Locoroco
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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
Metareview - LocoRoco (European version)
Aside from the peculiar Metal Gear graphic novel, our PSP's UMD drive has been empty for months. And while we're looking forward to the Valkyrie Profile update (out this week), we're most excited about LocoRoco. Granted, the North American version isn't slated for release until September, but there are plenty of reviews rolling in based on the European version, which was released in late June -- Japan received its version last week.Here's what critics are saying across the Atlantic: Eurogamer (90/100) heralds LocoRoco as "the perfect distilation [sic] of everything a handheld game should be," but admits that 'perfection' is hard to describe: "it feels equal part puzzle and platform game, but fresher, funnier and more satisfying than words could ever make it sound." Gamers Europe (90/100) says Sony's finally gotten it right: "[LocoRoco has] got me using the PSP again, as opposed to just my DS. Unlike so many PSP ports and rehashes, it's perfectly suited to the system and perfectly suited to handheld gaming." PALGN (80/100) declares the game is "insanely addictive," but "[the] major downfall with LocoRoco really is the lifespan."
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.
