and it shows that we could be hearing of a PSP vert soon enough? We’ll keep you posted most definitely.

Thanks to the forums for pointing this out for me.

Spumor: LocoRoco 2 Coming Dec. 7th, at least in Europe?

Spumor stands for Speculation + Rumors. Back at SONY’s E3 press conference, I made a big deal about a game called Patapon, which reminded me of LocoRoco a lot–I speculated whether Tsutomo Kounu would be behind the game or any other LocoRoco creators. I have been so far unsuccessful in my attempts to find it out. Yet, when I posted a spumor topic on the forums, my result was getting some information from littlevish, who said that Spanish (yes, for Spain) release dates said that Patapon was launching October 19th and LocoRoco 2 was launching December 7th. Even with this spumor, there’s still no confirmation. Tsutomo Kounu, the LocoRoco development team, and all SONY execs have been hush-hush on the sequel, even despite Kounu’s recent increase in appearances and interviews. Do note that since the game did come out of SONY’s studios in Japan, it’s very likely that we could be hearing of the game at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show (and possibly Leipzeg considering that it COULD be launching in Europe this year?). Yet again, this is all spumorage, so there’s really no hope unless we get a confirmation.

[Thanks, littlevish.]