GDC: LittleBigPlanet announced

By Robert Purchese Published 7 March, 2007

Harrison shows his ace.

Perhaps the most exciting thing to emerge from Phil Harrison's keynote address was LittleBigPlanet, a game Sony reckons embodies its "Game 3.0" concept perfectly.

Developed by Media Molecule, it simply presents you with the tools to create your own entertainment. You start as a little brown creature who appears to be made out of wool, in a backyard like environment, bumbling around the place in an effort to work out how to interact with different bits and pieces. Once you've got this under control the whole experience opens up, allowing you to place different objects in your world using a cut and paste type system.

All of the objects are made out of materials, like wood, fabric and metal, and the whole game has a charming look.

The key factor for Harrison and Media Molecule is that there is no limit to what you can achieve, which was highlighted by a demonstration led by lead designer Chris Healy. The maximum of four players participated in a pre created game, the object of which was to collect the sponge resource.

Simple running and jumping soon escalated into players using jetpacks, before banding together to overcome more difficult obstacles. It was a fast a fluid demonstration that left big smiles on most people's faces.

There's no information on a release date as yet, but you can satiate your thirst for the game with the latest screenshots from the show.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 5 years ago

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  • Tejstar #1 5 years ago

    Interesting...

  • JediMasterMalik #2 5 years ago

    Looks great, dunno how many times I am gonna say that.

  • MORZTAN #3 5 years ago

    Hmmm. I'm a little.... Baffled?

  • Overlush #4 5 years ago

    No guns or cars?

  • SeesThroughAll #5 5 years ago

    VERY promising stuff.

  • LOLLERS #6 5 years ago

    looks nice and interesting

  • Tominator6six6 #7 5 years ago

    This looks awsome.
    Just saw the trailer on gametrailers.com.
    I want to know more about this game.

  • TheJanitor #8 5 years ago

    looks very very good.

  • BartonFink #9 5 years ago

    That looks very charming indeed.
    More of this Sony.

  • The-Bodybuilder #10 5 years ago

    tomorrow, MS will display a new game with HUGE GUNZZZZZZ.

  • zozart #11 5 years ago

    Looks fantastic.

  • Nithron #12 5 years ago

    I'm sorry. That didn't explain anything at all about what was actually going on.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #13 5 years ago

    This I like a lot. More things like this please.

  • gerald #14 5 years ago

    I'll take suff like this anytime over Resistance or Halo or Gears.
    I'm sick of kill, die, respawn, repeat...

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #15 5 years ago

    ^ nail, head.

  • sanctusmortis #16 5 years ago

    Line Rider + Eledees = Little Big Planet. I love the look of it, but yet again it's no system seller!

    They've gone all Ninty on us, giving us loads of "look at the cool stuff we could do", but there's so LITTLE of it. A whole hour, and we learned 2 things: Home, an overcomplicated mish-mash of MMO communication, Animal Crossing and Gamercard, and Little Big Planet, to Sony and PS3 what Pikmin was to Nintendo and Gamecube. WHRE. ARE. THE. GAMES!

  • Tonka #17 5 years ago

    Nice. More of this please. I like the idea and the style. Will keep an eye out for this one.

  • CrumpledPaper #18 5 years ago

    >> to Sony and PS3 what Pikmin was to Nintendo and Gamecube

    >> WHRE. ARE. THE. GAMES!

    Please! This is the most exciting thing I've seen in some time.

    This is nothing like Pikmin either..have you actually read about it? You create your own gameplay, with others, collaboratively, and you can publish your levels/games online, others can play them, rate them, comment on them. It's all physics based so the gameplay emerges from the properties you assign to objects in your environment.

  • Poorandugly #19 5 years ago

    @CrumpledPaper

    Sony called, they want their sales talk back...

    ;)

  • smelly #20 5 years ago

    Looks ace to me! Kinda game i like (and normally have to rely on nintendo to deliver .. as opposed to endless mind numbingly boring fps/racing games.

    More of this kinda thing, and i might get a ps3.

    (might)
    Edited by smelly at 07/03/07 @ 20:46

  • #21 5 years ago

    I've been looking through ps3.ign.com and gametrailers.com and all I can say is wow. Even at this stage Sony and PS3 looks impressive.

  • smelly #22 5 years ago

    >Even at this stage Sony and PS3 looks impressive.

    At what stage? 6 months after launch?

  • #23 5 years ago

    @smelly

    3 1/2 months

  • smelly #24 5 years ago

    Picky picky.. feels longer :-)

  • CrumpledPaper #25 5 years ago

    Gamespot had conference video up. It's ten times better than the trailer, shows off the editing and stuff. It's pretty freakin' amazing!

  • biru #26 5 years ago

    At least they're trying, bless 'em. All sounds a bit vague at this point though, and the 'Game 3.0' rubbish is incredibly grating.

    But, they're trying.

  • Keso #27 5 years ago

    Fantastic, good work Sony.

  • JediMasterMalik #28 5 years ago

    Stop complaining about Game 3.0 until you realise whathe was actually talking about.

  • NegativeZero #29 5 years ago

    I don't get it. A game that ships with no content and expects you to make it all yourself? Pass.

  • SeesThroughAll #30 5 years ago

    I don't get it. A game that ships with no content and expects you to make it all yourself? Pass.

    Yes, it does ship with content. Check out the keynote video. Google is your friend.

  • Kami #31 5 years ago

    Wait, is this a glimmer of hope in these dark hours for Sony?

    Interesting...

  • Carrybagma #32 5 years ago

    Did they actually play it or was it a Killzone-type mock-up?

    Looks great fun anyway - The co-op could be genuinely excellent. Actually, 'd rather have this as the PS 'Home' instead of the real one. Pile your awards up in order to climb into a tree or something..

  • JediMasterMalik #33 5 years ago

    They played both it and Home, and it was glorious.

  • Les #34 5 years ago

    finally something that looks 'next gen'.

  • Eraser #35 5 years ago

    oddly enough, this is the first time I'm impressed by Playstation 3 graphics.

  • bioreit #36 5 years ago

    I'm an Xbot through and through and this looks fantastic!

    Although having said that, I have owned a PS1, PS2, DC, Jaguar, SNES and N64 before...

    But still vastly prefer Xbox to the others and frankly, I'm jealous of all you soon-to-be-PS3 owners.

    Not to say I will never get a PS3, but it'll be at least two years for me.

    If I can hold out that long, mind.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #37 5 years ago

    oddly enough, this is the first time I'm impressed by Playstation 3 graphics.

    I know what you mean.

    All these other games are very shiny and hi-res but not really that exciting.

    This, on the other hand, really has some beautiful art-direction, lovely attention to detail and real character that comes from the physics handling. Why can't all games be this simple yet fascinating?

  • henrys_cat #38 5 years ago

    Looks like they've tried to recreate the incredible machine but with lovely graphics - if there's a puzzle mode I'm sold.

    I'm glad that they've left it in 2.5d rather than trying to crowbar it into full 3d though.

  • PlugMonkey #39 5 years ago

    Puts me in mind of Kuri Kuri Mix multiplied by about 1000.

    Very, very cool looking. The first PS3 game to get me genuinely excited.

  • LeeroyJenkins #40 5 years ago

    Absolutely Stunning!!

    Congrats to all the Media Molecule guys. Superb work. Su-f***ing-perb.

  • richardiox #41 5 years ago

    Jedimastermalik said "Stop complaining about Game 3.0 until you realise what he was actually talking about. "

    LOL - could you define game 3.0 for me then please? I thought it was just an abstract marketing slogan?! Also please define "The Third Place"

    If Game 3.0 is a concept it certainly isnt new - user created content and online connectivity has been done on PCs for years now; Trackmania etc

  • belziah #42 5 years ago

    Am I the only one who thinks they should have made HOME in the LBP environment and graphical style?

    Sorta, Tim Burton re-imagines The Wombles.

    Without a doubt, the best 'next-gen' graphics I've seen so far.

  • Steroyd #43 5 years ago

    If Game 3.0 is a concept it certainly isnt new - user created content and online connectivity has been done on PCs for years now; Trackmania etc

    Neither is XBL but for some reason Consoles and PC's are on different planets.

    Huzzah!

    http://gamevideos.com/video/id/9860
    Edited by Steroyd at 08/03/07 @ 12:12

  • Carrybagma #44 5 years ago

    What's surprising and ironic is that after all the talk of incredible next-gen resolutions, polygon counts, object counts, draw-distances etc etc ad nauseam, the (currently) most anticipated game on the PS3 appears to offer art and gameplay as it's trump cards. Coming after Okami, I hope this is becoming a trend.

  • Steroyd #45 5 years ago

    the (currently) most anticipated game on the PS3 appears to offer art and gameplay as it's trump cards.

    Don't forget Physics....

  • ynohtna #46 5 years ago

    LBP looks like multi-player Armadillo Run with strong art direction...

    Definitely not a bad thing.

  • Pastici #47 5 years ago

    Don't have time to watch the video but I'm imagining Spore mixed with Viva Pinata...Only way I can think of it in my head.

  • Hypnopedia #48 5 years ago

    Shit the bed.

    That looks stunning.

  • richardiox #49 5 years ago

    Classic Nintendo making cutesy games for kids. Oh...wait. Sorry, Sony FTW.

  • SeesThroughAll #50 5 years ago

    Classic Nintendo making cutesy games for kids. Oh...wait. Sorry, Sony FTW.

    If you think that's the gripe people have with Nintendo, you've got it all wrong. Some people aren't that bothered about games being cutesy, they're just fed up of all those (zillions of) games that clone just about any genre, with mushrooms and shells stuffed into them, and with "Mario" on the title. Over and over again.
    Edited by SeesThroughAll at 08/03/07 @ 13:42

  • Shrub #51 5 years ago

    User created content is all well and good, if it exists to extend the life of a game I've enjoyed playing already. PC games have been doing this for years, but its good to see this coming to consoles and I applaud that move. However, I would still insist on a proper game being included, designed by the professionals that made the engine - as most user-created content is dross in my experience. So far, I haven't read anything about such proper pre-made content in this.

    Now if only I was ten years old again (sigh) then I could imagine the fun of just building stuff with the impressive tools on display here. Sadly I'm not, so I cannot imagine ever finding the motivation or time to make something with this. Playing other user's amateur efforts doesn't exactly sound compelling either.

  • seedaripper #52 5 years ago

    woo hoo! f-ing positive PS3 news!! i cannae believe it captain...
    this game looks absolutely f-ing mint!! and home looks cool too....oh dear mr gate$...innovation never was one of your strong points was it?!...better get your xerox out mate ;)