PlayStation LifeStyle » LBP

EA Play Lets Families ‘Create’ Their Own Fun This Holiday Season

Max Murray — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:06:47 +0000

EA Play announced today a new game that seems to be tailored to the audience of LittleBigPlanet. Dubbed ‘Create’, the game focuses on creative solutions to difficult problems. Giving players a multitude of tools to use, players will be able to effectively create and add to their own world as they solve the game’s most challenging problems and puzzles.

EA’s new adventure, Create, promises to deliver “imaginative gameplay challenges”, utilizing player’s creativity to unlock and solve puzzles. Players are given the tools to not only complete these colorful and fun levels, but the ability to ‘create’ their very own levels, using intuitive brushes, models and pallets. Best of all, the in-game community feature allows you to upload your own levels so friends can try out your masterpieces! You’re challenged to Play Create and Share your… eerr wait no. Sorry that’s the LittleBigPlanet slogan. I don’t know how I confused that.

Harvey Elliott, VP and General Manager at EA Bright Light explained more about Create’s family-friendly style, and how his studio came up with the idea:

“Create uses families’ imaginations to develop new ways to play together that are both fun and challenging. We wanted to design a game where the entire family can explore, decorate, and solve challenges where no solution is wrong and the only limit is the imagination.”

Create will be released in November on the Wii, XBox 360, PC and utilizing Move support on the PS3.

Now we’re not saying Create is some sort of clone, or a copy-cat version of LittleBigPlanet 2 in order to somehow, I don’t know, thwart sales of the spectacular, original title also scheduled for release at that time… Check out the debut trailer below and see for yourself how different it is:

Click here to view the embedded video.

……….. Actually, that’s exactly what we’re saying.

Kevin Butler Tries to “Ware” You Out With his LittleBigPlanet Creation

Max Murray — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:04:12 +0000

Kevin Butler, the newly dubbed “VP of Micro-Minigames”, has created a LittleBigPlanet masterpiece. Consisting of a series of minigames, a la WarioWare, the “Kevin Butler Ware” level wants to test if you’re really as quick as you think you are. Check the video after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The “hands-free” future Kevin Butler boss really seals the deal on this superb creation. Not to mention, you really can’t go wrong with a LBP style Doc Brown…

Top 5 Franchises Suited for PlayStation Move

Matt Baker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:07:20 +0000

PlayStation Move is certainly on the minds of countless developers and PlayStation fans. The new technology from Sony appears to outshine the Nintendo Wii motion controls, and offers many of the features of Microsoft’s upcoming Project Natal. Since PlayStation Move’s recent introduction during the GDC event, we’ve already reported on a large portfolio of games which will support the technology at launch. There are many more developers reportedly interested in it with reports of possible patches for software already available. We explore the deep reservoir of PlayStation titles to determine the top 5 franchises suited for Sony’s PlayStation Move.

Approximately 36 publishers at this point will be supporting PlayStation Move. Some of the first party games which will be incorporating the motion controls are SOCOM 4, LittleBigPlanet and Motion Fighter. Some of us are curious of PlayStation Move may be implemented into other titles. We have compiled a list of the top 5 franchise candidates for PlayStation Move..

Ratchet & Clank

5) Everybody’s favorite PlayStation duo, Ratchet and Clank have always been a PlayStation owners for a treat with every installment in the colorful series. Ratchet and Clank Fututre: Tools of Destruction utilized the PlayStation SixAxis controller lightly but almost perfectly, so it would make sense if developers Insomniac are interested to take advantage of PlayStation Move for their next R&C game.

Fight Night

4) When PlayStation Move was officially revealed at the recent Game Developers Conference, there were announcements for an array of games which would support the motion technology. Some of the games were solely made for the motion controller, and one of them was ‘Motion Fighter‘. Fight Night could undoubtedly work in a similar fashion to Motion Fighter and with EA Sports having a great line-up for 2010, don’t be surprised if they incorporate the technology in an upcoming sports title.

Time Crisis

3) Time Crisis 4 made very good use and took full advantage of the Gun-Con 3 peripheral. Change camera angles, switch out weapons and control your character’s movement, the Gun Con controller has the full package. Time Crisis could contain identical resemblances to Socom 4 which will be using PlayStation Move; something which could fit in well with the PS Move controller’s add-ons – Kevin Butler shows how.

Warhawk / Starhawk

2) Warhawk was one of the first PlayStation 3 exclusives which made full use of the motion sensor-based PlayStation 3 controller, SixAxis. Developers LightBox Interactive certainly didn’t add a last minute appendage, but instead opting to make good use the motion controls. With the fluidity and level of customization to suit ones preferences, there is a more than likely chance that ‘StarHawk‘ could replicate Warhawk’s motion attributes and give PlayStation owners yet another title to Move with.

Flower

1) That Game Company’s PlayStation Network title, Flower is one the highest rated, relaxing and visually awe-inspiring games to grace the current generation console era. It truly exemplifies the “Only on PlayStation” motto perfectly. Flower was primarily based around motion sensor, thus showcasing the qualities of the SixAxis controller. Everything within the game revolves around using the SixAxis. From gathering more roses pedals to every blade of grass being affected by the player’s speed. Although Flower has dominated game award events, including winning the coveted ‘Best Downloadable Game’, That Game Company had stated there will be no games before 2011. However, they are very interested in PlayStation Move stating that the controller has “great potential”, and you can bet that their next title will be using the technology.

LittleBigPlanet Getting Wet and Piratey Soon

Sebastian Moss — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:49:14 +0000

At this year’s E3 Sony announced a partnership with Disney to bring the popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to the PlayStation 3 in the form of costumes for LittleBigPlanet, one month later they announced plans for water to be brought to the game, in the form of downloadable content. Little was heard of either of the expansions to the game, until recently, when trophy listings and insider sources pointed towards a collaboration of the two packs, which would land before Christmas. Now, Media Molecule, the developers of the game, has officially detailed and dated the DLC.

Instead of just an ordinary costume kit, the Pirates of the Caribbean update will also bring a new premium level pack, something that has only been done before with the best selling Metal Gear Solid Level Pack. The levels follow the loveable Sackboy as he travels deep into the Caribbean to battle The East India Trading Company and Pirates alike to find a legendary ship and take on the Kraken, with Davy Jones trying to thwart Sackboy, wreak havoc and claim some sack folk to serve as Davy’s Crew. The pack features six different levels, each containing a bounty of bonuses, from 133 stickers, to 14 decorations, 8 materials, 4 new music tracks, 27 objects and 11 brand new trophies. The pack will cost £4.79 / €5.99 / US $5.99 depending on where you reside.

Coupled with the kit is the gameplay feature of water, which is used in the level, and can also be used in your own level creation. Unfortunately, for those with dreams of creating complicated water parks, water can only be set as a global water level, which can then be altered with the Global Water Object throughout a level. It cannot be placed as a material to make slides, waterfalls, rivers, etc, or placed within a small area to create a pool. Although, you can adjust the ferocity of the waves, the colour, the murkiness and the levels of confetti in the water.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While the watery level pack may provide countless hours of fun, it does not provide any costumes, other than a painted cannibal. To see Captain Sack and other key characters from the film, you will require the Pirates of the Caribbean Costume kit for £4.79 / €5.99 / US $5.99. The pack includes Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, Barbossa, Davy Jones, Will Turner and Tia Dalma. Alternatively, the costumes can be purchased separately for £1.59 / €1.99 / US $1.99. Interestingly, Sack Sparrow has received a LittleBigMakeover since his showing at E3.

The Pirates of the Caribbean Premium Level Kit and matching Costume kit is set to lay anchor on December 22nd.

[Source]

Waves – Choose between as still as a lake or a rolling ocean
Water Colour – Choose the colour of the water
Water Murkiness – Choose how murky you want the water to be
Water Bits – Choose how much confetti you want in your water

Sackboy Mixes it up with Lady GaGa

Josh Fernandes — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:58:44 +0000

There have been plenty of LittleBigPlanet levels with music video themes. There have been levels featuring Rick Astley, Michael Jackson, and Guns N’ Roses. Today, LittleBigPlanet got a little more star studded.

Below is a video inspired by Lady GaGa’s new single Bad Romance. Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[Source]

Sega Joining in LittleBigPlanet DLC Party

Kyle P. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:52:42 +0000

According to a PlayStation Asia page, gamers can expect a new batch of LittleBigPlanet downloadable content in the near future. This latest DLC may bring out the Sega fan in all of you.

With a expected release date of mid-December, the Sonic the Hedgehog costume pack will feature Sonic, Sonic the Werehog, Knuckles, Tails and Dr. Eggman. No price was given, or other specifics were given. However, there is the option to buy them all, as a pack, or individually.

As always, stick with PlayStation LifeStyle as we’ll bring you all the latest news from Media Molecule and their remarkable game, LittleBigPlanet.

[Source/Via]

Best Buy Black Friday PS3 Deals Are Worth Getting Up Early For

Paulmichael Contreras — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:48:25 +0000

Careful you don't get trampled!

Black Friday is the end-all-be-all of insane deals for those who can wake up early and brave the massive lines to get some holiday shopping done. This year’s Best Buy Black Friday deals have found their way online, and there are a number of PlayStation 3-related deals that may pique your interest.

Consoles
PlayStation 3 Package w/120GB Console, Little Big Planet, and Ratchet And Clank: $299.99

Games for $19.99

Call of Juarez
Fallout 3
Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Resident Evil 5
The Bigs 2

Games for $34.99

Brutal Legend
Dragon Age: Origins
FIFA Soccer 10
Madden 10
NBA Live 10
Need For Speed: Shift
NHL 10

See anything you like? Stay connected to PlayStation LifeStyle for the latest and greatest Black Friday deals and other PlayStation-related news.
[Source, thanks haskell420!]

Watch the New LittleBigPlanet Costume Kit in Action

Sebastian Moss — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:21 +0000

LittleBigPlanet may be almost a year old, but the game recently received its very own Game of the Year Edition, Sony gave away free Norse Mythology DLC, and announced a new Water level Creator’s Pack. With over two million user generated levels the title is certainly one of Sony’s biggest and most ambitious titles, with developer Media Molecule releasing a steady stream of DLC to keep consumers interested. Recently however, there has been a small drought in LBP with no packs being released in a while, now it seems that this is soon set to change.

This Thursday Media Molecule will add to the barrage of content coming to the store, releasing the Watchmen Costume and Sticker Pack to the masses. The Silk Spectre II, Rorschach, Nite Owl II and Ozymandias costumes will be available in the pack, as well as a whole host of Watchmen related stickers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As Rorschach’s mask is slightly different in the photograph than in the short teaser trailer, this shows that the mask does move and change, just like the true fictional character, which will come as a relief to fans of the lovable psychopath.

[Source]

PSN Boasts Serious Stats

Joseph Peterson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:11:51 +0000

Kaz Hirai has just revealed huge numbers that show how far the PlayStation Network has come since the launch of the service back in November of 2006.

During Kaz’s keynote at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, he proudly announced that there are around 29 million user accounts on the PlayStation Network. Content wise there have been over 600 million items downloaded off of the network. Then when it comes to the beloved title LittleBigPlanet, there are over 2 million user created stages for your Sackboy/girl to play through.

LittleBigWater to Make a DLC Splash

Jonathan Leack — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:55:37 +0000

Roughly a month ago, Media Molecule unveiled a trailer for their hit title Little Big Planet, which showed off the upcoming DLC that will add water to the game. The trailer hit a home run, and coupled with the announcement of a Game of the Year edition, Little Big Planet quickly regained tons of popularity.

Little has been revealed about the upcoming addition of water to Little Big Planet, although recently there was an open beta for people who signed up. However, a video of water gameplay has surfaced and it really shows off the potential of this gameplay addition. The water itself looks fantastic, and the physics involved look like they should add a whole new range of options for savvy level creators.

If you don’t own this game already, be sure to check out the demo on the PlayStation Store!

Click here to view the embedded video.

[Source]

Adorable New LBP PSP Screenshots

JohnDraisey — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:02:21 +0000

The LBP craze continues this October with LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation Portable, and is sure to be a big hit amongst PSP owners, especially since it will be available on PlayStation Network for download. The pint sized port will have a seizable amount of features and, as we found out at E3 2009, it plays almost exactly like its PS3 brother. Sony has released some new screenshots of Sackboy’s latest outing, showcasing the new levels and costumes.

Check them out below, and let us know what you think!

Dynamic Themes Not Profitable

JohnDraisey — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:45:58 +0000

Firmware 3.0 brought a slew of new features to PlayStation 3′s operating system, most notably in the form of dynamic themes. Rather than just adding on new icons and sound effects, dynamic themes offer PS3 owners the ability to have background environments rather than just background pictures. But the price tag present on current dynamic themes have raised some serious questions about Sony’s decision to allow developers to profit off these themes.

What’s surprising, though, is that the cost to build these dynamic themes is actually quite high. And in fact, they may even be completely unprofitable to build and release to the public. Dylan Cuthbert of Q-Games explains how products like dynamic themes are actually a large investment for the companies that create them:

“Remember that we’ll be lucky to sell even a few thousand themes and so the cost of developing the theme (3-4 weeks of coder/artist time, checking, testing etc) will still far exceed any money we make from it.”

There’s of course some other incentives for creating dynamic themes, such as building brand awareness. But we hope these labor-intensive items continue to populate the PlayStation Store. And if you don’t already own the LBP dyanamic theme, the only question is “why not?”

[Source]

Sony Issues Recall for LittleBigPlanet

Richard Allen — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:01:07 +0000

LittleBigPlanet is no stranger to recalls. The original LBP release saw a quick recall to retool the sound track slightly. Some people ended up getting the game early and some had to wait for the retooled version. This latest recall shouldn’t worry any fans of the lovable sackboy as it is ushering in a new moniker for LBP.

Internal memos at GameStop indicate all of the LBP stock will be packed up and returned. The Media Molecule masterpiece will now carry the GOTY, Game of the Year moniker and it’s about time really. GameStop currently lists the familiar version as unavailable but it seems BestBuy still shows it available online.

[Source]

LBP Gets Soaking New Feature

JohnDraisey — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:56:26 +0000

Ever felt like something was missing from LittleBigPlanet? If you’ve ever played through user-created levels with undersea sections, you’re not alone. The folks at Media Molecule have listened to our outcries and decided to add a soaking new feature, water!

Check out the awesome debut trailer down below, and let us know what you think!

Click here to view the embedded video.

One Million Levels Uploaded by LittleBigPlanet Community

JohnDraisey — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:33:48 +0000

Sony Computer Entertainment and [shal]Media Molecule[/shal] announced today that the LittleBigPlanet community has published one million levels to the PlayStation Network since the award-winning [shal]PlayStation 3 exclusive[/shal] launched last November. Known for establishing the “Play, Create and Share” genre on PlayStation, [shal]LittleBigPlanet[/shal] continues to grow and evolve through its passionate online community. In fact, more than 2.4 million unique players have played LittleBigPlanet online.

To give the one million [shal]user-generated level[/shal]s milestone some context, this means that one new level has been published roughly every 21 seconds since LittleBigPlanet launched. Additionally, if a player were to play every user-generated level available on LittleBigPlanet, it would take that player almost 5 years playing 24 hours a day.

In celebration of this significant milestone, and of the LittleBigPlanet community that has embraced the Play, Create and Share genre on PlayStation with open arms, Media Molecule has created a video. You can check it out here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/07/22/littlebigplanet-community-reaches-one-million-creations/

About LittleBigPlanet:
Developed by Media Molecule, LittleBigPlanet is a community-based [shal]PS3 exclusive [/shal]game that allows players to play, create and share. In this stylish and stitched-together 3D craft material world, there is fun to be had for all ages, tastes and player types. On LittleBigPlanet, there are developer and user-generated levels to explore and play, a huge host of materials, tools, stickers and more to create, and a robust set of online features for the community to share with each other via PlayStation Network.

LittleBigPlanet brings a revolutionary concept and the most accessible design tools to the videogame industry. On LittleBigPlanet, the world is full of infinite possibilities, where imagination becomes reality and the powers of creation are firmly in the players’ hands.