loco-roco
Latest
Loco Roco meets DDR in new PSP Revolution Style
I'm personally surprised by the lack of PSP Revolution coverage on the Fanboy. Is it because the idea of playing a DDR-clone without the ability to dance seems a bit futile? Or is it because we're too afraid to admit that we bust a groove to the sounds of NAOKI all the time? Well, no more silence, I say! Typo-laden QJ.net has revealed a new iteration of the popular homebrew "dancing" game: Loco Roco Style. It features art and two songs from the Loco Roco game, with more to come on the way.
Loco Roco Video Sandwich special!
The past few stories about Loco Roco have been a bit too depressing. Let's ignore the low sales and remember the good things about the game: like happy happy graphics and even happier music. That's what this fun, candy-coated Loco Roco fan video does. It showcases some images from the game and puts it to the absolutely fantastic music of the game. If this doesn't make you happy, then you've lost your childhood somewhere along the way.The bottom video of this special edition Video Sandwich shows you how to get every single secret in the downloadable demo. Pretty helpful for those of you that want to earn your Loco Roco Rewards the right way. It's intersting to see the things that you may have missed. (I know without this video, I would've never found that final fruit that I've been missing!)
Japan not loco for Loco Roco
We really want Loco Roco to succeed, and it's pretty obvious considering all the coverage we give it. Regardless of all the advertising and the special Loco Roco bundles, the game simply hasn't sold too well. In fact, the game has been doing so poorly that it's already available in bargain bins for a low price of 1980 yen (about $18). Maybe Sony should reconsider making games for the PSP and focus solely on making brain games and cooking programs.[Via Kotaku]
Loco Roco comic on Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade is once again featured in Joystiq's Weekly Webcomic Wrapup, and it is good. The happy-go-lucky nature of the Loco Roco has dark consequences, as you'll be able to see in the comic. But be warned, children! There's yucky adult language that might offend you. Tycho does seem to enjoy the game quite a bit, though. In his latest blog entry, he talks about Gamespot's 7.7 review and says "If I didn't know better, I would say they were reviewing games with the wrong organs." He thinks the game deserves much better.Don't forget to vote on Joystiq when you're done laughing.
Loco Roco demo rewards players [Update 1]
Loco Roco is a gift to PSP owners: it's an original IP that's getting a lot of buzz for the system, and it was one of the very first games to offer a downloadable demo. Well, the gifts are still coming. From now until August 19th, you can enter the code that appears at the top right-hand corner of the screen when you finish your game to earn some new gifts. Gifts include sound files and wallpapers. It says you need version 1.01 of the demo, but from the looks of things, whatever demo you have right now should work perfectly fine.Enter your code (or download the demo) here.Thanks, steve![Update 1: For those of you that don't want to have fun a challenge, here are the download links of the gifts!]Download Set #1Download Set #2Download Set #3Download Set #4
The new bacon PSP Fanboy video sandwich
Yes, it appears as if this late-night video update is slowly turning into a regular feature. For those of you with the late night video munchies, have I got a few treats for you. Once again, it's the same format as last time: crunchy video top and bottom with smooth talking by me in the middle. Best of all, tonight's update involves bacon. Seriously. In the top video, a thief must decide what they will steal: bacon or PSP? You'll have to watch the video to find out, but let me ask... who the heck leaves bacon lying around? If this is a common phenomenon, I too will become a bacon bandit.You won't be impressed by the robber's ninja moves, but you will be impressed by this impressive fighting montage created by a fan. It really fits the music well, and I can see Sony wanting to use an ad like this for real. Check it out, because I thought it was pretty cool.The bottom half of my sandwich was deleted by the user. Maybe it was too good for its own good? However, the videos keep on coming when you're on the internet. An inspired fan who saw the Loco Roco station decided to walk around and capture it on film for us not fortunate enough to live in Japan. Check it out, and wallow in your lack of Sony-branded train stations.
Loco Roco goes for the gold and comes back in 7th place
If you read DS Fanboy, you know that they love to use Japanese sales data to make fun of us PSP owners. Well, things don't seem like they're going to change much quite yet. Despite a huge marketing push in Japan, IGN reports that our beloved Loco Roco has debuted at seventh place in its first week of sales. That's better than most weeks, but I was hoping that it would be able to beat the seemingly invincible New Super Mario Bros (which is a great game). Hey, at least it beat the now more than one year old Brain Age... by one position.
Loco Roco takes over Japanese subways
Sony's hoping that with their new subway ad campaign, that people will be going as cuckoo for Loco Roco as the people in this new Japanese CM (below). This new marketing push plasters the walls of the Omote-sando train station and stretches 30 meters long. More interestingly, the ads run the saccharin-sweet theme music from the game. Whether or not this will make the Japanese populace smile gleefully, or get incredibly annoyed, has yet to be discovered.[Via Gamespot] See also: Awesome new LocoRoco ad
LocoRoco review on Gamespot [Update 1]
It's pretty obvious that we at the Fanboy really want Loco Roco. When Gamespot wrote one of their first previews of the game, we knew that Loco Roco and our PSPs might become more than just friends. I mean, who would be able to turn down its good looks, originality, and smooth controls? Well, the game's available in Europe and Japan, leaving us American gamers starved for more info. Thankfully, Gamespot has just posted their review of the UK version of Loco Roco.Jeff Gertsmann tells us what we already know: it looks really good, and it has great art direction. However, according to Mr. Gertsmann, it is "singularly focused." Meaning: it doesn't offer much variety. He goes on to give the game a 7.7, which isn't a bad score at all. In fact, it still falls within the high end of the "Good" scale. But for gamers that need higher scores to justify purchases, don't forget to look at the game's other reviews. Apparently, Gamespot is out of line with the other (European) critics: the game currently has an 83 average score from critics, and a whopping 9.7 from users. In the end, regardless of all this number crunching, it seems like Loco Roco is a winner.[Update 1: According to Joystiq, it appears that the Gamespot review has disappeared. However, you can check out their Metareview feature to look at some more reviews.]
2D's glory -- in top five form
This one brought a soft spot to my heart though I'm not sure exactly why. Perhaps it's my old-school gaming nostalgia kicking in, but there's something quite charming about a 2D game in this world of uber three-dimensional madness. Fond memories aside, the good folks at Game Daily put together a nice little list of the "Top Five Most Gorgeous Looking 2D Games." With a mix of old and new, the list's cherry-on-top is the Guilty Gear series -- a personal favorite of mine. If you've never played this insanity-filled fighting series, I suggest you go to your local video store and rent it right away. Other honorable mentions include the PSP titles Loco Roco and Lumines, a couple Yoshi titles, and Metal Slug.
