Hi guys – more LittleBigPlanet 2 related goodness to celebrate launch week – here’s a brand new behind the scenes video that’ll give you a personal tour of the place where the magic happens – the Media Molecule studio.

This video was shot as the game was about to go ‘Gold’ – so right around the time Media Molecule were really starting to get excited about the fact that you guys would soon have LittleBigPlanet 2 in your hands!

Check back tomorrow for more exciting bits and pieces…

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Once again it’s that time of week where we let you all know about all the new content that’s on its way into Home. During our regular Thursday maintenance starting at 08:00 GMT we’ll have updates from LOOT, Lockwood, Konami and something special to celebrate the imminent release of LittleBigPlanet 2.

LittleBigPlanet 2 launches this week, and we’ll be celebrating with a Home Square makeover. Cardboard and carpet transform your familiar Home Square into an environment where Sackboy will feel right at home!

Over in the LOOT store this week, you’ll find the latest prop bundles for the Stage Set. Including Airplane and Ghostbusters themed pieces, these bundles offer a new range of choice in laying out your stage. That’s not all you should be looking for at LOOT: the newest companion, Steve from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, will be available, along with a pair of cute cuddly cats. We promise they don’t moult all over your clothing!

England football fans should look out for Konami’s England football kits. These kits will be available for both male and female in Home and Away colours. Accompanying the kits is an ornamental English flag ball and English flag tall hats.

Finally, Lockwood release a new range of male clothing, consisting of shirts, jeans and sneakers. Check out the screens below for a taste of what to look for:

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We’re sorry to report that there has been an issue with the Mass Effect 2 PSN file, which is why it is not currently available from PlayStation Store as earlier reported. We are all working hard to resolve this as soon as possible.

Hi guys, Just a quick update to let you know what mid-month treats we have managed to get for PlayStation Plus subscribers this time.

Firstly I wanted to let you know, if you didn’t already, that on Friday you will be able to get your hands on EA’s acclaimed Mass Effect 2 from PlayStation Store. That’s the same day the Blu-ray Disc version is being released in retail stores.

And also on Friday, if you are a PlayStation Plus member, you can download the full game trial which allows you to play the full game for 60 minutes. Not that it will take much persuasion for many of you to buy the game, those less aware get an exclusive chance to try the full game before they buy.

The next treat for you is a 25% day one discount of on the new PSN multiplayer shooter, Modern Combat: Domination.

Square off in 16-player battles across six modes and complete your objectives to rule the
Leaderboards using the PlayStation Move motion controller.

The third treat is an exclusive discount on a great little game bundle called Costume Quest on Ice. Until 2 Feb, you guys can get this bundle with a 20% discount.

Explore the quaint suburban neighbourhood, spooky mall and creepy carnival. Battle the evil overlords to rescue your kidnapped sibling then continue the adventure by exploring the monster world, Repugia. Face new enemies, collect costumes and quests. Help overthrow Araxia and bring peace back to Repugia.

We have managed to get you a new Sonic dynamic theme from the guys at SEGA. Featuring the Splash Hill zone and the iconic ‘ring’ sound when you scroll through the XMB, the theme will be on the Store for everyone to purchase but we are offering it to Plus members for free.

Finally, I just wanted to confirm on here that you guys are all going to have exclusive access to the SOCOM Special Forces Beta when it goes live. I’ll keep you up to speed on the dates when I have more info, but it’s definitely one to look forward to!

Will be back on here soon to let you know the February and March content; enjoy the rest of January.

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Hi everyone. It’s an exciting day in Sack-land – from today, LittleBigPlanet 2 will roll out across the PAL region. Woo hoo!

It’s been fantastic to see LittleBigPlanet 2 receiving such enthusiastic and thoughtful reviews across the web – with an average score of 92%, Media Molecule have done a fantastic job of living up to the high standards they set with the original LittleBigPlanet.

The chaps over at the fantastic fansite LittleBigPlanet Central have been helpfully collating reviews, so check out their thread to get an overview of the great scores LBP 2 has been receiving from the likes of Edge, Eurogamer, GamesTM, Game Reactor, NowGamer, Jeuxvideo and 3D Juegos.

We’ve got some fun news and content this week to get you even more excited about LBP 2, or persuade you if you’re still sitting on the fence (get off there – surely it’s just uncomfortable?)

LittleBigPlanet.com and lbp.me

First up, how about some exciting interweb-based news? The smart cookies among you will have noticed already that, just before Xmas, we launched some brand new Share-based functionality. LBP.me is a powerful new part of LittleBigPlanet.com that gives you the chance to browse the fantastic user generated levels that have been shared with the world.

You might want to use it to build up a shortlist of the coolest levels to play when you get home – and if so, you can even log in with your PSN ID and add levels to your queue, so they’ll be ready and waiting for you when you get back. Browse trending levels, check out stats and reviews to see what sounds appealing – and then get playing!

Or maybe you’ve created something awesome that you want people to bow down before in sheer amazement? From your profile page you’ll be able to find unique pages for each level you’ve already shared – meaning that you’ve got a handy URL that you can use to promote your creation all over the place. Mail it to your friends, tweet it to your followers, plug it in forums – do anything short of tattooing it on your forehead (definitely DON’T tattoo it on your forehead – it’s a very inefficient promotional device). There is even a nifty widget creator on the site, to help you share the word on your fansite or blog.

The LittleBigMap

The awesome LittleBigPlanet fan community is filled with helpful, friendly and creative folk. But it’s also pretty darn huge, and spread out across the world and the web – so if you want to dip your toe in, it can be hard to know where to start.

That’s where the brand new ‘LittleBigMap‘ comes in…

The LittleBigMap collates LBP discussions and content from across the web, and plots some of the latest and best videos, pics and tweets on a handy and familiar map interface.

So, at a glance you can see that thousands of people are contributing to the LBP community from all over the world – and then you can zoom in, navigate around and take a look at some of the content they’re sharing. There are some nice photos in Hawaii, for starters.

The extra cool thing is – the LittleBigMap notices when lbp.me URLs are included in video descriptions, screenshots and tweets, and automatically pulls in stats and information about that level. It’s another way of discovering the most fun and creative levels that people are talking about around the world, and it’ll grow as more of you start to make use of lbp.me URLs around the web. So check it out!

Check back later in the week for a final brand new trailer that shows Sackboy’s tribute to the history of videogaming, a behind the scenes look at the Media Molecule studio and a sneak peak at the LittleBigPlanet 2 advertising – featuring creations from some of the stars of the LBP community.

Happy Sack-week!

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Hi everyone – I hope you had a good start to the week and ‘Blue Monday’ didn’t hit you too hard! It’s Wednesday so we’ve got a Store update for you, including the kick off of the January sales.

Two fabulous new PSN games hit today (complete with trials) in the form of Spare Parts – the new robotic adventure from EA and Modern Combat: Domination, a Move-enabled FPS with compelling gameplay at a compelling price. If you’ve ever played a game of Counterstrike you’ll be instantly at home with this one.

New minis hit as well, including the wildly popular Shift extended, the previously Plus-only Pipe Madness and Soccer Bashi.

Downloadable content? Well why not, eh? Trinity Universe, Tron: Evolution, R.U.S.E. and lots of extra bits and pieces for the newly released Mass Effect II – but don’t get the Cerberus pack if you’ve purchased a version of the game with the extra content included in the box.

Also we’ve got another multiplayer update for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood which will cost you precisely nothing – isn’t that nice?

I’m in meetings the first part of this afternoon but I will be back for comments before the end of the day – so I’ll see you then.
(more…)

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