LittleBigPlanet heading to Alpha

By Ellie Gibson Published 20 March, 2008

Cool stuff playable, says Mm.

Media Molecule has assured those excited about LittleBigPlanet that it's coming along very nicely, thank you.

A post on the studio's website reads, "We've been slaving away pushing LittleBigPlanet towards the Alpha stage of its development cycle. Basically this means all the cool stuff we said will be in there should be playable, even if it isn't pretty enough to release.

"The game seems to change every day at the moment and it is very exciting to be able to sit down and play what feels more and more like a complete experience."

So when will we get to sit down and play it? September was the last we heard. In the meantime, there are plenty of previews, videos and screenshots on the gamepage.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Moz #1 4 years ago

    Well at least it seems there using the extra dev time. Really looking forward to this.

  • the_dudefather #2 4 years ago

    in before 'I don't get it' comments

  • dan13l #3 4 years ago

    Only just hitting alpha? Methinks it does not mean what they think it means. Sounds a lot more like beta to me...
    Edited by dan13l at 20/03/08 @ 12:39

  • Darren #4 4 years ago

    I don't think we'll see this until near Christmas myself but I must admit I'm looking forward to it because it's quirky and different; that's not something you can say about many games these days.

  • dazzaman #5 4 years ago

    Can't wait to buy it to make an FPS.

    Sorry couldn't resist, /gets coat.

  • afray #6 4 years ago

    dan13l - traditionally "alpha" means feature-complete but very buggy, and "beta" means playable from start to finish without any showstoppers. Although more often than not they are just the two mile stones before the end of a project.

  • mingster #7 4 years ago

    i'm worried if they are only just getting it to be playable after all this time..

  • JediMasterMalik #8 4 years ago

    With a game this ambitious, it's not surprising.

  • dan13l #9 4 years ago

    @afray - yeah, I know. I just thought by this stage they'd at least be in beta. Given that they've been demoing it for journos and such. Just hitting alpha 6 months from launch...it's a bit worrying.

  • Moz #10 4 years ago

    it could be more that they've only just finished all the levels, the core code has been around so long that there probably is much to do before going to beta, as alpha test will probably be them running through the game checking for big bugs before passing it to beta test who'll play it to death trying to brake it.

  • dsmx #11 4 years ago

    The game is still in alpha and it looks that good?

  • Hughes. #12 4 years ago

    I'm glad it's finally shaping up, that first demo seems forever ago. I think Sony ought to start shipping devkits for the PS4 now, otherwise some game series will wind up skipping a generation, Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo, I'm looking at you!

  • monkie_king #13 4 years ago

    They do mean alpha. Beta means "finished apart from the thousands of bugs we need to fix".

  • peterfll #14 4 years ago

    Alpha?!

  • dsmx #15 4 years ago

    I fail to see how a game that will have unlimited content and 4 player co-op could ever get old.

  • zedzee #16 4 years ago

    I fail to see how a game that will mostly have user-generated content could take so long to finish.

  • PoonMoon #17 4 years ago

    (Looks like a christmas 08 thing to me; new PS3 bundle + LBP for £34.99 or PS3 slightlylessfatnewformat version + LBP)

    This game is a defining title and a leap in what our expectations for games will be. Its networked, its UGC, its collaborative and cooperative thats why it takes a while to cut the code zedzee. Going towards alpha is progress and any progress on a game of this scale is excellent news.

    By the way, really dont get how anyone can think this game will be old after an hour? If it came with trading cards and sticker book would that make you happy uLov :D ?

    Alpha = a feasability milestone; a toll-gate for the project steering team; Beta = dress rehersal. Main point here is that you WANT it in aplha at this point as that means the dev team are still able to tweak out those game-killing naunces. Beta = too late for real change and aesthetics / ui polishing at best so the fact they can last until Sept / Dec and keep progressing the game is great for the game itself. About time we had a game that wasnt rushed.