This is a shot from Best Buy’s circular this Sunday, October, 19, still showing LittleBigPlanet coming out this week. And, as Yaris posted about yesterday, the game has been postponed until next week. His post goes on to explain the reason for pushing back the release date is the discovery that one of the background music tracks in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qu’ran. The game was pushed back to rectify the situation and avoid further offending anyone.
Now, this is not a “look how stupid Best Buy is,” post. In fact, the Sunday ads for Circuit City, Target, Toys R’ Us, and probably a few others contained the same thing, and some (including Best Buy) tagged with, “Date subject to change.” It seems to be just a case of the release date changing after the ad material already went to press. This is, instead, a sort of letter of sympathy to any who work in video game retail for having to give the above explanation to who knows how many pissed off parents and uninformed gamers looking to grab one of the years most anticipated games on the date given in the circular.
Word of advice: Sometimes less said is best said. When asked why you don’t have the game, just say, “It got delayed,” and if asked why just say…well, just say, “it’s complicated.”
A few podcasts ago, I questioned the importance and reach of LittleBigPlanet. At that time, I had only seen and touched a few short demos of the game. But after spending a great deal of time with the Beta on the PS3, I am eating my words. LittleBigPlanet is utterly fantastic and will win Game of the Year for 2008.
In the Beta, you get access to the game’s Story mode (but not all of it) and level creation tools. The presentation of everything is beyond amazing. As you start the game, you go through a small level where it gives pictures of all the developers and introduces the game. Everything is narrated by a British man that completely reminds you of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (one of my favorite books/movies by the way). [Update - turns out it is the same guy]. He’ll crack some jokes and keep the mood light, which is very pleasant. You then get to access your Pod, which is a cardboard box that allows you to look out onto the various worlds.
You know all that hub-bub about Beta levels not making it to the full game? MediaMolecule heard your cries and has released a new version of the LittleBigPlanet Beta. Bad news though, as you have to delete your current game save. Anything you created and did in the game will be gone. It was going to happen eventually anyway, why not get it over with now?
To get the new release, you have to jump through a couple hoops. Delete the game from your PS3 hard drive and delete the game save as well. Then, fire up the PlayStation Store and go to View Downloads. Scroll down until you find the LBP Beta and download it again. Viola.
I’m downloading mine now and will have to play through a lot of the Story again. Oh well, it’s fun as shit anyway Expect full impressions of the game coming soon.
If you are one of the lucky several thousand to get your hands on a Little Big Planet beta key, then stop reading. For the rest of you who refuse to enter meaningless contests and join mailers just for a taste of a game, then you are all in luck. The word on the street is that Sony is going to open the beta to everyone.
“If you don’t get in, don’t worry. They are supposed to be opening up the public beta for the final week. Last I heard they were still planning on doing so, this closed beta is just there to generate a bit (a lot) of hype for the game before it releases. Basically they are talking about turning the limited time closed beta into a demo for the week before launch. It is easier to do this than to release a demo.”
I understand the hype machine and making people want a to play a game that probably are not that familiar with, but gamers should not have to sit by their computers frantically trying get their hands on demo material which is only a very small portion of the final game.
While this isn’t a very fun level to actually play, check out the funny exploitation done in this user-created level for LittleBigPlanet. You really can create everything in this game.
Check out this new trailer of Little Big Planet from PAX. We get to see the Adventures of Sackboy, and there’s even a sighting of a Sackgirl in there. This is definitely one o fthe most anticipated games of the year. It’s been winning tons of awards for Best of Show categories in recent conferences. October can’t come soon enough.
I’m not a big advocate of pre-ordering games. You can usually walk in to any Best Buy, Walmart, or Target and grab a copy of the game on launch day. My only exceptions are cool limited editions and games with awesome pre-order bonuses. Enter LittleBigPlanet.
In a post on PlayStation.Blog, Mark Valledor a Marketing Manager at Sony, dropped a few details of what you can get for pre-ordering what could be the biggest Game 2.0 event to hit the consoles.
Some perks for dropping some cash down for the game early include exclusive downloads for Nariko and Kratos SackBoy skins, a LittleBigPlanet Creator video guide, a sticker book, and a sack pouch to hold your game. All are pretty damn cool stuff. What about a real life SackBoy? I want one for my desk.
Make sure to check out some pics of the rest of the goods after the jump.
A source has told CVG that Little Big Planet is in development for the PSP over at Sony’s Liverpool studios. Sony has given a standard “no comment” on the issue.
While it seems plausible, we don’t know yet for sure. There’s a lot of potential there for the game on the PSP, such as level sharing and editing on the go. Possibly even features for linking the PS3 and PSP versions of the game?
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more details on this possible title.
Yes, that Spielberg. As in the guy that brought you Jaws, ET, and Indiana Jones. Steven is teaming up with EA to deliver Boom Blox for the Wii.
Fun for kids and the entire family, BOOM BLOX offers action-packed interactive activities that takes Wii play to a new level of creativity and fun with single player, co-op, and versus gameplay. Players can experience the visceral gameplay – perfectly suited for the Wii’s interactive motion-sensitive controls – through brain-twisting challenges. They can interact with entertaining characters such as the block-laying chickens or baseball-throwing monkeys across four themed environments – Tiki, Medieval, Frontier, and Haunted. Additionally, players can remix any level of the game in Create Mode using props, blocks, or characters that have been unlocked during the game. Players can also virtually build anything they can dream up. Plus, their designs can then be shared with friends or used to challenge others to solve their newly created puzzle via WiiConnect24™.
The game sounds decent. I’d like to see more gameplay before I make judgment though. It seems like an attempt to make a Little Big Planet style game for the Wii.
I’ve been excited about Little Big Planet since the first time it was announced at E3 2007. The game looks like it will provide hours upon hours of creative fun when it’s released later this year. Here’s a demo from the CES floor showing off creating trees in your level. Looks pretty cool and intuitive.
Notice at the end of the video they indicate an open beta will be available for the game, probably this summer. Expect to hear more about Little Big Planet at GDC next month.
Expect full impressions of the game coming soon.
Recent Comments