40°

Character of the Month, January 2015: Sackboy

Adam discusses Sackboy, including who he is, what he does and what makes him so special.

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apixelatedview.com
210°

Microsoft once tried to nab LittleBigPlanet from Sony after a few drinks

It turns out that many moons ago, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony published LittleBigPlanet series.

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eurogamer.net
XiNatsuDragnel13d ago

Microsoft had a good idea but fumbled it again.

Cacabunga12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Project Spark idea was decent but they quickly gave up ..
LBP was wonderful

ApocalypseShadow13d ago

Microsoft in a nutshell. Always tried to poach Sony employees, games, 3rd party games and devices like the depth camera that was turned into Kinect but was running on PS2 before Xbox 360. Wouldn't be surprised they wanted LBP. Just like they worked behind the scenes pushing the MLB to bring Sony's baseball game to Xbox instead of making their own.
https://www.playstationlife...

They didn't spend years trying to develop their own baseball game. They wanted Sony's game.

They're scum.

Zachmo18212d ago

Microsoft didn't force MLB on Xbox. MLB gave Sony 2 options either go multiplat or risk losing the license.

Rynxie11d ago

And why do you think MLB said that? I believe Ms approached MLB.

ApocalypseShadow11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Totally ridiculous comment.

The only exclusivity Sony had was to their own creation of The Show. Microsoft could have paid the MLB for the license just like Sony did and made their own baseball game.

Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox. They're worth 3 TRILLION dollars. You think that's not enough money to make their own baseball game? Don't be delusional.

Microsoft spun it like they always do and told the media that they had to trust Sony with their hardware. After they put Sony in that position of not having a choice. Either go multiplatform or stop making one of their successful games. That's a no win scenario.

And what did Microsoft do? They didn't try to sell the game to the Xbox community. They put it on game pass to hurt Sony. Pushing the idea of why buy games that are $70 when you can play them in their cheap service for $10. It was a dirty tactic.

You fell for the Kool aid drink Microsoft served you instead of spitting it out. Hope it tasted good because you were fooled by Phil and the gang.

11d ago
Hereandthere11d ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Bond revealed that MLB The Show “always came up” in conversations between Microsoft and the Major League Baseball organization. “We always said, ‘We love this game. It would be a huge opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'” she recalled. However, when Microsoft’s efforts materialized, it put the company in an awkward situation where it had to send in pre-release consoles to a rival company.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 11d ago
Notellin11d ago

"Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox."

Take a nap, conspiracies are rotting your brain.

11d ago
Hereandthere11d ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

ApocalypseShadow10d ago

Lying to yourself is unbecoming.

Article link tells you all you need to know in Sarah Bond's own words.

Hereandthere11d ago

They were too cheap/inept/lazy to develop their own mlb game, so they port begged for years and bribed the mlb to make the show multiplatform. Like i said many times, xbox brought nothing to the table their 24 years, ZERO.

ApocalypseShadow10d ago

At least you and others get it. Note drank the Kool aid and asked for seconds thinking it was refreshing.

Most don't even know how it all played out but it's there in black and white for all to see. Microsoft brought it up for years until the MLB forced Sony's hand. It was a win win for Microsoft. Kill one reason to buy a PlayStation or kill the game by dropping it in a cheap service to kill Sony's sales numbers on PlayStation.

OtterX12d ago

"However, Healey said Media Molecule wouldn't have felt right doing that, adding it would have been "morally corrupt"."

Major kudos to Media Molecule for being an upright studio with principles.

Cockney10d ago

They chose well, Sony gave them the backing to pursue their dreams with no restrictions even tho their games especially dreams have very niche appeal. Media molecule and Sony deserve respect for this in an age of risk averse publishing.

RNTody12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Great, more stories like this please. Show the last of the zombies holding the line what we've been saying for years: Microsoft is anti competition, anti industry and has no interest in making games at all.

But hey, at least there's an Xbox Games Showcase to look forward to, right?

Inverno12d ago

Well considering SONY just killed the series, LBP would've been dead by now either way. Though MM probably wouldn't exist by now either, so I'm glad they stayed with SONY, hopefully they don't get shut down any time soon or ever honestly.

Inverno12d ago

They shut down the servers, that's millions of user created levels gone. That and dead are pretty much the same, it's also been years since 3 and they cancelled HUB soooo.

11d ago
fsfsxii11d ago

They shutdown the servers because no one was playing, no one in the community cared about the user created levels so why keep them up? Wtf you guys would never succeed in running a business.

Inverno11d ago

Yea dood no one was playing so they shut off the servers. Cause people with enough common sense can't just Google why they were actually shut of, right?

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300°

LittleBigPlanet 3 Servers Are Officially Shut Down 'Indefinitely,' Sony Confirms

Sony has confirmed that LittleBigPlanet 3 servers on PlayStation 4 will remain offline “indefinitely” following troubles with the service from earlier this year.

33d ago
rlow133d ago

Sad day, hopefully they’ll allow a third party server solution. Goes to show game preservation is an uphill battle.

blackblades32d ago

Sad day oh wait everyone that whining about it didn't play it or haven't played it in years and never was going back to it. Funny how people start to care when this happens but when it was actually up those same people didn't even pay attention to it.

rlow132d ago (Edited 32d ago )

First, you don’t know who has or hasn’t played it. So that’s your assumption. Secondly, even if people haven’t played it in awhile, it’s still nostalgia. Those memories of sharing your creation and having fun playing other peoples creations. Third, no game out there is really like this or as iconic. Today if they made this they would nickel and dime the whole way through and it would launch broken.

Cacabunga32d ago

Reason why i really dislike online games.. they become unplayable over time.. LBP story mode is actually only a tutorial

_Decadent_Descent32d ago

How would you know who's played it or not? What about those who get into games years after their release? They can't now. Besides, and more importantly, this sets a bad precedent across the industry when it comes to game preservation and people's ability to enjoy what they've paid for.

blackblades32d ago (Edited 32d ago )

People still play it but not a lot probably a fee people and I know you 2 guys haven't played it in a long time. If the server was doing so good it wouldnt be shut down. As I said the same people that whine and cry saying bad things on Sony etc are the same ones that havent or stopped playing a certain game in years. Let me ask you guys straight up and y'all tell the truth have you guys played it recently and when you did for how long did you play it.

SonyStyled32d ago

@blackblades “ Let me ask you guys straight up and y'all tell the truth have you guys played it recently and when you did for how long did you play it.”

Whatever “straight up” and “y’all” is, I can tell you the “truth” to answer your question.

I’ve been playing LBP2 for the past 5 years, I have 10 levels to Ace in a row and a coupe more hours in create mode for platinum. I played LBP2 earlier today in crate mode.

It sucked when LBP 1 and 2 servers were closed on PS3, but all those creations were still playable on PS4 LBP3.

Every level creation since LBP1 can’t be played now

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 32d ago
CDbiggen32d ago (Edited 32d ago )

Just disappointing. I have such nostalgia for this game and the user levels from LBP 1&2 and I already was gutted when they were shut down but at least they were on LBP3, and now this means I can't ever revisit those creative worlds again. All because some trolls or whatever decided to exploit these games, of all games, for some reason.

33d ago Replies(3)
just_looken33d ago

What needs to be highlighted by this is that the series has had 4 main games then that go kart spin off yet sony let them all die.

There is 0 games like this on ps5 and to my knowledge 0 first party main kids games no tech demo crap

Sony purchased Media Molecule studio the ip then tossed it away letting it rot for over 7 years yet the community carried on until now were we have lost 16 years on all games of content along with no replacement.

Everyone goes on about ea killing studios but sony has killed way way more but its fine its sony they can do no wrong.

Before the sony blidboys track me down again go fire up your holy boxes all the dlc they tossed out all the trophies and all the user content needs a server side handshake that no longer works. Yes offline single player version 1.0 works but that is it.

Media Molecule was not cut i know but they only made LBP and dreams it was reported they just missed the chopping block
https://gamerant.com/little...

Do not forget the dreams game was tossed out 2020 but 3 years later support was pulled
https://www.digitaltrends.c...

All in all this is another failure at sony on a long long list in the past 10 years

Inverno33d ago

It's kind of hard to disagree when SONY has a history of abandoning many of their IPs. They killed Mod Nation and turnt it into LBP Karting because of brand recognition but left it to die too. They made their own Smash Bros only to rush the studio, and turn the game into an advert for recent release at the time and still let it die. They shut down PS Home for more or less the same reason, they left it to rott till it became too broken and exploited to bother fixing.

just_looken32d ago

This right here

Playstation home is what facebook is trying to make now but in vr that metaverse deal

Imagine if sony kept up ps home development

The death of playstation forums was also a huge loss

Demetrius32d ago

When they refused a days gone sequel and no acknowledgement of a infamous series remaster of those gems, I knew Sony slick abandons stuff, sure they still release good games but to an extent smh

u-bEttA-rUn32d ago

Their games were unable to attract the masses every game that came out the attachment grew smaller and smaller they advertise LBP for years the industry changed and then came fortnight... You want Sony to continue to support them which cost them money that they're not getting back from the studio.

DOMination-32d ago

Honestly, I think a well-designed LBP-style game would do better than ever in the current state of the industry.

People have short attention spans. Having something that is pick up, play a few levels and put down again is the experience the "masses" are after.

Keep it as a 2D platformer only with well-designed base levels, make it easy to build new levels and more importantly easy to access new content - personally I always found the way Forze Horizon 4&5 provide daily, weekly and monthly challenges via new content that they've built or handpicked from the community is a system that works great - and then stick it on mobile and PC with Steam Deck support.

Make it F2P with a one-off fee for the level editor (to stop people spamming crap onto the store) and have MTX for more characters, outfits etc. and there you have a live service game that Sony should be all over.

Do the same with a new Karting game and a 2D fighting/Smash Bros style engine and you have three bangers right there.

(I appreciate the N4G community will hate the idea of LBP being a live service game with MTX and I get that but I think if there's one game this model could work well for, it's this.. just imo)

anast32d ago (Edited 32d ago )

Astro's is similar.

Not enough people cared to play it, so they cut it.

Sony has never been a kid friendly console. This should be obvious. People go to Nintendo for this stuff.

DarkZane32d ago

All signs actually point to a new Astrobot game coming to PS5, so you'd be wrong.

anast32d ago

It's the game that came with the PS5

StoneTitan32d ago

Its on media molecule though. They did not want to continue LBP. Sony accepted that.
Sumo continued it. With a solala lbp3 and a great sackboy though.
Its not sonys fault. They dont want to force a studio to create a new LBP game.
But I would love a revival.

romulus2332d ago

For some people Sony can do no right either. You can play Sackboy A Big Adventure on PS5. So there is "a game like this" on PS5.

anast32d ago

They don't want to hear all that stuff.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 32d ago
Tacoboto33d ago

I feel bad for Media Molecule. For the ideas they have it seems they need a publisher that supports games like this and Dreams especially for as many players as possible.

DOMination-32d ago

Sony in the Andrew House era did support them massively though. They let them do their thing with LBP and spent millions marketing it. I remember one E3 they even used LBP to cover the boring parts of the presentation where they talk about sales figures etc.

And then they allowed MM to announce their game on the PS4 console announcement/showcase event and waited the entire generation for them to release it.

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320°

Most Offensive Video Games That Would Never Cut It Today

Times are changing, and these games would have never been made in today's climate.

Read Full Story >>
wealthofgeeks.com
thorstein65d ago (Edited 65d ago )

Every single time someone uses this phrase whether it's music, movies, books, comics, video games, etc it's always the same claim.

The ubiquitous "they" won't allow it to be made. And every decade these claims are made the claimant completely ignores all the "offensive" material that is published when the claim is made.

In ten years, you can write a new article about how you can't make games like Helldivers 2, Resident Evil VIII, Mortal Kombat I, Dragon's Dogma 2, Alan Wake 2 etc etc etc any more.

MrBaskerville64d ago

Yeah, people wouldn't be constantly outraged if there weren't games that people found enraging. The whole SBI discourse shit wouldn't be a thing if all games were inoffensive. A game like Starfield can make a guy froth at his mouth, so there will always be room for a list like this.

0hMyGandhi64d ago

Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but there are massive caveats.
TV shows like Venture Bros, Ren and Stimpy, and Aqua Team wouldn't/couldn't be made today. Hell, Ren and Stimpy was a *children's* show, same thing with Rocko's Modern Life.

It's not for some arbitrary reason, either. It's branding and IP alignment. Companies are far more risk-averse than they were when I was kid in the 90's. Of course, you have companies coming out of the woodwork to hell spur on similar content, but remember: Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and some incredibly provocative material.

And for movies? it's pretty obvious. American Pie/Wedding Crashers/Eurotrip among many other "raunch coms" have fallen out of style, and are absolutely outside what the modern day film industry is willing to stand by.
Ace Ventura 1 and 2, Dumb and Dumber, Freddy Got Fingered, Rat Race, Harold and Kumar, and Van Wilder follow suit.

Remember: I am not explicitly talking about films put onto streamers. I am talking wide-releases in actual theaters. Same thing goes for games: Carmageddon, Duke Nukem, Manhunt, Six Days In Fallujah (with their original concept), Hatred, and so on and so forth. Of course, I'd be inclined to mention most tactical shooters like Rainbow Six and Joint Ops as well, due to cultural sensitivity regarding *who* you are shooting and why.

And not all of it is bad (obviously). Tastes change, and perspectives change to fit the demographic.
I should add that I'm a lefty, living in L.A. Working in film.

thorstein64d ago

The Boys, Invincible, Jojo Rabbit, Deadpool, Gen V, Last of Us, Banshee... There are plenty of media being made today that people will claim "can't be made today".

Profchaos64d ago

Yeah but if you consider manhunt which was basically a snuff film could you seriously make that game with high than PS2 era graphics.

thorstein63d ago

The Outlast Trials just came out.

But the storyline of Manhunt was that you were executed. But then lived. And if you didn't do as you were told, you'd die. And the people you killed were not innocents.

It was all filmed by a psychopath.

As we speak GTA VI is being finished up for a release. You get to play a Bonnie and Clyde type of protagonist who run up against the law.

Bodycam looks so real.

People are making those games. Articles like this will always exist no matter how incorrect they are, no matter how many times they blame "them" for whatever it is "they" do to prevent "those" games from being made.

Number1TailzFan64d ago

The UK is the biggest junk country pandering to that nonsense as well, with laws against free speech and expression to match. It got so bad even Rowan Atkinson made a video on free speech about it.

Now the UK raises the age rating on harmless films like Mary Poppins, it's just a load of pansy weak ass nonsense.

MrDead64d ago (Edited 64d ago )

The right wing Tories have been in power in the UK for the 14 years you know the ones that are "anti-woke", blame them for your perceptions.

Killer2020UK64d ago (Edited 64d ago )

Are these snowflakes in the room with us now?

This is more faux outrage designed to get hits. The consequences are unfortunately creating hysteria amongst those willing to buy into it and blame "them" or "the left" or "liberals" meanwhile the left are kicking off about genocide, actual real world abhorrent acts. Nobody is campaigning to censor this shit.

Huey_My_D_Long64d ago

Not too mention the fact that some of these game are controversial for you know, underage porn and encouraging rape.

So either the guy just came in to comment snowflakes without reading anything, or he is calling people snowflakes for having a problem with said titles. Crazy how much brain rot someone can have.

banger8865d ago

Dead Island: "The early PC version of the zombie game swapped the playable character Purna’s Gender Wars skill with a prototype name, which shouldn’t be mentioned directly. The skill name made fun of both Purna as a character and feminists."

"Feminist Whore" lmao

gold_drake64d ago

ill add one more to the list.
drakengard 1.

its ridiculous tho, especially since they'd still be able to find their place in alot of places in the world. except america of course ha. and maybe Australia.

ppl are so sensitive these days. ha. but it is what it is.

Barlos64d ago (Edited 64d ago )

They're not offensive.

And we need another Fat Princess. Fantastic little game!

Some people just have no sense of humour if this sort of thing offends them. They need to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.

Deeeeznuuuts64d ago

Would love a new fat princess game 🤟

CantThinkOfAUsername64d ago

Games literally about sexual assault, mass genocide, bombing civilians, and school shooting. None of which is satirical.

isarai64d ago

Actually it's about fat princesses

Huey_My_D_Long64d ago (Edited 64d ago )

Its crazy that people are fixated on Fat princess when clearly the list is going over controversies, and not all of them are equal. Like way worse examples but pretend the entire list is like that.

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