You may have been experiencing trouble playing online or playing on published levels. The servers were down for awhile, and back up to be hammered again. Even if there are online issues (like every major game release), I’m loving every minute.

Take this as an opportunity to unlock as many items from story mode as possible or create that level you’ve been dreaming up. At least we have official word that they are working around the clock and “expect it to improve shortly” and we can rest assured that the community is still at work getting ready to publish all kinds of great levels.

Still no word on the spacesack and week one t-shirt, but we’ll keep you posted. At least you can stare at it and drool for now.

The multi-player servers just went up, so hot dog, leave work early / call in sick and play play play!!

Although LittleBigPlanet doesn’t “officially” come out until today, guess what! You are going to get a second one!  In a BBC News article on game development in the UK, some awesome news:

Even before the game has hit the shops, the team are already at work on a sequel.

I don’t know about you, but I’m rather excited.

For anyone who managed to get a pre-recall copy, a 54M patch updating LittleBigPlanet came out late last night which brings the game to version 1.02 and removes the lyrics from the song that may have offended some. As of now, their multiplayer servers are still not up, but I suspect that will happen tomorrow.

I’ve heard from a reliable source that they have simply removed the “questionable” lyrics, and kept the awesome song in the game.

Glad that’s cleared up. Now I can spend my time brainstorming my first few level designs… because I’m still at work.

Toumani Diabate, sent info to MTV multiplayer about his “controversial” track.

“They note the complication that there is no explicit rule in Islam prohibiting a song like Diabate’s.”

Delayed for no explicit reason?! I’m not sure this is very comforting. At least he explains his reasoning behind the song I will never hear in game, and that is something all the news about its removal has left out.

Today was the day we were supposed to be playing LittleBigPlanet, but instead, we must wait. And that is OK, because a little more anticipation will make popping the disk into the PS3 the first time all the sweeter.

That said, one of us lucky guys here at LBPBuilder had their pre-order ship before the recall and it arrived on time. Expect a mini-review soon, but the sort version is: Better than you dreamed it would be.

I can’t see you, but I know you’re hurting inside. Oh, the sorrow! Oh, the horror! More heart wrenching than the worst tear jerker from Hollywood.

The world has been asked to wait for LittleBigPlanet. What started out as a delay in the european release, has turned out to be Qu’ran lyrics in one of the licensed songs (I guess that’s a big religious no no or something). Websites are not very clear on the details even though Sony has already come out to say they are working to resolve this as fast as possible and that it is indeed global.

IGN says it’s globally delayed, and GamesIndustry notes that it’s worldwide.

At this point I’m in a state of denial and I assume whole-heartedly that the US is in no way part of the world. Gamestop isn’t helping me keep the blackness out of my soul even though they note that some US customers may be ‘able’ to get their hands on a copy before recall.

GIVE ME RELEASE OR GIVE ME DEATH!
Even just a patch istead of a full-blown recall? I understand that a patch doesn’t work for people who are offline… but I don’t see how that affects me.

Gamespot notes: “[UPDATE]: Impatient gamers may still be able to get their hands on the version of Little Big Planet containing the Qu’ran references. Gaming importer National Console Support said it has begun shipping US versions of the game to customers who preordered. What’s more, the site says it will ship the game to US customers for Saturday delivery if they order by 4 p.m. Eastern today.”

Update: Word from the playstation blog courteously extends a release of October 27th.

Computer and Video Games gave it a 9.6/10.0 review. They’ve got an “exclusive” video which showcases a scorefest run-from-the-big-monster race. During the rocking track with a haunted mood and some cool guitar riffs, I found the moving spawn point particularly noteworthy. They describe the game as being 3-4 levels in each of the 8 worlds with 1-2 bonus keys “in each level”, which amounts to over 50 levels. All with plenty of secrets, and some backtracking once you’ve unlocked stickers/etc. They give it amazing praise, and the only real complaint they mention is that 4 player can be a little crowded or difficult (depending on the level). “PS3’s best game? Yup.”

Gameplayer also reviewed it with a 10/10! LBP is, as they describe, “like LEGO (the blocks, not the game), it’s like Monopoly, it’s timeless… it’s lightning in a bottle”. They give a pretty acceptable description about how enthralling the game is for gamer and non-gamer (gamer’s girlfriend) at first touch. “You can’t not have fun with this game - it’s un-possible.”
Dislikes: Planeshifting, Tutorials; Likes: Co-op, creative potential, the sims

Total Video Games gives it a 10/10. They don’t like the control “niggles” (again people complain about their inability to jump between planes), the overwhelming tools (even though they love the creativity), and the need to own a ps3.

Still nothing below a 90/100. Metacritic still has the wide range of reviews aggregated.

I normally hate game reviews. There can be some useful information in them, but on the whole they are usually less than informative, and since they always use the same criteria across every genre it throws the entire scale out of order. Not to mention some reviews are directly related to endorsement, sales, or maintaining a business relationship.

In an attempt to put aside my differences (and out of a pure and just love for everything LBP), I sat down to watch the IGN video review. Many good points were made, and while the true freedom and depth of the game (such as the astounding possibilities of the creator, and the depth/length/presentation/creativity of story mode) was possibly overshadowed by the few gripes described (creator can be finicky with detach bug, issues with tags, real physics making controls not as tight Super Mario), they had a lot of good things to say.

9.5/10 is nothing to complain about. 10 points for presentation seems very fitting, and 9.5 across the rest of the board means that, yes, this game is indeed more awesome than it even looks. Many of the complaints the reviewer even had were brushed off as extremely minor. They even hail that the game would be good and complete without a creator. The awesome unseen footage of story levels has me ready to agree.

For those of you not in the US, eurogamer also gave them a (9/10) review.

Metacritic lists a few other reviews.

In simple terms (too long didn’t read): ignore the reviews and pre-order LBP then play, create, share. If you pre-order, some stores are doing midnight release, check with your local retailer.