little-big-planet posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Across the Atlantic, the folks at Fase Extra got their hands on Sony's PSP Go and a couple of games recently -- LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo, specifically. Lucky for us, Sony Spain allowed them to grab some video of each game, that we've now conveniently dropped for you after the break.

Here's the thing: We've got another three months or so until the release of PSP Go, and, ya know, it's really pretty. So, while entertaining, these videos do little more for us than tantalize our already over-tantalized mind grapes. Thankfully though, three months should be plenty of time to put away, um, a lot of extra change for the $250 handheld.

It wasn't all sequels and plugged leaks at Sony's E3 press conference. Sony also announced a new PlayStation 3 franchise called ModNation Racers, the latest in the company's Play.Create.Share lineup popularized by LittleBigPlanet. The game looks to strap LBP's overcute style and love of physics into kart racing that, according to Sony, will let players express themselves and become "superstar designers" by sharing tracks, karts and characters over the PlayStation Network.

SackBoy plushies have been the object of desire for LittleBigPlanet fans for a very long time now; however, such a prized possession has yet to be made commercially available -- until now, that is. Japan is getting the official SackBoy squeeze toys this month and they're already available for purchase off Play-Asia.

Currently, the online retailer carries four versions of SackBoy: Normal, Pirate, Soldier and Sunflower. They're the 4" dolls we've reported on before, and they're actually cheaper than we thought at the price of $9.90. Import them today, or just wait for those North American plushies that we know are coming.

We're on the lookout for awesome LittleBigPlanet levels for an upcoming feature. We're doing our best to scour the community levels to find the cream of the crop, but we need your help. If you've made a level you think is particularly great or if you've played any that blew you away, let us know. We'll be doing a weekly rundown of the top five levels, so keep sending them in as you find them from now on.

There are no restrictions; no minimum hearts or views and we don't mind mind levels based on other games, but anything you send in has to be awesome. Send your nominations to us via the following address: LBP @ PS3Fanboy.com with the name of the level in the subject line. We'll credit everyone whose suggestions we use.

If you've put countless hours into crafting a level in Media Molecule's uber-customizable platformer, you know how terrifying that headline really is -- LittleBigPlanet forums across the web are erupting with angry amateur level designers whose creations were 'moderated' (see: deleted) without explanation or forewarning. You read that right -- the levels aren't being removed from your list of published, downloadable creations. They are being deleted. Permanently. Forever. Gone.

Affected parties have noticed that the moderations have erased levels which mention (to varying degrees) copyrighted IPs. For instance, that remarkable God of War level that everyone probably played during beta? It is no more. The gaggle of Super Mario Bros. reimaginings? Yeah, those are gone too. Our personal favorite -- a level titled "Failure to Launch" was deleted, supposedly for using the title of a 2006 McConnaughey-infused romantic comedy. Sadly, our very own magnum opus also fell beneath the axe -- yes, "Maid in Manhattan" is gone, and no amount of protest will bring it back.

Moderators of the engulfed LBP forums have promised to implement a stronger feedback system to explain why levels are disappearing -- though their unwavering stance on copyrighted content has officially been displayed. Our lesson has certainly been learned -- we'll be keeping our rom-com-based creations to ourselves from now on.

[Via Kotaku]

Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:

It appears there has been a bit of a controversy over the recent changes to the PSN Terms of Service with regard to user-generated content, which seems to be at least in part tied to the release of the Sackboy epic Little Big Planet. Of course, user-created content is nothing new, and neither is the management of the licenses associated with that content. However, it seems like as good a time as ever to discuss the issue of managing the intellectual property rights of user created content and what that can mean for you, the user, and them, the game companies.

I guess we should get back to basics, though I'll skip the intellectual property primer this time around. When users create content for games, they're creating intellectual property that would likely qualify as a derivative work. After all, what good is the content outside of the game? Some types of mods are more derivative than others, depending on how much is taken from the original work. But the point remains, it's at some level a derivative work. In this case, however, there is at least an implicit authorization for the user to create the work based on the virtue of the developer giving the user the tools to do so. In this way, we're not dealing with a situation identical to, say, machinima.

Little Big Planet captured players' hearts and free time with its unmistakable mix of ingenuity and cute. Now it appears that Microsoft has its own plan to tap into players' creative wellspring with Boku, a new XNA project billed by The Seattle Times blog as a "visual programming language for kids." Hello World.

Following a previous demonstration of the project in 2007, Boku was officially unveiled this week by project lead Matthew MacLaurin during Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. The effort looks to build upon Microsoft's ongoing work with the more complicated XNA Game Studio, allowing players to program their own games using a more inviting set of icon-driven instructions on either the PC or Xbox 360. Sort of makes us want to go back and revisit Carnage Heart.

No official release date has been announced yet, though MacLaurin noted during his presentation that players will be able to start playing with Boku sometime "early next year." Until then, check out a video of it in motion after the break.

[Via Gamasutra]

Almost two years ago, during my vigil outside the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York City, I awaited the chance to buy a PS3. At that time, I wasn't thinking about a game like LittleBigPlanet. In terms of future titles, my friends and I were anticipating the next Final Fantasy, the next Gran Turismo or the next Tekken. None of us knew that a game like LBP was poised to become what Sony expects to be the biggest PS3 game ever. Naturally one would want to know; does it live up to the hype?

With the beta for the PS3 create-a-platformer Little Big Planet underway, it looks like many PS3 owners are dedicating their time to building levels designed to denigrate our console of choice, the Xbox 360. A quick search on YouTube reveals videos like the one above, which centers (perhaps justifiably) on the Red Ring of Death. There may be more of these anti-360 levels out there. We don't know and, quite frankly, don't care. What we do care about is a pro-360 level sent to us by a reader. We like it for its panache, creativity and, particularly, its toilet humor. Find it after the break.

... and by worst we mean "with as little taste as humanly possible" -- but first the best LittleBigPlanet level. A PSN user named Upsilandre, whose brain is at least thrice the size of ours, has created an "electronic" (i.e. not mechanical) 8-bit calculator capable of adding and subtracting any double-digit number. In the video after the break, you see both how to interact with the level and how the whole thing works (spoiler: It's nearly maxes out the complexity meter). It's a shame to think this might disappear once the beta is over.

As for the other video -- and please don't let this take away from your awe at the above calculator -- file this under the "unfortunate but bound to happen" category. A couple levels have popped up on the beta based on the September 11 attacks. Remember, folks, you can report offensive levels in-game for Media Molecule to promptly slam. GoodEvilPlanet officially launches October 21.

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

LittleBigReleaseDates! We've received a press release stating that LittleBigPlanet will be released in the UK on October 24th. We're not sure whether the rest of Europe will be receiving it on the 29th or not, but the UK will definitely be able to get their hands on the game five days ahead of the date announced at Leipzig. If you want it before then, however, you'll need to be on the other side of the Atlantic. North Americans will be getting their LittleBigMits on the game three days before that, on the 21st. Not exactly simultaneous, but close enough. LittleBigPlanet is (finally!) almost out.

[Via Press Release]

Despite a well-documented obsession with LittleBigPlanet and its emphasis on user-generated content, our skills pretty much begin and end with penis-themed level design. This is probably why Sony has tapped New York's Parsons The New School For Design and not us to host a LittleBigPlanet level-making competition.

The event, taking place in New York City from September 21-22, aims to pit 120 students in teams of five against each other over a 24-hour period in order to see which group can create the best custom level as judged by developer Media Molecule, as well as members of the media and Parsons faculty. Winners will see their creation make it into LittleBigPlanet as "a specially branded Parsons section" of the game. We can't wait to see what comes out of the competition. As for the penis levels, that's something best left to the masters.

Chatting with GamesIndustry.biz, developer Media Molecule (the creative geniuses behind the PS3 exclusive and overly charming Little Big Planet) admits that Sackboy and friends won't be gracing the Xbox 360 anytime soon, because it wouldn't be technically possible.

"We couldn't have made it on the Xbox 360 and the reason for that is actually because we designed it around the PS3's strengths" says the Media Molecule folks, explaining that they built Little Big Planet around the PS3's architecture, Blu-ray disc capacity and that "having a hard drive on every unit makes a difference." But they aren't entirely anti-360, admitting that the console is an "incredibly capable machine" that, theoretically, could be home to LBP, "but it'd be a different game." Ouch! And all along we were under the impression that LBP could eventually release to the Xbox Live Arcade way under the 150MB Arcade limit. We guess we were wrong ... ZING!

Joystiq's Leipzig coverage continues with an interview with LittleBigPlanet developer Jim Unwin and producer Pete Smith. They discuss the game's humble beginnings at GDC 2007, post-launch add-on content and ... did he just say "we could brick someone's PS3"? LittleBigPlanet is shaping up to be the game everyone is hoping for and we're getting hyped all over again. Just over two months to go and it'll be in our grubby little paws. Make sure you check out the full interview for yourselves.