Joystiq

Joystiq interviews Loco Roco's Tsutomu Kouno

Jem Alexander — 2007-08-01T09:30:00+00:00

As big fans of Loco Roco we couldn't leave the Develop Conference in Brighton last week without having a natter with Tsutomu Kouno. Thankfully, we got the opportunity to sit down and, via his translator, Masaaki Doi, ask him about what he plans to do after Loco Roco PS3 is released. The full interview can be found after the break.

How do you feel about the reception that Loco Roco received in Europe and America, considering it's such a Japanese style game?

Originally my target was not only the Japanese market, but the entire world. So I really appreciate that people in other territories have accepted and enjoy my design.

The PS3 version of Loco Roco was announced at the PlayStation Premiere event, but there's still some confusion about what form it will take. Will it be a full game? A screensaver?

Nancy Gatehouse (Sony Studio Communications Manager): I'm afraid we're not able to talk about anything to do with the PlayStation 3.

Nothing about the PlayStation 3? [Laughs]

[Laughs] Sorry!

Nancy: I'll get skinned alive by our PR department if we do!

That's most of my questions shot down right there then... Ok. Will there be a Loco Roco 2 for the PSP?

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.

Will any future versions of Loco Roco have a level editor of some kind?

Actually, in the first version of Loco Roco there is the ability to do something like that. People can create their own stage, however it's really hard to understand how to create them. I am currently thinking about creating some kind of customization for the users in an upcoming project. Unfortunately, I cannot talk about it right now.

Will you be doing any work for Team ICO on any of their upcoming projects?

I have already graduated from the ICO team! However, they are working on the same floor in my building so sometimes I stop by and see what they are doing.

Do you have any information on their latest project, by any chance?

[Laughs] I know they are doing something.

[Laughs] People have drawn similarities between your work and Katamari Damacy's Takahasi-san. You share similar, interesting art styles. Would you ever considering working together on a future project?

I have never spoken to Takahashi-san, but in the future I would love to have a discussion with him. Not necessarily about work. A personal chat where we can share our experiences.

Do you have anything on the horizon that isn't to do with Loco Roco?

I'm working on Loco Roco PS3 right now. Then I will start a new project. I have a lot of ideas in my mind for projects post-Loco Roco. I haven't yet shared them with anyone else.

Excellent! I look forward to that. Thank you very much for your time!

Thank you!

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Loco Roco sequels planned for PSP as well as PS3

Christopher Grant — 2007-07-30T11:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP

Last December, Sony's Phil Harrison said they'd "bring LocoRoco back in a couple of new ways with some new friends in the future." Then, at the PlayStation Premier event in Tokyo this month, they showed off Buu Buu Cocoreccho! by LocoRoco, a sequel that is "LocoRoco, but it's not ... a peculiar extra chapter." So that takes care of PS3, and we have our suspicions about a mobile version, but what about the most obvious platform of all, the PSP? We had a chance to speak with Loco Roco's director Tsutomu Kouno at the Develop conference and, when asked if there will be a Loco Roco 2 for the PSP, he 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.

Though we don't have any fancy video footage of the PSP-bound sequel, there is some footage of the PS3 release from Develop, tucked away after the break. And check back later in the week for our full interview with Kouno-san.

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Making LocoRoco players smile

Zack Stern — 2007-03-11T05:31:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, GDC, Business, Casual, Galleries

A GDC seminar given by Tsutomu Kouno, director or LocoRoco, explored his process and goals in creating that PSP game. Like Miyamoto said earlier that day, Kouno wanted to make people smile. Speaking in Japanese, with us listening to a group of translators over a set of headphones, Kouno began with a personal history.

He described growing up making toys, saying he would show them to people to make them laugh. He felt that LocoRoco came from that history. He said, "I wanted to make a game that was easy to play, so that women and children, and people who have never played games before would be interested in playing it. ... I wanted to use AI to make people laugh. That's why I included actions like the LocoRoco stacking up."

See our gallery of LocoRoco design slides from the seminar.

Gallery: LocoRoco (PSP) design process

Kouno also talked about his design process. He watches TV shows -- especially shows about animals and Discovery Channel-style programming -- to adapt real-world ideas into games. And one LocoRoco enemy came from an even closer source.

Kouno liked the look of one of his tropical fish and thought it should be in the game. After designing a character in the fish's style, he then decided its purpose from its look; the fish-shaped Musukusu lives underground and pops up to grab LocoRocos.

Using a Pocket PC, scraps of paper, and anything else on-hand, Kouno made more notes for the game, drawing landscape shapes, gears, and other ideas. But he quickly moved to the music and its role, wanting the music to change depending on a player's actions. In total, his team recorded about 60 songs for the game to use at different moments, depending on which color LocoRoco is active.

While it was difficult to keep up with parts of the talk -- our translation device played constant static, like someone trying to dial a rotary phone -- Kouno came back to the idea of games that make players smile.

Kouno's triumph came after a tradeshow in which he saw children play the game, laughing and moving their bodies with the action. And with the PS3's motion-sensitive controller built for this sort of giggling gameplay, Kouno said, "I can't tell you now [about a possible PS3 version]. [But] I'm not going to betray your expectations, so you can count on us."

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