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LittleBigPlanet

The records that LBP2 received were “Longest marathon playing a platform video game,” “Most video game genres played in one video game in 24 hours,” “Most user-generated video game levels played in 24 hours,” “Most user-generated video game levels played in a video game marathon,” and “Longest marathon playing LittleBigPlanet .” Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the last record seem like a bit of a shoo-in for the game? I guess “Most levels with objects shaped as genetalia” wasn’t in the record books.

Playstation brands are invading 7-11 once again. This time both Little Big Planet 2 and Killzone 3 will be featured on Slurpee cups and Slurpee Nation members can use codes on the cups to get related items. What can you get? How about a Little Big Planet 2 Dyanmic Theme, or the Little Big Planet 2 strategy guide, or a Helghast pack for Little Big Planet 2. Killzone 3 items will be announced closer to the game’s February 22nd release date so for now the rewards are all Little Big Planet 2, which is due out next week. If I were you I would get in your car and go down to 7-11 and consume as much Slurpee as humanely possible. Or just by the cups and get the codes, it’s what I do.

Get more details at the PS Blog

Where to begin, where to begin. First let’s start with the rumored Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves which as you probably can assume is a Move enabled Little Big Planet game. It’s a PSN title that allows players to tackle 10 dinosaur themed LBP levels with one player using the Move controller to activate switches and generally make life easier for the dual shock wielding Sackboy controlling players. The game is completely standalone, not DLC for Little Big Planet 1 or 2. Although it will be included with copies of Little Big Planet 2. It hits the Playstation Network on December 14th for $5.99. Are you a Playstation Plus subscriber? Well then you are getting it on December 7th for free. Yup, free. It’s also going to be distributed for free to “thousands of Little Big Planet supporters”. We don’t know what that means, and Sony’s not telling.

Still not enough Little Big Planet for you? How about on December 21st a story mode demo? How do you like that? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening as well as more beta invites for the creation portion of the game going out to Playstation Plus subscribers in early December. Phew! That’s a lot news for one game. The full title, and from the sound of things it gets more full every day, will be in stores January 18th, 2011.

Via PS Blog

I hope you didn’t ask for the day off in November to play Little Big Planet 2, because it’s not coming. Media Molecule announced today that the game has been pushed back in to January of next year. They of course made the usual excuses about needing time to polish and make the game the best it can be. We’ll find out if it was worth it in about four months.

UPDATE: The PS Blog is now reporting that the game is due January 18th, 2011.

Nintendo

What I Want to See
Reggie. Let him do the entire conference, please. Aside from having Miyamoto and Iwata doing what they do, let Reggie handle all of the hype. He’s a natural showman. Other than that, I want games. I want to see what Miyamoto is working on. I want to see a tease of the new Zelda. I want to know what happened to Kid Icarus. I want to know what Retro Studios is up to. Give me the flagship titles. I also want the 3DS to blow me away, or at the very least interest me. I’m already interested, so it shouldn’t be that hard, but I just want the tech to be there and deliver in a big way. A new Professor Layton would obviously be great, and I think a hint at a new Mario Kart would be cool, although I won’t hold my breath since the first one still sells like hot cakes. Also, surprise me with a new IP.

What I Don’t Want to See
If Nintendo carts out that soccer mom to do the presentation again, I swear I’ll actually commit suicide on the episode. Not to beat a dead horse, but she is simply awful. It’s not her fault either. Nintendo keeps making her go out there and compete for the most awkward presentation award, and I have no idea why. I also don’t want a show that focuses all on “casual” games. I know it makes them truckloads of money, but I’m getting a bit tired of it. I’ve always been a Nintendo supporter, but it is getting harder and harder when we get great games from Sony and Microsoft and only one or two a year from the big N.

What We’ll Probably See
Everything I just wrote in the previous paragraph. Seriously, why would Nintendo change course? Their current business plan is a one-way ticket to every employee owning their own island. We’ll probably see that Mii Party game that was teased earlier, which could be good despite being just another mini-game fest. While the Mario Party games have become a bit stale, they are generally still fun for a night with friends. We’ll maybe see another Wii Fit update. I do think that we’ll get some hint at Zelda since it’s been four years since the last one was released. What we know we’ll see is the 3DS. I think that this could be the show-stealer this year, and I am very interested already in seeing what this thing can do.

Sony

What I Want to See
Kevin Butler. If they put this man on stage for their entire presentation, I will say they won the show. I don’t know a single gamer that doesn’t love the commercials he’s in, and it would be a definite plus for Sony. Other than that, I just want to see the games. Fish always talks about how we’re in the best time for this generation of consoles because developers have things figured out and we’re just getting good games. Sony’s system is no exception to this, and they have put out some great games recently. Maybe give me a tease of a new Uncharted just so I know it’s being worked on. Obviously The Last Guardian is high on everybody’s list. Even though I was disappointed by the first one, I will be interested to see what Infamous 2 will have to offer. As with Nintendo, surprise me with some great new IP. Little Big Planet, Uncharted, Infamous, and ModNation Racers are all new IP’s from just this generation, so I know that they’re capable of producing them.

What I Don’t Want to See
I’m already over the Move, so I really don’t want to see this. Unless there is some unbelievable game out there for it that we don’t know about, I really don’t care. And if they are going to show it, I don’t want to see half-assed Wii upgrades. I also don’t want to see a lot of numbers. Sony has been bad about this in the past, but hopefully we’ll just get games. Speaking of games, I don’t want to see a lot of games that we have no idea when they are going to come out. GT5, The Agency, and other countless games that they have shown in the past that have actually been canceled just get my hopes up and disappoint me when I find out I’ll never get my hands on them.

What We’ll Probably See
The Move. It’s their big product, so it’s inevitable. I would guess that we’ll get a decent amount of Killzone 3 since that was recently announced, which could be cool. I also think we’ll probably see Infamous 2, again, since it was recently made official. DC Universe Online could possibly make an appearance. We haven’t seen a lot on it lately, and with a target release in November, some new information would be nice.

Microsoft

What I Want to See
Games. I don’t care who they cart up there for this one; I just want to see games, games, and more games. Sony has done a great job the last couple of years when it comes to this and has embarrassed Microsoft when it comes to flat out games. Show me the heavy hitters that are going to make me get back into playing my Xbox. To be honest, the PS3 has been getting way more attention, and it’s sad. Also, show me why I want to go out and buy Natal. So far I haven’t seen it, but I want to.

What I Don’t Want to See
People playing games for long stretches. This is where Sony won the show last year, and Microsoft lost it. Sony assaulted us with game videos and quick demos last year while Microsoft showcased about four and let people sit and play them. That’s not fun. Just hit me with some big titles and a badass trailer, and I’ll be set. The other major thing I don’t want to see: Flailing. Watching a recent video of a journalist play Natal was a lot like watching the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey. If there aren’t full games worth playing with Natal, I don’t want to see it. Also, don’t show me stupid “apps” like you did with Twitter and Facebook. Personally, I don’t care. I want games. Silly me, I know.

What We’ll Probably See
Well, we know we’re going to see Natal. In fact, it’s getting its own show. On the regular Microsoft conference, side of things I’m going to guess that we’ll see some Gears 3. Hulu being announced in some capacity also seems like a lock with all of the recent rumors, so I would expect that. Other than that, I’m really not sure. Everybody has kind of dumped all of the big titles in the early part of the year, so I’m really excited to see what is going to be at E3, especially from Microsoft because they’re the biggest wildcard to me. Crackdown 2 will be released shortly after the show, so anything having to do with that seems irrelevant to me. We’ll probably see more Halo: Reach stuff, and possibly something Halo related that we have no idea about. Given the events of last year, I would expect Microsoft to maybe have another big announcement of something that they have stolen away from Sony, so look out for that.

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So, I started thinking of whether or not this happens in other games. Another game that I have been playing recently sprang to mind. Little Big Planet allows the player to give a facial expression to their on-screen character. They can either make him be happy, sad, angry, or scared, and all to varying degrees. It’s odd, but after completing a rather tough portion of platforming, I would find myself putting a smile on the face of my character. Or, if I had died time and time again, it wasn’t uncommon for me to put on the angry face. The weird thing about it was that the face on the character was pretty much the face I was making. I was able to have a shared emotion with my character.

The thing that I find most interesting about this is the fact that such a simple mechanic can make you feel closer to your character. Because I could make the character feel what I was feeling emotionally, and then express that through a facial animation, I felt like I was that character and vice versa. It may seem far-fetched, but try it sometime. If you think I’m talking crazy, let’s look at the flip side.

Have you ever walked towards the camera in Grand Theft Auto? What face was your character making? Chances are it was some pissed off blank stare as havoc was being unleashed behind him. Why? You, as the player, are having fun running around blowing up cars and killing civilians, so why isn’t your character? Do you not share the same interests? Does he find what you are forcing him to do to be mundane and senseless? Does he not agree with all of this violence? Maybe you don’t have as much in common with him as you thought. This example can be found in many other games. How often does Marcus Fenix crack a smile? Hardly ever since he’s too busy murdering alien scum. So, how are you supposed to enjoy yourself if your character can’t even find something to be happy about?

Now, obviously the difference in these games is the fact that the player can’t control the facial expression of the character. But why not? It seems like it would be a simple mechanic to implement in games. Imagine those same scenes from Grand Theft Auto, this time with a slight smirk on your face. Or as Marcus Fenix, you give yourself a brief look of anxiety as you get ready to enter a room full of Locust. Small touches like this would make you feel a little bit closer to your character because you know in that moment, they are thinking what you are thinking and feeling what you are feeling.

To be completely honest, I don’t know if people would use player-controlled facial expressions if they were in every game. Maybe I just use them in Little Big Planet because it’s different and I find it fun. But I think it would be an interesting experiment. If it would close the gap in player-character relations then why not give it a shot? Until then, we’ll all just have to smile while we game because it makes us game happier.