We admit that we have an obsession withLittle Big Planet, bordering on addiction. It's something with which we're trying our best to cope, a therapy helped somewhat by Media Molecule co-founder and technical guru David Smith. We like to think of his recent interview with Eurogamer as a kind of patch, letting information seep into our bloodstreams, taking the edge off as we pine for the game's October release.
Among the number of topics discussed, Smith spoke out in support of the game's beta testing, something he noted as being "in progress," and -- contrary to earlier reports -- that "it should gradually grow to include more people." In addition, with the recent addition of Trophies, he stated that the team is "having a lot of fun working out what trophies most fit" Little Big Planet, teasing that one will involve "making your sackperson be thrown at some huge velocity." Check out the full interview for more words strung together about Little Big Planet. We'll be quietly twitching in the corner.
You simply must try out LittleBigPanet for PS3, thus you simply must get yourself to one of the stops on Sony's revived "PlayStation Experience" tour, now with a second rolling demo vehicle dubbed "PlayStation On Tour."
The game will be one of several upcoming PS3 titles you can get your mitts on inside a totally decked-out semi trailer, according to Sony's official PlayStation blog. Why all the fuss about LittleBigPlanet? If you don't know why you should be excited about Media Molecule's PS3-exclusive game, be sure to check out one of our hands-ons with it, along with today's killer update at PS3 Fanboy.
To see if the tour is rolling into town near you, check out Sony's schedules for both trucks here and here.
Media Molecule's Mark Healey has given our friends at PS3 Fanboy quite the news-splosion. In the latest PS Nation podcast, Healey let loose on LittleBigPlanet details, including:
There's "a whole heap" of levels that come with the game. "They are strung together in the form of a story," said Healey. "A very loose story, but incredibly funny at certain points."
You can make private levels and give keys to friends. In terms of riskier, user-made content, Healey said there is a post-grievance system involving sending screenshots to the powers that be. He declined further on what that might mean for the sure-fire controversial level, LittleBigPenis.
Sackboy plushies confirmed! Said SCEA PR Brandon, "It's on the way. Details will be emerging shortly."
PlayStation Eye support confirmed. "For example," said Heley, "you can wear a cardboard box and put a sticker of yourself there. And presto, you have a little creepy version of yourself walking around in the game. So yes, you can absolutely do that."
We admit it -- we developed a crush on Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet from the first time we laid eyes on its texture-rich world. Ever since its GDC '07 unveiling, we've been fiending for more information on this Go! Team-infused gem -- yesterday's Sony Gamers' Day did not disappoint in that respect, bringing us three new LBP video previews (look for our writeup from the event soon). The video above features the game's PlayStation Eye functionality, the other two (embedded after the break) feature some nuances of the character creation system and the recently revealed "danger" system. It will be ours. Oh yes, it will be ours.
Sure, there was Europe's PlayStation Day event, but our favorite Sony news of the week was PS3 Fanboy's hands-on time with the most exciting, most adorable, most user-generated, most sackboy-prevalent game coming to the PS3. Now that's a lot of mosts. Check out all of our hands-on impressions and reviews from the Joystiq Network this week:
Through the hard times, through the delays, fans of LittleBigPlanet -- or at least people who think they will be fans of LittleBigPlanet -- have been comforted by the fact that whenever the game arrives they'll be getting an early look at it through the oft-promised public beta of the game. Now, our friends at PS3 Fanboy are sadly reporting that they were bedside to see the public beta's death rattle.
There's still a chance that a limited number of gamers will be invited into Sony's internal beta or that a demo will make its way to awaiting PS3s. But for now, we must wait and hope and design our platforming levels with the only materials we've ever needed: Notebook paper, a Sharpie and a boring lecture in algebra class.
Well, that didn't work. Tearing out the May, June, July, August and September pages from our official 2008 Sackboy Calendar has utterly failed to bring us any closer to LittleBigPlanet's newly announced "October" release date. Speaking at Sony's PlayStation Day 2008 event in London, Sony bigwig Kaz Hirai confirmed that the burlap-bouncing, community-powered platformer would be gracing PlayStation 3 systems in that month when people dress up as pirates and vampires. Provided it doesn't slip again, LittleBigPlanet is going to make for quite the treat.
As if it weren't bad enough having to pine for the PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet, CVG is now reporting that we're going to have to look forward to a PSP version of the game too. It says an inside source has revealed that LBP is in development for the PSP at Sony's Studio Liverpool, probably best known for Wipeout games on the portable platform.
Though no other details are available at this time, we're thoroughly excited. But please, Sony, if you have any mercy, release some version of LittleBigPlanet before you start announcing other ones, we only have so much room in our hearts. Heck, we'd be happy with LittleBigPlanet fast food toys at this point. And no, we don't count the plushies.
VideoGamer.com appears to have gotten hold of a Sony UK release schedule for upcoming Sony games, giving us a better idea of when we'll see some of the PS3's biggest titles. According to the release, Killzone 2 and LittleBigPlanet will arrive at some point in September, with Resistance 2following close behind in November. Sony has confirmed the dates, saying that the info has been "in the public domain for a while now."
The last time we heard that September date being batted around for LBP, it was an unofficial source, so it's nice to get it confirmed. Now, what we don't know is specific dates or how the dates of Killzone 2 and Resistance 2 will stack up with their North American counterparts, but we wouldn't count on them being released much later stateside, promising a very happy autumn for PS3 owners.
It seems so long ago now. We can still remember the feeling of gasping for air; like a heavy weight (one made of equal parts whimsy and cardboard) was planted directly on our collective ribcage. The adorable object of our user-generated desires, LittleBigPlanet was being delayed from early '08 to the much further away and unfathomable "September" ...
... and though news that the game is being pushed "toward the Alpha stage" isn't far removed from an update confirming the game is being pushed towards being released someday, we're pleased as punch to read the update on Media Molecule's blog nonetheless. Why? Because everyone knows that the Alpha stage comes just before the Beta stage and, if you'll recall, Sony has said the demo for LittleBigPlanet will take the form of a "public beta." That means public beta playtime sometime between right now and this September (which is 164 days away, in case you weren't counting). Not much of an update, we know ...
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
Apparently, 2008 is the year of the PS3. After what most consider a very shaky first year, the media is abuzz with a comeback for the company that was once king of consoles. EGM's March issue proudly proclaims on its cover that it's "The Revenge of the PS3". EDGE's December issue was entitled "The Empire Strikes Back" and even Joystiq's PS3 Fanboy has given us 10 reasons why the PS3 is back in the swing of things. Some analysts have proclaimed that the PS3 will do at least as well as the 360 in 2008, and others have the PS3 edging out the 360 by 2010 or even the Wii by 2011. Clearly, everyone is pointing to 2008 being a turning point of sorts for the Cell-powered beast. But is it actually true?
Let's focus on, at least initially, Sony's battle against the 360. Certainly, the PS3 has a lot of things going for it. Blu-ray has officially won the next-gen DVD war; upcoming games, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, and LittleBigPlanet show tremendous potential; and it has seemingly found a price point that people are willing to pay (as they did originally for the 360). In the US, at least so far this year, Sony has managed to outsell the 360 according to January and February NPD figures. But will it be enough?
Sony is expecting a big year for PlayStation 3 -- it might even turn a profit in the next fiscal year, according to SCEI President and CEO Kaz Hirai. The folks at PS3 Fanboy think it's got a fighting chance, and here are ten reasons we expect a better year for the console.
What's there to say? Our ability to assemble letters into words and words into sentences is trivial – a trifle! – compared to one family's ability to make adorable things we want. The mother of an artist working on LittleBigPlanet knitted what could only be described as the most amazing plushie ever: a Real Life Sackboy.
When the fall 2007 target date for a LittleBigPlanetdemo came and went we were sad, but when we heard the full game had been bumped from spring 2008 to September, we were downright despondent. Thankfully, the Sony staffer in this video is there to comfort us, promising that a public beta for the game is still in the works and that it will arrive early enough before the final product so that changes can be made. (What does that feel like to you? Late spring? Early summer? Yeah, we're thinking something along those lines.)
Though the levels you create in the beta won't be on the disc, they will be populating the servers of the game as soon as you greedily tear it open later this year. Oh, before we forget, we should mention this video isn't just any dry nugget of information, it's been coated in a delicious gameplay video shell. Enjoy with our compliments.
Or in this case, its foliage creator. Embedded after the break you'll find a brief CES video demonstration of the PS3's perpetually praised LittleBigPlanet, depicting the elegant interface used to give form to your platforming designs. Though we're already envisioning a deadly sequence of precarious, single-pixel steps suspended above a pit of eternal hellfire in our level, you're perfectly welcome to make a happy little tree and call it a day.
In the interest of being informative, we'll remind you that LittleBigPlanet is only expected to arrive in September. We are not happy about it.
