LocoRoco creator Tsutomu Kouno is promising “new gameplay based on physical calculation and crowd AI as well as a few surprises” for his planned sequel.
 
Speaking at Nordic Game Conference this morning he walked his audience through the concept, design and production of his original hit game. He said he would be “scolded” for giving away too many details of this forthcoming work, but offered a few clues as to his general direction.
 
LocoRoco was the first game that he had worked on alone, previously designing levels for games such as Eco. He said it took three attempts to get approval on his concept. “I showed the game in Powerpoints and drawings but it was only when I showed a demo, when everyone could see the game in motion, that it won approval.”
 
He based some of the characters on animal behavior. “I watched my pet fish as well as nature documentaries, to see the funny things they do,” he said. Much of the basic design was done on his commute to work. “I always carry a PDA and jot down any ideas, whether they are characters or gimmicks,” he explained.
 
“I knew I wanted to create a game that was simple. There are too many complex games around. I also wanted to create s fun world that anyone could enjoy. And I wanted to create drama through movement and gameplay.”
 
LocoRoco went on to become one of the most successful and innovative games on PSP. He said the use of color and music was always important in his work, likening it to a stage musical. “I wanted to create the fun and dramatic atmosphere of a live musical,” he said.

Nordic Game: PS3 SingStar inspired by "mass customisation", says Bozek
Patrick Garratt 10:13 (BST) 15/05/2007
 
Sony producer highlights importance of choice
 
Speaking in her keynote at this morning's Nordic Game conference, Paulina Bozek focused on "mass customisation" and how current trends have influenced the development of the PS3 instalment in the SingStar series.
 
"We are on the cusp of a big shift in media consumption and media production," said Bozek, who is executive producer and game director for the franchise. "We are already living and working in these kinds of conditions and this will permeate our work even further."
 
Her speech, 'My Everything: From playlists to profiles and virtual worlds, mass customisation and explosion of choice and creativity', focused on the importance of allowing huge amounts of choice to users.
 
"There have been some big media shifts recently and the landscape of entertainment has changed," she said. "MySpace is really the new MTV. TV is online, music is digital, products are tools and players are becoming creators.
 
"Clearly there is some kind of a big shift going on. It's a new era of consumer participation."
 
Bozek showed "the coolest powerpoint in the world" to the audience in Malmo, Sweden, flashing up brands such as Second Life, PlayStation Home, NikeiD, iPod, Starbucks, Facebook, EA's Tiger Woods, and Media Molecule's recently announced PlayStation 3 community game, Little Big Planet. She spoke at length about the “unbundling” of content for users before showing off the new SingStar in action.
 
"Our major innovations for the next gen platform are SingStore, which is an online store that allows players to create their own playlist by downloading songs of their choice, and My SingStar Online,” she said. “This is a community platform for SingStar fans to upload photos and video and audio to share with friends."
 
SingStore was shown working, while Bozek laboured the point that many SingStar users are not traditional gamers - so her team was careful to make buying tunes from the service as easy as possible, with the user never having to leave the game.
 
PS3 Singtar will launch with 350 songs, with more than 100 expected to be added every month. Bozek showed Shut Up by the Black Eyeds Peas and Atomic by Blondie running on SingStore, flicking through tracks by Cindy Lauper, Destiny's Chield, KT Tunstall and Gwen Stafani.
 
The game is "nearly finished," said Bozek, and will ship this summer, but the American fell short of discussing costings for downloading tracks.
 
"We're going to be announcing our pricing quite soon , but I can't announce it today," she said.

News: Sony reveals the facts of their upcoming killer app for the PlayStation Network.
 
Sony has released a new fact sheet detailing the ins and outs of their upcoming online sandbox LittleBigPlanet:
 
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Media Molecule
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PS3)
Genre: Creative Gaming
Players: 1-4 Players
Rating: "RP" for Rating Pending
 
Overview
Developed by Media Molecule, LittleBigPlanet is a new PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system community-based game with a hugely innovative concept behind it. Players meet on a blue and green planet scattered with individual plots – and use their character’s amazing abilities to play, create and share what they build with other gamers throughout the world via PlayStation Network.
 
The LittleBigPlanet experience starts with players learning about their character’s powers to interact physically with the environment. There are places to explore, creative resources to collect and puzzles to solve – all requiring a combination of brains and collaborative teamwork. As soon as players begin their creative skills will grow and they will soon be ready to start creating and modifying their surroundings – the first step to sharing them with the whole community.
 
Characters have the power to move anything in this glued and stitched-together 3D landscape; they have the power to design, shape and build both objects and entire locations for others to view and play. There’s no complicated level editor; all of these skills can be learned by simply playing the game. Creativity is part of the gameplay experience and playing is part of the creative experience. Players can make their world as open or as secretive to explore as they like. When it’s ready, they can invite anyone within the LittleBigPlanet community to come and explore their patch – or can go and explore everybody else’s.
 
Feature
# There’s not just one way to play. Players craft their own individual experience based on their own creativity.
# Unlimited possibilities for user-created content – players can customize everything: their characters, the landscape around them and their own patch on LittleBigPlanet.
# Players learn new skills and discover new items to aid them on their creative journey Explore the massive single player game or go online to find user-generated content.”LittleBigPlanet will change every day as players contribute their own levels
# Online and offline multiplayer modes – play alone, work as a team or get competitive
# LittleBigPlanet global community for players to get involved with: includes player comments, rankings and easy communication with new and existing friends
 
http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=6917