PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home wasn't nearly the best part of the keynote. Not by a longshot. Sony took the wrapper off a new title and gave the audience a glimpse, but it wasn't a marquee PlayStation 3 title like Metal Gear Solid 4 - which some were expecting - or more God of War II footage. It was a family-friendly community game called LittleBigPlanet from previously unknown independent developer Media Molecule.
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I never would have guessed that Sony could have a rolled out an incredibly adorable, visually delicious and entirely riotous family game like LittleBigPlanet to help restore its good will, but that's exactly what happened. A few members of the Media Molecule team, including co-founder and ex-Lion head designer Mark Healey, came up on stage and demonstrated the game, and I was instantly impressed. There was a certain elegance and depth to the graphics that you typically don't see in most family games that use cartoon-like animation.
And the gameplay - it looked outstanding. Players use the character of "Sack Boy," who looks like a brown stuffed animal with black buttons for eyes and big zipper down the front. The concept of the multiplayer sandbox game is simple: you can do anything you want. You use Sack Boy to decorate and customize your own environment using materials such as wood and cloth, colors, icons, and other funky items. You can create your own game, in essence, by constructing puzzles and obstacles courses for others. You can even strap on a jet back and go cruising around the garden gnomes and sea shells.
Media Molecule demonstrates LittleBigPlanet and its protagonist "Sack Boy" during Sony's keynote at GDC 2007
When Healey played LittleBigPlanet on stage with Harrison, fellow Media Molecule developer Alex Evans and Sony Computer Entertainment producer Peter Smith, it looked like an absolute blast. I wanted to jump up on stage and grab a SIXAXIS controller. It was a joy to watch the four of them create and explore the various environments they created and interact with one another. The rag dolls physics, coupled with the exquisite animation and even a superb music soundtrack made LittleBigPlanet a winner.
It's been an interesting 12 months of ups and downs - mostly downs - for Sony, and the successful keynote at GDC this year brought it full circle. Last year during GDC, the company looked like it had the gaming world in the palm of its hand. Anticipation for the PS3 was high, and Harrison was teasing the details of its PlayStation Network while tantalizing gamers with trailers for God of War II. Somewhere between then and now, Sony got off track in a number of ways.
That all changed Wednesday. Harrison didn't take shots at competitors or wheel out big name developers to try to show that they still love Sony. He didn't try to wow the audience with pre-rendered video trailers of titles that we won't see for another year. Instead, he turned the stage over to a small, relatively unknown indie developer Media Molecule so that it could present an imaginative, unique title. Prior to Wednesday, Media Molecule was primarily known for Healey's previous indie title Rag Doll Kung Fu.
But that's sure to change now that the company has been catapulted into the spotlight. In fact, I have a feeling that LittleBigPlanet could become one the hottest titles for the PS3 real soon. A demo version of the title will be available for download this fall on the PlayStation Network, and the full version of the game is scheduled to release in early 2008.
It may be too early to tell if Sony has righted the ship and put its past troubles behind it after one exciting keynote. But I'm utterly impressed that Sony chose this direction. It shows class. It shows creativity. And most of all, it shows focus. And that's a good thing for gamers.
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