If you haven’t played Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational in a while, now is the time! As some of you may already know, we recently released a feature update (patch 1.05). This long awaited update adds the following features:

Turn Based Challenge

Too busy to join a tournament online at a given time/date? Not to worry! By introducing this “Turn Based Challenge” mode, you can now challenge your friends in an asynchronous competition and play head to head, hole by hole.

Players can now also set up 20 different parallel games at any given time. To avoid cheating, there are no re-dos, similar to Daily Tourneys. Short messages (like SMS) are also now enabled, as well as competitive score history between friends.

Additional gameplay updates include:

• Four-player stroke mode enabled in the multiplayer rooms.
• A slot mode added to the online/adhoc, enabling a slot machine style handicap system applied per hole to keep the game interesting in case there is an imbalance between player skills.
• We’ve also added a new visual lobby in the online space, and tweaked the game balance a little bit.

DLC Content

The classic Mt. Sakura returns from Hot Shots Golf Fore!, great for advanced and novice players alike. Those of you who have been with us over the years can reminisce, while those of you who are just joining us can experience some of our great courses from the past. Another course we are bringing back is Northern Fox. This too is a novice-friendly course, but don’t be fooled — there are some tricky course designs here and there. Both Mt. Sakura and Northern Fox have been revamped completely and look great in today’s resolution standards.

Last but not least, we’re also adding a brand new golf course named Mar Cielo. Surrounded by emerald green waters, this pretty beach resort style golf course is sure to keep the intermediate and advanced players challenged. Don’t get too relaxed on this beautiful golf resort, and watch for the landscapes and obstacles we’ve thrown in there.

We’re also adding new characters to the game: Erika, Gloria, and Kat from the PS Vita fan-favorite Gravity Rush. Kat is very much intrigued with her discovery of golf, and is gravitating to the sport with a great deal of curiosity.

These new courses and characters will be available next Tuesday when PlayStation Store updates. Each character will cost $0.99, with the courses going for $2.99 apiece. You’ll be able to grab the whole set for $11.99, and PlayStation Plus members will get 25% off that price, bringing it down to $8.99.

So once again, a big thanks to everyone for your patience. We’re happy to finally offer the extended features and DLC available on Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. Happy golfing!

Invite friends to play in private tournaments

Whereas before you could only play in Real Mode tournaments that were open to all, now you can create private tournaments for you and up to seven friends, as well as private rooms in the online lobby space. Out on the course, you’ll be able to see your opponent’s ball after each shot, and between holes you can also use text chat to communicate with your friends, on the scorecard screen.

Stroke Mode (Head-to-Head)

Previously Ad-Hoc only. A head-to-head competition for two players, where the golfer with the best results at the end of a round wins. You’ll be able to chat with and heckle your opponent between holes.

Match Mode (Head-to-Head)

Previously Ad-Hoc only. This is also a head-to-head competition for two players, but this time it’s the first competitor to get to 3UP status during a round who wins. Once more, chat and heckling is possible between holes.

Introducing Rank for Real Mode tournaments

Players will now be rated G0 (strong) to G4 (novice) depending on their online performance. Rank will act dynamically, with players ranked according to their performance in official tournaments with more than ten participants. This way, novice players can play without the fear of being completely decimated, while experienced players can compete with other skilled golfers.

Introducing Seasons to Daily Tournaments

In Daily Tournaments mode, there will now be one game per day — a reduction from the previous three — so that each Tournament will be more focused and exciting. One season is equivalent to seven days, with a variety of rankings measured per week. These include a Weekly Champion and Top 10 rankings.

That’s it for the new additions to Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. Now grab a friend and your PS Vita and get golfing!

Here are a few words from The Last Guardian Director/Game Designer, Fumito Ueda:

I announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show that the release timing of The Last Guardian which is currently being developed would be holiday 2011.

However, to provide more challenging and better quality of content to users and to fulfill First Party Studio’s obligations, I decided to postpone its release timing.

All the members of my production team are working together at a fast pace to develop and release the game in First Party Studio quality.

I sincerely apologize to all the customers who have been waiting for “The Last Guardian” for so long, but I beg for your patience. I will also announce the new release timing at a later time.

We’re here to announce that echoshift is releasing on the PlayStation Network this Thursday, February 25! This innovative puzzle game will bring a fun and refreshing style of gameplay to PlayStation Portable fans of all ages.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the title already, echoshift is a spin-off of the PSN hit echochrome, and shares a similar artistic design. The soundtrack to the game was composed by a new group and elegantly sets the pace for the unique game play. echoshift features a new challenge for gamers to learn how to interact with your past actions.

The game is based on solving the puzzles and gimmicks in each level to reach the exit, but within a short or limited amount of time. You’ll have to think quickly to overcome obstacles, and the game records an “echo” of your actions. This echo replays itself if time runs out before you finish your turn (we call it “cast”), and you can then try again from the beginning alongside all of your previous echoes. Cooperate with all of the echoes and actions of your past to help pass challenges you couldn’t before! Check out this trailer to see echoshift in action:

This creative approach to solving puzzles is easily learned for anyone to enjoy, and there are over 30 different kinds of puzzles to keep you occupied. You’ll have to quickly plan your actions and echoes in order to beat all 56 levels. The game also comes with three different game modes for each level, which will challenge you to find new ways to solve puzzles faster than you have before. Buyers can take all of this content on the go with them for just $14.99!

Whether you’re looking for a quick puzzle or hours of mind benders, I hope everyone enjoys echoshift. Stay tuned for future updates!

Today is a grand day in Loco history as LocoRoco Midnight Carnival hits the PSN! As I’ve stated in my last few blog posts, Midnight Carnival is full of great new features to satisfy your “tilt and roll” needs! But one of the biggest things this game brings is….competition. Now I’m not just talking about the multiplayer feature we went over on Monday where I took Kumi out. :) I’m talking about competition on a global scale! With Midnight Carnival, you can finally test your skills against the best in the world via the new online Global Leaderboard.

For those of you who can’t find a LocoRoco opponents locally, check out the Global Leaderboard (accessible via Infrastructure mode) to compete with the top players from around the globe. The top five players will be given the option to upload their replay save for bragging rights. Those who don’t rank in the top 5 can download those replays for possible tips on improving their game. Talk about showing your LocoRoco supremacy!

For those of you who are sitting the fence, not to worry. We are releasing a Demo today, and a new PSP Wallpaper next week to further wet your appetite! If you don’t pick up LocoRoco Midnight Carnival after that, well I just don’t know what else I can do….

Oh wait! How about these?

Now you can celebrate LocoRoco Midnight Carnival Day AND Halloween together!

Merry Trick or Treating!

Have you all decided on your Halloween costumes yet?
Have you stocked up on candy for the Trick or Treating kids in the neighborhood?
Have you charged your wallets up in preparation for LocoRoco Midnight Carnival for PSP, available this Thursday on PSN for $14.99?

Well, thankfully you have a few more days to get ready! In this week’s blog post, we’d like to share a little more on the features, specifically multiplayer!

For the first time in Loco history, you can now race friends through levels! Via Ad Hoc, connect with up to four players and see who can get to the end first. Each player controls their own tilt and bounce action, but you can see their position on your screen so you know when you are neck and neck. To show you how this works, I challenged Kumi, my LocoRoco partner-in-crime here, to a race and we recorded it.

Many of you regular readers may recall a blog post for LocoRoco 2 when we first introduced Ad Hoc competition LocoRoco Minigame called LocoRider. Kumi and I played head to head and she ended up beating me. So this is our rematch!

(She is the pink LocoRoco on the screen, and you will see my yellow avatar, which will indicate my position on the map.)

Well folks, I have good news! (for me at least)

I WON! YAY!!!

Free Loco-Goodness on PSN
If you didn’t catch them last week, we put up some special FREE LocoRoco PSN items!

A LocoRoco Midnight Carnival theme and spooky wallpaper! Make sure to swing by and grab them to get into the spirit!

Catch you again soon with more Loco-goodness!

Halloween is just around the corner, but wait, so is LocoRoco Midnight Carnival! I’m happy to announce LocoRoco Midnight Carnival hits the PlayStation Network for PSP on October 29 for $14.99!

So that means in two short weeks you’ll finally be able to get your LocoRoco fix, complete with 16 brand new stages, full competitive and co-op modes, two mini games, and three additional bonus stages! On top of that, we are very eager for LocoRoco fans old and new to try out the new “Boing” mechanism which adds even more fun and challenge to the game. It will keep you on your toes and keep your palms pretty sweaty…please wipe hands clean once in a while!

As we get ready for the LocoRoco Midnight Carnival launch and before we all go “Trick or Treating,” we’d love to highlight some other cool features of the game…like new LocoRoco accessories!

Gandalf the Yellow?

Harry Potter Who?

Just like you would wear masks and costumes to dress up for Halloween, LocoRoco now has the ability to dress up for a variety of added features.

As you play and collect pickories, you can go the Bui Bui store and purchase accessories for LocoRoco, some of which can give you special abilities! Check some of them out!

Helper’s Mask

Having trouble getting through a certain area? Do you wish you had someone carry you over and bypass that area? Yes, your wish can be granted! Ask your friend to wear “Helper’s Mask” and play the level together. Then you will be able to hold onto your friend and bypass the area!

Heart Glasses

Some accessories are meant for certain LocoRoco! Find out what happens when each LocoRoco wears their own accessories.

These chic and sleep specs would look just dazzling on Viole! She certainly looks happy when she wears them. Her boings turn into her color and she starts singing!

Stay tuned to the Blog next week as we cover how multiplayer works!

Till then, have a great weekend!

As you’ll notice in the trailer, LocoRoco Midnight Carnival features a super enhanced high bounce called “Boing!” You can navigate the LocoRoco by bouncing even higher off the walls and throughout the levels. It changes the gameplay dynamic and we think you’ll have a lot of fun with it.

Check out the trailer from the European PlayStation Blog, embedded below, and let us know what you think!

Long time no speak, Tsubasa here with breaking news!

We have a spin off of our favorite LocoRoco franchise coming down the pipe real fast! LocoRoco Midnight Carnival just made its world premier at gamescom going on in Cologne, Germany this week. The product will be for the PSP platform via the PSN.

We’re making sure our fans States-side are not left out on the news.

The mischievous BuiBui woke LocoRoco up from beauty sleep. It seems BuiBui have gone and built some challenging levels for LocoRoco to tackle. Help LocoRoco conquer the levels in hope to get back to bed!

This time around, LocoRoco has a super enhanced bounce called “Boing!” Use this to your advantage and literally bounce off walls, find LocoRoco’s friend MuiMui, and go for the goal!

LocoRoco Midnight Carnival comes with:

• 16 standard stages
• 2 mini games
• 3 bonus stages

Use the Ad hoc feature to either compete with friends, or to play co-op. We will also have leaderboards prepared for you, to compete with your LocoRoco friends worldwide!

We’re very excited to be bringing LocoRoco Midnight Carnival to you. Stay tuned for more details!

Here is a quick run down on the new features being added as of June 18.

Cloud:
This is a game mode that allows players to upload levels they have created, and also download levels that others have posted. We have added a simple search function to go with it. For example, if you find someone whose works you like, you can search for their levels by ID.

Our Picks:
For those of you who do not want to search through the sea of user-generated content, we have weekly updates of 8 recommended levels for you to enjoy.

YouTube Uploader/PlayStation EYE support:
Another great feature update is the YouTube uploader. Once players have played through a level successfully, they have the option to upload the replay to YouTube (you will need a YouTube account of course, but the process is very straightforward).

Even better, if you have the PlayStation Eye peripheral, you will be enabled to capture yourself playing the game. This capture will appear as a “picture-in-picture” image, that you can also upload to YouTube. Capture that moment of successfully solving that mind breaking puzzle and share with friends!

There are a bunch of smaller but important additional updates as well, such as DTS Sound Support, custom soundtrack support (play back your own music in-game, from your XMB playlist), and updated Trophy Icons. So yes, we do listen to comments or feedback from our dear users.

We are very happy to continue support on this project, and hope you enjoy the added value!

And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer for the echochrome spin-off for PSP that was announced at E3 last week — “echochrono (working title).”