[Gamers' Day 2007] SuperFrigginAwesome
Yeah, we know, we already used that style of title for the initial GDC showing of LittleBigPlanet, but we just can't help it.
Published: May 17, 2007
Since the Game Developers' Conference, Sony has been on a fairly solid road to recovery, aided almost exclusively by the showing of LittleBigPlanet and Home. With Home now in a closed (and rather limited) beta, most were hoping that Sony would show off more of LittleBigPlanet sooner rather than later. At SCEA's Gamers' Day, we finally got a chance to see just how well-rehearsed that short little demo actually was.
To say our time with the game was limited would be a little deceptive, but it's at least partially accurate. For one, messing with the customization screen (sorry, the "Pop It") was off limits right now -- likely because a bunch of hungover game editors plumbing the depths of the menu for phallic shapes and drug paraphernalia would probably have broken the game were we allowed to really go nuts. Still, we did get to finally run around in that garden level from GDC, and seeing the game up close on one of Sony's sexy ass Bravia TVs, the game was every bit as gorgeous as we remember it.
The controls took a little getting used to, but after a while we got the hang of things. The d-pad was used to shift the face between pissed, elated, waterworks and bummed (and apparently emotion actually does play a part in how you interact with people, as they can help change your mood), the R1 button was used to attach to something and holding L2 and R2 allowed independent movement of the left and right hands with both analog sticks, allowing for those adorable little waving motions or a quick slap of a nearby friend. Finally, the SIXAXIS controlled head movement, so headbanging and fist-pumping were the order of the day.
With the Square Button off-limits, we were left to just run around the level, the "sponge" currency used to power customization under the Pop It menu basically useless. This of course meant things degenerated fairly quickly into slapping matches before we finally started moving around, sampling the heavily physics-based interaction with the world. It's clear the Media Molecule guys on hand for the GDC presentation had practice (they're the developers, after all), but with a little practice and a lot of "crap, lemmie try again" moments, we managed to finish most of the level (right up to the seashell gate bit you've hopefully seen by now) before we were pulled away to handle other things.
Though there is a learning curve associated with the game, the simple fact that collaboration played a huge part in things is what had us really psyched for the game. Sony showed a trailer of the raft of customization options -- everyone starts off as the adorable ragboy model and from there it's up to you, but some customization almost necessitates a bit of help from friends, so even this is collaborative -- but the big puzzle piece now is in seeing some of the talked about other environments and the promise of even more downloadable content and even themed levels from major worldwide events like the Olympics.
We might just get a peek at things come E3, so check back in about two months and we'll have more!
To say our time with the game was limited would be a little deceptive, but it's at least partially accurate. For one, messing with the customization screen (sorry, the "Pop It") was off limits right now -- likely because a bunch of hungover game editors plumbing the depths of the menu for phallic shapes and drug paraphernalia would probably have broken the game were we allowed to really go nuts. Still, we did get to finally run around in that garden level from GDC, and seeing the game up close on one of Sony's sexy ass Bravia TVs, the game was every bit as gorgeous as we remember it.
The controls took a little getting used to, but after a while we got the hang of things. The d-pad was used to shift the face between pissed, elated, waterworks and bummed (and apparently emotion actually does play a part in how you interact with people, as they can help change your mood), the R1 button was used to attach to something and holding L2 and R2 allowed independent movement of the left and right hands with both analog sticks, allowing for those adorable little waving motions or a quick slap of a nearby friend. Finally, the SIXAXIS controlled head movement, so headbanging and fist-pumping were the order of the day.
With the Square Button off-limits, we were left to just run around the level, the "sponge" currency used to power customization under the Pop It menu basically useless. This of course meant things degenerated fairly quickly into slapping matches before we finally started moving around, sampling the heavily physics-based interaction with the world. It's clear the Media Molecule guys on hand for the GDC presentation had practice (they're the developers, after all), but with a little practice and a lot of "crap, lemmie try again" moments, we managed to finish most of the level (right up to the seashell gate bit you've hopefully seen by now) before we were pulled away to handle other things.
Though there is a learning curve associated with the game, the simple fact that collaboration played a huge part in things is what had us really psyched for the game. Sony showed a trailer of the raft of customization options -- everyone starts off as the adorable ragboy model and from there it's up to you, but some customization almost necessitates a bit of help from friends, so even this is collaborative -- but the big puzzle piece now is in seeing some of the talked about other environments and the promise of even more downloadable content and even themed levels from major worldwide events like the Olympics.
We might just get a peek at things come E3, so check back in about two months and we'll have more!
