LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 ANNOUNCED.

It’s not often that this humble blog gets to be the flag carrier for the latest, biggest news, but this is about as big an update as we’re ever going to get- and according to google,
ahead of almost everyone else. Well, ok, Gamespot beat me. And Destructoid. And Edge OH GOD I BETTER GET THIS OUT RIGHT NOW AAAAAAA.

The news, readers, is that LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 is a real thing that will really be happening this winter, 2010, and I am REALLY excited about it.You’ll have to forgive me for my lack of professionalism and overflow of enthusiasm, I’m afraid. According to MediaMolecule, this will see LBP turn from a Platform Game to a Platform FOR Games, indicating that creators will be able to make many different styles of games within the LittleBigPlanet framework, not just platformers. They’re obviously working overtime  to distinguish LBP 2 from the first game, which is still recieving DLC as we speak.

Is this sequel worth the Power Stars, or is it just another money-grabbing game that could’ve been released as DLC from those jerks at MediaMolecule? Hit the jump for a step-by-step breakdown of the
news so far, or just go to MediaMolecule’s website: www.littlebigplanet.com/en-gb/2/

or for a more in-depth view on the proposed changes, go here: http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?26431-Little-Big-Planet-2-featured-in-Game-Informer-June-issue

This bit I’m going to write doesn’t have any new information, and I’m probably wrong about the little info I have. Ah well – no-one’s going to read this anyway! Hahahahahaha! I feel so FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

JUMP

So, after a terrible, terrible leak, where some dastardly bastard spilled the beans on LBP2 before the planned release time at this years E3, MediaMolecule have fought fire with fire and been forced to release all the juicy gossip- along with a trailer. Here’s the updated features list, and it’s a biggun’ – though there may well be much more.

– CHANGEABLE CAMERA. With a new top-down view, you will actually be able to make an RTS in LittleBigPlanet: I can assert with absolute clarity that I am not shitting you in the slightest, good sir. The camera will, as far as the video demonstrates, be able to bend to your mad-god whims as flexibly as the most limber of love-slaves, viewing the action from over head, different angles- talk of being able to make a first person shooter has even surfaced, but you know how people talk.

The video itself gives some lovely demonstrations of top-down view, switching from a shmup “Radius” style view to slide around into a “space Invaders” parody- making it clear that you will be able to change the camera angle as the level goes, although not to what extent. Will you be able to change instantly from a top-down view to the normal side-on, inside the level? The video doesn’t reveal. Judging by the “Platform FOR games” label, however, we might be able to assume that the camera will be able to do more than top-down- A LBP third person shooter? I have no idea, this is just me talking, I don’t even know why you’re listening to me. Wouldn’t that be cool, though?

– A FANCY GRAPPLING-HOOK THING, used with R1, throws a hook that will latch onto nearby scenery before acting as a swing- allowing your little sack to jump and dart around the new contraptions with ease- definetly a welcome addition. Whether the swinging mechanic is going to be fun is anyones guess (Mine is: Yes it will be), but regardless, this will clearly make sure the tiny sacks can move up high surfaces without having to use those bothersome pulley-chain grab-hook things all over the place.

I always hated that sackboy could never really climb up things, seeing as he was so tiny in such a huge world- now, it seems, he can.

_ NUMEROUS OTHER POWER-UPS have also been hinted at, without their function fully revealed- although they have the most tantalising names. Gravity controls? Something about a power glove? Will we finally see realistic Sack-genetalia as an equippable add-on? My sources point to Yes.

– ENEMY AI has apparently been given huge improvements, and it seems as though the loveable yet stupid googly-eyed monstrosities have been replaced with strange, Red-love-heart-TV-eyed characters (Although I may have this wrong, and that may just be an example of one enemy). It’s impossible to judge how good the AI actually will be on these things, but anything would be an improvement on the old enemies. Yes, I know they could walk towards you AND away from you, AND occaisionally jump. I was impressed at the time to, but these advances march ever onwards. I don’t know. When I was a young’un we were content with our enemies just standing there being deadly. They didn’t even attack, they just killed you by touching you. That’s how deadly they were.

– NEW INTERNET SUPPORT has been given a nod, on a less game-changing note: You’ll be able to see everything from the actual game, Creators, Levels and all, online – as well as how well-rated they are, etc etc. I’m not in fact sure how useful this would be. Perhaps those so obsessed with the LittleBigWorld could research which levels they want to play next while on a plane, with only a laptop? But that just raises further problems- what do they do when they have to turn of all their electronic devices as the plane taxis? Is Media Molecule planning to release a daily periodical on the subject as well? Will there be a daily hotline that true believers can call for access to the latest up-to-the-minute LBP information? Will Sony Executives, in fact, agree to install a messaging chip into my brain, feeding updates and info directly into my nervous system as I sleep?

MediaMolecule refuses to comment on any of these. For now, we can only hope.

– CREATURE CONTROLS – deep breath, in preparation for the squeal – will allow sackboy to jump into machines of your own creation and pilot them using buttons you have personally mapped to the PS3 controller to control the various functions.

I’m sorry, that sounded boring for some reason. Here:

As far as I can tell, once sackboy jumps into some kind of cockpit module inside your machines, he will be able to pilot it around the place with the joystick, make it shoot lasers with X, make it jump with Triangle, rocket boost with square- an ejector seat with O. No more shall their poor puny legs be literally run ragged as they move around some crazy, switch-heavy cockpit pulling levers and pressing buttons just to make your gold-bergian creation move- You’ll be able to just map certain funtions (a booster, a gun, a shield, a roll-into-a-ball-omatic, a tesla coil, a how-does-it-do-that-majigger) onto the buttons of your very own Ps3 controller (sold seperately). Yes, this means that Robo-Mecha suits are now a reality. Your gundam fanfic level can truely be complete. What times we live in, eh?

– The new CIRCUITS seem like incredibly handy devices. Remember all the crazy switches, wires, pulleys, everything you had to plug into everything else to make a simple Deathbot? Well, you can now save it all to a single one of these “Circuits” and that one circuit will hold all the information you need- taking up a lot less space. Apparently the entirety of that insane Working Calculator level that was all the rage a while ago can fit on it, which is impressive. However, there’s no word on whether you can actually edit the combination of wires and pulleys and etc etc etc once they have been bottled inside this strange Circuit device like the malevolent genies they are. If you can’t edit this stuff once it’s been saved, well… It’ll mean tough times if you ever want to add anything. Food for thought, perhaps.

– Breath a sigh of relief, LBP owners- LBP2 will have FULL BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY with every part of LBP 1, levels, upgrades, DLC and all. Nothing to say here except thank the lord.

– Perhaps the most important piece of Non-news, the re-appearance of STEPHEN FRY’S VOICE as the Helpful Tutorial Guide has not- I repeat, NOT – been confirmed. MediaMolecule’s silence on such an important topic, even with so much of the game revealed, speaks volumes in itself, and we must warn you to prepare for the worst. Best-case scenario, he’s been replaced by the dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman. The worst-case is, of course, William Shatner.

– LEVEL LINKING will allow users to make entire games via levels flowing on from each other in an automatic sequence- Expanding the possible scope of your average LBP level tenfold.

– NEW AND IMPROVED GRAPHICS – a given. And I honestly thought LBP looked just fine as it was. Well, I can’t complain, of course! Sony would kill me in my sleep, hahaha!

My personal impression (As if this is the only be of the post that’s opinionated): I can immediately see the Left 4 Dead 2-style uproar this is going to cause- people will complain that these improvements could have just been done as DLC. As far as I can see, the swiftly-brewing outrage burbling in your gut right now is mistaken. These features alone posit a complete overhaul of LBP – not just things that could have been made in DLC, like the grappling hook, but things that would have required a complete overhaul of LBP’s systems- the new AI, the new camera angle, the new being-able-to-control-a-frigging-death-bot – these aren’t changes to be thrown away lightly. The difference between a sequel and DLC is getting increasingly ill-defined, and I am aware that LBP’s own level designer once said that an LBP 2 would be bad for both games- but all the news revealed so far puts the needle about as far towards the sequel mark as it can go. The backwards compatibility alone will mean that hey- they’re still not forgetting about you, owners of the first game. Whether this will mean LBP is abandoned is anyones guess, but please- calm your fires. Think before you pose your rage on forums. I understand your pain.

All I care about, really, whether this could have been released as DLC or no, is that this may finally make me able to create that Steamboy level I’ve always wanted. Media Molecule always makes level creation look too easy, though- it’s entirely possible that these new tools will make things far, far more complicated than they were before. What this will be like is anyones guess: for now, we can only look to the future, our eyes gleaming with the best user-created experience of all: Hope.

THAT’S ABOUT IT I GUESS. Better post this before any news source more  Reputable than the old E-rags like Edge gets into gear. Ha, not like this is news anyway. If you read this to the end, honestly, wow. Thanks. Post a comment! I want to say hi!

man I’m so unprofessional