LocoRoco Mobile spotted in Japan

The Sony-Ericsson SO703i--the "smell'O'phone"--will be released in Japan preloaded with a mobile version of LocoRoco, the quirky 2D platformer currently available only on the PlayStation Portable.

LocoRoco was developed by Sony and released in 2006. In the game, players tilt the onscreen environment to guide the cartoony LocoRoco characters to the end of each level.

The new phone also boasts a series of interchangeable fragranced "aroma sheet" faceplates, which smell when the user opens up the phone. The display utilises some of the same technology that exists in Sony's Bravia televisions, and the telephone will be available on the NTT Docomo network.

The release date of the new handset in Japan is "tentatively" February--as of press time, a Sony spokesperson hadn't responded to a request for information on whether Europe and the US would also see LocoRoco coming to mobiles.