tsutomu kouno

LocoRoco 2 Revealed In New Famitsu

11:30AM Michael McWhertor | That Sony Computer Entertainment is going back to the LocoRoco well for another chance at acclaim and fortune should come as no surprise. The game’s director, Tsutomu Kouno, has been chatting it up for ages and even SCEE reps confirmed it for a PSP release this year. Good then, that Sony got around to confirming its existence in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu. According to details translated by 1UP, LocoRoco 2 looks to stick to the formula of the first pretty closely, with new music, new bosses and the ability to bite more things — that’s a bullet point, for sure — topping the list of new features. Following sequel evolution tradition, your Locos can now swim. Amazing how that always seems to take an iteration or two. LocoRoco 2 Confirmed, Detailed [1UP] More »

LocoRoco Creator Fighting The Good Fight

5:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Tsutomu Kouno is a creative guy. Hey, he created LocoRoco. Thing is, he works for a big multi-national corporation. Guys in suits aren’t known for their creativity — even at Sony. So imagine the bewilderment Kouno got trying to explain LocoRoco to them. He recalls: To start off with, the upper management didn’t understand the idea. It was hard to communicate, so I tried to show them what it would be like moving — I created the demo and then they went for it…They liked the concept of rotating the world to move the LocoRocos to the goal, but they didn’t understand what I meant when I said I wanted to apply AI to the LocoRoco and put other AI creatures in it — they couldn’t see how that would be interesting or fun. And dear reader, please don’t be so naive to think that this is unique to Sony, but rather, sadly prevalent in the gaming industry. Bright side: Dude got to make his game. It all worked out! Uphill Fight [Develop Mag] More »