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Toy Story DLC Coming To LittleBigPlanet

Chris Carlson — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:56:13 +0000

Media Molecule has revealed the latest downloadable content for LittleBigPlanet 2. Buzz-Buzz-Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! Yup, you guessed it, Toy Story is coming to LittleBigPlanet.

The new level kit and costume pack will run you $5.99 each and we be released on August 3rd. Check out the full details for each pack below.

Level Kit:

9 Brand new Toy Story themed Levels (2 cutscenes, 5 levels and 2 mini-levels)
2 New music tracks
1 new interactive music track
A New level background
5 Materials
10 Decorations
6 Objects
149 Stickers
The Toy Story Alien Costume

Costume Kit:

Buzz Lightyear Gloves, Buzz Lightyear Helmet, Buzz Lightyear Legs, Buzz Lightyear Teeth, Buzz Lightyear Body,
Slinky Dog Feet, Slinky Dog Ears, Slinky Dog Hands, Slinky Dog Nose, Slinky Dog Skin, Slinky Dog Body, Slinky Dog Tail
Hamm Head, Hamm Skin, Hamm Body
Rex Claws, Rex Head, Rex Skin, Rex Body

Is Media Molecule Really Stepping Away From LittleBigPlanet?

Chris Carlson — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:00:42 +0000

According to a recent Tweet, Media Molecule will be stepping away from the LittleBigPlanet franchise.

Edge quoted studio director Siobhan Reddy saying that:

The future of LittleBigPlanet at this point is currently unknown, but it will be interesting to see what Media Molecule has plans for in the future. Just a few days ago Media Molecule posted a job listing for a graphics programer on their website. Unfortunately, no real details were giving on whether or not this position will be for a new IP, or for a future LittleBigPlanet title.

Stay tuned as this story unfolds… or just go build something cool in LBP2.

RipTen Review: LittleBigPlanet 2

Ripten Staff — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:39:38 +0000

By RipTen Contributor Garrett Grothe

It’s hardly 2011, and yet Sony is pulling out all the stops on what looks to be a fantastic year with the release of LittleBigPlanet 2. You may throw up from the catastrophic levels of cuteness, but LBP 2 is everything fans could wish for from a sequel and then some.

While there is little depth to Sackboy and he/she lacks any form of incredible death-defying backstory, Sackboy and the wonderful world that surrounds the sack’s origin is a dream that you don’t want to wake from. With an expanded set of tools and weapons of cupcake-esque proportions, Sackboy teams up with a wonderfully assorted set of friends to stop the impending doom set forth by the nefarious Negativitron. If you wanted any form of narrative from LBP, it’s delivered in troves in this sequel. However, while it lacks any form of depth, you’ll quickly be offset by the whimsical tale of a Sackboy and his companions saving the dream world from an evil vacuum. Thanks to the addition of additional voice acting accompanying the lovely voice of Stephen Fry and an plot with an actual climax, Sackboy is up to his … sack in shenanigans thanks to the addition of our new-found villain.

While the plot may be shallow, it utilizes all the fantastic new additions to the game such as the grappling hook, cupcake-cannon helmet and a variety of other tools that make each level Media Molecule created feel that much more varied than the previous. While the overall campaign can be completed in around 5 hours, there is little to no repetition in it’s design. You’ll be soaring on the back of a bee not unlike a bullet-hell akin to Gradius or dousing flames with a helmet that spurts water not unlike Super Mario Sunshine. Sackboy’s trip begins cute enough but ends with a much-fantasized sci-fi conclusion. It really must be seen to be believed, whether you run it alone or with a friend (or three)

Co-op makes its grand return, running just as great as it did in the first. There’s even the addition of a counter that displays how many people are currently playing a specific mission, allowing players to pick and choose a mission populated with plenty of other players to group up with.

However, LittleBigPlanet 2 still features the same “floaty” gameplay mechanics that plagued the first game. Jumping back and forth between the front and back of 2d environments can still be a pain in the ass, but taken at face value, gameplay is still a damn good time. The true challenge lies in collecting every sticker, object and outfit while attempting to get your sack through each mission without dying. Sackboy’s poor excuse for jumping can hinder this process, but it will still resound as a doable challenge for veterans.

Yet, it wouldn’t be LittleBigPlanet without some amazing tools made available to create levels that are sure to astound. Every aspect of the game’s tools have been ramped up and proudly displayed in Media Molecule’s set campaign missions. All of the objects and NPCs that populate the game have been greatly improved upon thanks to the addition of logic circuits that add a level of intelligence to creatures. Sackbots make their debut in the latter portions of the campaign, either running from Sackboy or aiding in his/her quest. The logic circuits are a true godsend for the series. Along with said circuits, you also have the ability to create maneuverable vehicles and top-down levels. Also, don’t forget the ability to create cutscenes, add your own voice-overs and a variety of new tools that allow for a much more wide breadth of level creation or even game creation if that’s your thing.

At the point of reviewing the game, Move support is not yet included outside of Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves. It could easily be added and let’s hope it is. The two million+ user created levels form the first game are readily available to hop into, albeit with some extremely slow load times.

I’m sorry if I’m the first to admit it (I’m not), but LittleBigPlanet 2 is the perfect game to play with your significant other or small child. But if you feel inclined to do so, playing with yourself is never a bad thing. All the additions to LBP 2 are fantastic. The fact that an actual narrative with a beginning, middle and end only aid the campaign in delivering pure joy. I’m a grown-ass man and I had to take an occasional break to wipe the smile off my face. Level creation is less frustrating, but the tools do take a significant amount of time to grasp. If there is a single game to set down your manliness for, it’s easily LittleBigPlanet 2. Trading in your M16 for a cupcake launcher may be the best decision you’ll make for months to come and there are surely a few million Sackpeople that would agree.

Here’s the Rundown:

+Every aspect of the campaign has been greatly expounded upon
+Level creation features a much higher level of intelligent design
+IT’S HORRIBLY CUTE

-Gameplay still suffers from Sackboy’s “floaty” controls
-Learning new creation tools is a task
-The campaign is over long before you want it to be

Final Fantasy IV Battle Recreated With Little Big Planet 2

Danielle Cantrell — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:33:09 +0000

What do you get when you combine the unlimited possibilities of Little Big Planet with the paladragoony-ness of Final Fantasy IV? You get this awesome video.

Shuanji has created a Christmas gift of sorts, for those of us who are fans of the Final Fantasy series. Using the LittleBigPlanet 2 Beta, he made a short battle sequence, including an ATB gauge, limit breaks, and some easily recognizable FFIV battle music.

This is one of my favorite examples of what can be done with more creative games and it’s definitely great fanservice to those of us who appreciate Final Fantasy and gaming nostalgia.

Here’s what he had to say:

For my Chrismas gift to the community, I present to you a prototype of Project Crystal’s ATB Battle System, pitting you and an AI controlled Dragoon Knight against the Magitek BlastWyrm! Includes Magic Points, one spell, Technique Points, one technique, FF4 Boss theme, a (terrible, lazy, one button and overpowered) Limit Break, attacking, and even an escape option! xD

I don’t remember there being limit breaks in FFIV . . .

Check out Mr. Shuanji’s homepage HERE.

Little Big Planet 2 Delayed. Has a New January Release Date

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:13:36 +0000

Sorry Sackboy fans, Little Big Planet 2 will be delayed. Currently, developer media Molecule has given a firm release date of January 18, 2011 for North America.

Official Statement from Media Molecule:

LittleBigPlanet 2 is a crazy dream, a dream to allow players to make whatever kind of game they want, but also to play though a great adventure of drama and excitement, power-ups, and cinematics. But like all of the most ambitious ideas, it can be a considerable challenge to turn these dreams in fun games. We’ve all been working like powered-up space ninjas and we’re almost there, but because we love what we’ve made, and we love our little sack-friends, and most of all we love all our fans out there, we couldn’t let you all get together until we knew we were giving you the best experience imaginable. Which is why we’ve taken the hard decision to delay the worldwide release of LittleBigPlanet 2, originally slated for later this year to January 2011.

We know this will come as disappointing news for all you LittleBigPlanet fans, and believe us, we are disappointed too. We are a tight-knit team and we take enormous pride in our work, so to raise the bar we’ve set with the original LittleBigPlanet, a game that has been so embraced by all, we’ve agreed to allow ourselves a bit more time to deliver the experience that our great fans and community deserve. We are truly sorry, but hope you understand that we have to build the best possible game, as it is the foundation of our community.

On the upside, we are going to find a way to give more of you a taste of LBP2 prior to launch, so stay tuned.

Thanks for your continued love and support, it won’t be long – we promise.

Lots of love from all at Mm

I’m sure the game will do well with all the hype surrounding and taking into account the success of the first one. Only thing is I’m sure they’ll be many unhappy about not having the game for Christmas.

To see videos displaying LBP 2 ‘s versatility click here.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Post-Release Patch Will Support Move, Your Limitless Imagination and Your Wildest Dreams.

Gavin Bard — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:15:12 +0000

While it was already known that Media Molecule’s heavily anticipated burlap sack romp LittleBigPlanet 2 would support the PlayStation 3′s Move peripheral at launch, it has been confirmed they will be releasing a patch that applies that same functionality to the robust level creation toolset.

This new tool, called the Direct Seat, will be available at retail but will only support Sixaxis controls. That is, until Media Molecule releases a patch. Co-founder Alex Evans had this to say;

“So, right now, players can use the Direct Control Seat to decide how the Sixaxis affects your level, and we’d like to do the same thing for the Move. We have something like that internally, but it’s not fully built. We’re working with another studio to help us prototype out what Move could be, and those levels will be on the disc at launch, to show players what they’ll be able to build.”

While I may be one of those heartless and jaded hardcore gamers that have no real desire for anything related to motion sensing technology, the idea of user created Move-based content in LittleBigPlanet 2 is incredibly exciting. The pretentious artist in me absolutely reveled in watching some of the borderline genius that flowed forth from amateur designers in the original LittleBigPlanet, and with the sequel poised to give gamers even more control over their creations, allowing them to also create motion based content will only prove to push creativity even further. Kudos to all- unless you don’t like granola, than I guess Crunch bars to all.

[Source: CVG]

GRIN’s Final Fantasy “Fortress” Footage Found!

Sean Hollister — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:28:31 +0000

Another day, another out-of-work game developer leaking assets from what they supposed was a canceled project. Today, it’s former GRIN sound designer Jonatan Crafoord — and the assets are none other than the first footage of their doomed Final Fantasy game, codename “Fortress.”

While Jonatan never explicitly mentions either “Final Fantasy” or “Fortress” in the video above, our sword-swinging adventurer’s mount certainly isn’t an ostrich — and several pieces of art in the video match up exactly with the Fortress art of GRIN environmental artist Peter Johansson, as uncovered by Supererogatory last year.

Though the fate of Fortress is still unknown — Gamesindustry.biz reported the title was still in development at Square Enix as of September — it appears that at least Jonatan Crafoord’s story has a happy ending. According to his LinkedIn, Jonatan’s sound design skills are now employed at Media Molecule, the developers of LittleBigPlanet.

Source: jonatancrafoord.se (via Blue’s News)

Media Molecule Details LittleBigPirates Of The Carribean Level Pack

Demi Adejuyigbe — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:35:43 +0000

Unfortunately, “LittleBigPirates of the Carribean” isn’t the official name for the map pack, but there’s still time, Media Molecule. The things that are official, according to MediaMolecule, are the pricing, release date, and content included in the pack. Sorry, Pirates fans- as an E-rated game, there’s no rum here.

What there is included however, is much more exciting. New music, costumes, levels, stickers, and miscellaneous items will be downloadable for LittleBigPlanet in a week on December 22nd, all for the price of £4.79 / €5.99 / US $5.99 / AUS $ 9.95 / NZD $11.50/ 5 million space bucks. You trophy whores Those of you that enjoy working towards a goal will be glad to know that the level pack also includes 11 new trophies, which detail a few more things you’ll be able to do with the level pack. For the full list of items included, hit the jump.

New Gameplay features for Create: Water – Global Water Object, Scuba Gear, Bubble Machine, Water Switch
5 Brand new Pirates of the Caribbean themed Levels
1 New costume: The Cannibal: Leg Bands, Teeth, Nose Decoration, Hair, Loincloth, Skin
4 new music tracks
A new level background
8 Materials
14 Decorations
27 Objects
133 Stickers
11 brand new PlayStation® Trophies

Media Molecule also put out a bunch of new screenshots from the pack to whet your appetite until the 22nd. (via MM)

LittleBigPlanet reaches 1 million community levels

Sam Naylor — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:41:31 +0000

LittleBigPlanet recently reached one million online levels, and the developers have deservedly begun to celebrate. A million levels, of which 999,990 are trophy-farming levels. The million levels have been played 244 million times; obviously this means that there have been 244 million cases of frustration over the stupid physics and jumping mechanics, and likely about a billion uses of the “hit the other player” wave of the control stick.

LittleBigRevenge: Be Careful What You Wish For

Demi Adejuyigbe — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:52:36 +0000

Once in a while, a video comes along that is just so well-produced, and so clever that you can’t help but think it’s viral marketing of some sort. SeakittenCollective’s LittleBigRevenge is a perfect example of that, though I’m sure the turn for the worse this video takes isn’t the image that Media Molecule wants to promote.

Belgian couple Michael Van Ostade and Kaat Schellen had to find out the hard way that the Sackboys (Sackgirl? Sackpeople?) of LittleBigPlanet are always adorable, but sometimes vengeful when Kaat makes the mistake of wishing that the Sackpeople were real. I don’t want to spoil the video, so I’m just gonan shut up so you can enjoy the masterpiece that is LittleBigRevenge.

Source: Destructoid

LittleBigPlanet update coming soon

Sam Naylor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:16:46 +0000

The PS Blog reports that LittleBigPlanet will be receiving an update soon, including a multitude of fixes and improvements. The update notes are after the jump, and include such things as ‘the game doesn’t break much now’ and ‘it’s a bit better now’. Not really, but that’s the gist of it. The patch includes the ability to listen to your own music in some sections of the game, and a better way to manage clothing, as well as a few improvements to the UI and community aspects of the game.

This update addresses several outstanding issues with the game:

* There is a new music player which lets player’s choose their own music from the XMB to play during create mode and in their Pod
* Improved decoration mode makes it easier to customize your Sackboy

New options to help prevent profiles becoming full of unwanted community objects:

* Option to delete all (unhearted) community objects and photos
* Option to select whether to automatically collect community prizes and photos
* A number of improvements have been made to make profiles more robust and to recover from certain errors
* We now support Japanese and Korean IME for text chat.
* Emitter prediction has been improved (this should help fast-moving projectiles e.g. in MGS levels)
* The player proximity switch now has a ‘require all’ option in it
* An option has been added to cycle between various level information when viewing community levels on the earth
* Various LittleBigStore improvements

Via Dtoid.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Sackboy collection coming to PSN

Sam Naylor — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:58:21 +0000

Sony’s Hong Kong site has revealed a set of Metal Gear Solid 4 DLC for LittleBigPlanet today. The content features costumes (individual and a pack) and level content for the game. Fans will be able to dress their Sackboy as Meryl, Screaming Mantis, and Raiden, along with the already released Old Snake. Looking at the icon for the level creation pack, it looks like there will be plenty of MGS stickers, as well as the inevitable objects and materials. Sony might be milking the cash cow a little hard with LittleBigPlanet, but honestly this looks like it might be something I’m actually interesting in getting, if only to have a Solid Snake sticker.

Via PS3 Fanboy.

LittleBigPlanet Festive “Level Pack” Out 18th December

Sam Naylor — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:57:24 +0000

The PlayStation Blog has revealed a new set of downloadable content for LittleBigPlanet today: a “level pack”. The pack, the first of many, will include costumes, objects, decorative items and stickers, and will cost $2.99. The two costumes above will be in this pack, along with a host of other stuff- but only until Jan 8!. Hit the jump to see what you’ll be getting.

- Two new Costumes – Christmas Tree headpiece and a Wrapped Sackboy.
- One new Create Material = Wrapping Paper (cardboard w/ giftwrap texture).
- Two new Objects = A Festive Sleigh and holiday themed light.
- Six new Decorations = A Festive Bauble, Bell, Wrapping Bow, Candy Cane, Card and Stocking.
- A ton of new Stickers = holiday themed of course, including a Red Nose Reindeer, Elves, Turkey images and many more.

Pretty nice selection of stuff. Worth $2.99, though? I suppose if you’re a big fan of Christmas and/or the game, it’s not too bad. Look out for the free Santa costume being released soon, too!

LittleBigPlanet Sales Not That Great? No Shit!

Dan Landis — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:25:21 +0000

I know some fanboys will read the headline and expect this article to totally slam the PS3 and Little Big Planet, and they will likely start posting hateful comments before even reading what this is about. Great. You are only making your fanboyism more apparent and showing the community what a massive dickface you are, so I welcome that.

What this article is actually about is in defense of Little Big Planet (or is it LittleBigPlanet, one word?). You see, a lot of websites (that I won’t mention because they don’t deserve the promotion) have been commenting on Little Big Planet’s sales and making the fantastically brilliant analysis that the game’s delay may have affected its numbers. More specifically, its October sales numbers in particular are not as high as they could have been because the release date was pushed back. Um, no fucking shit, you morons.

While a lot of fanboys and seemingly intelligent people have tried to reason with these websites as to why the sales were as “low” as they were (the patch caused people to be wary of buying it, lots of big releases in October, Sony didn’t advertise it enough, etc.), they all seemed to be missing one obviously logical explanation: it didn’t sell as well as it could have because it was only out for 4 fucking days!

Let me ask you this: do you think Little Big Planet sold less copies in October in 4 days than it would have if it was instead available for 11 days? Um, of course it did. It’s pretty simple logic, isn’t it? In fact, Little Big Planet’s sales of 215,000 units in 4 days was only right behind SOCOM’s sales of 231,000, and that game was available for a full two weeks longer.

Some people assumed Little Big Planet would be an instant million-seller, and some even predicted 5 million units sold. These October numbers now have people making all kinds of excuses. Let’s be real, people. The PS3 has only 17 games that have to date sold over a million copies (Xbox 360 has 47), and GTA4 tops that list with less than 5 million. Obviously, Little Big Planet is not going straight to the top with over 5 million copies sold. That’s just silly.

On the other hand, Little Big Planet’s sales of 215,000 copies in only 4 days puts it on track to sell a million copies fairly easily, a feat which is pretty impressive for a PS3-exclusive new IP (joining Motorstorm, Resistance, Uncharted, and Heavenly Sword). In fact, I would predict that Little Big Planet breaks the million mark by the end of the month, and if Sony decides to pack it in a holiday bundle, you can expect it to pass 2 million by year’s end.

So all these idiots pretending to be analysts need to just stop writing. If you want to talk about sales data, at least be logical about it… or don’t. At least if you keep doing what you’re doing I’ll have plenty of material for my own writing. So, uh, thanks for that… idiots.

Media Molecule “Moderates” LittleBigPlanet User Levels — By Deleting Them

Chelsea Thompson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:53:35 +0000

It seems that even before the game’s release, LittleBigPlanet has been having problems. The latest comes from the “moderation” of user-created levels. Now, I’m pretty sure everyone was expecting all of the penis-themed LBP levels to be the first to get the crackdown, but surprisingly that isn’t the case at all. Instead, levels that include copyrighted game material–such as God of War or even Playstation 3-themed levels–are the first to be removed. This isn’t simply a deletion from the online server; the entire level is deleted and you can’t republish it.

Complaints started on the forums of LittleBigWorkshop, where a user posted the following:

Has anyone had this happen to them yet? My level was moderated (read; deleted) and now I can’t re-publish. There was absolutely nothing offensive whatsoever in the level at all and I was given no explanation as to why they moderated it or why they won’t even let me republish, even after making changes. If any mods here have any insight into why things like this happen, please enlighten me, as this totally kills the enjoyment I was getting out of this game.

The user apparently had Sonic and MGS-related items in the level, which violate the EULA. One of the developers responded in the forum with the following message:

We’re reviewing the moderating system currently to provide better feedback on why levels are moderated. Primarily, any level that is reported using the grief tool will be checked over by a moderator, at which point they’ll examine it in line with the EULA. If a level is found to be in violation of the EULA it will be moderated and you’ll receive a message to that effect.

We’re moving towards a system where additional information is given, however for the time being if you don’t want your level moderating avoid anything unsuitable for users of all ages and copyright content.

However, there is one disturbing, unresolved issue when you look closer at these two comments. The dev clearly states that if you violate the EULA, you will receive a message saying that this is the case. But it seems that the user who first posted didn’t get any type of message at all–his level was just removed.

The result of this “moderation” is mixed. Some users have been completely turned off from playing or even buying the game, and who can blame them? After spending hours upon hours creating a level that gets removed simply for using the image of a PS3, why would you want to play the game anymore? Other users simply ask that the devs outline more specifications as to what constitutues a violation of the EULA.

What’s odd about this is the clear double standard. Doesn’t the Sackzilla trailer infringe on the copyrights of films such as Godzilla and Kill Bill (one of the sackboys is clearly wearing a yellow jumpsuit modeled after the one worn by Uma Thurman)? It seems a little unfair that the company promotes this type of creation in its own trailer, but denies it in user created content.

Source: Destructoid.com

LittleBigPlanet Review

Patrick Steen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:13:55 +0000

In shock from scandalous accusations, Sackboy slowly saunters from the shadows and into the spotlight. As indulgent as that alliteration might be, there really aren’t enough words to adorn LittleBigPlanet. I asked whether the game could live up to the hype last month, which is ultimately for you to decide, but in my opinion LittleBigPlanet has launched itself into a whole new stratosphere of excellence.

So what’s changed since the Beta? Now on Blu-ray, the textures have more pop, the art more polish, and the tutorials shine in high definition. This gives me a good opportunity to describe the even more beautiful LittleBigPlanet. Graphically, the game is a reality that’s been put through a mangle and reassembled in miniature. Like a mass Blue Peter make, the toilet rolls, yoghurt pots and tinfoil that once created Tracey Island now form Sackboy’s playground. Stuck together with glue rather than sticky-backed-plastic, the variety of real-world textures that shape disparate environments is nothing short of inspiring. Some of the best lighting and shadowing continue to stretch the realism, along with lovingly applied motion blur to give the impression of being filmed.

You’ll travel eight diverse worlds in the story mode, where 25 main levels and approximately 35 mini-challenges await Sackboy. The premise of the narrative encompasses every portion of what the game stands for: Creature Curators tend LittleBigPlanet’s creations and as they share their wares with the nomadic Sackboy, their creations start to go missing. The culprit lies at the end of jumps, swings and puzzles; Sackboy will have to use all his talents to free the Planet. The plot’s delivery is misty, mainly due to the eschewing of Stephen Fry’s narration in favour of short episodic text, but it does have a certain charm and becomes clearer as the game advances towards a spectacular finale.

The levels themselves glisten with Media Molecule’s creative juices, demonstrating what can really be achieved with the games creation tools as they grow in ingenuity. It must be noted that LittleBigPlanet is not the carefree cakewalk you might expect. Most levels rely on a solid grasp of the controls and when it comes to Sackboy’s physics based jumps, common sense. You’ve never seen a real-time physics system as inclusive as LittleBigPlanet’s and so leaping from a springy platform might require trial and error. Yet, Sackboy is not an uncooperative lump of floaty stuffed cloth: once you understand LittleBigPlanet’s rules of movement, he is but your faithful puppet.

Adding three planes of depth was a work of brilliance, resulting in more complex traversals that brim with originality. However, this depth can cause tricky situations if you’re not well versed with the controls, which is especially problematic when online creators neglect to take care of the planes. Nevertheless, LittleBigPlanet is in a relatively comfortable space between 2D and 3D and with plenty of spawn points to help Sackboy through his trials, you’ll rarely need to restart a level unless you’re targeting the perfect run.

At every hop, skip and jump your mind will be intrigued by contraptions you’ll want to create for yourself. And with a canvas begging for Sackboy’s toolbox, you can. The easy to navigate Popit Menu holds the tools and after Fry’s help you’ll be popping out levels to your hearts desire. The menu bursts with materials, lights, music, bolts, pistons and will grow as you traverse the story mode. This is why collecting bubbles is so addictive for the Sackpeople – it brings them closer to discovering that next sticker, decoration or object to include in their own creations.

Create is LittleBigPlanet’s revolution. In stark contrast to the traditions of console gaming, LittleBigPlanet’s expansive and easy to use creation tools surpass anything similar you’ve experienced before. Moreover, since every object is physics based, your tweaking can create a dynamic living level that can be tested immediately by switching to Play Mode.

Nevertheless, some of my complaints from the Beta remain. The rules of gluing remain a mystery: sticking objects together is relatively simple, but when it comes to ungluing one particular object, you might find every item in a structure un-sticks, resulting in collapse. A similar conclusion occurs if you neglect to give your structure sufficient support – under the strain it will overheat, causing sections to spontaneously combust. These rare and solvable problems (use floating dark matter for stability) aside, LittleBigPlanet’s talent for creativity conjures something very special – an imaginative concoction that gets your creative juices flowing and fills your belly with tasty levels of your own design.

It’s in the discovery of others levels that stand LittleBigPlanet in good stead to last years of player input. Sackboy’s smile may eventually tire, but the Planet will keep on giving. This game is meant to played online (questioning the efficacy of a recall when an online patch was available) with a solar system of levels, ranging from nostalgic remakes and classic platformers, to eccentric dabblings and video game theme tunes. All are ready for your exploration, which is particularly gratifying when you’re not one for creation yourself. Why create when you can play, play, play?

Levels can be voted and commented on and tagged with praise or damnation. It’s a youtube of gaming that crowns the best levels. At least, that’s the intention. Teething problems have rendered the sorting comparatively fruitless, but if you find a gem, heart it, comment and invite your friends to join in on the fun.

LittleBigPlanet’s catchphrase “Play, Create, Share” denotes a trilogy of descriptions that can only be possible in this console generation. A new PlayStation mascot is here and Sackboy welcomes both the casual and hardcore. Your family can express themselves with Sackboy’s emotions, and you can express yourself through complex creations. What’s more, you can all play together in seamless four player co-op.

Although the game is certainly not perfect, with a slightly eccentric create mode and online struggling to be lag-free, there’s still no escaping the fact that without LittleBigPlanet, you’re severely missing out. LittleBigPlanet wears originality on its sleeve, with a nagging Sackboy waving his popit about and screaming “I’m creative!” Shame on you if you don’t take notice.

[album=45]

GameDaily: “Epic Fail” LBP Scores “Sucky” 9.0

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:23:50 +0000

Does anyone remember the GameDaily “Epic Fail: Games that will Probably Suck” list, because I sure as hell do. In fact, I probably went a little overboard in my response to their calling LittleBigPlanet a “glorified version of PowerPoint” with a future full of “crap content”.

Well, I guess that old PowerPoint presentation finally won them over, because they gave the Media Molecule IP a 9.0 “Excellent” score. Here’s a snippet of what they had to say:

“Until recently, we had trouble enjoying Sony’s ambitious PlayStation 3 video game, LittleBigPlanet. Its mascot, the adorable Sackboy, was shoved down our throats, and the level editor failed to thrill … Now our heads are full of grinning Sackboys, previously completed levels and our own designs. We’re hooked.”

“Buy LittleBigPlanet or we’ll kick you in your Sackboy.”

See, with a little less crystal ball gazing and a little more hands-on play time, even GameDaily was able to realize the “epic fail” error of their ways. I’m not sure threatening to kick people in their “Sackboy” will get them back in the good graces of MM, but it may be a good way to work off all that crow they must be eating right about now.

Media Molecule: LittleBigPlanet Servers Are Down Due to Reports of Lag and Glitching

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:01:10 +0000

If you tried to play with your Sackboy last night, you likely powered down your PS3 with a LittleBigFrown. Yes, Media Molecule was forced to shut down operations due to some unfortunate reports of glitching experienced by players.

The following statement was issued as an update on the MM site:

Great gremlins and ghosts! The servers are down while we try to fix the glitching issues some players have experienced. They will be back online as soon as we have fixed the problem. Keep your browsers pointed at this post for updates.

So there you have it. Stay tuned as we plan to update you as soon as we hear something.

Source: mediamolecule.com

PS3 Fanboys Strike Back: Gears 2 Metacritic User Score Lowered to 4.1

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:06:27 +0000

I recently interviewed Metacrtic founder, Marc Doyle, about what many were calling a suspiciously low LittleBigPlanet user score of 6.3 on his site. Those unfamiliar with Metacritic need only to know that it aggregates the scores given by critics on various websites around the web into one “metascore” and also allows users to submit their own scores which are aggregated into a separate user score.

The total amount of users who had submitted a score for LBP at the time of my article was upwards of 2,200 and the result apparently motivated a group PlayStation 3 fanboys to retaliate. The current user score for the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 2, is a laughable 4.1 comprised of roughly 375 submissions.

Marc’s comment regarding the LBP controversy is applicable once again:

“Over the years, people have, by and large, not exploited the fact that you can vote early. Only recently have people started voting en masse for (and against) games like they’ve done with LBP.”

It seems that fanboys on both sides will continue to disregard the negative effect they have on individuals who actually depend on the user scores given by those they deem to be their peers. Marc spoke breify about the future of Metacritic, stating that they plan to include a more thorough registration process in hopes of reducing the fanboy effect. In the mean time, I think we could all benefit from a little more self restraint.

LittleBigPlanet Patch Removes Offensive Qur’an Lyrics, 57MB Download on PSN Now

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:24:54 +0000

Many of us believed that the recent delay of Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet was meant to allow for a recall, reprinting, and redistribution of the game after what some deemed to be offensive lyrics were brought to the attention of Sony.

While this may still be the case, it is also possible that the move to recall the game was nothing more than Sony’s way to ensure the impending LBP patch would be approved and accessible on PSN before the exclusive PlayStation 3 title hit stores.

Assuming you are one of the ~~foolish~~ fortunate individuals who bid their bi-weekly paycheck on Ebay for a copy of Sackboy’s debut IP, you can log into PSN and download the 57MB patch right now. Everyone else will benefit from the automatic update on November 5th.

Source: Neogaff (via CVG)

[UPDATE] – After speaking with our own Patrick Steen, who is playing the US release of the game, we have confirmation that the patch currently only applies to the EU version and that a US patch has yet to be released.

[UPDATE 10/26/08] – The US patch is now available for download.