LittleBigPlanet 2

LittleBigPlanet is ten years old.

UPDATE 5/7/15 10.55am There's good news today for fans of LittleBigPlanet on PlayStation Vita - Sony has at last confirmed to Eurogamer that the portable game's servers will not close outside of Japan.

I can't do anything for two years - I certainly couldn't remake arguably the most famous JRPG, Final Fantasy 7, in LittleBigPlanet 2/3.

The developers of PlayStation franchises LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm have both teased new things ahead of Sony's PlayStation event on 20th February.

LittleBigPlanet 3 is in development at Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing studio Sumo Digital, a new report suggests.

Sony has announced LittleBigPlanet 2: Extras Edition for PlayStation 3.

It includes the original game and a raft of bonus content.

It includes the recently-released LittleBigPlanet 2: Cross-Controller Pack, which lets you use the PlayStation Vita as a controller, and the LittleBigPlanet 2 Move Pack: Rise of the Cakeling, which lets you play using the PS Move controller.

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LittleBigPlanet 2 is getting its Cross-Controller Pack DLC on 19th December that will allow Vita owners to use the handheld as a controller for the PS3 game.

When 2012 is all said and done Sony will have released three games starring Sackboy, the nondescript hessian bag of fluff and ice cream who made his name in Media Molecule's ground-breaking create-your-own platformer LittleBigPlanet.

PlayStation minis are still alive despite Sony's PS Mobile push.

More than seven million LittleBigPlanet levels have now been created by the game series' community.

A free summertime-themed DLC pack is out today for LittleBigPlanet 2. The add-on is only available for one week starting today.

UPDATE: Sony has confirmed that you can play games downloaded under the new PS Plus scheme for as long as you subscribe.

PSone Classics hit PS Vita this summer with Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7, Sony has announced. More titles will follow.

New DLC due later this year will let you use the Vita as a controller for LittleBigPlanet 2, Sony has announced.

PlayStation 3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet 2 will be updated to version 1.12 this week, Sony has announced.

Neil McPhillips, associate producer at Xdev Studio Europe, Sony's external development management team, listed the new features on the EU PlayStation Blog.

Dive-In: The Dive-In feature has now been moved to the top of the Community menu, and has been vastly rewired and improved to help players easily find some new Sackfolk to play with during their adventures!

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UPDATE 2: Microsoft has stressed that Phil Harrison hasn't replaced former Microsoft Studios Europe executive Peter Molyneux, who left to join Guildford start-up 22 Cans last week.

It looks like LittleBigPlanet Kart Racing is on its way to PlayStation 3.

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YouTube videos have emerged showing hit PlayStation 3 titles running via Remote Play on the new PSVita handheld. Camera footage of titles such as Red Dead Redemption, Mortal Kombat, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum has been recorded and uploaded, and there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to assume that the videos are anything but genuine.

LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule poured cash into developing brand new products last year, in an effort to address its reliance on its PlayStation platforming franchise.

A future PlayStation 3 firmware update will enable Vita Remote Play on all games, Eurogamer has learnt.

A Little Big Planet 2 special edition including the game's DLC has been confirmed for a North American release.

Sony has revealed a few more details about the PlayStation Vita's Remote Play capabilities.

Downloadable DeathSpank threequel The Baconing headlines this week's EU PlayStation Store update. As part of Sony's PlayStation Network Play promotion, co-op character Roesha comes unlocked.

The plot picks up from part two, with DeathSpank's dabbling with the Thongs of Virtue causing the appearance of an evil clone, the Anti-Spank, which must be defeated.

PlayStation 3 owners get a demo of Codemasters' destructible shooter Bodycount, while access to the Resistance 3 multiplayer beta opens up to all.

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The LittleBigPlanet 2 Move Pack will be released on 14th September and offer a whole new story to play through with your Move controller.

Sackboy's new motion-sensitive surroundings.

A set of Toy Story-themed DLC is on its way to LittleBigPlanet 2, developer Media Molecule has announced.

Phil Harrison, then president of Sony Worldwide Studios, wanted LittleBigPlanet to be free-to-play, downloadable and to adopt a brand new business model.

LittleBigPlanet has seen 1.5 million new users since the PlayStation Network outage of April, developer Media Molecule has announced.

Media Molecule has explained studio director Siobhan Reddy's recent comment that the UK developer is "stepping away" from LittleBigPlanet.

Strap yourselves in folks, there are bargains galore this week. We've two nicely discounted consoles available, a stellar pre-order offer, a couple of fairly recent releases getting their first proper discount, and a bite-sized game for just a quid. If Cheap This Week every Wednesday isn't enough for you, you can always find more cheap games over at SavyGamer.co.uk.

Irresistible Final Fantasy VII costumes head to LittleBigPlanet 2 next week.

The next big game made by Media Molecule probably won't be LittleBigPlanet 3, because the studio wants to do something new.

PlayStation 3 owners will be able to download a Sonic Generations demo from tomorrow, Sonic's 20th Anniversary.

Sega's Sonic Anniversary bundle also gets a 20 per cent price cut - it contains Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 4 Episode 1, Sonic Adventure, the DX add-on and the Sonic 4 dynamic theme.

Also this week: Several big games get new DLC. L.A. Noire's Cole Phelps gets a new Arson Case, Nicholson Electroplating, to solve. Killzone 3's From the Ashes map pack adds four new locales - but no zombies. Mortal Kombat adds a "Klassic" skin pack, while LittleBigPlanet 2 gets Tron: Evolution gear.

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Developer Media Molecule has revealed details of what to expect from LittleBigPlanet 2's impending Move DLC expansion.

LittleBigPlanet 2 will get "much deeper" PlayStation Move support in September, Sony has announced.

Kick-ass Trainers enlists Sackboy and co.

More than four million user-created levels have been shared around the world in PlayStation 3 DIY platformer LittleBigPlanet, publisher Sony has announced.

For any youngsters reading, here's something to show your parents next time they tell you to turn the games console off and do your homework.

LittleBigPlanet 2 developer Media Molecule is readying a new Teacher Pack that it hopes will inspire schools to use its DIY platformer as a learning aid, publisher Sony has announced.

A new LittleBigPlanet 2 update that fixes a number of problems in the PlayStation 3 platformer is now available for download, developer Media Molecule has announced.

Update 1.01, codename Cupcake, patches up game-crashing bugs as well as an issue reported last month that caused a craft moon to get stuck on your Pod.

A full list of changes, as detailed on Media Molecule's site, follows below.

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LittleBigPlanet 2 entered the Japanese chart at five this week, but sales were well down on its predecessor.

Sackboy gets down with the kids.

PlayStation 3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet 2 was used for the creation of North London pop band N-Dubz's next promo – what's believed to be the world's first videogame music video.

LittleBigPlanet 2 users have created 3.6 million levels since the DIY platformer launched on PlayStation 3 last month, Sony has announced.

The LittleBigPlanet Wiki, a new community resource where users can share creative methods, has just gone live, developer Media Molecule has announced.

Sony and Media Molecule's enchanting user-generated platformer LittleBigPlanet 2 has entered the UK all-formats chart at number one.

LittleBigPlanet2 has launched with a disruptive bug that traps some users on a never-ending loading screen.

First, an apology for failing to publish a Game of the Week last week. This wasn't a silent comment on the paucity of the release schedule in January but a silent comment on the paucity of my brain in January, because I forgot to do it.

The next big addition to LittleBigPlanet 2 will be "really powerful Move support", Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.

This will be a continuation of Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves, a standalone 10-level demo that showcased how PlayStation Move can work with LittleBigPlanet 2.

"There's no limits to potentially what we could add," Media Molecule co-founder David Smith told Eurogamer in an exclusive interview published today.

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Most Brits won't play LittleBigPlanet 2 until later - but already Media Molecule says the sequel has "massively outstripped" the number of concurrent online users managed by LittleBigPlanet 1.

A little over two years ago, Sony hung PlayStation 3 on a charming character made by British bright sparks Media Molecule, Sackboy. He was the star of LittleBigPlanet, a game that embodied the bold creative strides Sony wanted to make with PS3. And the gamble paid off, as Media Molecule's carnival of creation became Eurogamer's Game of the Year 2008.

Sackboy sequel out this week.

Ah, 2011. Full of optimism, hope and... wait, today's the most depressing day of the year. And it's raining everywhere. Yeah!

LittleBigPlanet 2 goes to the movies.

Sacks the way to do it.

A sack of the clones.

Few games leave no room for a sequel. It makes for poor business and, let's not forget, while the intended destination for most videogame makers is fun, the fuel that gets them there is potential profit. These days, if you want to make money from a blockbuster, the sequel is part of the business plan. But at the beautiful, altruistic core of LittleBigPlanet was the dream of a world that could not only nurture and grow life, but also sustain it. And nearly two years since its debut, this patchwork dimension is still achieving just that.

This simple little platform game and its idea lifted from PC game development – that giving your players the tools to make their own stuff after they've finished with your levels will not only maintain the life of your creation, but will enrich it and increase its value – has succeeded in building a community of amateur game designers. They deliver fresh content on a weekly basis, over three million levels to date. Not all of it is very good or interesting content, but enough of it is worthy of attention to keep LittleBigPlanet a perennially habitable planet.

So why the need for LittleBigPlanet 2, then? If the only type of content that could be generated by makers using the first title had been yet more woolly platformers, then it would make sense to create a spin-off, focusing on different styles of game. But the original game offered just enough flexibility to allow a creative designer to cajole its virtual ropes and pulleys into making a shoot-'em-up, or a giant calculator. On this basis, LittleBigPlanet's original dizzying potential precluded a sequel. No?

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The outstanding additions to a jam-packed PlayStation Store today are three demos: one for Dead Space 2, one for LittleBigPlanet 2 and one for Mass Effect 2.

LittleBigPlanet 2 will be available on 19th January across Europe and on 21st January in the UK and Ireland, publisher Sony has confirmed.

The PlayStation Blog was also at pains to remind us that a demo for the DIY PlayStation 3 platformer's story mode goes live on PlayStation Network tomorrow which lets you check out a few of the sequel's new playthings, such as the grappling hook and the Sackbots.

And in case you'd forgotten, the Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves spin-off hit PlayStation Network last week too.

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The first whispers of LittleBigPlanet 2 heading to PSP have been heard.

Concherto number Sacks.

A new LittleBigPlanet web portal, lbp.me, has just launched to help players sift through the thousands of user-generated levels on offer.

Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves, new Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light DLC and PSP platformer Prinny 2 are among the highlights of the latest PlayStation Store update.

The new content, listed on the PlayStation Blog and reproduced in full below, also includes the last two Prince of Persia HD re-releases, new DLC for Assassins's Creed: Brotherhood, DJ Hero 2 and Joe Danger, as well as a bunch of pre-Christmas price cuts.

Slightly less festive, however, is the asking price for the original Prototype, which has just been added for £31.99. Word from the wise: Amazon is selling the Platinum Edition for £11.99.

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Sony has offered PlayStation Plus subscribers perhaps the premium service's most eye-catching deal yet: LittleBigPlanet spin-off Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves free of charge.

Classic shooter recreated in LBP2 beta.

Sony has pulled a U-turn on its decision to include stereoscopic 3D in upcoming PS3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet 2.

Still can't rustle up European date.

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Every Sunday we haul an exciting article out of the Eurogamer archive so you can read it again or enjoy it for the first time if you missed it. John Teti compiled and created these for us back in 2011.

Let's face it, "trailer" is just a fancy word for "advert". They exist to whet our appetites for forthcoming games, to get us excited about them and to make us want to know more. This is why trailers rarely feature footage of loading screens, pause menus or the main character wandering round and round the same set of corridors looking for a rusty key.

But what if things were different? What if trailers revealed what we can really expect from games, or what the people making them are thinking?

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Still smarting after the LittleBigPlanet 2 delay? Fear not, a demo is on the way to ease your pain, publisher Sony has announced.

Sackboy gets stacked.

There's no plushy Sackboy toy snuggled inside the Collector's Edition of LittleBigPlanet 2 - the treats this time are virtual.

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Making a game with Media Molecule.

The games industry spends too much time concentrating on the complexity of new technology when it should instead be thinking about how it can use new innovations to make things simpler, claims LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule.

Every year at the Eurogamer Expo we invite you to tell us what you thought of the games you played, and without fail every year (so far anyway) you exhibit amazing taste in huge numbers. This year's Expo line-up was our strongest and most diverse yet, so we were excited to see what would follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, God of War III, or 2008's Mirror's Edge...

Jump for joy!

Media Molecule delayed LittleBigPlanet 2 because a minority of PS3 owners fail to connect to the internet, the developer has said.

LittleBigPlanet 2 will ship with a multi-level PlayStation Move demo that shows you how Sony's new controls could work with Sony's new game, Eurogamer has learned.

Media Molecule has hailed its community for the way it reacted to the high-profile delay of PlayStation 3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet 2.

If Media Molecule starts a new studio and it's called Incredible Compound, we want some kind of fee. Well, at least a pat on the back. We didn't come up with the name but we encouraged it. Which is what LBP2 is all about, really: encouraging creativity. The user-generated platformer (should we still call it a platformer?) is at Eurogamer Expo 2010 right now, as is Media Molecule itself, fresh from a developer session which asks the question: what goes into a MM-made LBP2 level? Here, in an interview with community managers James "Spaff" Spafford and Tom "Tom" Kiss conducted beforehand, Eurogamer finds out.

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Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet remains to this day a remarkable game - a title whose longevity is entirely down to the ingenuity and enterprise of the people playing it. Long after the game's preloaded levels are complete, LBP continues to enthral and entertain thanks to the mammoth collection of brand new stages created by a large, vibrant community.

Media Molecule's commitment to its community of level designers is impressive. With LittleBigPlanet 2, not only is the developer promising backwards compatibility with the full range of user-generated content out there, but the stages themselves automatically get a visual boost thanks to the radical enhancements made to the game's rendering engine.

For this blog post, which acts as a precursor to an extensive tech analysis tomorrow, LittleBigPlanet level design enthusiast David Coombes has put together a range of small levels designed to explicitly showcase some of the improvements made to the engine, and to test out some of the improvements discussed by Media Molecule's Alex Evans in Digital Foundry's pre-E3 tech interview.

One of the classic tests for lighting accuracy is the Cornell Box, which can be very accurately recreated with the content creation tools in the LittleBigPlanet, and then easily imported into the sequel's beta code.

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Media Molecule has announced a delay for LittleBigPlanet 2.

I wish I loved LittleBigPlanet. I wanted to. It's clever and confident, expressive and inventive. All the things you hope for in a new game. Yet I could only admire it from afar for the things it tried. Every attempt I made to snuggle up close and lose myself in its tactile universe was stymied by floaty, twitchy control and occasionally fussy level design. Whenever I tried to create something of my own, the creation suite overwhelmed me with a tangle of levers and connections that meant that all the great ideas in my head fizzled on the screen.

The game sold slowly but steadily, but the idealised dream of a vast fuzzy-felt community never really came to pass. The game clocked up a few million user levels shared, but once you remove the abandoned works in progress, half-finished doodles and levels designed to help players rack up Trophies without trying, it was clear that only a small percentage of those who bought the game ever really grasped the full potential of the design side of things. Most were content to rely on these few to make good on the concept's promise.

The temptation for a follow-up, you'd think, would be to pare things back, make it idiot-proof, box things in a bit more and make it easier for more people to make simpler things. What you lose in creativity, you gain in sheer volume of activity. The safe approach. It's to Media Molecule's credit that instead it has stuck to its guns and continued its expedition ever deeper into the jungle of user-defined content, knocking down the partition walls marked "Platform Game" and allowing everyone to make any kind of game they please.

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Sackboy gets attached.

Sony will invite gamers into a LittleBigPlanet 2 beta this week, allowing them to play the PS3-exclusive ahead of its release "for a few weeks".

Invites will be sent to those "who've been really active in LittleBigPlanet," beta coordinator LiquidRunner wrote in the official European PlayStation forum.

"So if you have been a busy Sackboy or girl then an invite might be coming your way. This decision has now been made; unfortunately we are not able to recruit any further Beta Testers at present."

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Pride of the sack.

There will a beta test for LittleBigPlanet 2 "soon", according to the official community website.

You are "all" in with a chance to take part, apparently, especially those in the beta group forum there.

LittleBigPlanet 2 will be released on 16th November in the US. Sony hasn't revealed a European date, but we expect to hear something this week at German expo gamescom.

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Sony's given LittleBigPlanet 2 a 16th November release date in the US.

Sony has proclaimed the benefits of 3D gaming to its hardcore fans, saying it provides a "competitive edge".

Sony America has said that LittleBigPlanet 2 will be released in November, while the Move patch for Heavy Rain is due in October.

Mark Healey on recreating creation.

In Digital Foundry's last Saturday feature before the onslaught of E3, we talk to one of Media Molecule's tech masterminds, Alex Evans, about the origins of the company's association with Sony and how they got to grips with unique PlayStation 3 architecture.

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Sony has officially unveiled LittleBigPlanet 2, confirming many of the details that leaked over the weekend, and said it will be released in 2010.

Check out Eurogamer's massive LittleBigPlanet 2 preview, our screenshots and artwork and the trailer below for a deep exploration of what's been said so far.

In summary, LittleBigPlanet 2 allows you to create content in many genres rather than just the platformer setting of the original. Thanks to something called Direct Control, you can teach things like vehicles to respond to thumbsticks, face buttons, triggers and even the Sixaxis tilt function.

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Sackloads.

As the name always suggested, LittleBigPlanet was pretty comfortable with its own contradictions. It used complex technology to render a world of needle and thread, tweed and cardboard. It had huge ambitions, but tried its hardest to keep things simple. Most tellingly of all, it was one of the friendliest games ever constructed, and yet it was capable of making some of its players feel very, very stupid.

LittleBigPlanet 2 will be revealed in full at 2pm BST today.

Sony has announced LittleBigPlanet's Sackboy will be joining the cast of drivers in the upcoming ModNation Racers.

Forget what the Dutch Sony spokesperson said when he told the world that LittleBigPlanet 2 would support PlayStation Move.

It was misconstrued, said a Sony Europe spokesperson; the message wasn't confirmation of a sequel but an example of a game that would benefit from Move controls.

"As demonstrated recently at GDC, LittleBigPlanet has been shown as an example of how an existing game could benefit from PlayStation Move Motion Controller support. This is not a confirmation of LittleBigPlanet 2, and we do not have any announcements to make about the LittleBigPlanet franchise," the SCEE statement reads.

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Sony has confirmed the existence of LittleBigPlanet 2 and said the game will support the new PlayStation Move controller.