LittleBigPlanet Origins

[bapenguin]

http://image.colonyofgamers.com/news/lbp_origins.jpg

MediaMolecule’s LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 is certainly causing quite a stir. With the game now officially available, Co-Optimus takes a look back at classic games that have helped to pave the way for games like LittleBigPlanet.

Doing a search of co-op platformers will yield quite a few results, both recent and old. One game in particular, however, sticks out for me as being an outstanding co-op platformer: The Lost Vikings. It may be surprising to some that Blizzard has done games other than Diablo, Warcraft, or Starcraft, but what shouldn’t be surprising is that the same quality that is present in those games was present for a game (and its sequel) that predates those series by at least 3 years.

Two classic games are examined for their influence they had on LittleBigPlanet. While these aren't "official" influences, it's easy to see how they could have helped LBP become the game it is.

Source - Co-Optimus (http://www.co-optimus.com/editorial/93/page/1/Little_and_Big_Origins.html)

[KingGorilla]

I was holding out hope you had uncovered details on how LBP is related to Monolith. Sackboy is the 3rd true son of Alma.

[kropotkin]

An interesting article that is flawed in a major area. I hate to be the forumite that likes to bang the patriotic drum all the time but on this one I can't help but say something.

LBP was developed exclusively in the UK. Therefore a vast majority of its influences come from games that either originated there or had a massive impact on UK gaming community.

Mark Healey of Media Molecule has already cited the major points of reference for the creation of Little Big Planet in an interview with Eurogamer. They were The Quill, a text adventure creator and Shoot'em Up Construction Kit. Both of these tools were developed for 8-bit computers that were prevalent in the UK in the 1980's but not so in North America.

Also Lost Vikings was a not a SNES exclusive title. It was released on the Amiga as well as the PC.

So the next time you start to try and peak into the minds of developers as to how they came about making the game you like so much, always ask yourself this: where are they from? If they are not North American you'll find their influences do not come from a Nintendo console...

[Dukefrukem]

An interesting article that is flawed in a major area. I hate to be the forumite that likes to bang the patriotic drum all the time but on this one I can't help but say something.

LBP was developed exclusively in the UK. Therefore a vast majority of its influences come from games that either originated there or had a massive impact on UK gaming community.

Mark Healey of Media Molecule has already cited the major points of reference for the creation of Little Big Planet in an interview with Eurogamer. They were The Quill, a text adventure creator and Shoot'em Up Construction Kit. Both of these tools were developed for 8-bit computers that were prevalent in the UK in the 1980's but not so in North America.

Also Lost Vikings was a not a SNES exclusive title. It was released on the Amiga as well as the PC.

So the next time you start to try and peak into the minds of developers as to how they came about making the game you like so much, always ask yourself this: where are they from? If they are not North American you'll find their influences do not come from a Nintendo console...

I had an Amiga. It was way before it's time and an amazing piece of machinery.

[Johan]

How the heck did I miss the Lost Vikings when I had an SNES? I'm a freaking VIKING! I can't believe it...I'm going to check that sucker out. How does it hold up today? :confused:

[OrigamiPanther]

LBP was developed exclusively in the UK. Therefore a vast majority of its influences come from games that either originated there or had a massive impact on UK gaming community.

Mark Healey of Media Molecule has already cited the major points of reference for the creation of Little Big Planet in an interview with Eurogamer. They were The Quill, a text adventure creator and Shoot'em Up Construction Kit. Both of these tools were developed for 8-bit computers that were prevalent in the UK in the 1980's but not so in North America.

So the next time you start to try and peak into the minds of developers as to how they came about making the game you like so much, always ask yourself this: where are they from? If they are not North American you'll find their influences do not come from a Nintendo console...
Thanks for the feedback (and I absolutely mean that).

You're absolutely right and Little Big Planet owes its specific development towards those, as well as other, UK titles. The point of the article was less saying "these 2 games were what caused Media Molecule to say 'let's make Little Big Planet'" and more "hey, here's two games that share similar mechanics as LBP and helped create a potential market for it". Not meant as a slight to UK game development or publishing and I see now that I definitely could have stressed the latter a bit more.

Also Lost Vikings was a not a SNES exclusive title. It was released on the Amiga as well as the PC.
Yeah, that's just a "my bad". :(

How the heck did I miss the Lost Vikings when I had an SNES? I'm a freaking VIKING! I can't believe it...I'm going to check that sucker out. How does it hold up today? :confused:
Amazingly well.

[TheFlyingOrc]

How the heck did I miss the Lost Vikings when I had an SNES? I'm a freaking VIKING! I can't believe it...I'm going to check that sucker out. How does it hold up today? :confused:

It's quite fun. Also there's aliens.

[TKO]

I had an Amiga. It was way before it's time and an amazing piece of machinery.
Yeah, loved that machine. (I had three of 'em) :) ..It's fun to see how stuff I thought looked amazing back then looks like pixellated crap now. (But it's still fun to emulate.) :cool:

[Dukefrukem]

Yeah, loved that machine. (I had three of 'em) :) ..It's fun to see how stuff I thought looked amazing back then looks like pixellated crap now. (But it's still fun to emulate.) :cool:

Wow three?! Did you play It came from the Desert? Or Deathsword? those were my faves. The graphics/sound cards were incredible for PCs in those days.

[TKO]

Thinks maybe I worded that wrong: I never had three at once. :) Bought a second-hand A500 first, then an A1200, and finally (when the 1200 died) an A4000 (which I eventually pimped out with a 40MHz 68040, a PicassoIV and 112MB of RAM.)

Never played It Came From the Desert (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=586), but it does look good. I just realised there was a data disk (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=2289) for it too. Cool. The first Cinemaware game I saw on the Amiga was Rocket Ranger (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=909), which just blew me away. Before that I'd been really addicted to Defender of the Crown (http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=661) (c64 version) ..I think that was their first title. Brilliant game.

Didn't know what you meant by Death Sword (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1941) at first, then found it was the US-renamed Barbarian (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=118). Loved that game. Strangely I still enjoy the c64 version more. Just something about the gameplay ..the graphics are certainly worse (http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=213). Or maybe it's coz I got the big poster with the even bigger Mariah Whittaker (http://www.pressplaythenanykey.com/articulos/buenorras%20en%20los%20videojuegos/) too. :D

Rant: What is it with US distributors wanting to rename things? Barbarian to Death Sword? Could they make it sound any more lame? That's like Nebulus (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=776) to Tower Toppler (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=3234), The Settlers (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1032) to Serf City - Life is Feudal (http://www.mobygames.com/game/serf-city-life-is-feudal) etc. ..tho I'm probably biased. We always get them from Europe with the name unchanged here. (maybe it just irritates me a little more after hearing music (http://www.last.fm/music/Falco/_/Rock+Me+Amadeus) remixed (http://www.last.fm/music/Los+Del+Rio/_/Macarena) for the US market too.) :)

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