Little Big Planet - A PS3 Smash Hit in the Making

A screen shot of LittleBigPlanet

As a big fan of video games, it's hard not to have become jaded over the years. Innovation and originality have too often been replaced with an unending stream of sequels a la Hollywood. Wow, with Super Mega Racer 8 I can now drive the same cars, only they're shinier! Look! I now have 14 new types of guns in Stealth Zombie Killer 12! Even though the PS3 and Xbox360 have some interesting games, they haven't yet wowed me as being really "next gen", that tired moniker endlessly abused by marketing execs the world over. Yes, there is the Wii and I love the simplicity of the controls and the sheer fun of it, but clearly its hardware specs are inferior to the consoles from Sony and Microsoft, and in the long run, this puts a damper on just how much you can push the animation and game mechanics.

But last night I saw footage of a Sony press conference where they demoed a game called LittleBigPlanet, developed by the whacky folk over at Media Molecule. I didn't even get to play the game and it put a huge smile on my face, it just looked so fresh and original. On paper, this game is a platformer that let's you create cute, whacky characters and lets you develop your own levels. Nothing seemingly innovative there, but the way in which everything was put together really blew me away. The graphics are weird and wonderful, more Pixar movie than Super Mario. The music is great, refreshingly non electronic and full of whimsy. The simplicity of creating characters and worlds, all being done in real time and which you can modify at any given point is truly impressive. The way that the characters jump, bounce, push, pull and generally interact with the world around them in such a realistic way is a joy to watch. Best of all, by giving players free reign to create their own levels and characters and sharing them with others online through Sony's recently unveiled Home portal, LittleBigPlanet taps into the current craze of "Web 2.0" sites where user interaction and collaboration have become wildly popular.

Just as Grand Theft Auto spawned a million copycats and single handedly redefined the gaming industry, I believe LittleBigPlanet will have the same effect when it comes out. Unfortunately, that's not happening until early 2008, but as a gamer, I'm just happy to see that for all the hype with these so called "next gen" games, here's one that actually looks to push video games into wonderfully exciting new directions. Well done Media Molecule!