These PSP Dual packs will be available at retailers nationwide in January as well as downloadable via the PlayStation Network for $14.99 (MSRP).

At an affordable price of $129.99 (MSRP), PSP continues to offer consumers the ability to enjoy console quality gaming on the go. PSP Dual Packs are a great fit for those who want to play and access a wide variety of PSP classics.

Which of these PSP Dual Packs are you looking forward to most? Let us know in the comments below.

Our friends over at Heavy Water kick things off this week with their Heavy Ink line of body art. Choose from full-body, back and arm tattoos – including animated and glow-in-the-dark designs. Check out this video for a sneak peek at some of the wild tattoos releasing this Thursday in PlayStation Home.

The Heavy Ink line will be expanded in the future. The developers over at Heavy Water encourage you to reach out to them with any comments or suggestions: communityinput@heavyh2o.com. And if you have a specific tattoo design that you’d like to request, go ahead and give ‘em a shout at: mytattoo@heavyinked.com.

Lockwood brings even more Halloween content into PlayStation Home with the new Cauldron of the Sunless Kingdom. Toss ingredients into the boiling pot and, if you manage to get the right mix, you’ll unlock some uber-exclusive rewards.

The newest additions to our line of Superhero costumes will be available this week from the Exclusives store. Check out this video for a sneak peek at these hot new costumes – including my personal favorite: the Fire Elemental.

Come this Thursday, you’ll be able to purchase a special Medal of Honor Tier 1 outfit from the Costumes store and celebrate this critically-acclaimed title properly. And if you pick up Namco Bandai’s Time Crisis: Razing Storm, you’ll be able to unlock special rewards in PlayStation Home. Here’s how:

• Boot up Deadstorm Pirates from the Title Selection Screen and receive a DeadStorm Pirates t-shirt.
• Boot up Time Crisis: Razing Storm from the Title Selection Screen and receive a Razing Storm shirt.
• Boot up Time Crisis 4 from the Title Selection Screen and receive a Time Crisis 4 shirt.

Scion’s “Take on the Machine” activity returns to the Central Plaza this week. Log in to PlayStation Home this Thursday to join the challenge and unlock special rewards. Then head to TakeOnTheMachine.com for additional information on the all new Scion tC and to find a dealer near you.

Finally, be sure to head to the Threads and Furniture stores to pick up the new LocoRoco clothing and furniture items – from Doonga Doonga hats to Loco Sofas for your personal space.

See you in Home!

Konami dives into PlayStation Home this week with both Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Contra gear for your avatar. Dress up as Lance Bean and Bill Rizer of Contra fame as well as Gabriel Belmont from the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow PS3 game. Be sure to check out these new items, available from the PlayStation Home Mall this Thursday, September 30th.

The Sodium store receives an update this week specifically for the ladies of PlayStation Home. Check out some the hot items that will be on the shelves come Thursday morning.

Attn: LocoRoco fanatics. We have Yokke hats (pictured below) and other furniture items, available from the Threads and Furniture stores in the PlayStation Home Mall!

Also available this week from the Furniture store in the PlayStation Home Mall is Shandor, the all-knowing, the all-seeing. This fortune telling-mini game is the newest addition to our line of personal games. Toss coins into the mouth of Shandor and, if you are successful, he will peer into his crystal ball (or maybe it’s just a magic 8-ball?) and tell you the future.

The mega-popular PlayStation Home Community Theater receives yet another update this week, with a new episode of the legendary GamerIndepth videocast. Narde15 – Executive Editor of GamerIndepth – had this to say about their newest addition to the PlayStation Home Community Theater.

“Hey everybody – be sure to log into PlayStation Home this Thursday to check out our second episode of GamerIndepth’s ‘ShoutOuts.’ The week we have a short, informative conversation on Mass Media (and all of the hot items and spaces they are responsible for) as well as an interview with Director_On_Duty from PSTalent, who tells us about how he got started and what his future plans are as far as PlayStation Home is concerned. Plus everyone that catches this week’s episode will be rewarded with an awesome GamerIndepth t-shirt!”

See you in Home!

When you pull up your World Map this Thursday, you’ll notice that the MotorStorm chip has reappeared, along with a brand new MotorStorm game space. The new MotorStorm Super Carrier is essentially a battleship turned full-on party boat, custom-crafted for all of you road warriors that are looking for the perfect environment to meet up with other racing addicts and launch into multiplayer matches of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. Of course, this space houses a proverbial boatload (pun intended) of awesome content, including the interactive DJ booth wherein you can play house DJ, using some of your favorite tracks from Listen@Home. Check out the video below for a fly-through of what is sure to become one of the most popular party spaces in PlayStation Home.

You asked for it, so you got it: This Thursday, February 18th, we will be releasing the highly-anticipated LocoRoco Island personal space, along with some a bevy of special LocoRoco-themed furniture. But that’s not all: We’ll also be unveiling a brand new LocoRoco game space – the Mui Mui King Passenger Boat. Both of these mega-interactive spaces come packed with games and other content that is sure to please all you LocoRoco fanboys (and girls) out there, so watch this video to get a taste of the new LocoRoco Island personal space (available from the Estates Store in the PlayStation Home Mall) and then pull up your World Map on Thursday to take a ride on the new Mui Mui King Passenger Boat (we’ve snuck in a few pics to whet your appetite).

For those of you that are looking for a truly otherworldly PlayStation Home experience, we’re pleased to present the brand new PlanetLand personal space. This patently sci-fi hangout is a real feast for the eyes, boasting gorgeous vistas, a wide array of clothing and furniture options, and even a predatory plant, poised to devour any unwelcome guests before they can get close enough to crash your pad. Peep the below video for an overview of the new PlanetLand personal space (and associated clothing and furniture), available this week only in PlayStation Home.

You’ve been waiting with bated breath for the season premier of the PlayStation Network exclusive The Tester – the new reality series that focuses on the trials and tribulations of a group of hardcore gamers all vying for their dream job as a member of the SCEA QA team. And since you’ve been so vocal about wanting to watch this hot new series in PlayStation Home, we’ve decided to bring it to you. Starting this Thursday, February 18th, and returning every Thursday that follows until the culmination of Season One, we will be airing each new episode of The Tester in the PlayStation Home Mall. And we’re even offering free virtual items to all of you that come out each week. So come watch The Tester season premiere, grab your free item from the Theater or Central Plaza commerce points (additional The Tester items will also be made available in the coming weeks – some of which are positively hilarious), and be sure to return week after week until the winner is crowned.

This week will see a major update to the PlayStation Home Mall, with no small thanks to our new resident business guru, Mr. Magnus Keynes. To celebrate Mr. Keynes coming aboard to the PlayStation Home team, we’ll be launching four new stores in the Mall. Some of these stores will be devoted to items from long-time partners such as Lockwood Publishing (who are releasing a Sodium store), Loot (our friends over at Sony Pictures Entertainment, who brought us Ghostbusters items and the Loot Sound Stage personal space) and EA (who are sure to continue to pack their store with tons of great content). However, two of these stores are brand new, such as the Exclusives store, which is full of limited edition items. To celebrate the grand opening of the Exclusives store, my good buddy Magnus is dropping the price on over 200 items specifically as thanks to you, the loyal PlayStation Home community. Pick up these items for one month only in the Exclusives store before they are pulled off the shelves forever. And if you see Mr. Keynes wandering around in-world (you can identify him by his snazzy gold suit), take a moment to say “hi” and welcome him into the fold.

Also launching this week in the new Mall is a LucasArts store. That’s right, my friends – we’re talking Star Wars and Indiana Jones in PlayStation Home. From the Stormtrooper costumes to the Indy gear, lightsabers to Sith banners, the LucasArts store is chock full of some of the most highly-requested items from the PlayStation Home. Here’s what our friend Brooks Brown, Community Manager over at LucasArts, had to say about this momentous occasion:

“Over the last year, since the world of PlayStation Home got underway, one of the things that has been put in my ear is that we need to get involved. From the moment I saw what this exciting new platform could provide gamers, I couldn’t have agreed more. As a user, I really want to run around as a Stormtrooper, telling people that they aren’t the droids I’m looking for. So it is my pleasure to announce that, as of Thursday, February 18th, you can now find a LucasArts storefront in the PlayStation Home Mall, packed with all sorts of items with the promise of more to come. We even have Imperial Officer uniforms for those of you who wish to act out your Grand Moff Tarkin fantasies – you know who you are!”

You heard him – this week’s update is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out these pics for a taste of what to expect now that LucasArts has come to PlayStation Home, and keep your eyes on this Blog for more announcements as they come.

Our friends over at Loot are throwing quite the event in celebration of the launch of their new store. The Aliens vs. Androids Event, scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 20th at 8:00pm PT (11:00pm EST) in Central Plaza, will pit Aliens against Androids in a battle for the brains (err…minds) of the PlayStation Home community, with the winners receiving gold trophies for their personal spaces and the second place winners (read: losers) receiving a silver gold trophy for their personal spaces (these items will appear automatically in your inventory if you own the Loot Alien or Loot Android virtual items; please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery). Aliens and Android outfits are available from the new Loot store in the PlayStation Home Mall (Alien items are for sale; Android items are free). See the video below for more details regarding this special event.

Last but certainly not least, EA will be hosting a NHL 10 game launching party next week. Join the EA SPORTS NHL 10 Community on Monday, February 22nd from 4:00pm to 8:00pm PT (7:00pm – 11:00pm EST), in Central Plaza, and play with the development and community team in a special NHL 10 Featured Game Party. To participate, simply add one of the following host accounts: NHL10Dev1, NHL10Dev2, NHL10Dev3, NHL10Dev4, Yaw_DEV, and LBotteron. Then, use the “Go To” feature to travel to official “instances” of Central Plaza during the event times. Once at the event, insert the NHL 10 into your PlayStation 3 and then join a game. Make sure to add people you meet in PlayStation Home to your friend’s list so that you can find one another in the game lobby.

See you in Home!

We bring great news to our LocoRoco fans today!

NEW LEVELS!

We celebrated Halloween last October with LocoRoco- Midnight Carnival, introducing the craziest most challenging Loco adventure yet. Now for this holiday, we are releasing a 3 brand new levels on the PSN Store ($2.99) tomorrow! Perfect timing for those of you who want to get Loco during your break.

The level pack includes 3 additional levels:

• Shamplin 3
• BungaBongo 1
• BuiBui Fort 3

Full of new challenges to navigate, we are sure these new levels will keep players of all skill levels busy till the new year.

For those of you who are STILL on the fence, this download pack can be applied to the free PSN demo as well! So if you’re hesitating on buying the full product ($14.99), you can try the bite size taste by getting these 3 levels for $2.99. If you like the 3 new levels, you can always come back for the full product!

LocoRoco Patch

To get this new content, you will have to download and install a small patch on your PSP. People who already own Midnight Carnival can access this patch once they boot up the game and go online beginning this week. The patch also comes bundled with the new level pack so if you buy it, be sure to just load the patch file before installing the new levels.

Holiday Treat

During Halloween we gave everyone some LocoRoco masks to celebrate. This time around, please enjoy these festive winter wallpapers for your PC and PSP compliments of the LocoRoco team! Now it’s real easy to spread the Loco holiday cheer. :)

With that, I’d love to wish you all a lovely Happy LocoRoco Holiday.

We’ll be back with additional Loco news in 2010!

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!

LocoRoco DEMO is Available!
First of all if you still haven’t gotten LocoRoco 2 because you want to try it out first, be sure you roll to the PSP Store to grab the demo. Then you’ll find out what all the buzz is about!

Check out what USA TODAY just said – “this is a game that makes you feel good” – 5 Stars (out of 5).

More Ways to keep your PSP and PS3 Loco!
For those of you haven’t kept up with the crazy shower of free LocoRoco content on the PS Store you might have missed this new theme for both your PSP and PS3!!

“It’s big…it’s yellow…it’s all Loco”

You Can Still Win Loco Prizes!
For those of you who still haven’t signed up for the “Don’t Worry, Get Loco!” sweepstakes…all I have to say is..”What are you waiting for?!”

It’s FREE! It’s Easy! and best of all you can win these –

(ok…its the same thing I know…but you get my point.)

Just go to the sweepstakes page and get your chance to win! (Remember – You can enter once everyday to increase your chances!)

FUN STUFF at LocoRoco.com
LocoRoco.com certainly has a ton of stuff for every LocoRoco fan.

For those of you who have already bought LocoRoco 2, and you need some help, be sure to check out the Fan section for some helpful Hints and Tips!

If you use Facebook you can get embed a LocoRoco Calendar to spice up your FB page.

There is also a fun (and challenging) flash game that you can play and post your high score. My personal best is 71570 so consider this my official challenge to you to beat it. :)

I want to take this time to thank all of your support and Loco-love we’ve seen on the comments. Great games like LocoRoco 2 are only possible through passionate fans like yourself!

This won’t be the end of the LocoRoco posting tho. Our boy Tsubasa is already prepping a some sweet walkthroughs for you LocoRoco 2 players who are looking to score 100%!

Keep on the lookout!