As expected, the Japanese PS Store was updated today with a "new" Christmas demo of LocoRoco. The problem? It's not new at all. It's the same demo as the one we featured last year, unfortunately. Most likely, a lot of new PSP owners haven't experienced the glory that is LocoRoco and this revival of the Christmas demo will serve as a gateway drug for more of these blubbery critters. Good move, Sony -- but we want some new LocoRoco fun ... soon.

The team behind the award-winning LocoRoco is working on a brand new PSP game ... and they're looking for help. Imagine! You could be working on the next game from this imaginative group ... provided you live in Japan. We're glad to see the team moving onto something new, something Kouno has been hinting at for quite some time now.

[Thanks, Joe! Via Team ICO Gamers]

With all eyes turned to Tokyo this week, Sony has thrown North American PlayStation 3 gamers a bone in the form of the charming, but perhaps overly complicated "screensaver" game LocoRoco Cocoreccho, as well as a handful of new game demos including Sega Rally Revo, the first title in development from Sega Driving Studio.

Those wanting to pick up the successor to Sony Japan's delightful PSP original LocoRoco can do so for $6.99, a bit of a leap from the game's previously confirmed £1.99 price in the UK. In addition to the already mentioned rally racer, PSN users can also snag demos for EA's Tony Hawk competitor Skate, as well as THQ's Stuntman: Ignition and Sony's own forthcoming NBA 08.

And as if that isn't enough, it also looks like Sony has tossed up some wallpapers, videos, and trailers from such eagerly anticipated eye candy as GT5 Prologue, Devil May Cry 4, and Ratchet and Clank Future, making this a meaty update indeed.

While Andrew has already given us his hands-on impressions of LocoRoco Cocoreccho (try saying that fast three times!), everyone knows a pictures is worth a thousand words, and by my calculations, a video is worth four hundred billion eleventy thousand.

Unfortunately, Andrew was rather disappointed with the interactive screensaver, blaming inconsistent and overly complicated controls, which makes the game lose much of what we loved about the first - simplicity.

The game hits the PlayStation Store this week, so how about you try it out and let us know what you think.

LocoRoco Cocoreccho will arrive on the PlayStation Store this week, and we were able to get some time with it at Sony's pre-TGS media event. We're sad to say that this brand new PS3 sequel loses one of the most important aspects of the original: simplicity. LocoRoco on the PSP charmed gamers with its simple and intuitive play mechanic that could be understood from the moment one picks up the system.

One cannot say the same for Cocoreccho, the supposed "screensaver" game for PS3. There are too many different control mechanisms at play, creating a generally disparate experience. For example, the ability to tilt the world is surprisingly inconsistent: it can only occur during specific parts of each level. Players will have to rock the controller, pump it up and down, sway it left and right throughout each level -- in addition to having to move the analog stick to control the floating butterflies that motivate the LocoRocos to move along. The lengthy tutorial that's included with our demo worries us that the game is much too complicated for its own good.

Obviously, we need to spend more time with the title to fully understand the nuances of the "game" -- perhaps when slowly introduced to the experience, it becomes much more endearing. But in the very little we've seen, we were dismayed by the surprising complexity of this LocoRoco follow-up.

Little LocoRocos, you're so happy, you make us happy, too. We love watching you bounce and squish. Oh, to tickle a LocoRoco would make us burst with joy. We'd explode with rainbows, of course. (That's a mildly NSFW link, all you weekend laborers.)

Sony's PS3 LocoRoco Cocoreccho! "interactive screensaver" um, thing will launch next week in many parts of the world. But the Sixaxis might not let us pet the little creatures. Cocoreccho! isn't quite a game, and we're still not quite sure what it is. But this newest trailer at least annotates some of things players can do, while the earlier video left us guessing.

Watch the cuteness after the break, or imagine it on a crisp HDTV with the direct HD feed.

PlayStation 3's pseudo-screensaver casual title Loco Roco Cocoreccho will plop down onto Europe's PS Store next Thursday, September 21 -- which, not coincidentally, is the first day of the Tokyo Game Show. It will cost £1.99 (EUR 2.92, US $4.00).

Cocoreccho is also slated for release September 21 in Japan. No word on the North American release, but our understanding of the squeeze theorem coupled with traditional territorial game release schedules (Japan 1st, North America 2nd, Europe 3rd) tell us that the game will likely hit stateside next Thursday, as well. We'll let you know when we confirm that.

In the title, the player will utilize the Sixaxis' motion controls for interactive with the game world. Can we get a reviewer's guide for this title, too?

Finally, Sony has come out of its shell and decided to clarify all the hubbub surrounding the new LocoRoco game for the PS3. Is it a game? Is it a screensaver? It is both? Is it ... neither? It's an interactive screensaver with over 200 Loco Rocos to play with, using the Sixaxis. All these bubbling blobs of bliss sit on-screen at once and your objective is to collect as many as possible and lead them to the goal.

As you journey, you'll play three mini-games to multiply the number of blobs in your possession. Also, online leaderboards will make an entrance to see how your fellow screen-saver-playing buddies are doing, including a time attack option. Japan is getting the title on September 21st, but there's no word yet on a US or European release. It'll cost the Japanese about 800 yen and set them back nearly 190 MB, as explained on the Japanese website for the game. If you're using Firefox, it seems to disable tabbing, so open a new window just to be safe.

Rumor has it LocoRoco Cocoreccho is not a game, but a downloadable PS3 screensaver. Now Sony says it true, according to IGN. But the pseudo-sequel isn't characterized by passive voyeurism, rather it's a fully-interactive, uh, 'game' -- complete with objectives and an online leaderboard. Contrary to previous observation, SixAxis tilts will be used to manipulate the gameworld and guide up to 200 on-screen blobs, and Cocoreccho, the butterfly, is actually an automated guide (not the player's character). The real mystery now is what makes LocoRoco a screensaver. Will it launch automatically when the PS3 is idle; when a game or movie is paused? Could this be the start of a new initiative to knit PSN games into a seamless PS3 experience in which taking a "casual" break doesn't mean quitting to the XMB? We certainly hope so.

LocoRoco will be available on Japan's PSN September 21st. North American and European release dates have yet to be assigned.

Update: MTV's Stephen Totilo has gotten his hands on LocoRoco, and, while he's equally puzzled about the screensaver functionality (and even unsure it's true -- his demo launched from the XMB), he is able to clarify the core gameplay controls: Players do control the fluttering Cocoreccho and use the left analog stick to guide the butterfly -- titling the gameworld with SixAxis motions was not possible during Totilo's playtest. However, shaking the SixAxis when hovering above a key object does trigger certain gameworld alterations.

According to Totilo, LocoRoco is almost "an old-school point-and-click adventure game. We used the butterfly as a mouse pointer and utilized shakes of the Sixaxis controller in place of probing mouse clicks."

[Update: Yeah, LocoRoco PS3 actually is a full game. The whole screensaver mumbo jumbo serves as one of those rumors that just won't let go, so to speak.]

While the LocoRoco we're looking at isn't exactly a full-blown sequel to the PSP classic, it's an "interactive screensaver" which, to us, means it's just a one-screen level. From the gallery below, you can see there's more than you'd expect from a mere screensaver, so we're going to go ahead and call this a pseudo-sequel. A teaser, if we may, of what's to come in the future of LocoRoco land. If you can't derive enjoyment from sloshing a yellow blob around your television screen, you've obviously gone through life a little too seriously. We're looking forward to relaxing a bit with this title -- relieve some of that Warhawk-related stress. Check out the gallery and leave us your impressions!