Little Big Planet

Re: Little Big Planet

Must have game. I just read one early review, and it was 10/10. Looking forward to it..

Re: Little Big Planet

I've played the BETA of LBP this week (ends tonight) and I have to say that this is one killer application. I have seen my five grandkids (ages 6-11) play it in open eyed amazement and for once their parents had to admit that this was one game that they didn't see any problem with the kids using on a long term basis. Even they (in their mid-40s) took a turn at the controls for this limited taste of the final product. And, of course, Grandpa was duly impressed with the whole scenario.

Obviously this will be in my house on Day One. I get the feeling that if this highly creative game experience had been ready for prime time when the PS3 was released then maybe the launch of the hardware would have been a little less rocky.

The PS3 has always been a great Blu-ray player. Now it is definitely closing the gap as far as gaming is concerned.

A big for the BETA version. Eagerly awaiting the whole package.

Re: Little Big Planet

I'm looking forward to this, and it caught my fiancee's eye as well. Normally I'm not into cute platformers like this, but the applications sound intriguing. I'll definitely be picking it up (in the middle of this ruinously expensive month--Dead Space, Fable II, Fallout 3...)

--Jefferson Morris

Re: Little Big Planet

I can't wait for this one. I listen to a couple of gaming podcasts weekly, and they've been talking this up for months. I didn't get in on the beta, but I've seen some pretty good youtube videos of the things people have done with it. As I'm usually long on enthusiasm and short on ideas, I don't know that I'll end up designing anything that anyone else would want to play, but I'm excited by the prospect of playing with the stuff other people come up with.

Also, with a 6-year-old in the house, I'm anxious to let her loose in that kind of environment and see where her creativity takes her.

I'm hoping that this will end up being a killer app for the PS3, and not just a neat curiousity for the enthusiasts.

Re: Little Big Planet

Well Christopher, the "sample size" in my household consisted of people ranging in age from 6 to 66 and there was universal approval for the uniqueness of this title. While the Beta was very limited in nature (at least during the 4 days that we were allowed to play with the software before Sony shut the door Saturday night) it certainly gave a flavor of what is possible. One of my grandsons probably put it best when he declared that LBP was a lot like a Mario Brothers platformer except, "A lot cooler!" As soon as he said that I realized that he hit the nail on the head. Not only does it offer some nice challenges but the way that the physics engine works makes it all seem a lot more realistic rather than cartoonish (if one chooses to call characters made out of nicely textured materials "realistic"). The mechanics are a lot more exact than in a Super Mario Brothers game and everything about it offers a much more realistic challenge in my opinion. I was suitably impressed.

And while I didn't get a chance to play around with the "creating your own" aspect of LBP I would imagine that one would be only limited by one's own creativity and imagination since the tools seem to be extensive. I really think that as soon as the game is widely released there will be all sorts of new worlds uploaded to the Sony servers and it will quickly be known which are the most clever and entertaining ones. The structure is already in place for players to rate the submitted levels ("cool," "hard," "clever," ingenious," etc. etc. etc.) so the cream will undoubtedly rise to the top. In other words, don't worry about your own ability to design levels - there will surely be a huge amount of such things ready to incorporate into your own play even if you never ever design a level on your own.

I equate a lot of this with what happened with the 3G iPhone and 2G iTouch. As soon as the application platforms were opened to developers the floodgates opened and there are now literally thousands of exceptional applications out there for the iPhone/iTouch. Even though I live in NY (where AT&T cellular is less than stellar so I can't see myself getting an iPhone) I immediately jumped all over the 32gig 2G iTouch the day it was released and it has become an extremely valuable and entertaining addition to my electronic arsenal. To me, LBP has the potential of adding applications and levels in a similar way within the gaming environment.

Re: Little Big Planet

Sounds like I'll be very pleased with the title. I can't wait!

I appreciate the detailed write-up, Robert, it's good to hear that the game plays that well, and I'm always happy when I can get a game that I'm excited about, knowing that it will be popular with the rest of the household, too.

Re: Little Big Planet

Hey, my skin is nicely textured!!!

Then again, I'm not a very realistic character. Never mind. . .

Re: Little Big Planet

Yeah, but Burlap?!?

At 66, my skin's much closer to that texture than yours, Aaron!

Re: Little Big Planet

Honestly, this game doesn't really interest me that much. The whole user-generated-content idea never really struck a chord with me. The best use of it, IMO, was in Spore because it was seamless (the game downloads creatures from other gamers and populates planets with them). Stuff like create-a-character, level creators, etc. don't really interest me much. I know that LBP is much more than that, but the remade Super Mario Bros. videos I've seen online, in addition to the other videos, pictures, articles, etc. that I've looked didn't really sway me.

Re: Little Big Planet

Good grief!

Re: Little Big Planet

Who cares? Wow, a few lines from the Koran with some music. Now that is something to get bent out of shape over. I hope Sony makes sure that they never make movies or TV shows with language or references that are offensive to another major religion that starts with a C. This is getting to be stupid already. They should try growing a pair and just release it. What the hell ever happened to the concept of free speech in North America?

Re: Little Big Planet

Yes, I just received a note from Amazon that my order for LBP has been "delayed." Looks like it won't be arriving while I'm in L.A. I guess that based on what was supposedly in the lyrics SONY had no choice. The real question that SONY should be asking is, "Who let this through in the first place?"

'Nuff said. I don't intend to get into a political or religious discussion here because that's definitely outside of HTF guidelines.

When LBP gets here, it gets here. Let's not forget that Fable II is due out soon and Fallout 3 isn't far behind. Lots of games for the gamers. All that this does is shuffle the pile a bit.

Re: Little Big Planet

You can listen the song via this link:
Listen to the 'controversial' LittleBigPlanet song: Tapha Niang - PS3 Fanboy

"Diabaté won a Grammy award in 2006, the same year "Tapha Niang" was released."

Very odd thing, but I guess it shows the state of the world that we´re living in ("better safe than sorry").

Re: Little Big Planet

What the..????

I don't get it. Why would they recall it? Offensive stuff is all over the place againt pretty much every other religion out there. Is it because of the games rating or just due to political correctness?

If they had to recall every game/movie that misused Jesus' name or insulted Jews...wow.

*clunk*...ow...my brain just fell over in confusion.

Re: Little Big Planet

"Quite normal" to sing the Qur'an - artist News // PS3 /// Eurogamer - Games Reviews, News and More

**
" Speaking to the BBC's News at Ten TV programme, Toumani Diabate, the Malian singer of the music track that has caused the delay to LittleBigPlanet's release, has defended his lyrics.

Diabate, a Muslim himself, doesn't see the problem. "It's quite normal to play music and be inspired by the words of the prophet Mohammed," he told the BBC. "It's my way to attract and inspire people towards Islam." "
**

Anyway, the game is out at least in Europe on 5th November.

Re: Little Big Planet

I'm not trying to sound racist or say anything bad about Islam, but do you remember what happened after those Mohammad cartoons showed up in a Danish newspaper? I'm sure Sony wanted to avoid that.

Re: Little Big Planet

The whole thing just smacks of giving in. The idea of a patch that you could download that gives you the option makes infinitely more sense.

If everyone is going to contantly walk on eggshells about the product they put out with group A, then every other group will protest on how offended they are about B, and you never get anything to market.

Slippery slope. I plan on forming a giant protest around "Wii Music" because the inclusion of "Baa Baa Blacksheep" carries with it racist connotations, and I demand a full recall before the thing hits the shelf.

Good grief. Just let people have the option. I'm not of that faith, don't care, but if that's how the artist originally recorded whatever it is, as long as it doesn't suck, I'd prefer the original version vs. the hacked. So, will Sony allow people to download and use the original version in game?

Re: Little Big Planet

Not that I condone the overreaction to those cartoons, but there is a pretty huge difference between respectfully quoting a Koran verse in a song and publishing cartoons that viciously mock Mohammad.

Re: Little Big Planet

I think Sony probably overreacted on this one; at the same time, Media Molecule had a producer (or multiple producers) working on this project for two or more years, any one of which SHOULD have caught this as a potential problem. (It's what we're paid to do.)

This will cost Sony millions to change, although they'll get a huge amount of free publicity over it.

Re: Little Big Planet

I agree. Then again, there was outrage about this song before the game was even released. I think Sony just didn't want to incite an international event against one of the largest religions in the world.

Re: Little Big Planet

I agree with almost everything that's been said here about how it seems to be an overreaction. At the same time, it's easy for me to tell the people producing this game that they ought to stand on principle, as I have no vested interest other than a desire to play.

Sony and Media Molecule are doing what they can to protect the investment of time and money they've made, and to protect the potential profit they'll get if the game does well. They're going to pay a short-term price for lack of diligence in catching this earlier, sure, but after a few months the game will have failed or succeeded, and there just aren't that many people who are going to remember this delay.

And as to whether the presence of the lyric would have offended anyone, it makes me think back to that silliness about "sex scene" in Mass Effect. The 24-hour news cycle sniffed out something (nonexistent) to fill some time, and blew a non-issue into a story (not an effective or accurate one, but still). Maybe the lyric and it's use in the game would have been inoffensive - but I'd be willing to bet that the actual matter of it would have been left in the dust by the hysterical ranting pro- or anti-, etc.

Anyway, I'm still ready to buy day 1, whenever that may be.

Re: Little Big Planet

Well said and I have to agree.

Re: Little Big Planet

I saw the game in a mall store on Sunday for $90. I assume it was the pre-recall version. Yeesh. . .