Sony and Sega are teaming up to skin one beloved icon with the blue spikey exterior of another. According to the pages of PlayStation’s Hong Kong site, costumes for Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Knuckles, Werehog and Dr. Eggman will be available in that region on December 17th. We will most likely see them release here in the States as well, but nothing official points to it just yet.

There have been rumors abound about some sort of Ghostbusters content in LittleBigPlanet ever since the jerks over at the Playstation.blog started tugging at our heart strings and teasing potential Ghostbusters content in the game. While I don’t actually own LittleBigPlanet (or for that matter, a Playstation 3) I’ve been waiting to see what Media Molecule and Sony have been holding back in the game. Today, the Playstation.blog finally revealed what we knew the entire time- that Ghostbusters costumes were indeed coming to LittleBigPlanet.

Some of you will be disappointed to learn that there aren’t any special levels or packs with this DLC, other than the costumes themselves. You can grab each costume individually for $1.99 off of the Playstation Network, or if bundlin’ makes you feel good, you can go for the full 4-pack of costumes for $5.99, and save yourself a Jefferson.

[via Destructoid]

LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy has become the unnofficial mascot for the PS3 in a way, and kids, adults, and even teenagers everywhere love the little fellas. They’re cute, cuddly, and jubilant- which is why it’s a bit unnerving (but also impressive) that someone managed to depict the anatomy of a Sackboy.

New York artist & toy maker Jason Freeney made this impressive piece of art for Wired’s April 2009 issue, making women, children, and even grown men cry. I willa dmit though, the rendering is impressive and poses a good question- what is inside of a Sackboy? Personally, I think it’s clouds, happiness, and a ton of love. Metric ton.

Why not? It seems the best way to promote your game today is to dress up Media Molecule’s lead character as that of your own. If you’re a fan of the Capcom fighting series, you will apparently be able to pick up the character costumes shown above individually and as a package deal. No word on price or release date just yet. Sit tight.

Source:psnow.es

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.

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

After reading about the suspiciously low Metacritic user score of 6.3 for Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet, I decided to dig into the story a little deeper. For those unfamiliar with the situation, allow me to fill you in.

Metacritic, who by and large is considered the main source for aggregated scoring on the web, offers two score flavors (one for critics and one for users). This is the case across most sites. The problem is, when you are considered the “go to” resource for pretty much anything, there’s a chance that people will make a big deal out of something on your site that they would normally overlook on another.

That said, this specific instance pertains to the scores currently presented on Metacritic for the LittleBigPlanet game. The first, a 9.5 at the time of this article, represents the aggregated score based on several well accepted gaming review sites such as GamePro, IGN, and EuroGamer. The second, more controversial score, is a 6.3, and is compiled via the average score given by a pool of 2,225 user votes.

Gaming news site N4G, which pulls related news from various websites around the web, features a blog post titled “Fanboys pull LittleBigPlanet’s Metacritic score down”, discussing this very topic. Reading some of the furious responses to the score piqued my interest, so I visited the Metacritic site to see first hand what all the fuss was about. Clicking on the “Read user comments” link near the overall user score brings you to the bottom of the page, where the following statement by Marc Doyle, the sites founder, awaits:

“My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there’s not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won’t happen. We’ll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game’s release. As always, thanks for using the site.”

This prompted me to contact Marc directly in order to get a more complete picture of the situation from his end. Specifically, I felt that gamers would want some clarity regarding the portion of his comment stating that most of the user reviews submitted for LBP were made “before said users [had] played the game.”

Firstly, I wanted to know if he would consider eliminating user reviews submitted before the full release of the game, i.e. reviews clearly submitted based on the open beta alone, or even worse, no experience with the game at all, to which he responded:

” … we won’t be clearing those old scores from LBP when it launches, but we will only post reviews from people who have clearly played the game. All the reviews from fanboys and haters who haven’t played it will just be left out. That is true for all products on Metacritic. Humans actually read all of those user reviews (so we can delete profanity, spoilers, etc.), and those humans are told not to post reviews from people who clearly haven’t played the game.”

He then added that the burden of proof they demand from users submitting reviews prior to a game’s release date is be much higher than those doing so after the fact.

Slightly confused, I asked Marc for some clarification as to how the game could have such a low score, if his team was manually looking over each user review submitted. He stated:

“All the [numeric] scores “count” in the overall user average and total votes tally, but we only post a subset of those as [written] user reviews.”

When talking about the future of the site, as well as other things they are doing to help eliminate this type of fanboy nonsense in the future, Marc had the following to say:

“There will be a Metacritic re-design in the future (can’t say exactly when), and as a part of that process, we’re going to beef up our user registration and community functions so that “stuffing the ballot box” won’t be nearly as easy.

The original idea behind allowing users to write user reviews (and vote on them) was to allow those people (like me) who see advanced screenings of movies and sometimes play games ahead of their true release date to write reviews and have them posted on Metcritic. That’s still the case now.

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.

Metacritic’s primary “product” is the Metascore, which is the weighted average of scores from professional critics. We include user reviews for obvious reasons, but because that score can never be 100% reliable, it’s given secondary importance on the site. For example, you can’t sort or search by user scores for any products. That will likely change with the redesign.”

Marc obviously has a solid understanding of the space, its evolution, and the challenges that lie ahead. The fact of matter though, is that currently, anyone can visit Metacritic and leave an abnormally low user score, skewing the average, without necessarily saying anything of value at all. I asked him if this was something the site would be revisiting in the immediate future.

” … nothing should change in this regard until we do the redesign. That tally will remain a raw tally, and only the printed user reviews will be “vetted” as useful reviews from people that we think actually played the game … “

He closed the topic by adding that the specifics of “whatever [they] do with the voting system moving forward [have] yet to be established.”

With October 27th just around the corner, LittleBigPlanet is four LittleBigDays away from being officially released. So while the current 6.3 Metacritic user score has been getting most of the attention on the net, I (like Marc himself), kindly ask that you shift your focus to the 95 out of a 100 Metacritic score the game is receiving from the mainstream media. Everything else will sort itself out in due time.

Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet is proving that little is not only the new big (as the mini billboard shown above cleverly states), it’s also the new entrepreneurial cash cow.

While early copies of the game have been selling on Ebay for upwards of $150, the demand for everything Sackboy doesn’t end there. Miniature LittleBigPlanet billboards (which I must admit look pretty cool) are surfacing on Ebay with starting bids of around $35.

This is not good people. I’m afraid that the rush of attention may eventually overwhelm a young Sackboy, causing him to become emotionally withdrawn in his later years. Do you really want to see a reality TV show thirty years from now staring an overweight and drug addicted Sackman, sitting on a couch, sharing child star stories with Gary Coleman and Corey Haim? I didn’t think so.

Check out a few more of the LBP billboards after the jump.

As you all know, LittleBigPlanet was recalled, after already being shipped to the majority of retailers, due to Qur’an references in one of the game’s music tracks. However, those who’ve been able to purchase the game from non-chain shops, commonly referred to as “mom and pop shops”, are taking advantage of the delay.

If you want to play LBP early, it’ll cost you a good $150 or more, because that’s what the game is currently going for on eBay. Thank capitalists for this latest Sackboy scandal. *sigh* It was only a matter of time.

Source: Destructoid [Thanks Matt!]

LittleBigResistance: Delay of Sackboy

The recent controversy surrounding Sony’s decision to delay the release of LittleBigPlanet, over a Qur’an reference made in one of the tracks, has many gamers flexing their memory muscle in an attempt to illustrate a double standard.

The belief is that Sony’s 2006 decision to essentially ignore the Church of England’s request asking for the removal of the Manchester Cathedral from their Resistance: Fall of man game, paired with the company’s recent willingness to comply to the perceived wishes of a Muslim community, demonstrates favoritism.

Several prime examples appear as comments appended to Kotaku’s recent post regarding the recall. Here are excerpts from a few of my favorites:

“Where’s the balls you had when it came to standing up to the Church of England, Sony?? Fuck you and your double standard, you bastards.” - Lachoy

“Sony, clearly, not willing to lift a finger to defend Western values or preserve our sensibilities, but willing to bend over backward to appease Islamic twits. They take our market for granted.” - rateoforange

To all those bringing up the Church of Manchester incident as a valid analogy: where the fuck have you been for the past 15 years? Stop thinking in absolute terms: “Christians are OK with it, so Muslims should be too.” Yes, there is a double standard here, and no, it’s not the end of the world. - Antiterra

This got me thinking about the two scenarios from a pure business standpoint. Armed with only an opinion, my belief is that Sony isn’t demonstrating favoritism, rather they are making what they believe to be sound business decisions based on a bottom line mentality.

While opinions are nice, I realized that any level of convincing was going to require more than a hunch. I needed proof that the cost of a potential Cathedral replacement would drastically exceed those associated with the recent LittleBigPlanet delay.

Our own Dan Landis, who followed the 2006 Cathedral incident closer than I, was quick to point out one glaring difference: the Church’s complaint was brought to the attention of Sony after the game had already been released for several months. However, for the sake of illustrating my point, we’ll assume both concerns were voiced prior to each game’s release.

The first thing I wanted to figure out was how much it would cost for a team of developers, in terms of salary, to make a new level to replace the Cathedral, had Sony decided to pull it from the game. In order to do that, I needed a rough development time frame. The best answer I found appeared in a June 2006 GameSpot interview with Insomniac CEO, Ted Price.

GameSpot: How long has the game been in development?

Ted Price: We’ve been in production on Resistance: Fall of Man for several months now and were in preproduction for a long time before that. How’s that for a vague answer?

Alright Ted, I’ll go with it. Let’s assume “several months” adds up to six, and “a long time before that” represents about two years. Combine those numbers with the six months time separating the interview and the game’s release and you get three years.

Next, I needed to get some gaming related salary information. I came across a website which outlined ballpark salaries for the most common gaming industry positions utilizing data submitted via a Game Makers Salary Survey. Insomniac’s official site lists the company at one hundred and eighty plus employees strong, so I took a reasonable chunk of that head count and created decent sized team with the basic structure and pay scale outlined in the survey.

The estimate I reached for one month of development time, from a pure salary perspective, totaled $250,000. Taking that number and multiplying it by three years time adds up to $9 million in total cost. Whether this number is accurate or not, it is in line with the quote given by Epic VP, Mark Rein, in a 2007 Wired Game|Life interview regarding the estimated cost to produce Gears of War.

“We spent less than $10 million to make Gears of War. Somewhere between nine and ten million dollars.”

Granted, this may be a low estimate, but it will serve its purpose. Compiling everything I gathered, the hypothetical Resistance replacement level would cost $500,000 with a two month cap on development time.

Assuming the Cathedral itself took about the same time to create, that would be a total loss of $1 million to appease the Church of England. Therefore, had the request been made one week prior to the game’s release, it’s my belief, based on the business reality outlined above, that the change would not have been made.

LittleBigPlanet’s delay consists of an audio track modification, recalled product, and a reprint of the game. Using a baseline of one million copies, at a printing rate of 10 cents per unit (estimated and discounted based on a rate offered to consumers for a similar service), brings the total cost for reprinting to $100,000. Adding a generous amount for product recall and audio rework yields a result less than one-fifth the amount predicted for Resistance.

So while the LittleBigPlanet delay is complex in its own right, I hope the information provided here helps at least a few gamers consider business logic, not favoritism, as a deciding factor.

Afterthought: Do you think that Sony is at fault for playing favorites here, or do you think the entire thing is getting blow out of proportion? Does the game’s delay effect your decision to buy/not buy the game? Share your thoughts below.

If you’re like me – and I know you are – you have been enjoying the Schadenfreude as Republican vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin has been routinely savaged in the media.

It would seem now that Gov. Palin has now been rendered into a “Sackgirl” via LittleBigPlanet. Yes, someone actually took the time to make a Sarah Palin Sack Girl.

Yet the video seems to border less on the political auteur spectrum and more on the Rick James pimp-hand. Observe:

While such offerings illicit the appropriate “lullz,” I have to admit that this would have been better if it was Sarah Palin pimp slapping her daughters “baby-daddy” into another time zone.

The LittleBigPlanet game you may have heard a thing or two about lately is getting some more costumes for their dashing lead man. Sony’s Official PlayStation Blog announced that Solid Snake (Old Snake) and Sephiroth (from Final Fantasy VII) digs were confirmed for LBP moments ago on the Tokyo Game Show floor.

While the PlayStation blog itself makes no mention of pricing or planned method of distribution, a translated announcement made on the SCEI website points to the costumes being sold worldwide as downloadable content via the PSN.

Get a closer look at the two new sacks after the jump.

With all the positive press out there showcasing the great things that can be made using the LittleBigPlanet level editor, it was only a matter of time before someone made something not so great.

If you thought the use of Space Invaders to mock the events of September 11th was tasteless, then you will likely cringe when you see Sackboy pilot a plane into the twin towers in this user created LBP level.

The video is available after the jump, though we completely understand if you decide to pass on this one.

Level created by Bushkiller85 (PSN ID) and recorded by onQ (PSN ID).

A new GameStop commercial, which recently appeared on FX, has revealed some additional LittleBigPlanet pre-order specials.

In addition to the Kratos costume we reported on a two months ago, the spot unveils a new Medusa and Minotaur costume for Sackboy, as well as a God of War map pack.

Hit the jump to watch the commercial yourself.

Source: N4G

The infamous SackBoy and his LittleBigPaintbrush have painted their way onto the German cityscape just in time for this years GC in Leipzig. While I’m sure that SB himself created the masterpiece, something tells me that Sony and Media Molecule sprung for the paint.

See the mural from a few different angles by visiting the Official GC 08 Blog.

Source: gc-blog.de

Now tell me, does that box art look like it was made using PowerPoint? Didn’t think so.

Colorful, creative, and pretty freaking cool. Also, notice that SackBoy graces the cover bearing gifts. That’s right people, the boy has got the “whole world … in his hands.” Anyone else think that Media Molecule is trying to tell us something.

Source: Three Speech

GameDaily recently wrote up a list of ten games that they believe will “probably suck.” Their argument as to why LittleBigPlanet will “probably suck” starts with them calling it a “glorified version of PowerPoint” and adding that they foresee “tons of crap content.”

Simple logic by the simple minded says that if you use the game to recreate that which can be done in PowerPoint, then the game must be a glorified version of PowerPoint. Therefore, if I walk in a straight line, and Tom Brady walks in a straight line, surely Tom Brady is just a glorified version of me.

When it comes to content, LittleBigPlanet includes many well thought out levels, and is not simply relying on user based content to succeed. According to GameDaily, any game with a level creator is the equivalent of  PowerPoint. Call of Duty? Powerpoint. Half-Life? Powerpoint. Unreal? You guessed it.

Every game that opens its doors to community created content is subject to the risk of less than ideal results. I happen to believe that there are a ton of talented individuals out there, who if given a chance, will shine.

It appears that at least one gaming website attended a particular E3 press conference, witnessed a creative presentation done using LittleBigPlanet, and thought “That’s it. We’ll call it PowerPoint”. What I want to know is, where was GameDaily when the rest of E3 went down? You know, the hands-on portion. They must have been picking up their AOL funded paychecks.

Here is a prediction of my own. I predict that GameDaily will “probably suck.” Sure, they may have a few good articles written by talented writers, but I predict that the majority of their content will consist of top ten lists broken down into ten individual one paragraph pages to maximize page views (see source)

In the end, we are all nothing more than a glorified version of HTML filled with user generated content, and some of it is bound to suck.