Put very simply, LittleBigPlanet takes away the need to be a savvy game designer with a plethora of high-cost tools and training, just the same way that YouTube took away the need to have countless thousands invested in high-end video equipment and access to a TV station. We’ve essentially gone from “everyone’s a gamer” to “everyone’s a game maker”.

Of course, we’ve been heading for this for a while now. User-generated content is one of the biggest buzzwords in our industry right now, with so many games offering level editors or saved videos (ripe for editing) or customizable content. But LBP takes it to the next level – actually, it sort of takes it past the next few levels by offering a full game editor with truly limitless possibilities. This is “make your own experience” not just “make your spaceship pretty”.

I suppose this is why the ridiculous moderation of levels based on “copyright issues” is so infuriating. No one – as best as I can tell – is making money off of the levels, and there’s certainly room for expression and creative freedom in an entirely amateur atmosphere. It bothers me that a player who has spent countless hours making a level that draws inspiration from, say Shadow of the Colossus, or recreates a level from Gradius or Super Mario Bros. 3 is in danger of having his/her work wiped out in the blink of an eye. In all art forms, people want to re-create or comment on familiar concepts and works – it’s why so many film students borrow heavily from movies they’ve loved, and why aspiring musicians learn to play familiar songs.

Still, I can envision a future wherein aspiring game designers have LBP levels in their professional resumes. Or where students at my university will study some of the content and community interactions in masters’ theses. But most of all, I can picture the game sitting in a dusty PS3 next to my crappy TV, unplayed, while I feverishly try to complete the day’s work. The box sits beside it, that cute sack boy face beckoning to me like a friendly, neglected child.

So, I’ll continue to watch the community’s progress from the outside, part fascinated observer and part poor moppet child with her face pressed up to the toy store window. One day, LittleBigPlanet. One day.

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