Little Big Planet, I don't get it

[mark_n_b]

OK, I know you're all ready to flame me stupid, but this is not one of those threads.

I've seen the trailers and watched the game-play footage. And yeah, the graphics are really nice, very artful, I can appreciate that. And yes I get that making your own levels that you can post on line easily using the PS3 functionality is a great content provider. And the realistic physics and cooperative dynamics are great game-play assets.

But as nice as the graphics are, aren't all graphics really nice anymore? And your customizable rag doll characters seem more like they'd appeal to young girls over the PS3's hardcore market.

Is there a story to drive the game at all? Get little doll from point A to Point B looks fun, but how do you connect to these abstract little characters or the game world?

And as cool as the game may be, to me it looks like it is still just a side scrolling platformer. This is what confuses me the most. And user created content is nothing really new.

I've already heard a number of people talk about how excited they are about this title (many more people who are much more excited than normal) and there has been a lot of press about how this is going to be a major PS3 market pull. Could y'all offer up some explanation for me? I'm usually much more clear about industry trends than I am on this one.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

OK, I know you're all ready to flame me stupid, but this is not one of those threads.

I've seen the trailers and watched the game-play footage. And yeah, the graphics are really nice, very artful, I can appreciate that. And yes I get that making your own levels that you can post on line easily using the PS3 functionality is a great content provider. And the realistic physics and cooperative dynamics are great game-play assets.

But as nice as the graphics are, aren't all graphics really nice anymore? And your customizable rag doll characters seem more like they'd appeal to young girls over the PS3's hardcore market.

Is there a story to drive the game at all? Get little doll from point A to Point B looks fun, but how do you connect to these abstract little characters or the game world?

And as cool as the game may be, to me it looks like it is still just a side scrolling platformer. This is what confuses me the most. And user created content is nothing really new.

I've already heard a number of people talk about how excited they are about this title (many more people who are much more excited than normal) and there has been a lot of press about how this is going to be a major PS3 market pull. Could y'all offer up some explanation for me? I'm usually much more clear about industry trends than I am on this one.

Eh, They have to shovel a casual game in there somewhere right?

 

[MeputthecaninthebininHL2]

Uh so this is what this thread was about, I thought it would be discussing the name. It defies logic!

 

[Jumplion]

OK, I know you're all ready to flame me stupid, but this is not one of those threads.

I've seen the trailers and watched the game-play footage. And yeah, the graphics are really nice, very artful, I can appreciate that. And yes I get that making your own levels that you can post on line easily using the PS3 functionality is a great content provider. And the realistic physics and cooperative dynamics are great game-play assets.

1. But as nice as the graphics are, aren't all graphics really nice anymore? And your customizable rag doll characters seem more like they'd appeal to young girls over the PS3's hardcore market.

2. Is there a story to drive the game at all? Get little doll from point A to Point B looks fun, but how do you connect to these abstract little characters or the game world?

3. And as cool as the game may be, to me it looks like it is still just a side scrolling platformer. This is what confuses me the most. And user created content is nothing really new.

I've already heard a number of people talk about how excited they are about this title (many more people who are much more excited than normal) and there has been a lot of press about how this is going to be a major PS3 market pull. Could y'all offer up some explanation for me? I'm usually much more clear about industry trends than I am on this one.

YOU SON OF A *****!! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE LITTLEBIGPLANET!!

Just kidding, don't worry, i'll answer those in paragraphs:

1. Since everything is customizable in the game (I mean EVERYTHING, you can even customize soundtracks) the graphics/art style can be whatever you want to be. Hell, make a spongebob theme for all we care. As for the Doll Customization, since as i've said EVERYTHING is customizable, you can make your Sackboy/Girl whatever you want it to be. There was a LBP trailer and it started out like a Killzone2 trailer, only when it zoomed out it turned out that the Sackboys were customized to look like the Killzone baddies. IT WAS AWESOME! And the whole game is supposed to be simple and fun and lighthearted and the sackboys resemble that fun feel.

2. There is some sort of a story as there are about 50 pre-made levels, but the whole idea of the game is to "Play, Share, Create" or something like that. The story is going to be minimal for what it's worth. It will mainly be Point A to B, but you can create and I'm sure there would be some levels with different purposes. For example, there could be a level where it's last man standing or a timed race to see who can get to the end first.

3. IT is mainly a side-scroller, but isn't that what made Mario so great? He was simple and fun, and so is this game it's a simple fun way to enjoy. I bet if they made it into full 3D then it would ruin the game horribly and make it to complicated. And UCC has been made, but not to an extent like this. You can basically make anything you can imagine (Yes, you can make a penis-volcano) and then some. This game is basically a Modder's dream as everything you need to make a LEGO themed level is right at your finger tips.

LBP Is a side step to all the generic and bland FPSs and I guess that's where part of the hype is coming from, but it's the sheer custimization of everything you can do is where most of the hype is coming from.

I thought the gaming community were craving for something original?

 

[Bowstring]

Sigh. Why do people become skeptical as soon as something comes out that looks genuinely fun? It IS basically a a side scroller, but it's such a breath of fresh air in today's gaming market.

 

[mark_n_b]

Sigh. Why do people become skeptical as soon as something comes out that looks genuinely fun? It IS basically a a side scroller, but it's such a breath of fresh air in today's gaming market.

I wouldn't say I was skeptical of Little Big Planet per se when I created this thread, breath of fresh air and genuine fun are two excellent reasons for a game's success (flOw would be a great example of this)

but I am finding the lackluster response to this topic very telling. That I will admit can be construed as skepticism, but if I were to make a similar thread about, say, the Halo franchise, there would most assuredly be more than 4 replies over a two day period.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Have you ever played something like garry's mod?

This should be similiar (but less...stupid)

 

[sunami88]

Sigh. Why do people become skeptical as soon as something comes out that looks genuinely fun? It IS basically a a side scroller, but it's such a breath of fresh air in today's gaming market.

Some of us don't think it looks genuinely fun... I think it looks decent, but some people are absolutely dying for this game, and I for one can't understand it. Jumplion did a good job of summing things up, but I think for some of us (i.e., Me), we'll need to see it in action after the gaming public have gotten their mits on it and constructed some unique/interesting stuff.

 

[mark_n_b]

Have you ever played something like garry's mod?

This should be similiar (but less...stupid)

Does one "play" garry's mod? Maybe "play with" garry's mod or "use" garry's mod.

But I digress, With the ammount of customization and creatable content I can see the comparison, I am not sure I wholly agree with that statement though.

 

[stephenp79]

I have too agree with the orginal poster. I have looked into this game due to the hype but just seem to be missing something. Having everyone make side scrolling puzzle platform levels just doesnt grab me. I hope I am proved wrong and for me it is the puzzle element that could attract me - ie having thousands of fiendish puzzles readilly available.

 

[Zombie_King]

1. Since everything is customizable in the game (I mean EVERYTHING, you can even customize soundtracks) the graphics/art style can be whatever you want to be. Hell, make a spongebob theme for all we care. As for the Doll Customization, since as i've said EVERYTHING is customizable, you can make your Sackboy/Girl whatever you want it to be. There was a LBP trailer and it started out like a Killzone2 trailer, only when it zoomed out it turned out that the Sackboys were customized to look like the Killzone baddies. IT WAS AWESOME! And the whole game is supposed to be simple and fun and lighthearted and the sackboys resemble that fun feel.

If you can make little dolls into Helghast, I am buying this game.

Wait a minute...

I wish it wasn't a PS3 exclusive. This game looks great, but I won't get to see it!

 

[Credge]

but I am finding the lackluster response to this topic very telling. That I will admit can be construed as skepticism, but if I were to make a similar thread about, say, the Halo franchise, there would most assuredly be more than 4 replies over a two day period.

I don't see the link and don't see how it's telling to be honest. The game hasn't been released yet and Halo has - and for a long time. That's sort of like talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine and asking why nobody is talking about it like they are The Dark Knight.

You could ask the same questions about spore, just reword them, and the responses would be the same. Custom made content is infinitely more popular now than what game creators can make and it's showing. Close to 3 million creatures made by registered users with the Spore Creature Creator thus far. I don't see how the cute and cuddly graphics could appeal the hard core PC gamer market... but it does.

The thing about your questions, though, is that they're more of your opinion than question. Yes, the game is just a platformer with UGC, but UGC isn't something that is exactly old... unless you consider things like GMod or The Sims as being UGC. Games like Spore, Little Big Planet, Blast Works, Boom Blox, and... that's really about it. Those are the only real UGC games that have ever really been out on the market. Simply giving the person a tool to make a map for an RTS or an FPS isn't anything new, but giving the player the abliity to make things on the fly with minimal work? That's new.

To be honest, Little Big Planet is one of the first of its kind and, while it won't sell like AAA titles (why would it?) right away, it will sell better in the long run as we've seen with nearly all casual UGC games.

And no, I'm not going to be buying it.

 

[Sonnythemobster]

as for UCC i think this will be great for the platformer fans and then there will be Spore for the more strategy and more modern type gamers. I'm a bit of both because i do miss platformers because nobody makes decent platformers anymore. so sad. and then LBP comes along and is like 3D platforming? FUCK THAT NOISE!!! WE'RE TAKING IT BACK TO THE BASICS AEXCEPT YOU GET TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!!! and I'm like "FUCK YEAH!!!" but thats basically it is its a hardcore casual game...what...yeah...i think lol.

 

[mrnelsby]

My biggest concern is that this "game" will suffer from the main issue with a lot of "X creator" games which is that while they provide quite a lot of ability to customize/create your own, the core game is not necessarily that fun and does not have the game-play of a game that was created as a final product. Of course, the game is still in development, so it is very difficult to judge at this point.

That said, Neverwinter Nights is a good exaple for the devil's advocate. It was a fairly good game in terms of the out-of-the-box product, and also gave gamers quite a lot of ability to create their own content. I would, however, consider it the exception rather than the rule when it comes to this type of game that has that end-user content creation angle.

Edit: I'm still waiting for that one game that comes out that makes me want to buy a PS3... so far either the games are slated to come out for the 360 as well, or they just don't float my boat... perhaps GOW3 will be that game...

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

1. Since everything is customizable in the game (I mean EVERYTHING, you can even customize soundtracks) the graphics/art style can be whatever you want to be. Hell, make a spongebob theme for all we care. As for the Doll Customization, since as i've said EVERYTHING is customizable, you can make your Sackboy/Girl whatever you want it to be. There was a LBP trailer and it started out like a Killzone2 trailer, only when it zoomed out it turned out that the Sackboys were customized to look like the Killzone baddies. IT WAS AWESOME! And the whole game is supposed to be simple and fun and lighthearted and the sackboys resemble that fun feel.

If you can make little dolls into Helghast, I am buying this game.

Wait a minute...

I wish it wasn't a PS3 exclusive. This game looks great, but I won't get to see it!

Pre-order it and you can get these two sacks:

Never thought I'd call Kratos adorable.

 

[Decroux]

I Can't believe you people are actually defending this game! It's basically the same as flash games that are on the internet for FREE. There is nothing special about this game at all that no-one else has done, it's going to be overpriced and get the worst reviews ever and Sony are just going to say
"Hey, that was fun. Anymore money to throw down the toilet? OH that's right, this game cost jack all to make since we could have used a flash maker to create it, and we're getting pure profit off the idiots who buy it, all because we designed a helghast model!"

If this game succeeds, then the people who make flash games should start selling them, because they look far better than this piece of s***...

 

[DocBoje]

The thing about your questions, though, is that they're more of your opinion than question. Yes, the game is just a platformer with UGC, but UGC isn't something that is exactly old... unless you consider things like GMod or The Sims as being UGC. Games like Spore, Little Big Planet, Blast Works, Boom Blox, and... that's really about it. Those are the only real UGC games that have ever really been out on the market. Simply giving the person a tool to make a map for an RTS or an FPS isn't anything new, but giving the player the abliity to make things on the fly with minimal work? That's new.

To be honest, Little Big Planet is one of the first of its kind and, while it won't sell like AAA titles (why would it?) right away, it will sell better in the long run as we've seen with nearly all casual UGC games.

And no, I'm not going to be buying it.

I disagree. UGC games are abundant. They ARE old. Just look Starcraft, Warcraft 2, Warcraft 3, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Quake 2, Half-Life, I could go on and on. I don't know how you look at things, but a user-made map to me IS user-generated content. Being able to load up Warcraft 3 or Duke Nukem 3D and play any of thousands of maps you've never seen gives those games incredible replayability. And, while it's not particularly easy to do, you can also change or add new player/enemy models, art tiles, and weapons/items into these games and that has been around for a long time (at least as early as Doom).

So, LBP isn't really appealing to me. It just seems like a gimmick from the poor bastards at Sony, and now they're hoping to just hype the hell out of it to drive sales. Really, a platformer with UGC? Yawn.

 

[kyouger]

This brings up an important question. The Spore creature creator had it, so how long will it be before we start seeing pornographic maps pop up? That would be a very big blow to the game and may even attract some mainstream media attention because the game is supposed to be so cute and cuddly.

 

[Credge]

I disagree. UGC games are abundant. They ARE old. Just look Starcraft, Warcraft 2, Warcraft 3, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Quake 2, Half-Life, I could go on and on.

I already addressed this. Please read my entire post. The only game you actually listed that has UGC that is easily made and is >trueeverything< would be UGC. That's simply not the case.

UGC is something that is very new. The ability to shape all aspect of everything with ease is something that is not old. Blast Works was the first game that allowed you to do it somewhat and Spore will be the first that allows you to do it within the rules of the game.

UGC does not consist of a map editor or SDK.

 

[star_topology]

I've seen very little of the footage (just the E3 Hands-on from X-Play) but I'm going to go out on a limb and say this game could really be a flagship title for the PS3. Part of me thinks this could be as recognizable as Super Mario Bros. and Jumplion says a lot of it for me:

3. IT is mainly a side-scroller, but isn't that what made Mario so great? He was simple and fun, and so is this game it's a simple fun way to enjoy. I bet if they made it into full 3D then it would ruin the game horribly and make it to complicated. And UCC has been made, but not to an extent like this. You can basically make anything you can imagine (Yes, you can make a penis-volcano) and then some. This game is basically a Modder's dream as everything you need to make a LEGO themed level is right at your finger tips.

In terms of create/play/share, we could be looking at a transcendent title here. Or I could be just overly optimistic.