Games are usually designed around a fundamental challenge of completing objectives, whether it’s defeating enemies, building an empire, or escaping from danger. Great games engross the player in the challenge and get them hooked and poor games usually try to do this, but fail because the challenge feels too repetitive, or too frustrating, or the game just fails to draw them in.

LittleBigPlanet has that core element of challenge as a traditional platforming game but that’s really not what the game is about. The basic platforming elements are generally very easy. Merely beating the levels or getting points isn’t very satisfying by itself. The fun part about this game is discovering all the cool designs, and tricks, and ideas that go into each level. Even with the pre-packaged levels, I’m constantly surprised and amused with what I discover. And, obviously, with the user-created levels, it’s a ton of fun to see all the different concepts that people were able to execute.

Already, there are a ton of completely entertaining user levels. A good example is a level that someone recreated from the first level of the classic NES game, Super Mario Brothers. The level isn’t challenging and I definitely wouldn’t want to play a whole Mario Brothers game like that, but it was fully entertaining to play the level, and see how many little touches they were able pull off and how they did it. And that level isn’t even close to the best user level I played (Touch of Color is an easy favorite level so far).

The other fun part of this game is using the level editor itself. Most regular players probably won’t take it so far that they are making polished, prize-winning levels, but plenty of people will have a ton of fun making simpler goofy levels and just having a blast while doing it.

Most gamers remember the previous era of user-created content for games like Lode Runner, Eamon, Wolf 3D, Doom, Quake, and Marathon. One big difference between that era of user-created content and something like LittleBigPlanet is that previously, there was a big lack of professsionally made games. Today, there is just so much more content on the market and it’s so much easier for regular gamers to get. Previously, user created content generally aimed to fulfill the lack of games to play, while today, user-created content is more about providing community expression that is missing from more traditional games.

Everyone is wondering, will this game be a commercial hit? Will this title unleash tons of entertaining ideas and concepts from the community? Is this title going to start a new a new genre of gaming? No one knows, but this game delivers the most novelty we’ve seen all year and this title is clearly the first to usher in a distinctively new era of user-created game content.

Have you been watching Media Create’s top 30 software sales charts in Japan? From a platform/publisher perspective, it’s consistently populated by mostly DS games and slightly fewer PS2, PSP, and Wii games. PS3 titles are very sparse on the list and 360 games are even rarer.

It’s surprising that even today there are so many more PS2 releases and software sales than those on the PS3 and 360 combined. In the west, developers and the media completely lost any interest in the PS2 many years ago. I remember in late 2004, most of the western media outlets started to proclaim the PS2 era as over and many new game development was being started on next-gen systems. The media definitely jumped the gun by at least a year or two, but in the west, there was such an eagerness and excitement to move on the next generation of hardware back then. But in Japan, here we are in late 2008, and the PS2 is still far more popular in terms of software sales and quantity of popular new game releases than the PS3 and 360 combined.

Anyone have any good theories for why this difference may be? Is it a consumer issue such as cost or size of the hardware or fancy graphics and online features that are perceived as adding more complexity than entertainment value? Or is it a developer issue? Are the developers slow to change production practices, slow to invest in new technology, or hesitant to jump to a newer and financially riskier platform?

That’s pretty lame Sony …. at the very least the open beta is still set for 2008.

As an update to the PLAYSTATION(R)3 News email sent on Friday, October 24th, the special invitation to PlayStation(R)Home’s closed beta is available only to Qore annual subscribers who purchased subscriptions by 10/29. Qore Episode 06 purchasers will not be eligible for the special PlayStation(R)Home beta invitation at this time. We apologize for the miscommunication.

Qore Episode 6 Home Beta Update

Sony’s Fiscal Q2 2008 = Calendar Q3 2008. Here is the game division overview:

(official report here)

Noteworthy points:

• Sony, as a company overall, is still making a profit. Overall net income was 20.8 billion yen. This is way down from last year’s 73.7 billion yen, but the company is definitely still in the black. Sony’s biggest division in terms of both expenses, revenues, and profits is consumer electronics (HDTVs, cameras, laptops, DVD/Blu-Ray players, etc).
• Game business is losing money, 39.5 billion yen, but loses are way down from last year’s 96.7 billion yen.
• It’s easy to forget, but Sony still sells both more PS2 hardware and software than PS3 software and hardware. I wonder if or how they are counting PSN purchases.
• Overall software sales are down slightly since PS2 sales dropped more than PS3 sales rose.
• Overall R&D spending is slightly up for 2008. I’m hoping some of this is increased investment in PS3 game development, although there public statements don’t give this detail.

Amazon is having great deals on PS3 items today, right now the PS Eye is $23! - Check it out here. More deals will be coming today.

This title is looking better and better…

This is somewhat surprising. By looking at the USA NPD numbers, multiplatform software generally sells roughly twice as well on the 360 as it does on the PS3.

However, when looking at financial statements from EA, Namco Bandai, Konami, and Ubisoft, their worldwide totals show the opposite: PS3 is actually moving more software on a worldwide basis.

According to EA’s previous financial statement, the PS3 accounted for about 17% of total revenue in comparison to the Xbox 360’s 10%.

According to [Namco Bandai’s] recent financial statement, the PS3 currently moved approximately 57% more software than it’s direct competitor, the Xbox 360

according to Konami’s recent financial statements, the PS3 accounted for a whopping 57.3% of the sales this past quarter, while the Xbox 360 accounted for only 2.6%.

According to UbiSoft’s half year financial report (6 months 2008/09), the PS3 accounted for about 20% of the software sales compared to the Xbox 360’s 14%.

The Konami numbers aren’t very telling since their main title of the past quarter, MGS4, was PS3 exclusive. However, Namco, EA, and Ubisoft? Namco seems to be releasing much more 360 exclusives, so it’s very surprsing that the company still gets more revenue from PS3 sales. I suspect this may be because Namco releases more 360 software in the west, but in Japan, they release more of those weird titles on the PS3 that westerners generally don’t care or hear about.

CoD: World at War Secret Mode - It’s called Nazi Zombie survival mode. You unlock it after you complete the single player game. It’s a 4 player co-op battle for your life. Check out the footage here.

The LittleBigPlanet servers are now live! Go create, share, play! The promotional codes should be working sometime tonight.

Lots of uh .. meh movies this week. And isn’t it a little early to be coming out with Christmas Blu-ray movies. How about more horror Blu-rays? Well anything for you this week?

* Baraka
* Beat the Devil
* Dead Space: Downfall
* Elf
* Essential Holiday Collection (The Polar Express / National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation / Elf / A Christmas Story)
* The Final Countdown
* Hell Ride
* Journey to the Center of the Earth
* Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
* The Polar Express Presented in 3-D
* Tinker Bell
* Zombie Strippers!
* 4/20 Live in Seattle
* Cruel World
* Chihuly in the Hotshop
* Eye on Extreme Monster Trucks
* Eye on Extreme Professional Bull Riding
* The Final Patient
* Jack and the Beanstalk
* Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
* Jewel: The Essential Live Songbook
* Jewels
* Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6
* Last Time I Saw Paris
* Mysterious Island
* The Prince & Me 2: The Royal Wedding
* The Prince & Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon
* The Terror
* Zoroastre

Blu-ray.com

I’m really hoping the PJM and PJM Encore patch is released this Thursday in Europe. It will probably be the only game that can distract me from Rapture until LBP is finally released. PS3Trophies.org has apparantley got the full list of all the Trophies that can be earned in PJM.

If you want to see what it will take to get the Trophies, including the secret Trophies, click the above link. I know some people may want to avoid seeing the full list.

Most of them will definitely make you play the game far differently to how you would normally play it. Some are going to be quite challenging too!

I’m glad Q games have put some thought into their Trophy challenges, which is what I want more devs to start doing.

That’s right act now and we’ll even throw in a issue of Qore. I had a feeling that the Home Beta would pop up in Qore eventually. The November issue should be out in early November. If your a Annual Qore customer just download the November issue.

So will you be buying Qore for the Home Beta? I think a lot of people will. Or do you think Sony just should have let it be a open Beta and let everyone in to test it out?

But if you do try Home out we’ll have to meet up in Home and talk about it there

November issue of Qore takes us Home

With the GTA IV Trophy patch now live I’ve been wondering if the addition of Trophies to some PS3 games has been a positive addition.

I know it’s early days but I would have to say yes, for the most part. I currently have 4 games that feature Trophies but so far, for the most part, Trophies have impacted positively on all four games.

Burnout Paradise

I got bored of Burnout Paradise pretty quickly when I first played it. Too many events were the same and I got a little tired of the gameplay. They added Custom soundtracks, bikes and a day night cycle which made me play it again for about a day, then I got bored again.

Then for some reason I got into a groove for collecting Trophies and I found a new passion for Burnout Paradise. I wasn’t bothered about having to start from scratch due to trophies not being retroactive but starting over again was actually enjoyable. I started doing the Burning Routes which I had never done on my first playthrough and I played a bit more online with a friend, helping each other collect Trophies.

For me, Trophies made Burnout fun again. Custom soundtracks and adding Bikes obviously added to the enjoyment but it was the pursuit of trophies that made me give burnout a 2nd chance. That may be a bit shallow but it made me appreciate the game more.

SuperStardust: HD

I already loved SS: HD, so Trophies were never going to make me find a new passion for playing it, they did however give me the incentive to play the new different modes like Bomber and Endless more than I would have.

In turn, I got more enjoyment out of Arcade mode in general going through all the planets in one sitting and achieving a new high score as a result.

Trophies didn’t have as big of an impact on SS: HD as they did on Burnout Paradise but their inclusion gave me extra motivation to improve my skills. Late Boomer still eludes me though. I came so close last night too!

WipeOut HD

It’s hard to comment on WipEout HD because I’ve hardly played it and racing games as a rule, are my least favourite genre so it’s probably at a disadvantage already compared to the other games, but what I will say is that the Trophies in WipEout actually offer a real challenge compared to the majority of Trophies that can be earned in most other games.

Some Trophies are going to take hours upon hours of practice, perfecting your skills in order to beat a certain lap time or achieve all golds in Elite mode. Whether this is a good thing depends on whether you’re willing to put in the time to do that or whether WipEout is actually enjoyable enough to make you want to do that.

It is good that some devs are putting some thought into how you can achieve Trophies. Some games have taken a far too easy route but I’ll comment on this shortly.

For me, at this moment in time, I can’t be bothered to put in the time with WipEout HD. There are too many great games out now and over the next two months but because it’s a PSN game, I can come back to it in a few months time and put in the time needed. Having Trophies there to be completed will give me a reason to play it again down the line.

BioShock

I’m loving BioShock so far. It’s a game that would be played again and again just because it is that good. The Trophies in it though are a mixed bag. Some are really easy like completing the opening level.

Others are supposed to offer a greater test of your gaming prowess such as completing the game on Survivor difficulty without using a Vita chamber, although if it still lets you save at anytime on Survivor mode then that sort of defeats the purpose.

As a whole the Trophies in BioShock are a mixed offering. Some are just giveaways for completing standard tasks within the game while others will make you explore Rapture more or play the game with set goals in mind.

We need far more of the latter and less of the former. Burnout Paradise gives you far too many Trophies for doing the most simplest things like driving through a garage or crashing through the yellow gates. They don’t give you a sense of achievement when they are handed to you on a plate.

Of course you have Bronze, Silver and Gold Trophies to collect, with the difficulty rising as you move towards the Silver and Gold Trophies but far too many Bronze and Silver Trophies are just handed to you without having done anything special to earn them.

Trophies should offer you a sense of achievement, so that when you get them, you’ve either played a game in a different way to what you normally would or you’ve achieved something significant and improved your skills as a result and been rewarded with a Trophy for the effort you’ve put in.

I use the word achievement quite a bit. I always get far greater pleasure from most things if I know I’ve earned something rather than being given something as a token gesture, just for the sake of it.

This is the problem I’ve found with Trophies so far. I know it is early days and that devs are probably trying to strike the right balance between how difficult some Trophies should be to get and they probably don’t want to make Trophies appear as a burden. However, I would be happier if they offered less trophies if it meant the ones available would give you a greater sense of achievement once you earned them.

It’s worth remembering that Trophies are optional and if someone isn’t willing to put the time in, like I’m not with WipEout HD but I am willing to with BioShock, then that’s the player’s choice. Devs shouldn’t have to put in a Trophy just to make up the numbers or just for the sake of it. Trophies should challenge the player to play games differently and to test their game playing ability in ways they would not normally do. If the game is good enough then I’m sure most people would put the effort in.

Overall, I like Trophies, they’ve made me appreciate certain games more and I’ve put more time in games that I would probably not bother with again and made me play them in a different way to what I normally would. I just hope devs start to show more imagination with the Trophies they implement rather than simply giving them away in future.

I’m interested to hear whether you guys agree or disagree with any of the points I’ve raised.