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[itsinmyveins]

Alright, the latest Penny Arcade comic is about Little Big Planet.

I was able to coax Gabriel into hauling in his Playstation 3, where (upon launching LittleBigPlanet) we began humanity's greatest working.

In truth, no coaxing was actually required. He is as vigorous a proponent of the game as exists anywhere, in any nation on earth, or even among those creatures who drift on the cold breath of stars. He'll talk your fucking ass off. I thought it might have been an art thing, where he was enamored with the idea of a game as a canvas or some shit, but that's not it at all. My biggest concern with this whole enterprise was that, in the manner of some grim celestial event, the game would get lost in the tools. It hasn't, and the fact that it hasn't is nothing short of miraculous. There is a legitimately fun, multiplayer platformer nestled at its core.

If I am ever called upon to distill 2008 into a handful of incredible moments, one of them would already be from LittleBigPlanet. We were playing a user created level that, upon reaching the penultimate stage, tasked players with flying a zeppelin to the finish line. The author of the level had made the zeppelin from scratch, and it sported four levers that controlled movement in each direction. Kiko had died already (fire), and on the eve of my triumph, I fell from the zeppelin to my death. At this point, it was up to Gabriel to captain this thing all the way to the end. That's the gameplay. Visually, the sight of his sackboy running back and forth on this ship - madly pulling levers in an attempt to control this thing by himself - was beyond delectable. It demands to be counted among the year's richest moments. LittleBigPlanet is a game where, particularly in multiplayer, rich moments are in ready supply.

There is already a two part series of levels called Construction Time, which fall into the "Mechanical" category - gameplay that relies heavily on the manipulation of author-created machinery. In a level that mixed color matching and "toy crane" mechanics, we had four players but only three levers to control. You can make your own fun in these situations: by holding down either trigger, you get full analog control of your sackperson's arms, and by tilting the controller in different directions you control the tilt of the head. The d-pad controls emotions. This is a more than sufficient palette for puppetry, and I managed to create a ridiculously imperious little "foreman" to direct the others. The Sixaxis face controls have a strange, secondary effect, in that the way a person naturally holds their controller effects their avatar's behavior. Gabriel naturally holds the controller upside down, under his chin. As a result, his sackboy is constantly looking up, lost in thought.

The tools themselves are easily grasped, but when you pick one up, it blooms into a hundred thousand possible forms. Their scope is quite frankly beyond us, and any fantasies we had about ginning up surreal Twisp and Catsby realms for frolicking purposes quickly drowned therein. When I look at this bizarre difference engine someone made with the tools, I start to see spots. Blood drains entirely out of my brain, and I begin to tingle in my extremities. Even so, we derived tremendous enjoyment from the tutorials, which turn learning the tools into a series of little puzzles. They're voiced by Stephen Fry, whose jolly wisdom seems to inform the entire production. Anyway, we don't need to use the tools. The game isn't even out yet, and there's already more levels than you could ever play.

(CW)TB out.

Magnum Opus

 

[JonathanEx]

I knew it was going to be a penis

but I still laughed

 

[itsinmyveins]

I knew it was going to be a penis

but I still laughed

Yeah, I did too :lol

 

[Deleted member 22576]

The sackboys look freakish.
They should have drawn "real" sackboys.

 

[Dead Prince]

I played a level yesterday. forgot what it was called. but they made a really big gun. but the bullets look SOOOOO like a penis.

 

[madmook]

The empty black eyes... nightmarish.

 

[M3wThr33]

Well, now expect like 200 levels with that in it.

 

[Mrbob]

Two more weeks! Can't wait!

 

[LaneDS]

Well, now expect like 200 levels with that in it.

That sort of thing was inevitable. Now it's just a PA-themed cock dinosaur.

 

[VaLiancY]

The exhaust pipe on the top....:lol

 

[No_Style]

The exhaust pipe on the top....:lol

:lol I didn't notice that!

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Penis levels will be taken down so fast thanks to the report system.

Levels are taken down just for being reported, and is reviewed later while it's down and uneditable. The community won't allow it to happen probably. Not when one person can have it taken down at request.

 

[dionysus]

You know, I never saw one inappropriate thing in the beta. Did anyone else?

 

[The-Switcher]

First panel makes it.

 

[Dever]

How long until someone makes that in the beta?

Nevermind of course they've done it already

 

[Blackjack]

Reminds me of Mara.

 

[Danielsan]

I love how his arms are shaped like dicks as well. :lol
Have yet to encounter any phallic shapes in the LBP beta.

 

[op_ivy]

i'm really jealous... LBP sounds and looks sooo cool. i wish i was younger so i could own all the consoles and not feel like a douche (no offense to multi-console owners)

EDIT: forgot to add "funny comic, i lol'd" and i really dug the write up. that zepplin stage sounds grrrreat

 

[LiquidMetal14]

:lol :lol Retard dick mobile. Come on guys get on it!

 

[Teknoman]

Reminds me of Mara.

Really really hope...it..doesnt show up in SMT IV's next gen goodness... whenever that rolls around.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Pro-tip for aspiring LBP pervs: If you want to get away with wang shapes in your levels, do a bit of research into Moorish architecture. Best of all, if they try to ban you, you might have a shot at a discrimination suit.

Good luck!

EDIT- With all the dongs in user content (LBP, Picto-Chat, Drawn to Life, Blast Works, etc), I wish there would be a game called Master. The beta would be legendary.

 

[Loudninja]

You know, I never saw one inappropriate thing in the beta. Did anyone else?

No,not one time.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

No,not one time.

There was one early on. The user had a picture of himself on the preview of the level with no pants on. I'm surprised no one's commented on it.

 

[Vilix]

"I need my dick to stand out in a sea of cocks."

Words every male porn actor aspires to. :lol

 

[SapientWolf]

Penis levels will be taken down so fast thanks to the report system.

Levels are taken down just for being reported, and is reviewed later while it's down and uneditable. The community won't allow it to happen probably. Not when one person can have it taken down at request.

I thought they were just labeled as being NSFW, not taken down.

 

[bathala]

The exhaust pipe on the top....:lol

:lol didn't notice that.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I thought they were just labeled as being NSFW, not taken down.

Nope, we have gaffers with awesome levels that had theirs taken down fast due to burning sackboy shapes. It was a murder mystery story level. A box of sackboys were dropped next to the player and a evil laugh followed it. It was very well done but was very minor as far as offensive content go. There are some weird people out there that found that offensive, or too horrible.

 

[Yaweee]

Really really hope...it..doesnt show up in SMT IV's next gen goodness... whenever that rolls around.

It's been in SMT 2 and 3, so Atlus might as well keep up the tradition.

 

[gofreak]

Nope, we have gaffers with awesome levels that had theirs taken down fast due to burning sackboy shapes. It was a murder mystery story level. A box of sackboys were dropped next to the player and a evil laugh followed it. It was very well done but was very minor as far as offensive content go. There are some weird people out there that found that offensive, or too horrible.

I may not be remembering entirely accurately, but doesn't the create tutorial have you put a sackboy sponge shape on fire?

 

[Xater]

Now I feel strangely compelled a create a level that only has penises in it. Thanks Penny Arcade...

 

[jiggle]

:lol

 

[A Human Becoming]

Nope, we have gaffers with awesome levels that had theirs taken down fast due to burning sackboy shapes. It was a murder mystery story level. A box of sackboys were dropped next to the player and a evil laugh followed it. It was very well done but was very minor as far as offensive content go. There are some weird people out there that found that offensive, or too horrible.

That got taken down? I remember that level.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I may not be remembering entirely accurately, but doesn't the create tutorial have you put a sackboy sponge shape on fire?

It's not reviewed yet. Maybe if anyone flag a level it get's frozen and locked so no one else can play it until it's reviewed. This would be a good test for the beta also. Maybe that's why it took so few to get it taken down. I'm not sure if it was one person or more, but who would flag that?

 

[Ledsen]

Nope, we have gaffers with awesome levels that had theirs taken down fast due to burning sackboy shapes. It was a murder mystery story level. A box of sackboys were dropped next to the player and a evil laugh followed it. It was very well done but was very minor as far as offensive content go. There are some weird people out there that found that offensive, or too horrible.

That was featured on the 1up Show, it looked awesome

 

[itsinmyveins]

It's not reviewed yet. Maybe if anyone flag a level it get's frozen and locked so no one else can play it until it's reviewed. This would be a good test for the beta also. Maybe that's why it took so few to get it taken down. I'm not sure if it was one person or more, but who would flag that?

Man, I hope they don't start freezing everything that gets flagged :/

 

[Chemo]

Uhh, all the talk about how easy it apparently is to get levels taken down is absolutely grinding my light speed hype train to a baby's crawl.

So I can go to a ton of trouble to make an awesome level, and some dick could get it tied up in review forever by reporting it and then re-reporting it whenever it comes back, regardless of whether there's an actual reason or not? This is actually a feasible possibility?

It really fucking better not be.

 

[diss]

i feel ashamed because this is the first thing i did after i finished the tutorials. even the conversation with my housemate while doing this was exactly the same. however ours walked on teeny tiny little legs and shot golf balls from the tip (EDIT: oh wait, so does theirs! goddammit)

 

[Diatribe1974]

Once again, PA produces another masterpiece. Seriously....not sure when the last stinker was that they did.....been awhile.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

Just noticed the penis monster has penis arms