Meet the PSP's Mr LocoRoco, Tsutomu Kouno

Japanese games designer Tsutomu Kouno is merely 33 years old, but in some ways we're surprised to find he's not 13.

His game, LocoRoco, which we're doing a bad job of shutting up about, has a 'Why Not?' naivety and beauty that seems a million miles away from modern games, with their grown-up concerns such as drug-running and contract killing.

We're not immune to the appeal of the gangster life, of course, but variety is the spice of gaming. There were once lot more games with the imaginative vision of LocoRoco (although few as accomplished at realising that vision). Let's hope there are again.

How long have you been interested in gaming? Tsutomu Kouno: When I was an elementary school kid, I had my parents buy me a computer. I created some games using BASIC programming language and had my friends play them. At that time, I was really into text adventure games.

What was your first job? After graduation from college, I joined SCE and worked on an RPG title for PlayStation called Legend of Dragoon. For that title, I did map planning. After that I worked the PS2 title ICO and also handled map planning.

What made you want to design a computer game? When I was a kid, I felt unlimited possibilities as I created various kinds of games, and that made me want to design. I felt that depending on ideas, anything could be possible.

Who is your favourite LocoRoco character? Chuppa, Nyokki and Mojya.

What is your favourite game? Monster Hunter (PS2 & PSP), Tactics Orga (Super Famicom), Black & White (PC), Age of Empire (PC)

What do you think are the key ingredients for a successful game? This is something that I personally feel, but image with a great impact is essential for a successful game. Without it, even if we air a commercial on TV, no one pays attention to it, and no one remembers. Therefore, I feel the game's image must be evocative enough to attract as many people as possible.

I think there could be many different ways to create such images, but I am always thinking to see if I could use various new techniques that are not related to games and the latest function of CG software, and so on.

Another important thing – this is really obvious – is to make games fun and interesting. I feel that it is necessary to analyze games that I immersed myself in long time ago and combine the fun and interesting parts of them with technologies that are currently available.

Evocative image to attract many people and then an interesting game to play. If these are realized, I believe that game will succeed.

What do you think are the specific challenges of designing a game for PSP? Since PSP can be carried anywhere in the world, I tried to make the game as simple as possible so that anyone can enjoy it, even if you don't speak certain languages.

Where did you get the inspiration for LocoRoco? I often draw pictures on my PDA when riding on a train, and those pictures are the beginning. Most of the sub characters, including Chuppa, Nyokki, and Mojya, are from those drawings that I made on PDA. The AI of LocoRoco is based on a program that I created when I was a student.

What was your first LocoRoco thought – did the characters, the scenery or the rolling mechanic come first? Drawings that I made are the base. I used to draw many LocoRoco piling up struggling in a cave, or laughing, or wondering around alone. Later I started to draw pictures where the land was tilted and a LocoRoco was being rolled.

What is your favourite part of the game? My favourite part is actions by multiple LocoRoco. Although the part has nothing much to do with the gameplay, this is what I most wanted to do. Watching LocoRoco gather to sing and pile up is really fun.

Also their actions are not determined by certain motion data so you can never be bored watching them; by utilising PSP's speed processing and curved surface drawing function, I am trying to realize LocoRoco by physical calculations.

I also love the background music of the game. To keep the same music across the world, I created a LocoRoco language myself and wrote the lyrics. LocoRoco sings as they roll, and the chorus is added and decreased depending on the number of LocoRoco, so the song constantly changes.

I believe focusing on what looks pointless is actually important.

What next for LocoRoco? I have several ideas but nothing has been decided!