E3tastic Awards: The Biggest OMGWTF!!1! Surprise

E3tastic Awards: Biggest Surprise
Winner: Video-Out to PSPslim
I guess we all expected a lighter and slimmer PSP. There was no way that SONY could’ve NOT used the great momentum from late-2006 and the majority of 2007 so far and not launch the successor to the handheld that suffered a wave of tepid sales. We expected lightness, slimness, and improved features, and perhaps we would’ve hoped to see more, but at least we got something we didn’t see coming: video-out. Kaz Hirai’s effortless demonstration made it look easier than actually turning on your television, and he finally unveiled the killer capability that would take the PSP to the bank. Not only can you play them movies on your PSP, but you can also have them on the full screen, and looking quite sweet I might imagine. Music, photos, and video will be available on your big screen from launch.

E3tastic Awards: The Most Unique Game (‘Sides LocoRoco)

E3tastic Awards: Most Unique Game
Winner: Echochrome
When the world asked for another killer and unique application following the critical acclaim of LocoRoco, SONY went back to the drawing boards and came up with one of the biggest E3 surprises: a simplistic game full of complicated stairs, floors, and levels and occupied not by blobs, but by mannequins, without a pedestal. Obviously unlike anything anybody’s ever seen before, SONY remarked the game as one of the most simplistic games gamers would ever see, especially in a market dominated with graphical heavy games like Gears of War, Halo 3, and Killzone 2. The game will also embark on another unique effort: multi-platform launching, heading to the PS3 via the Playstation Network and PSP via UMD next Spring. The level shown at E3 was very simple and easy, but Harrison claimed that it was the easiest and that the game would get very harder. It’s very hard to tell at this point how we’ll see it being controlled, but we just can’t wait. This is the first game more bizarre than even LocoRoco (bizarre in a good way, though).

E3tastic Awards: Gorgeous Shooter

E3tastic Awards: Gorgeous Shooter
Winner: SOCOM: Tactical Strike
Sony Computer Entertainment is planning the third SOCOM to hit the PSP in three years; after the success and acclaim the first two Fireteam Bravo‘s received, SCE is taking a different direction in making the latest vert, using a turn-based gameplay-like  ‘tactical’ system that uses strategy over gameplay. Past all of this unfamiliar gameplay is amazingly gorgeous graphics that reveal utter beauty with every pixel. Besides the amazing graphics, SCE has improved on-screen information; teammates and soldiers, weapons being used, and a nice map are simplistic and don’t hinder graphics. Tactical Strike hits the PSP this October, and online gameplay will be available from the get-go.

E3tastic Awards: Storyline > Gameplay

E3tastic Awards: Storyline over Gameplay
Winner: FFT: War of the Lions
The beautifully stunning Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is Square Enix’s latest PSP remake, but unlike the first two, this one looks like it actually doesn’t suck. Besides a unique gameplay different from most FF games (a more ‘tactical’ approach, though it resembles turn-based RPGs), the game offers gorgeous and classic cutscenes that tell deep and invigorating stories. For those who love the satisfying action that comes with gameplay, this game will offer it, but the storylines are far more rewarding and makes this game a valuable entity. War of the Lions ships October 2nd stateside.

E307

Our Official E307 Index!

Providing EVERY piece of news possible in one page…

E3 can be tough. Very tough. A few hours and you’re already missing all of the latest news. Lucky for you, Get Loco is providing our big E307 index, providing you links to the stories you want to see. Each story is broken down into different categories, so hopefully it won’t be too confusing for you. Enjoy!

Our E3tastic Awards

E3 might be over, but that doesn’t mean that our coverage is. Later this week, Get Loco will reveal the winning list of games we loved from the following awards:

• Best-in-Show
• The Killer App That Will Put the PSP on the Map
• The Shooter Gorgeous Enough to Warrant a Purchase
• The Game that Dares to Put Storylines Over Gameplay
• Completely and Utterly Ridiculous–Enough to Make Us Buy It
• The Most Unique Game (Besides LocoRoco)
• Too Fast for Real Life
• The Biggest ‘OMG WTF@!1111’ Surprise of the Show
• Worst-In-Show
• Non-PSP Killer App That WILL Dominate
• The Non-Sequel or Threequel that Will Kill

So there you have it! Be there for our big awards show all this week!

LocoRoco Podcast #18

Missed us? Well, we’re back, after much delay and much technical problems with our post-E3 podcast, our longest by far, rated at a hefty 34:31. Yesiree, I recorded this podcast 4 times, each with different subjects, thanks to technical difficulties and major uploading crisis’s. This is no disappointment, though! Enjoy!

[odeo=http://odeo.com/audio/14906933/view]

This is the description of the podcast found at Odeo: This week in podcast number 18, everything E3 is analyzed, decrypted, and decoded: SONY, Nintendo, and Microsoft press conferences, a new PSP, what we think of E3 possibly moving again, the big LocoRoco PS3 game coming soon, Patapon and Echochrome impressions, a look at gorgeous SOCOM screenies, the introducing of an MGS: Portable Ops expansion, and more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this lengthy podcast number 18. Thanks to ThePodLounge users for making us#9 out of 100!

Some publisher notes: I did still have technical difficulties; I’m still getting used to my new mike, thus, I have to adjust the distance between my mouth and the mike because it is actually quite sensitive. It’s great with noise cancellation, though, so I appreciate it more than one would think. Sorry for the big delay with E3 podcasts, as well. Enjoy and I’ll see you all soon! 🙂

*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!

The Verdict is In: Buy a New PSP or Wait?

Yes, I know. The PSPslim looks enticing. But here goes our true verdict. After weighing all the features: should you buy a new PSP or wait?

E307: GameSpot’s PSPslim Hands-on Great!

Still quick to rain on the new-PSP’s parade? Well, GameSpot’s recent hands-on with the new, slimmer PSP seems to show that SONY’s redesign has paid off. PSPFanboy’s hands-on showed off a few new capabilities, but we finally get pictures to see the new capabilities and features. For one, the video out feature seems very smooth and fluid, while the new UMD door latch and redesigned memory stick slot seem to make the best out of the limited space the thinner PSP has. If this does anything to me, it makes me slightly more jealous of those who have the money to purchase one of these. Me, I’m sticking with mine in order to spend more on software, but this recent hands-on really makes me want one.

E307: Looking Over Our SONY Press Conference Predictions…

Following E3, nobody was really all that happy about the outcome — despite it being quite lively considering the downsize of everything, it still didn’t have all the pizazz we expected. And frankly, I was excited to find that my predictions for all of the Big Three turned out to be quite reliable, a few mistakes here and there, but clearly good. More after the jump…