Guardian Unlimited UK called up Leo Cubbin, "the Sony bod in charge of the forthcoming social network/game design platform," to ask a bunch of stuff about LittleBigPlanet. For this post, we'll focus on one of the questions which refers to customization in the game, because Leo's answer is highly suggestive of the game's future features.

The essence of the answers revolving around this topic is that creating content for LittleBigPlanet doesn't, or might not, even need to be limited to the PS3 at all, thanks to the Sony Memory Stick. For example, saith Leo:

The SixAxis PlayStation3 controller is amazingly sophisticated, but there are also other ways to input into PlayStation3. For example, you can take your Sony Ericsson phone, whiz out memory stick and put it into the PlayStation3, so anything contained on memory stick can be imported into the game. I can take a photo of you on my phone, pop it in and put the photo onto a character's face.

So it is possible to turn someone into a sock puppet, thanks to Sony Ericsson camera phones. And maybe not even just Sony Ericsson phones, for Leo mentions elsewhere:

If it becomes apparent (after the game has been launched) that they really want some type of offline experience other than on a PlayStation3, like on a PSP or other device, then we'd think about that for the community.

And then, Leo says "you can use your PC as well," and use either the MemStick or Bluetooth to get that to the PS3. (No standalone PC version of the game, though.)

Dear deity. LittleBigPLanet could unleash an explosion of creativity among the community it will nurture, and based on the laws of statistics, there's a very good chance someone's going to be (pardon the crudity) a d**k and create some age-inappropriate content, Guardian Unlimited fears.

Leo's response was to (a) note that the PS3 has built-in parental controls, and (b) bring up the YouTube analogy common to "Game 3.0" approaches. He speaks of "post-moderation" of content created by players, where the community themselves will judge and rate these user-created content for, again pardon the crudity, levels of age-inappropriate d**kness.

At the same time, he also mentions that Sony will be taking a sort of active role in content management. "There are tools which allow moderation very quickly, allowing Sony to scan a level for images and other content that's appropriate or inappropriate." They don't want to "nip" someone's creative bud, but they are also fully committed to "protect the users".

So far, the 80GB PS3 model seems limited to the southern half of the Korean peninsula only (for now, anyway). People must be asking why. And why there, to begin with. GamePro might have a theory, based on reports from South Korea that there are plans by Korean media companies to launch video-on-demand services installed to the PS3 there.

The decision to go 80GB in Korea, based on comments made by a Sony spokesperson, "was based on the assumption that the average Korean PS3 user would be able to take full advantage of the nation's 'pervasive broadband Internet network'," GamePro reports (or hypothesizes).

Well, it IS South Korea. Where the density of networks-per-area rivals the density of depleted uranium. Where video games are a way of life. Where Blizzard gave the world its first look at Starcraft 2 (grumbles).

Hanaro Telecom is in negotiations with Sony to bring their HanaTV to the PS3 for a software download and a monthly fee of the SK Won equivalent of US$ 10.75. The other company, KT, is willing to admit talks with Sony but is unable to comment any further.

Out of Ubidays 2007 is the latest trailer to Splinter Ce Assassin's Creed (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) (sorry for the Conviction segue, but it was too tempting, with all the stuff coming out of Ubidays). Welcome to more videos of Altair in glorious action, c/o GameTrailers. Actually, the Conviction segue might have been fortuitous - compare this and the latest trailer to Conviction and you see the same kind of elements: crowds and a**-kicking.

(Not meant to fuel those debates regarding the direction Conviction has taken, but just the observation that both titles are what I guess I could call "stealth-in-plain-sight" games.)

And is it just me, or did you find the trailer BGM anachronistic?

Buy: [Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Assassin's Creed (PS3)]

If you had to see just how much Sam Fisher has changed - and whether it's agreeable or not - IGN finally put up this gameplay work-in-progress video from Ubisoft of Splinter Cell: Conviction.

And as it is an indicator, yes, Sam has changed. Since when did he beat the crap out of five-odd cops like Jack Bauer after a coffee break? There's a rather layered combat system implemented here, it seems, apart from the ever-handy "throw a chair at the guy" attack that the new environment dynamic emphasizes.

The question is, is it still Splinter Cell? The only certain answer is that the debates do not end here; that only the game in our hands and the tabulated outcry of Splinter Cell fans the world over will deliver the verdict. One video and these screenshots are not enough.



Screens after the jump.

 

She may be too much to be contented remaining in the shadows of Freeman; Valve's Gabe Newell revealed to IGN that they might be thinking about a Half-Life spin-off revolving around Half-Life 2 (PS3, PC, Xbox 360) sidekick Alyx Vance. And Dog.

We'd like to do games that are about Alyx. We'd like to do games that are about Dog. I don't think we've made this decision that it's always going to be you playing Gordon in the first-person with Alyx as a companion...

Obviously having Alyx as the player character breaks the "silent protagonist" mold of Half-Life - unless Valve mutes her, of course - but it does allow the devs to explore other parts of the Half-Life universe. A lot of the Half-Life universe. Like, what the heck really happened in that Seven-Hour War?

Of course, this might still be in the future; Valve's just begun with Episode Three after all.

Carnival Games from Global Star Publishing literally is (well, are) carnival games. This trailer on GameTrailers will demonstrate that fact well: seems that the familiar bandit booths you see at any carnival are presented here.

Essentially a collection of carnival minigames, and while this may draw the ire of those who've criticized this movement of minigames on the Wii, it still is a suitable family-friendly title. Its carnival theme and atmosphere should help set the mood for those Sunday family nights in front of the Wii.

Ubisoft has recently announced a batch of casual games - and not just any casual games, but "games with real-life benefits" they will roll out for the DS and Wii later this year.

The lineup is called "My Coach" and like its name suggests, it will coach (or try to coach) you through various scenarios of life. It's just like Brain Training. Except, in the case of My Life Coach (DS, Holiday 2007), it's essentially one of those self-help personal well-being books. Developed with the help of a behaviorist, My Life Coach aims to help those concerned about their well being the willpower they need to change their habits the way they want in a motivating and fun way.

My Word Coach, on the other hand, is the walking dictionary. Okay, without the walking part. Word Coach works like a linguist (and was developed with their help), training both your verbal communication and vocabulary skills. Useful if you're in your school's spelling bee or oratory competitions this year, especially. Although it better be late in the year, because the game is coming Fall 2007, for both the Wii and DS.

In addition, Ubisoft has announced that the Petz will come to the Wii. No other details were given in the press release about this.

Although Tommi Pisto's email tip, represented by the JPEG you're looking at stage right, makes the case perfectly clear, why it's happening that the PS3's playback of larger-than-4GB MPEG-2 video files is rather shot. Although the menu language isn't English, the running commentary and the results are still perfectly understood.

In those test cases, the PS3 can't properly read files larger than 4GB, leading to a screwy inability to track (rewind/fast forward) through the video. As Tommi notes, this bug makes the PS3 ineffective as a home media center "for those who wants to watch their own captured (Sony HDV digital camcorder) files (one hour cassette = 10GB)." In short, it could spark home video issues.

Well thanks, Tommi, for bringing this to light. Now we wonder if this is a firmware thing, possibly encouraging a future update to correct it. Too bad we don't know what firmware Tommi experimented on. We wonder if Sony's aware of this and if this is an isolated case or not.

Just click the pic for a closer look.

 

Now it's been announced, it would be nice to get a closer look at Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground, XSEED Games' PSP version of the tried-and-true paper-and-pen dungeons of old. Darn, those were tedious days.

If you want to explore this dungeon, here's your chance: at the Read link below is the official website for Dungeon Maker, where you will be treated to explanations and some screens. Really, at the center of this game is the creation (and exchange) of dungeons on your PSP, that even the story of the game revolves around the theme.

You, the quintessential Daedalus (not the homebrew emu; look him up in a Wiki), are essentially designing monster and demon honey traps, because in this world, monsters and demons just love to wander around dungeons, itching for you to slay them (and vice versa).

No snarkiness intended: this may be the premise behind Dungeon Maker's storyline, but like we said, it does earn points for carrying a certain bit of the dungeon master legacy with it. Success in this game is earned by designing such intricate dungeons as to attract ever more intriguing (and menacing) monsters, up until the ultimate baddie in the game. Learn more at the Read link.

And thus a new chapter in the series rears its saiyan head, as Atari announced that it would be publishing Namco Bandai/Spike's Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (or Sparking! Meteor in other regions) for North America.

As the teaser site shows some familiar faces, Atari confirms with their press release that over 20 new characters will be present in Sparking! Meteor, including never-before seen (in a DBZ game) Nail, King Cold, and King Vegeta, for a total of over 150 characters. Also in for the ride are over 20 day-and-night stages, with "the power of the moon in the night stages [giving] players additional ways to transform their characters and lets fans recreate some of their favorite memories from the show."

The PR slates DBZ: Sparking! Meteor for a holiday 2007 release - given what was said in the teaser site, we're thinking in time for Thanksgiving. Here's the first batch of screens for the game:

More screens spark at the full article.