LittleBigPlanet players help build video game

By John Gaudiosi

RALEIGH, NC (Reuters) - Sony Computer Entertainment America's "LittleBigPlanet" game, released in North America on Tuesday, lets players create characters and scenarios for the PlayStation 3, taking the Internet's embrace of community-created sites to video games.

The new game has 50 levels of play in a universe of castles and mountains where customizable sackcloth puppets must navigate obstacles and puzzles to proceed.

What separates it from the pack is a suite of tools, which allows players to create their own game challenges and share them with others online via Sony Corp's PlayStation Network.

Kareem Ettouney, art director for "LittleBigPlanet," said recently in an interview in New York the whole idea behind the game is that one person can create everything from characters to worlds within the game.

"The three pillars of the game are equal: play, create, and share," said Ettouney, who co-founded the game's development studio, Media Molecule.

Electronic Arts Inc has proven that empowering gamers is a good business decision these days. Gamers have populated the new "Spore" universe with over 25 million creatures, vehicles and buildings of their own creation. "Spore" PC and Nintendo DS games sold over 1 million copies worldwide in the first three weeks.

Billy Pidgeon, video game analyst for IDC, believes "LittleBigPlanet" will help Sony drive sales of its PS3. The PS3 lags Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii in total sales, but new games made by Sony exclusively for its machine may help it gain ground.

It's a mass market game that will appeal to non-gamers, new gamers and also to gaming enthusiasts," said Pidgeon. "Sony can use 'LittleBigPlanet' to build a larger online PlayStation Network audience, which will give the PlayStation Store more customers."