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''LittleBigPlanet 2'' is a 2011
puzzle-platform A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed by
Media Molecule Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010. It became part of SCE Worldw ...
and published by
Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
. The second main instalment in the ''
LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...
'' series and the third overall, it is a direct sequel to ''
LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...
''. Most of the more than 3 million levels created by users in the first game are playable and editable in ''LittleBigPlanet 2''. Unlike its predecessor, which was marketed as a
platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was marketed as a "platform for games", with more focus on its
user-generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...
. Support for
PlayStation Move is a Motion controller, motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation ...
was added to the game through a
software update A patch is data that is intended to be used to modify an existing software resource such as a program or a file, often to fix bugs and security vulnerabilities. A patch may be created to improve functionality, usability, or performance. A pa ...
in September 2011, allowing users to play the game using the PlayStation Move motion controller in conjunction with a Navigation Controller or beagle. The game's online functionality was officially discontinued after a lengthy period of outage on 13 September 2021, alongside services for ''
LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...
'' (2008), ''
LittleBigPlanet PS Vita ''LittleBigPlanet PS Vita'' is a 2012 puzzle-platform video game developed by Tarsier Studios and Double Eleven and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Vita. It is the fourth main instalment of the ''LittleBigPlanet'' ...
'', and the PlayStation 3 version of ''
LittleBigPlanet 3 ''LittleBigPlanet 3'' is a 2014 puzzle-platform video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It is the third main installment in the ''LittleBigPlanet'' series and si ...
''.


Gameplay

While still retaining the three-layer, 2.5D nature of the original title, with the player controlling their
Sackboy Sackboy is a fictional character and main protagonist of the ''LittleBigPlanet'' video game series published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Introduced in the 2008 video game ''LittleBigPlanet (2008 video game), LittleBigPlanet'', Sackboy is ...
characters, players are not restricted solely to platforming levels, and can choose to create many types of levels including racing, puzzle and role-playing games. New animation recording options are available and players are able to create cut-scenes to go with their level design, manipulate the camera for both cut-scenes and gameplay, and record their own sound effects for use in the level. As well as including a wide selection of original and licensed music, the game also includes a robust music sequencer. Multiple levels can be linked together, so that finishing one level immediately takes the player to the next. A new tool to assist in gameplay creation is the "Controlinator". This allows players to assign specific actions, such as button presses or
Sixaxis The Sixaxis (trademarked SIXAXIS) is a wireless gamepad produced by Sony for their PlayStation 3 video game console. It was introduced alongside the PlayStation 3 in 2006 and remained the console's official controller until 2008. The term "sixax ...
motion control, to specific aspects of their gameplay design. Players are not restricted to using the Controlinator on level elements, however, and they may use it to direct the actions of the player's Sackboy character, allowing greater freedom of movement; Media Molecule made this design choice in response to the large number of homages to early platforming games, in which players had to "hide" and manipulate the Sackboy character in specific ways to replicate the style of gameplay. In addition to this tool, more gameplay items, similar to the ''Metal Gear Solid'' paintball gun released as downloadable content, are available including a grappling hook, the "Creatinator" - a hat which is worn by Sackboy and can be configured by the Creator to fire any object - and the "Grabinators" which allow Sackboy to pick up and throw grabable objects. Media Molecule updated the game regularly with new items. Enemy creation has been improved. Players can create "Sackbots", which are
non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...
s whose AI can be controlled by the level creator. Options include determining weak points on the Sackbots, as well as programming routines for the AI to follow. Sackbots can be customised using costumes and decorations in the same way that the player character is and the AI for may be copied and pasted between multiple Sackbots. Sackbots may also be controlled by the aforementioned controlinators. All
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
from the first game is usable in ''LittleBigPlanet 2'', as are most user-made levels. As of June 2013, almost 8 million levels have been uploaded and created for both the ''LittleBigPlanet'' games on PlayStation 3.


Story

Players continue Sackboy's journey after the events of the first game and the portable version are brought to an end. An inter-dimensional vacuum cleaner called the Negativitron appears over the skies of LittleBigPlanet and begins to suck up its inhabitants, including Sackboy, Larry Da Vinci (Robbie Stevens), the leader of a semi-secret, semi-organised group known as "The Alliance", comes to Sackboy's rescue, saving him from the Negativitron (Jeremy Mayne). The Alliance is dedicated to stopping the Negativitron and its influence before it destroys Craftworld. After Sackboy passes the tests in Larry's Hideout, he tells him that they must get to Victoria Von Bathysphere's (Judy Sweeney) Laboratory, since she has built a Sackbot army for the Alliance. However, the moment they get there, the Negativitron attacks and sucks up some of the lab and the Sackbots, mutating some of them into Meanies. Victoria, after escaping on her train, explains to the group that they need to get into the laboratory and shut down the machine making the Meanies. After shutting it down, the Negativitron makes the machine come alive into a spider-like creature that scales the wall of the laboratory. After destroying the machine, they find out that the Negativitron has taken the Sackbots to The Factory Of A Better Tomorrow. Upon arriving, Sackboy and Larry find the factory's owner Clive Handforth (Barry Meade) hiding in a can after the Negativitron took over the place. The Sackbots have become enslaved inside the factory, prompting the gang to rescue as many of them as they can. When trying to escape from the factory, one of Clive's guard-turkeys escapes and tries to stop them from leaving the factory with the Sackbots. After losing him, Sackboy, Larry, and Clive take the Sackbots to Avalonia for re-training. In Avalonia, Avalon Centrifuge (
Colin McFarlane Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is known for his roles in film and television including Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Tril ...
) takes Sackboy on a training course to learn combat using his machines. Half-way through, though, the Negativitron attacks Avalonia and spreads Meanies throughout. After rescuing the Sackbots among the wreckage of the facility, they get loaded onto Huge Spaceship and prepare to leave Avalonia, but a Meanie warship attacks the ship. Even though Sackboy defeats the warship, Huge Spaceship crashes and is in need of repair, but the one creator can make it fly again is the great inventor Dr. Herbert Higginbotham (Ewan Bailey), who was infected by a Meanie during the Negativitron attack at Clive's factory. Avalon sends Sackboy and Clive to Eve's Asylum for the Mentally Alternative to liberate Higginbotham. When they arrive, it turns out that the asylum is under attack by Meanies. Eve Silva Paragorica (
Jules de Jongh Jules de Jongh is an American voice actress. She provided the voices of Yugo and Evangelyne in the first 2 seasons of ''Wakfu: The Animated Series'', the voice of the protagonist Faith Connors, Faith from the video game ''Mirror's Edge'', and th ...
) asks them to help save the asylum and the patients within, then she will lead them to Higginbotham. After clearing out the Meanies in the asylum, they find Higginbotham. Eve proposes that they should get rid of the infection by shrinking Sackboy and sending him into Higginbotham's head. Even after clearing the infection, Higginbotham still appears to be insane. Upon their return to Avalonia, Higginbotham repairs Huge Spaceship, but as they are about to leave, Avalon decides to make a speech, and is abducted by the Negativitron. While traveling through the Cosmos to find the Negativitron's core, they are attacked by the Negativitron who vacuums up parts of the ship, damaging it. Sackboy is sent to launch the escape pods to get the machines and the Sackbots out, and then escape. Huge Spaceship crashes on the Negativitron's core planet and is shut inside a forcefield. Larry Da Vinci sends out a message for Sackboy to help them, and after finding a White Sackbot Knight and rescuing him, he finds one of the Robobuns and uses it to rescue the Alliance. After defeating a giant robot that was holding Avalon hostage, they make their way to the Negativitron's core. The Negativitron shows up and launches his army of Meanies and guard-turkeys at them, but the Sackbot Army defends the Alliance members. The Negativitron tries to discourage them from fighting him by revealing it was created by all the negative aspects of the Craftworlders' personalities and that "If you destroy me, you destroy yourselves", but is defeated after a long and dangerous battle with Sackboy and the rest of the Alliance. The Alliance congratulates Sackboy for rescuing them and saving Craftworld, and they decide to return home.


Community

Shortly before the release of the game, a new community website was launched with the aim of enabling users to find and share in-game creations more easily. LBP.me allowed players to search and browse community-made levels from both ''LittleBigPlanet'' and ''LittleBigPlanet 2''. Every level is allocated a unique
URL A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...
which users can copy and share with other people. When signed into the website with their Sony Entertainment Network account, users may add levels to their 'Queue' enabling them to find the level quickly when they are in the game and connected to the game's servers. If the user is playing ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' and is not currently in a level, a ''Play Now'' button becomes available on the website which sends a command back to the game to navigate instantly to the selected level. Website owners may use a selection of widgets to add live data from the game to any website. A public
API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...
is also available but access to it is provided by the game's developers on a case-by-case basis. On 17 February 2011, a community-made semi-official level pack named ''Hansel and Gretelbot'' was released. The series of levels, based loosely on the fairytale of
Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
, was created by a team of community members who were approached by Media Molecule and asked to collaborate and attempt to make a set of levels that could match the quality of the game's story levels. The series, created using only the in-game tools, features original music, voice acting and prizes. Since 23 November 2020, LBP.me has been offline. The LittleBigPlanet community manager Steven Isbell stated two days after the outage "We don't have any plans to shut down the LittleBigPlanet servers. LBP.me is just down for some general maintenance and updates." On 9 June 2022, 18 months after the outage began, Isbell finally announced on his personal
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account that "LBP.me will remain down for the foreseeable future.". The website remains offline as of 2025.


Development

The game was hinted at by a Sony representative in March 2010, who stated that the game was in production and would support
PlayStation Move is a Motion controller, motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation ...
controllers, and in April 2010 by musician
Ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
who revealed one of his songs had been licensed for the game. It was formally revealed by video game magazine ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' in their June 2010 issue. On 8 May 2010 Media Molecule officially confirmed that they were developing ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' on their
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account and hinted that the game would be formally revealed on Monday 10 May 2010. On 10 May 2010, the official website launched an announcement webpage and news article announcing the game with game details and an announcement trailer. The announcement was also made on the
PlayStation Blog is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
with a Q4 2010 release date. Numerous gaming websites reported about the game when an embargo lifted, including EuroGamer and IGN. In October 2008,
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reported before the original game was released that Media Molecule had already begun development of a sequel to ''LittleBigPlanet''. The statement was later clarified in an interview with IGN, in which Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule stated, "we see ''LittleBigPlanet'' as a platform... There will be a lot of additional content and it will vary in size and what it does. And we've already started that, yes." The "huge emotional investment" users have made in ''LittleBigPlanet'', Alex Evans stated, is the reason he does not want to ship a traditional sequel. Because they don't want all of the user-generated content to be made obsolete, their focus was to "expand the game without partitioning the audience". In July 2008, Media Molecule mentioned that should there ever be a ''LittleBigPlanet'' sequel that the game would feature backwards compatibility with the original game's user-created levels. In November 2009, level designer Danny Leaver elaborated that a traditional sequel could fragment the LBP community, which would be "the most counter-productive thing you could do". On 23 March 2010,
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
reported ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was in development and would support the upcoming PlayStation Move controller. Sony later denied this report saying that future content for the original title would be compatible with PlayStation Move. Later on in May, along with the release of the trailer, Sony confirmed that ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' would be compatible with Move. Keyboard and mouse support in Create mode was initially announced however it was later confirmed that this feature was not included in the game at launch.
Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
narrates the game as he did with the first one. On 8 December 2010, Media Molecule posted an article entitled "The Music of ''LittleBigPlanet 2''" on their official blog, in which they revealed the identities of the composers who had created original music tracks for the game. The list of seven composers included Paul Thomson, Richard Jacques,
Winifred Phillips Winifred Phillips is an American music composer and author. Her music composition credits include ''God of War (2005 video game), God of War'', ''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'', and the LittleBigPlanet, ''LittleBigPlanet'' series. In 2025, P ...
(with her music producer
Winnie Waldron Winnie Waldron is an American music producer for video games, a producer for radio, a radio script editor / adapter, a manuscript editor and a radio host. Her music production credits include Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, God of War, and th ...
), Baiyon,
Keith Tenniswood Keith Tenniswood is a British DJ, producer, and remixer. He was one half of the electronic act Two Lone Swordsmen alongside Andrew Weatherall, and produces music on his own as Radioactive Man. He co-runs the Control Tower electro label with ...
, Daniel Pemberton and Media Molecule's audio designer, Kenneth Young. Media Molecule was asked in an IGN Q-and-A session how
PlayStation Move is a Motion controller, motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation ...
will be added into the game in future updates, the company revealed that they are working on integrating motion controls into the Play, Create and Share modes of the game: "The exciting thing to do with Move is, we're working on a play-create-share pack. We're still in the R&D phase and working out what the features will be, but it will be announced in a little while and we’re really excited. In the same was as in 'LittleBigPlanet'' you have the Controlinator and you can remap the controls, you'll be able to do the same thing with Move. It'll also allow the community to make their own Move games and that's very cool." A software update allowing users to play the game using PlayStation Move was released in September 2011. A premium DLC pack titled ''Rise of the Cakeling'' was released shortly after and added new story levels and tools for creators enabling them to create PlayStation Move games.


Launch

The "Arcade" genre trailer was released just one day before the game's launch, showing several new gaming genres, including action, sports, and adventure genre. A behind the scenes video was also released, this video was shot as the game was about to go gold. The launch trailer was released on 21 January 2011, and is a tribute to the history of video gaming, as told from Sackboy's perspective. A TV ad was released, which showcased the new in-game features, and highlighted how diverse and global the ''LittleBigPlanet'' community is. A "Share" was also released, which showcased how to share the ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' fun. On 17 January 2011, Sony handed ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' to selected gamers as they attempted to break the
Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
of 50 hours of consecutive game play. The Guinness World Record of 50 hours of consecutive game play and four other records were broken after two days...accomplishing the record in less time than this was not possible. Customers who had the game on week one were given the "1 week only" DLC (only available the first week), which consist of Launch Day "Space Suit" and "Rare" T-shirt. As a special offer, customers who showed that they have checked in on Sony Style Store Foursquare received an autographed cover from
Media Molecule Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010. It became part of SCE Worldw ...
and Limited Edition DLC. The offer was only available on 18 and 19 January.


Major updates and downloadable content packs

On 15 February 2011, Media Molecule released software update 1.01. The first patch for the game, dubbed "Cupcake", addresses a number of technical issues which were affecting online play. On 3 August 2011, Media Molecule released the Toy Story Level Kit, which is the first DLC pack to feature playable levels since the release of ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' in January. The premium pack includes 9 Toy Story themed levels, 5 materials, 10 decorations, 6 objects, 149 stickers and the Toy Story Alien Costume, which had previously only been available as a bonus for preordering ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' from Best Buy, and bundled in the ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' Collector's Edition. The pack also includes music composed by Winifred Phillips and produced by Winnie Waldron. The music includes three new Toy Story-themed music tracks, one of which is an interactive track. In a review of the music on Gamertell.com, assistant editor Jeremy Hill said "Even without 'LittleBigPlanet 2''backing it up, these songs can stand on their own", and Simon Smith of Higher Plain Music described the musical score as "Utterly charming and disarming it'll have you beaming in no time." On 7 September 2011, software update 1.06 was released. This patch added support for the PlayStation Move motion controller. A downloadable content pack released the following week includes new story levels and creation tools, enabling users to create their own Move-based games and levels.


Music

Like previous games, the player is able to collect music that can be used in user-created levels. ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' contains four types of music: linear, interactive, cinematic, and sequenced.


Marketing and release

''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was originally scheduled for release in November 2010, but was delayed until January 2011. The game was released in North America on 18 January 2011 in mainland Europe on 19 January 2011, Australian and New Zealand on 20 January 2011 and in the UK and Ireland on 21 January 2011. On 21 December 2010 SCEA PR Manager, Eric Levine, confirmed that the game has "gone gold", meaning the game was 100% finished and had been signed off by SCE QA. The ''LittleBigPlanet 2 Story Mode Demo'' was made available as a free download from the
PlayStation Store PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital distribution service for users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable content both ...
on 21 December 2010 in North America and on 22 December 2010 in Europe. The demo includes 3 levels from the game's story mode. Each of the levels in the demo demonstrates one of ''LittleBigPlanet 2''s new features: The Grapple Hook in the "Tower of Whoop" level, the Controlinator in "Avalon’s Advanced Armaments Academy" and the Creatinator in the "Rocket Funland" mini-game. The auto manufacturer
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
offered free sponsored content when ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' launched, including a free
XMB The XrossMediaBar (pronounced "cross-media bar" and officially abbreviated as XMB) is a graphical user interface developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The interface features icons that are spread horizontally across the screen. Navigation mo ...
theme and a special
Prius The is a Compact car, compact/small family car, small family liftback (supermini/subcompact sedan (car), sedan until 2003) produced by Toyota. The Prius has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combined with an internal combustion ...
-themed level. The downloadable add-on included collectible items which players could use to build their own creations to win "some very cool prizes." On 19 January 2011, Sony made a Home Square makeover. Cardboard and carpet transformed the familiar Home Square into an environment where Sackboy will feel right at home, in the European version of the PlayStation 3's online community-based service,
PlayStation Home PlayStation Home was a virtual 3D social networking, social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XM ...
.
7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...
offered exclusive downloadable content for ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' in exchange for
Slurpee Slurpee is the brand name for carbonated slushies sold by 7-Eleven and its subsidiaries A-Plus, Speedway, & Stripes Convenience Stores. The brand originated in 1966 when 7-Eleven made a licensing deal with The Icee Company to sell slushi ...
purchases in stores in the U.S. at the end of January 2011. 7-Eleven was also featuring ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' themed Slurpee cups. Each Slurpee cup bear a unique code, allowing a download for ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' content (and other Slurpee rewards), such as a dynamic theme for the PlayStation 3 system, the "Slurpee Sticker Pack", the Strategy Guide, the Sackboy Backpack for
PlayStation Home PlayStation Home was a virtual 3D social networking, social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XM ...
, several ringtone, a behind the scene video, and a creator video. The promotion ran until the end of March 2011. A Sackboy easter egg was also spotted in '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.''


Pre-order bonuses

There were several pre-order offers through several retail outlets. Each pre-order consists of four costumes from the "Even More Animals" pack and up to two "special" costumes from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
,
Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
and
Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California, and part of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is most ...
. Which of the "special" costumes the player received depended upon where they pre-ordered the game. The costumes on offer were ''Ratchet & Clank'' costumes, ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' Alien costume, a ''
Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...
'' suit or The Muppet's The Great Gonzo costume.


Retail editions

Alongside the standard edition of the game, there are several other versions of the game exclusive to certain countries and/or regions around the world. All of the special edition versions of the game are sold in limited quantities and contain a copy of the game as standard or in special packaging. SCEA marketing manager, Mark Valledor, announced a ''Collector's Edition'' for North America in July 2010. The ''Collector's Edition'' for North America includes a copy of the game, a 7-inch Sackboy
plushie A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...
, five PlayStation Network avatars, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' bookends and 11 in-game costumes. SCEE product manager, Alex Pavey, told the readers of the PlayStation Blog in November 2010 that there will also be a ''Collector's Edition'' released in Europe which different from the North American version. The ''Collector's Edition'' for Europe comes with different box art, the ''Collector's Edition'' copy of the game comes in SteelBook case packaging. It also includes seven in-game costumes and five PSN avatars. There are four other in-game costumes: ''
Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is a platform video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Re ...
'' and ''
Ratchet & Clank ''Ratchet & Clank'' is a series of Action-adventure game, action-adventure Platform game, platform and third-person shooter video games created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. High Impact Games ...
''. These will be available through retailer-specific pre-order incentives, but details of these have not yet been announced. The ''LittleBigPlanet 2 Collector's Edition'' was available in different ways across Europe and the other PAL countries. The ''Collector's Edition'' for Australia is very similar to the ''Collector's Edition'' for Europe. It comes with the SteelBook packaging, eleven downloadable Sackboy costumes and five PSN Avatars. It also included a 7-inch Sackboy plushie as a pre-order bonus. In the UK, a console bundle was available which consists of a 320GB PlayStation 3 console, a DualShock 3 controller and a copy of the standard edition of the game. Exclusive for North America, a ''Special Edition'' was released in November 2011. This edition includes the standard edition of the game, PlayStation Move support, "Move Pack: Rise of the Cakeling" (5 new levels and 7 mini-levels), "Disney/Pixar Toy Story Level" and "Costume" packs, and "Pets Costumes" (the "Dogs", "Cats", and "Even More Animals Costume" packs). The ''Special Edition'' was also included as a pack-in game with the 2011 holiday 160GB PS3 system bundles in North America. An ''Extras Edition'' was originally set to be released in February 2013 but was delayed until March 2013 for Europe. This edition features the original game and a range of bonus content previously released as DLC. Bonus content consists of such as the "Cross-Controller Pack", "Move Pack: Rise of the Cakeling", and "The Muppets Premium Level Kit". The edition also includes plenty of costumes as "The Muppets Costume Pack 1", "Weekend Pursuits Costume Pack", "Deep Sea Adventures Costume Pack", "Sports Costume Pack", "Dogs Costume Pack", and the "Cats Costume Pack".


Reception

''LittleBigPlanet 2'' has received universal acclaim from critics. ''PlayStation Official Magazine - UK, PlayStation Official Magazine'' (UK) gave ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' a perfect 10/10 score. They praised the redesigned creation tools as "simple-to-grasp, all with huge potential" and said the game overall was "hugely improved" over the original.
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's Greg Miller (Internet personality), Greg Miller scored the game 9.0/10, complimenting the amount of variety found in ''LittleBigPlanet 2''s story mode. He went on to commend the new creative tools, stating that the "focus of creating games in the game really shines through", referring to the new tool-set as "mindboggling deep". Miller did however reserve some criticism for some of the same "frustrations" from the first game which are still present in the sequel, such as "floaty" jump controls. Eurogamer scored the game 9/10 commenting on its "achingly pretty" visuals and looking optimistically on the game's community, saying "there is little doubt that ''LBP2''s online servers will play host to some extraordinary content". ''PlayStation Universe's'' Adam Dolge states that "the soundtrack is simply wonderful, while the art style is moody with a vaudevillian flair." ''Paste (magazine), Paste Magazine's'' Kirk Hamilton singled out the game's backward compatibility with user-created levels from the first LittleBigPlanet, and also praised the game's "musical soul", both in its "eclectic collections of licensed music" and in its "outstanding original score."


Sales

In the UK, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' debuted at number one on the UK All Formats chart, then fell to number two in its second week of sales. According to ChartTrack, the original ''LittleBigPlanet'' sold 95 more copies than ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' managed at it debut week. ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' remained the UK's biggest-selling PS3 game for two weeks in a row. In Japan the game debuted at number five, selling 24,648 copies and in North America it topped the North American software sales in its debut week. ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was ranked number four on NPD Group, NPD's sales charts for January 2011, selling over 353,000 units in its first couple of weeks. On Black Friday (shopping), Black Friday in November 2011, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' sold over 400,000 copies. According to SCE, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was one of the most popular games on PlayStation 3 in 2011.


Awards

''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was nominated for a 2011 Golden Joystick Award in the 'Best Action/Adventure' category. The game received a nomination as "Best PS3 Game" in the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, losing to another PS3 game, '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception''. The "Victoria's Lab" music track from ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was also nominated for a 2011 Hollywood Music in Media Award in the 'Best Song in a Video Game' category. Kotaku named the score of ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' as one of the best video game soundtracks of the year. In the article ''The Best Game Music of 2011: LittleBigPlanet 2'', features editor Kirk Hamilton praised both the collection of licensed tracks and the original score, singling out the music of composer
Winifred Phillips Winifred Phillips is an American music composer and author. Her music composition credits include ''God of War (2005 video game), God of War'', ''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'', and the LittleBigPlanet, ''LittleBigPlanet'' series. In 2025, P ...
(and particularly her track "Victoria's Lab") as his favorite original music of the game, and the "Infotain Me" licensed track from electronic musician
Ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
as capturing "the essence of the game". ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was nominated for the 10th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards in the categories of 'Best Use of Licensed Music' and 'Best Original Vocal - Pop' for "Victoria's Lab" by Winifred Phillips. ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' was nominated for the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards in the category of 'Best Audio', which recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game - including musical composition, orchestration, sound design, sound effects, etc. During the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' received nominations in the categories of 'D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition', 'D.I.C.E. Award for Online Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay', and ultimately won 'D.I.C.E. Award for Family Game of the Year, Family Game of the Year'. At the 2011 BAFTA Video Games Awards, ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' won in the Family and Best Innovation categories.


''Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves''

''LittleBigPlanet Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves'' is a ''LittleBigPlanet'' spin-off developed by Supermassive Games and SCE Worldwide Studios' XDev team, which can be played with two to five players and requires a PlayStation Move controller and a PlayStation Eye Camera. One player uses the PlayStation Move motion controller as a pointing device to manipulate the environment by triggering switches and moving platforms, while the others play using a gamepad to control Sackboy in the usual way. Although billed as a PlayStation Network game, ''Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves narrator introduces it as a "demo". It features ten prehistoric-themed levels and was released on the
PlayStation Store PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital distribution service for users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable content both ...
in North America on 7 December 2010, and in Europe on 8 December 2010 for PlayStation Plus subscribers. It was made available to other users in North America on 14 December 2010 and in Europe on 15 December 2010. The game was also bundled with LittleBigPlanet 2 when it was released in January 2011.


Reception

Due to the unconventional release of the game, ''Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves'' has not been widely reviewed as a standalone product. Greg Miller (Internet celebrity), Greg Miller from
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
scored the game 6.5/10, describing it as more of a tech demo of the PlayStation Move's functionality, rather than a fully-fledged game. He also criticised the game's lack of lasting appeal as there are no prizes or costumes to collect. Miller did however say "If you have a bud who is as into ''LittleBigPlanet'' as you are, you're going to have fun" and that the game could act as a good demonstration piece for the PlayStation Move. Eurogamer scored the game 7/10 and said that "there's not a great deal of substance" and criticised the use of the ''LittleBigPlanet'' engine instead of ''LittleBigPlanet 2''s enhanced features, but tempered it by saying "when you've got a game that already looks as lovely as this one does, I'm sure you'll be able to live with that." GamesRadar also criticised the game's length; "''Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves'' is a very capable game; there's just not that much "game" to go around", the reviewer was also puzzled about the use of the original ''LittleBigPlanet'' engine in a game released next to the enhanced ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' and summed up by saying "Overall, Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves is a strange beast. It's too good to be a demo, too short to be a game, too outdated to be a preview and imbued with too much care and character to be passed off as a PS Move advergame", and scored the game as 7/10.


Applications in education

Media Molecule worked in conjunction with ConnectED, a branch of Sony Computer Entertainment focused on the education sector, to develop a ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' teachers' kit for use in the classroom. The pack will feature levels themed around National Curriculum (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), National Curriculum subjects including physics, maths, science, art and history and is designed to help engage students in these subjects.


References


External links


Official ''LittleBigPlanet 2'' websiteLBP.meMedia Molecule website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlebigplanet 2011 video games LittleBigPlanet Platformers PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 3-only games PlayStation Move-compatible games Puzzle video games Science fantasy video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Daniel Pemberton Video games scored by Kenneth Young Video games scored by Richard Jacques Video games scored by Winifred Phillips Video games set on fictional planets Video games with 2.5D graphics Video games with user-generated gameplay content Video game sequels Multiplayer and single-player video games Media Molecule Supermassive Games, Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves British Academy Games Award for Technical Achievement winners Products and services discontinued in 2021 Inactive online games