Category Archives: LittleBigPlanet

A Controversial Tracklist, An Awesome One, And A Terrible One


Keeping up with blog topics is almost as difficult as keeping up with games. There are a couple things I want to write about before they get away from me, as most everything else is — and I will. Soon. But for now, just a couple of quick notes.

Controversial: Stephen Totilo spoke to Toumani Diabate, the Malian musician behind the song that got LittleBigPlanet pulled (but not before I got it here in the ‘hood when they broke street, nyah!). Fascinating article — not only does Diabate explain his intentions behind putting the words in his music, but the record label discusses the context for the Koran words in his song. Beliefnet editor Dilshad Ali and Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper also weigh in on why, precisely, the song might offend Muslims. Interesting stuff.

“I could see Christians or Jews objecting if verses from the Bible were used in a similar way,” Hooper told Totilo. I puzzled over this a little, because I’m not so sure that’s the case, at least not in any kind of broad way here. Quoting the Bible casually has become a part of American culture, even for the non-religious, and plenty of pop songs have biblical references, even direct quotes.

I remember people getting worked up over Madonna’s Like A Prayer video, but I believe that’s because she was burning crosses in it, right? I don’t really remember.

Anyway, these are cultural/religious values clearly different than the ones with which I was raised, but it sounds like the spokespeople Totilo talked to appreciate Sony’s decision to remove the song and avoid offending anyone.

Second, a couple of the reviews I’ve worked on recently are up at Variety.

Awesome: Not having a huge affinity for car games, to say the least, I’m surprised at how much I like Midnight Club: Los Angeles. I enjoy playing it and keep squeezing in race time between work and dinner. The real kicker is that I liked the multiplayer. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’m never into multiplayer and actively avoid it when I can. It’s why I rarely give out my gamertag — I get nervous shooting, driving, or doing anything skill-based in front of other people. Still, if you pick up this game, email me your gamertag so I can add you to my friends and play MCLA with you. Just don’t expect greatness!

One thing I’m kicking myself for neglecting to mention in the review is how hawt the soundtrack is. I mean, you know Rockstar can sure pick music, but still.

Terrible: On the flip side, I did not like Rock Revolution. Like, at all.

Lonely Hearts


I returned to my roots this weekend in more ways than one! I spent an embarrassing chunk of time replaying (and beating!) the entirety of Ys I & II — man, I loved that game so much when I was a kid that I have no idea whether the awesomeness I associate it with now and the fact I had such a great time with it is because of nostalgia or because it was really, really that great. I’ll have to explore that a little more later.

Second, this week’s Aberrant Gamer column goes back to my dating sim niche. Playing Harvest Moon more than a bit lately, I noticed that I could easily predict what bachelors and bachelorettes would be available. Harvest Moon in particular tends to recycle characters, subtly and knowingly, even when they have variations on their appearances and names (this sounds like it’d be a terrible thing, but it’s actually kinda fun). But beyond the series itself, I noticed that there’s a broader archetypal pattern to the gals and guys “available” to you in dating sims, just as there are in hardcore hentai games, so I decided to have a little stab at analyzing What Your Dating Sim Choice Says About You.

All the stuff I’ve been doing lately means I am not, like many people I know, in the LittleBigPlanet beta. I can wait at least until retail for that one — since I’m rarely big on multiplayer anything, and prefer structure, and find that “making things in a video game” holds my attention for all about ten minutes, I’m suspicious that I’ll fall into the “it’s cool, but not my kinda thing” camp.

I’m also sort of leery of groupthink in general. It leads people to enthuse that Braid is super deep just because everyone else has said so, without discovering that fact for themselves — or worse, it leads them to shut up if they disagree. I had a dinner conversation lately with some fairly special industry folk who, after a moment of hesitation, all shyly admitted they didn’t “get” Braid and didn’t see what all the fuss was about — and also said they’d been afraid to admit this because they were afraid it made them “stupid” in the face of the group sentiment. These were all absolutely brilliant people, too.

And I think the same kind of groupthink might be leading to a little bit of over-hype for LBP — I’ve seen it a couple of times at events and stuff, and not that it isn’t legitimately exciting, but I confess to feeling peer-pressured to be “really awed and excited” about it when I’m merely “interested.” So yes, I do plan on having a go at LBP myself for sure — wouldn’t miss it — but as to whether it’s the Second Coming or not, I’ll actually wait until I play it at length to decide.

Anyhow, playing a retro RPG and writing about aberrant gaming was a nice refresher for me after a heavy week of survival horror and Silent Hill: Homecoming. I’m gratified, like I’ve said, to read long threads on forums and stuff to see there’s quite a chunk of players really enjoying the game, but it was still just a little bit lonely last week being one of the only reviewers to really like it (1UP and UGO reviewed it fairly well, but those are the only ones I know of).