The following is pasted from a recently created Google Doc, meant to be the blueprint for our LittleBigPlanet Beta impressions, but…How do I say this politely and professionally? I’d rather be playing the Beta! Here are the raw and unfiltered notes from my experience thus far. Check back regularly for more coverage. We promise it will be coherent :-)
6:05: Checking email. Brandon Cox @ Sony Sackboy just sent us an exclusive Beta invite code for LBP. Dropping everything! Here’s a snippet:
Hi Jason–
It’s SackBoy! I know you have been waiting to come and play LittleBigPlanet …well… here you go!
I have selected you to be apart of my exclusive extended beta trial of LittleBigPlanet for the PLAYSTATION®3. Launching on October 21st, LittleBigPlanet is the highly-anticipated community-based game that allows users to play, create and share what they build with other PS3 users all around the world.
6:10: Sent a quick tweet out to the world. No, the Beta Key is not for sale :-)
6:15: Some dark roast java is ready, LBP Beta is installed. PURE Review postponed..
6:16: Setting anything with a status message to an excited “AWAY: LittleBigPlanet Beta!”
6:17: Narrator, speaking over video clips of humans sleeping, animated textures and icons floating skyward from their dreaming brains: “Planet earth, or as the rest of the universe calls it: The orb of dreamers.”
6:18: Even the opening credits are brilliant, cardboard cutouts of the MediaMolecule staff popping up as I trigger them by tiptoeing by.
6:21: Final intro scene: Starring “you” as I walk into a purple frame. Feeling a tingle of promise and excitement.
6:23: The narrative voiceover is enjoyable. Sounds like a younger, less gruff John Cleese. Just a touch of humor, and just enough information to get you acclimated with your controls, the PopIt menu, your “pod,” and the worlds around you.
6:24: Your “pod” can be decorated with any of the stickers and decorations you find throughout the worlds. Right now all I have are rainbow colored Converse…
6:25: “First Steps” teaches the basics of run and jump. “Get A Grip” and “Skate To Victory” get us acquainted with advanced techniques like grabbing and using vehicles. The puzzles are clever, it’s a joy to actually explore these levels, not a task that you begrudge. “Tie Skipping” just opened up, a minigame that resembles jump rope. Looks like that’s it for the Story in this beta version.
7:10: Under “Cool Levels,” patchwork icons are appearing in real time around a globe. Trying some of them out. Found one called “Super Mario Bros. Ver 0.1,” complete with Goombas who can electrify you.
7:20: I’ve tried a few quick race-mode levels. Everything from ice covered rocket ship dashes to platform style mazes with robots and fire pits. There are some ridiculously talented community designers out there.
7:36: Some community designers give you decorations or stickers from their levels for you to use as your own. The possibilities and combinations of items are staggering, especially as this grows.
7:51: At least 200 more user generated levels have appeared now. For a Beta, I can’t see growing tired of this anytime soon, and I haven’t even gone into creation mode yet.
8:10: Have made a few friends (one Sackgirl impressed me by making her purple-pigtailed covered character do a disco move during a level).
8:12: Neat! I’m getting instant updates via a black popup telling me how my PSN friends are faring on various levels.
8:14: It looks like I can track not only my favorite levels, but also the developers of those levels, and their favorites. (you tag favorites by “Hearting” them.)
8:30: Every community created level has a tag cloud (like what you see on the bottom right of our site), and you can leave detailed feedback for each level you try. You can also flatout “copy” the level and improve upon it.
8:33: There’s so much to experience and cover, impossible to do in one sitting. And this is just the Beta. Will continue this later.
8:35: Going to try building my own level.
11:04: Completely lost track of time…
*Stay tuned for continuing Little Big Planet coverage, in a variety of forms.
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