LittleBigPlanet

Jul 18, 2008

There's no denying that we really like what we've seen out of LittleBigPlanet. We had to be dragged off the kiosk at last year's E3. Since then, we've seen updates at TGS and even the Coachella Music Festival. It's getting closer and closer to launch, and just when we thought we'd seen a great deal of its amazing potential, Media Molecule showed off an even greater breadth of content in the wake of creating the most interesting sales presentation we've ever seen at an E3 press conference. If our playtime is any indication, it could be one of the best games to grace the console this year.

We sat in an hour-long demo hosted by Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans. There's a lot to take in, but fundamentally, LBP can be broken down into three types of fun: playing it, creating levels for it, and sharing new content online with friends. Over the course of our numerous glances at it, we've played quite a bit, but it was during this E3 that we finally saw some new design elements, and witnessed a sample of how it will function over PlayStation Network.

When you load up LBP your Sackboy will show up in what looks like a cardboard spaceship. There are three planets for you to choose from, including Info World (your PSN ID and unique stats), LittleBigPlanet, where you play through myriad levels (both Media Molecule- and user-created), and My Moon, where you can find the level designer. Evans started up with a glimpse at a new Media Molecule-designed level that takes place in an Alaskan-inspired stage. A custom Sackboy jumped aboard a wooden sled dog that had a rocket pack attached to it. We saw falling glaciers of peril, and deadly rockets. It was great for setting the mood, but we were far more intrigued by Evans' description of a music-based level created by one of the Media Molecule staff outside of London.

It took a few minutes to load up thanks to a few technical difficulties, but as we waited to download some created sections via PSN, Evans lent us more insight into LBP's create mode. Normally, most will play through the story mode and collect rare treasures and trinkets to use later. If you're not interested in playing through the story mode to unlock items for level design, you can take a crash course in stage creation. Apparently, you can go through roughly 60 tutorials that lay out everything you need to know, and once you complete the training, you'll have all of the tools, including unlockable items, to make your own stages.

We wanted to know a little more about the E3 press conference demo, which doubled as an exciting sales presentation. It turns out that a Sony beta tester created the presentation in nearly a dozen hours, most of that time spent waiting on the most accurate sales numbers possible. As a result of that experiment, it appears that text embedding will be available in the final product. Someone in the audience asked about online moderation, which Evans explained is inspired by SingStar. You can go into a section of a stage, zoom in on something, and tag it as inappropriate for various reasons. Evans also cites Gmail as an inspiration for LBP. Media Molecule's mission is to continuously update it with new information and features on a nearly daily basis. He also cited Flickr and the blogosphere as inspirations for the tagging system that allows you to slap a label on a level, making it easier for people to find your maps.

Once SCEA got the PS3 test unit online, we got a good look at LBP's PSN presentation. Evans downloaded the music stage. Basically, you can add sound effects to nearly anything. They're triggered either via proximity, jumping on them, or being hit. You can adjust the sound, pitch and length, among other things. In this case, as soon as a Sackboy ran past a wall of speakers, they made different sounds and tones. Once he hopped onto a cart, drums and melodies fired up to make a beat. It's this sort of creativity that gets us even more excited about LBP every time we see it.

It also turns out that as you build levels or play through them, LBP supports headsets, so your voice will sync up to your Sackboy. You can also take pictures with your PlayStation Eye and use them to make wallpapers and stickers. If you're inclined, you can even slap your face onto a blank mask and give your character your smiling mug.

We watched as Evans showed off a few updates to basic level building. It appears that now, if there's something you don't like, you can undo it or redo it with a function that looks like you're rewinding or fast-forwarding footage of your actions. You can also take a snapshot of your level and send it to a friend over PSN, and he or she can tweak it and bounce it back to you. "I'm not saying that you'll be able to jump in and make a level in a quick 10 minutes, but you can play for five or six hours and crank out something good," Evans says. The toughest thing about designing such a robust toolset, he said, is deciding exactly what parameters to restrict.

After Evans' breakout session, we hit Sony's E3 booth for some hands-on time with LBP. We sat down with executive producer Siobhan Reddy, who walked us through another level not shown elsewhere. In this area, a vertically-oriented puzzle level, we had to run down a series of holes as each platform rises upward off the screen. It was a delicate balance between not getting pushed up to our doom, but not falling so far ahead that we burned in the fire at the bottom of the screen. Like the music level, we found ourselves quite entertained. It's in levels like these and the music stage that we really see how LBP has more to it than simple platforming.

LittleBigPlanet is getting closer and closer to launch. After a year of coverage and previews, it was refreshing to get a look at how PSN will integrate into the experience. The idea of finding inspiration in online technology, like tagging levels and the effects of user-created content, leaves us optimistic about the game's future. Each time we see it, we walk away a little more impressed than before. We're eagerly looking forward to our next demo at Games Convention next month.