14 DAY TRIAL // Sony, as the publisher, and Media Molecule, as the developer, have confirmed that LittleBigPlanet 2 is under development and set to be launched exclusively on the PlayStation 3 at some point during the winter of this year. The announcement comes after extended speculation and leaks pointing to a game, which takes up the “Play, Create, Share” mantra of the first title and gets it to next level.
Eric Levine, who is the public relations manager for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, says on the official PlayStation blog that “top-down racing games, multiplayer shooters, flying side-scrollers, RPGs, etc” can all be created using Little Big Planet 2, adding, “The possibilities are really endless.”
New features for the sequel also include a better search system, allowing player to get to the stages they are interested in quicker, improved community features, allowing for more interaction and for worthy content to be faster promoted, new characters, including the so-called SackBot with a fully programmable Artificial Intelligence, new cinematic tools, controller customization and the introduction of power ups.
Media Molecule is also pointing out that the levels created for the first LittleBigPlanet can be used with the second game in the series and be edited to include new features. All the downloadable content is also set to be compatible with the new release.
LittleBigPlanet arrived on the PlayStation 3 in November 2008 and the simple platforming mechanics and adorable SackBoy characters captured the imagination of gamers. But the real power of the videogame was linked to the powerful editor, which permitted the creation of a variety of platform-like levels. The developers at Media Molecule initially said they were not interested in creating a sequel but they were bought by Sony since then, which probably helped change their minds.
Here's the official trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2: