PS3 News: LBP Dev: Sony Stuck By Us When The Chips Were Down - PS3 News

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LBP Dev: Sony Stuck By Us When The Chips Were Down

Here's your feel-good story of the day.

Gaming is big business but that doesn't mean risk-taking has disappeared. Just ask Sony's first-party development studios. Media Molecule co-founders Mark Healey and Kareem Ettouney say Sony played a "crucial role in the development of LittleBigPlanet," and why? Because Sony stuck with the project when most publishers would've cut their losses and walked away. Said Healey:

"I think they were good at being very hands-off in the early stages. We were a new company, and they helped us a lot with the setting up of that, which was a whole issue in itself.

We'd have the XDEV [Sony's external development team] producers coming down every now and then, and I'm sure other publishers would have cut their losses a lot earlier because some of our early presentations where quite chaotic and disastrous."

Ettouney went on to say that Sony usually takes a "similarly tolerant approach with its other partners." They met individuals from the Guerrilla Games and Naughty Dog studios, and they all have "similar stories" of Sony being an excellent creative partner. In short, they claim Sony understands the experimental process and trusts in a team's ability. Finished Ettouney:

"If you don't allow for mistakes and you don't allow for trying things out, you'll have to stick to very safe ideas."

The result? LittleBigPlanet, one of the most critically acclaimed and revolutionary franchises in history. Not to mention the results from other teams that said Sony let them take risks, like Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain. Other examples would be the Uncharted franchise, inFamous, and Resistance. ...such terrible titles, really.

Tags: media molecule, sony, lbp, littlebigplanet

7/26/2011 9:46:54 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (23 posts)

AnonymousPoster
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 10:05:52 AM
Reply

This is one of the main reasons I love the way Sony handles their console. I'm always looking for fresh, original ideas, and that's what I get.

I can't help but feel Oddworld would still be around and strong if Oddworld Inhabitants hadn't jumped ship to a certain other company...

Agree with this comment 19 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

playSTATION
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 10:29:43 AM
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cant wait to see what new ip sony will come up with next.

Agree with this comment 10 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Xombito
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 10:37:04 AM
Reply

Are you reading this third party devs?

Agree with this comment 8 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

maxpontiac
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 11:00:08 AM

I hope so. All I know is that I take notice of this. It's one of MANY reasons on why I am an exclusive PS3 user.

Agree with this comment 7 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

shadowscorpio
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 11:48:38 PM

I hope so too. A lot of these third party developers know what it was like to only develop games for Sony's console for a set period of time. This really shouldn't be a surprise to the 3rd parties.

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Miggy
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 10:43:48 AM
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This is why I bought a ps3 to begin with. Their diverse exclusives got my attention. My best friend has a 360 and all we played were fps. Gears of War, left 4 dead, halo. After a while you get sick of shooting things. I watched him play alan wake but I couldn't get into it and neither could he. None of these games are bad at all but I prefer Sony's diversity. I love LBP, God of War, Uncharted, and White Knight Chronicles etc.

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SoulController
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 10:44:18 AM
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& its one of the reasons why we have more & better exclusives than that certain company.

Interesting article I read on vgchartz.com yesterday. Its pretty much about how Sony is setting themselves up to be what Nintendo use to be, in terms of the best first party exclusives. I can't find it at the moment to post a link but check it out if you get a chance.

Agree with this comment 7 up, 2 down Disagree with this comment

sha4dowknight05
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 5:28:48 PM

I wouldn't say every single one of them, look at the mess Socom 4 that game went form alright to bad now. I can't stand the new camera angles after the recent update.

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SoulController
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 7:47:07 PM

I hope your not missing the point sir..

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Qubex
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 11:36:25 AM
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Sony have always stood by their own studios with zeal. They see the talent, they invest in the talent and they believe in the talent... and out of that belief comes products that shift millions of Sony consoles every year... it is a good deal all round I would say...

Q!

"little.big.deal"
Last edited by Qubex on 7/26/2011 11:36:47 AM

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SayWord
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 12:34:08 PM
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Sony and their development teams make the best games right now hands down. Its very apparent that sony is here to make money, but also very apparent that they listen to their fans and take the necessary risks to do so!

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Lawless SXE
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 1:21:40 PM
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But they couldn't find it in their pocketbooks to stand by Team Bondi. I don't mean to be a buzzkill here, I really like hearing this news, but it still speaks of what they see as being quality. It brings me to mind the question of why they did drop L.A. Noire. It was unique, and though it was also reportedly a complete mess when R* jumped aboard, I don't see how that might've stopped Sony from continuing to help them out, unless the investment would simply have been too huge.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 1:37:59 PM

I guess we really don't have the full story on that you know? Sony isn't likely to speak ill of anybody but maybe their work philosophies clashed like Bondi's later did with Rockstar or maybe like you say it they had become a money toilet and it took the stronger arm of Rockstar to force them to stop d*cking around. Last I heard they just wouldn't stop and had 2 more desks and another Blu Ray planned.

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___________
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 10:02:24 AM

id guess it was cost, they had already spent a shelling on the game, and probably could see a hell of allot more was required.
that, and sony dont give a sh*t about us!

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WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 1:38:58 PM
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That's what I like about Sony, I really wish there was some way to get my foot in their door. I'd love to write some game scripts.

Agree with this comment 2 up, 1 down Disagree with this comment

SoulController
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 2:24:21 PM

Same here but I would love to do voice overs in games. It takes some luck & the right connections..

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Ludicrous_Liam
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 12:38:19 AM

My LBP2 level could so with some voice overs..

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Zorigo
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 3:36:08 PM
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Like i always said, Sony are the real peoples company. Theyre not just about profit. about pleasing theyre damn users.
An in the end, thats gonna pay them back, when they get hard core fans because of theyre good services. Like me. My moneys in sony all the way.

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JackDillinger89
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 6:27:29 PM
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I have to agree with everyone here also, i just wish sony would spend more to promote their exclusives more. Their marketing strategy falls way behind the way for example microsoft promotes all the halo games etc. I barely see any commercials or ads for ps3 games, or exclusive soda flavors. I did like the kz3 slurpee they did.

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Qubex
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 10:37:43 AM

Nice avatar Jack... :)

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

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FxTales
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 6:48:38 PM
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I couldn't get over how much of the public went dog on Sony with the release of the ps3. They made everyone happy with the ps2 and I thought that would continue straight through but people surprised me.

It took some time but they're now at where they should have been from the start. They've always been in my eyes the best company in the business.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011 @ 9:27:16 PM
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___________
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 4:12:41 AM
Reply

when you have the ps2 behind you you can afford to take risks like that.
sadly others dont have that luxury.
tis why publishers are so reluctant to throw money onto these types of games because there not sure if they will ever see it back.
your not going to go down to the race track and put your whole yearly salary down on the lowest horse just because it gives the highest payout now are you?

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