Okay, let's try this again.
From
Media Molecule, the folks who brought you Rag Doll Kung Fu comes their début game for the PS3, LittleBigPlanet.
Yes, that stings, but it seems the PS3 has finally found its killer application. Too little too late? Doubtful.
The best videos can be found at
Gametrailers.com, and will play most of them sequentially, if you're lucky.
You get your avatar, the two-three inch Sackboy or Sackgirl, who can be given different colours and patterns, clothes and accessories, to customise your character. You can play with their expressions and control their arms independently, a fun way to communicate, especially with foreign-language team mates. They can run, hop and grab objects, pulling them if they aren't nailed down or too heavy (you may then need help). I've also seen the acquisition of jet packs.
Much of the gameplay and all of the puzzles fall out of the physics engine, none are scripted. This means that there are always multiple and intuitive ways to solve a problem.
Which are multiplied into infinity by the world-building options, available in-game at all times. A "Pop-it" menu can be opened in-game, in real time, from which objects such as balls, oranges, moving cogs, and primitives of several scalable and rotatable shapes can be summoned into the world, and objects already present can be moved, almost telekinetically. There are also cosmetic options that can be used on objects, the world, and team mates
While you can use these tools to progress through each level if you wish, they can also be used to compose entire levels of your own devising, which will then be published online to be played and rated by the entire community. Four players can play at a time, on the same machine or online, and all have independent Pop-it menus and can aid in level construction and general playing. Looks good.