LittleBigPlanet Hands-on
- Posted July 26th, 2008 at 14:37 EDT by
- 10,950 views
- 37 Comments
LittleBigPlanet, developed by Media Molecule, is hands down the exclusive game of the year for the PlayStation 3. This game stole the entire show for me as it was the lone title I went in excited to not only play, but to grab a closed door session with. The behind the scenes demonstration was conducted by technical director Alex Evans. I had the privilege of sitting next to N’Gai Croal for this full hour of Sackboy fun, so you could imagine how much Sony fanboyism was flooding over the room from the first row with the two of us combined.
Evans began the demonstration by jumping into user-created levels, which resulted in him explaining how the level 'world' truly operates. LBP will feature a full 360 degree world that you can traverse in order to find the level or map you’d like to play. When you find a level, you can actually see if anybody else is playing that particular level as well. A question that popped up was, “Does this mean if we play a level online with someone already in it, they’ll be there too?” To be honest, Evans never clearly answered the question, so I’m not 100% sure if you’ll be able to play a level with only your friends or if you'll be forced to peruse the world with other users that you don’t know. I imagine both will be potential possibilities.
The community universe that Evans showed us was actually very much like a YouTube subscriber’s profile. You’re able to ‘heart’ certain maps which will save them to your favorites. The system is set up so that as you begin to heart levels, the software will be able to take the specifics within the levels and create recommendations from other users that may be offering similarly styled worlds. This will make it far easier to find more maps that you’ll enjoy rather than trudging through creation after creation to find one that you'll actually be glad you stepped into. While I’m on the subject, you’ll also be given 'activity levels' for everything you do. So, if you’re a guy who plays levels that nobody else has tried yet, you may be known as an “explorer."
Within this community aspect, you’ll actually have the chance to search for levels that have yet to be explored, levels that have been hearted the most and so on. You’ll also be able to tag levels with keywords. It is through these abilities that you’ll be able to get the most out of your LBP experience. From what we were shown, it should work pretty well.
To continue on the path of community-driven content, I’d like to discuss some of the cooler aspects of actually creating your own levels. Evans mentioned to us that some genius had created a level with nothing but boxes running along the floor. Each box had a certain sound effect equipped to it that would take effect when the box was weighted down. A vehicle was placed at the beginning of the level that your Sackboy would hop in to and ride to the very end. Of course, by now you’ve figured out what makes that so cool - the boxes actually played a tune as you rode through the level. Slowing or speeding up the vehicle allowed you to change the tempo of the song. It's been said so many times but I'll say it again - the possibilities within LittleBigPlanet are endless.
After this explanation, Evans dove into the level creator and showed how easy it was to set up these boxes with triggered sound effects. He also demonstrated how easy it was to set them on fire, which in turn lit his Sackboy ablaze. Poor Sackboy. For those of you who are artistically challenged like myself, you’ll be able to use other people’s creations within your world, as long as they’re not copyrighted that is. Within the level creator pop-up menu, there is a section of user-created content where you can sift through pre-made vehicles, trees, gadgets and so on. The ones within the demo had all been uploaded by beta users who allowed other users to utilize them. Creationists will have the option to upload these for the community either with ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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XvX-EMP420-XvX |
XvX-EMP420-XvX- 2:58pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 2
Can't Mother F**cking Wait 4 This Game, S**t Here We Go Again Another AAA Game I Bet, Its Ganna Get A 10/10 For Funnes Just Looking At It Playing And Creating Ganna Be 15/10.... Damn This Might Be The 3rd PS3 Game With A 10 On It, Like MGS4 And GTA4 Who Know's
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HeartAttackSilv3rback |
- 3:09pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 6
yup .. this game strait powns.
IMO the best part about it,is that you are gunna be able to put your user created content up for sale for others to buy over the internet (i think) or psn store.. or something like that.
i just remember hearing about that and made me poo my pants that this game is going to be pownage and its only 2 and a half months away. woohoo!
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dirtydog1979 |
DirtyDog1979- 3:10pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 7
@4
felt the same! but its really got me intrested now could well be another AAA tilte WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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XenoSilvano |
XenoSilvano- 3:32pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 8
damn I want this so bad I can't wait until the day it comes out!
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bracomadar |
bracomadar- 3:56pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 9
Thanks for the inside look Dave. You're so lucky you've got to play this already. If you can sell your levels, do you get cash, or credit at the PS Store to buy other games? Also, will you be able to add custom content and items to your Sackboys, or just the levels? I know we're going to have a lot of stuff available to customize our characters, but can we make our own hats and objects to put on them?
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incredibilistic
- 4:24pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 10
I'm just waiting for those handful of gamers that will do their best to make a level that will last 8 hours. Those will probably be the ones that you'll have to buy but I bet they'll be worth it. The fact that they intend to open this up so people can make actual money means the game will probably NEVER get boring and people will use it as a profit center. Being able to make money from LBP sets a new stage for making a game last. If a game like Halo or Call of Duty allowed people to make money from their maps there'd be no end to the game.
I'm just glad this is a Sony exclusive that will NEVER be released on the 360 since Sony is actually publishing the game. Forget FFXIII THIS is the exclusive that will push more PS3s.
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zombieking36
- 4:34pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 11
Man this game looks incredible! This is revolutionary in the gaming industry; this is what Microsoft needs to sweat over! Its amazing, and a huge reason to pick up a PS3. They need to package this in with the 80gb PS3!
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I95SOUTH |
I95SOUTH- 5:10pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 13
"LBP will feature a full 360 degree world that you can traverse in order to find the level or map you’d like to play."
Please!!! Dont use the word 360 when it comes to any game thats only on ps3. We know sony is good for letting games go, even tho I know its a in house game. But I will lose my ps3 when this game comes out, and you want to know to who...... my wife! She told me to play al the games I want right now because you wont be able to play when LBP comes out.
psn id: I95SOUTH
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edward_moffet |
edd- 5:13pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 14
im very very excited for this game its going to be so awesome
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Undying_Darkness
- 5:47pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 15
After this comes out, im going to take the next year or so to create my utopia!
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Guamdude 671 |
bblas- 7:18pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 18
This game is amazing. October 7 can't come any faster. PSN:bblas Feel Free To Add
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NoMercy666 |
Ask me...- 10:49pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 19
This game might win game of the year. Or MGS4.
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BlueRevolvuR |
BlueRevolvuR- 10:49pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 20
@first I was like meh, but now i'm physced!!!! when it comes out, me and my frends will make a level selling business.
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yoboyrob9041226 |
BIGROB904- 10:51pm BST - July 26th, 2008
- 21
yet first day im going to start making the best level i can make. but knowing me i might let it go for free because its no fun if nobody plays it cuz they dont want to buy it but if a lot of people start playing i may put a price on it.
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THEmanbearpig |
MANBEARPIG- 12:02pm BST - August 29th, 2008
- 34
im with comment 31, dont really see the point....dont get me wrong it seems interesting, but if you have a job or a life in general i dont see people having the time. Hope im wrong though
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TheWorldEndsWithMe |
DonovanTheICEMAN- 8:58pm BST - September 2nd, 2008
- 35
I wasn't sure what to think of this when it was announced but the coverage has convinced me it will be just huge. I've already got an epic idea for a level, heres hoping you can make huge ones. (Sorry can't announce it or it could be stolen!) I can't understand why people complain there are no good PS3 titles, I just hope I have the cash when this debuts cuz I already can't keep up with all the great releases. Keep your eyes peeled on the boards and watch 360 fanboys try to play down the success of this bad (sack) boy title.
LBP+PS3 FTW!
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XxVvIcToRxX
- 5:32pm BST - September 6th, 2008
- 37
This game is different thats why it is going to be so much fun and such a big hit
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