Archive for September, 2008

Darrin just wrote up a nice post about LittleBigPlanet and it’s potential, and mcloki had a great reply. So much so that I (Henning) thought it deserved its own post in case you didn’t catch it there. Here it is:

The hype and marketing [about LittleBigPlanet] will be enormous. I’ll only talk about the marketing of the product. LBP has the potential to be the poster child for the industry.

1. It’ll receive tons of press.
   Every Christmas news show will create their own level. You will see Breakfast Television LBP levels. You will se a “The View” Level, a Regis and Kelly Level. Local News shows will have their own level created. It’s a marketing dream. I’ll bet you a coke that before Christmas you will see a LBP level for the Fox NFL sports Show. Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long Sackboys. How about a downloadable Regis Sackboy. Not to your liking. How about a Jay Leno, or John Stewart Sackboy. And who is going to say anything bad about a game that they are in. 4 player View action with Barbara Walters. All the soccer Moms that bought Wii’s last year have something new, family friendly to play. Dad sees it as a way to get a Blueray player.
2. Emotional Connection.
   LBP is full of it. If Sony were to run an ad showing. dad/granddad playing with their son in creating a new level it would have something that just resonates with every dad. If Sony portrays this correctly and in the full Family positive way that it can be portrayed, they will have a monster success.
3. It can help sell the PS3.
   Play with your kids all day, Watch Blue Rays at night. The marketing aspect is going to be huge. This Christmas is going to be about choice for many households. Sony should position itself as the family choice. And I’m sure you’ll hear it on plenty of TV shows. “If I get a PS3 and LBP I can create a game with my child and have him use his imagination and creativity and I can help. What Dad is going to say that’s a bad thing? Or get him a 360 and teach him how to shoot people.” Is the above statement fair. No. But most people don’t have the level of sophistication with video games that PS3Blog readers have. So the generalization is going to stick.
4. It’s self marketing.
   When I create the PS3blognet level. Grabbing the Gravatar images of Henning and Tosh’s head and making little sackboys out of them.The mcloki level will all be text by the way. How do you buy that kind of marketing. The grassroots marketing of this are going to be huge. The user generated content is going to be better than you think. Sure some of it is going to be crummy, but the cream will rise to the top. And you will be astounded. People will stop playing Warcraft and endlessly grinding away their lives and start building and creating.

I’m looking forward to it and it will be a day one purchase for me.

Sony has some big products coming out, but I don’t think any of them has gotten such universally positive buzz as LittleBigPlanet.

The concept is grand, but often games with such ambitious concepts don’t gel into great finished games. Some of those preview videos look great, but are regular people really going to enjoy creating these levels? Will user-generated levels really be good enough to compete with the flood of high quality profressionally developed games on the market today? Are gamers really going to fall back in love playing a traditional side-scroller? Can you see a vibrant community behind this game thriving or even lasting beyond the launch window?

I’ve been rather skeptical on this in the past. When I heard this topping all the critics list, my hype alarm started ringing. The preview videos all seemed a little on the corny-side, with that annoying music, and it trying to be just a little too cutesy.

But the more they have recently shown of this title, the more it looks this game might actually become a genuine sensation. Some of the levels actually look cool, and from the brief shots of the 24-hour LittleBigPlanet GameJam, it really looks like regular people can make unique and exciting stuff.

In general, user-generated content won’t match the technical expertise or production quality of professional content, but user-generated content will be able to deliver a certain type of personality, emotion, and diversity that professional development isn’t suited for.

So, call the shot? Will this game kick off a resurgence of user-generated content? Will this take the concept beyond what we’ve seen in the past with the Doom/Marathon customization craze or Eamon modules?