Tom's Media Scrapbook

LittleBigPlanet, a Playstation 3 game from British developer Media Molecule is a 2D platform game (using 3D graphics) the game (or in the developers’ own words ‘platform’) is designed with emphasis on user customisation and content creation.

The game is split into two parts, a more conventional single-player mode wherein players play a set of linear levels in a set order and the other being the ‘creation mode’ allowing gamers to create their own levels and objects, options range from simple shapes (blocks, cylinders) to the ability to edit advanced AI routines along with the selection of music and ambient effects offered by the level. These levels are then uploaded to the Playstation Network to be played by other users. LittleBigPlanet is one of a number of recent applications eroding the divison between game and game creation.

By keeping the act of creation intertwined with gameplay itself and refusing to utilize an external level editor LittleBigPlanet makes customization a magnificently rewarding experiance, a fair point made by Edge that Bungie got here first with Halo 3’s Forge, (a system wonderfully exploited with the release of the ‘edit anything’ Foundry map) but where Bungies effort was a tentative toe-in-the water LittleBigPlanet feels like the next logical step and quite frankly blows the bloody doors off in terms of console based user generated content. The game thrives on the results of other players creative endeavors and integrates them within the interface in a way that is smooth and welcoming. User created levels are presented the exact same  way as the Single-Player campaign, there is no downloading, only loading the next piece of content. That said LittleBigPlanet has suffered its own setbacks, as servers fill up with Mario clones and other game ‘homages’ nasty questions are once again raised about that modern UGC bugbear ‘copyright infringement’ and Media Molecule have already come under fire for their ruthless moderation style, deleting player-made levels from their system without warning. 

One of the biggest setbacks of amateur content design (massively differing quality aside) is it feels like pulling back the curtain. Elements of gameplay that before provided oohs and aahs of pleasure are reduced to sprites, 3D objects and scary looking programming routines, all such things are fine if you’re part of the computer hardcore. Yet LittleBigPlanet negates this on a level that goes above and beyond any other game I have seen (I’m looking at you Spore) and in this case behind the curtain there is only your imagination, on the other side is your audience.