Sony is giving gamers a chance to get hands-on with its unique PSP platformer LocoRoco with a new downloadable demo.

All PSP owners have to do is hit this link and follow the instructions to download the demo, which will be saved to the handheld's memory stick, allowing you to play it any time. There's a catch, though: the demo comes packaged with Sony's latest PSP firmware update - bad news for anyone who likes using homebrew software on their handheld.

LocoRoco - picked by GamesRadar editors as the best PSP game of E3 in our post-show feature - sees you assisting the movement of spherical singing creatures by tilting the earth itself using the PSP's shoulder buttons. The final game will have 40 levels, but the demo will just give you a taste of what controlling the jelly-like LocoRocos will actually be like.

Unfortunately, a taste is all you get for now, as the game won't be hitting US shores until September 5.

June 6, 2006