March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

LittleBigPlanet Karting is Coming to PS3!

Earlier this year, we cut some cake and popped some champagne to celebrate Media Molecule’s sixth birthday! We’ve had an awesome time during the last six years, seeing how the experiment we started here in Guildford has grown, giving rise to a thriving LittleBigPlanet community. This year will be no different, filled with DLC, plus new experiments from the LBP family for you to play with.

You already know about the fantastic LBP work that Tarsier Studios and Double Eleven Studios are doing on LittleBigPlanet for PS Vita, and now we are delighted to announce today a new LBP collaboration with the hugely talented team at United Front Games who will be leading a new project called LittleBigPlanet Karting! We’ve all seen that UFG has a wealth of racing experience and they’re also intimately familiar with LBP’s cornerstones of “Play, Create, Share.” With LBP’s powerful and diverse toolset in their capable hands, LittleBigPlanet Karting is sure to be an adventure that both LBP fans and kart-racing fans alike will enjoy! We are eager to see what you think of this union and especially excited to see what happens now that you can create in a 3D environment — it’s the start of a whole new LBP world! Have a look at the debut trailer to see for yourself.

LittleBigPlanet! Lots of love!

James Grieve, Sr. Producer, United Front Games

Thank you to everyone at Media Molecule, we greatly appreciate the warm welcome into the LittleBigPlanet family. The team here at United Front Games has long been huge fans of LBP and all of the exceptional work done by everyone at Mm. Sackboy has become one of the iconic gaming characters of this generation and to have the opportunity to make a LittleBigPlanet game ourselves is truly an honor.

It has been a joy to collaborate with all of the folks at Mm. Since the project’s inception, they have been great partners in getting to where we are today. Looking ahead, we can’t wait for all of the LBP fans out there to get their hands on LittleBigPlanet Karting. The LBP community is unparalleled in the gaming world for the passion and creativity they bring and it’s going to be exciting to see where they’re able to take this new journey for Sackboy.

Our goal with LBP Karting has been fairly simple – provide a fast-paced experience that captures the best of classic karting gameplay, married with the unbridled creativity of LBP. This new adventure will be accessible to players of all ages and have all of the variety necessary to satisfy both the hardcore and more casual players.

This is an LBP game, so we could never talk about it without mentioning the Create tools. LBP Karting is set in an entirely 3D world that will enable players to create rich and varied gameplay experiences. Tons of familiar LBP gadgets will be present, along with a new toolbox specifically tailored to allow for building in LBP Karting’s 3D world. Along with fan-favorite racing and battle modes, players will be able to modify the rules of the game itself to create completely new modes and challenges. All of this is wrapped up in a community experience that should have LBP fans feeling right at home.

Well, that’s all for now, but we’re looking forward to sharing more news on this exciting new game in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more info and get ready for the new world of LittleBigPlanet Karting in 2012!

Comments are closed.

239 Comments

rAdIOhEad73
March 22, 2012 at 12:07 pm PDT

Hello, I’d like to know what frames per second is this game running at?, a choppy experience in a driving game is a huge detrimental, and TBH the gameplay looked choppy and with some slowdowns on the video, I hope the game runs at 60 fps in the final build or at least locked 30 fps, this is key for a good gameplay.
Satnamji
March 22, 2012 at 12:14 pm PDT

I was very pleased to hear UFG was involved in the project. This news effectively moves LBP Karting from my “wait and see” list to my “pre-order” list.

But please, please make the Share/Create-related trophies more like they were for LBP 2, which placed the emphasis on playing other people’s content, rather than getting 1,000s of people to use your content, as the trophies required in MNR. It made the MNR trophies almost impossible to get without boosting, which greatly affected the community as everyone was constantly sending D4D messages.
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 12:35 pm PDT
  
  Hey Satnamji, thanks for the UFG love, it’s much appreciated.
  
  As for trophies, you make an excellent point and we will be announcing more details on that front in the coming months!
MabsterB
March 22, 2012 at 12:18 pm PDT

Multiplayer capped at 8? Ok.

Are any team modes planned? Team racing 4 on 4 or 4 teams of 2 would be sweet.

Same for battle mode, can’t have that with out the ability to team up can we?
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 1:08 pm PDT
  
  Hi MabsterB, we are going to have more information on all the game modes (and the tools for creating them) that will be available in the game over the coming months. Stand by for the news, I’m sure it will satisfy :)
DMcgee627
March 22, 2012 at 12:24 pm PDT

So when can we expect Littlebigplanet Party, Littlebigplanet Golf, Littlebigplanet Tennis, and Sackboy is missing?
memortally
March 22, 2012 at 12:27 pm PDT

Dear Media Molecule,

i have respect on what you do but sorry NO VITA NO BUY … this game MUST BE RELEASE ON VITA even it’s not on ps3 …
hypersk_us
March 22, 2012 at 12:43 pm PDT

Ok, I might be being annoying now but I’m very excited about this game :P

Are you planning on including “track-changing” events like the ones we have seen on other racing games like Split/Second or MotorStorm Apocalypse?

For example: We’re racing and there’s a big bridge that everyone uses for a few early laps, at first it seems like the only way to cross from point A to Point B. But something happens (a player triggered an event, or a set time has passed) and the bridge just explodes and it becomes blocked for the rest of the race, players are forced to look for alternate routes, creating a much more dynamic race.

Well, maybe that’s pretty radical but it would be cool if it’s somehow implemented xD

Thanks for reading :)
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 1:15 pm PDT
  
  If our biggest problem is people too excited for the game, then that’s a problem I’m willing to face :)
  
  Once again there’s some great ideas in there … I don’t want to spoil all the surprises coming up over the next few weeks and months, but needless to say I think you’ll be happy with what you see!
cosmis_chaos
March 22, 2012 at 12:52 pm PDT

Okay first of all no offense but this looks a whole lot more fun then MNR was. Second I am not sure what the big fuss us with having two cart racers on the PS3. Many consoles have multiple fighting games, FPSs, RPGs etc on their systems so unless there is some new law against multiple cart racers especially since MNR has been out for a while I don’t see the problem. Thirdly what ever happened to enthusiasm for a new game instead of premature negativity? People used to jump to see a new game come to a system now it is instant negativity and doom and gloom before you know anything about the game or even played it. And lastly, that tank us so mine when I buy this game. These different weird looking carts so reminds me of Wacky Races. If I remember right one one of their racers had a tank too. I think it was called the Surplus Special.
BRIT-KO
March 22, 2012 at 1:06 pm PDT

In my opinion MNR was awful, even after the patch the game’s AI was ridiculously hard to beat, please please don’t let LBP Racing end up the same, it would be a great shame.
RavageDuckManGuy
March 22, 2012 at 1:09 pm PDT

The biggest question that’s come to mind so far is what about the AI? Since it looks like it’ll be really easy to design a track that features something the AI can’t possibly figure out how to navigate on it’s own (let alone including the AI in custom game modes) will fun competition on unique and outside-the-box levels be limited to multiplayer, or will we be able to do basic AI programming to help them out?
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 1:18 pm PDT
  
  Hey RavageDuckManGuy, along with making improvements to our core racing AI our in-house AI expert has been busy creating a range of gadgets uniquely tailored for creating custom AI in a karting world. We will have some more details on how this will play out over the coming weeks, but I know that I am super excited by what is going to be on offer here. Some amazing things will be possible, and I’m very curious to see where the creators will take it.
SteveO1683
March 22, 2012 at 1:12 pm PDT

I for one would love to bring over my LBP character DLC packs and would even pay of fee of less than five dollars to do so.
Teflon02
March 22, 2012 at 1:16 pm PDT

A Few Questions:
1. Can you make underwater Levels?
2. I like the 8 players Online, Does this have 2player Spit online or Dual Log-In (not a big deal)
3. I’m guessing the games only up to 2 player split (Please 4)
4. Please tell me that Music isn’t random like MNR. As in, Music is like CTR where every stage has it’s own specific music. And most importantly, Do you get to actually pick the music for your stage, I hate the random select, because you can’t make a spookie stage properly because when you play, you never got to have the music locked to that stage, like MK, CTR, DKR, CNK etc.
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm PDT
  
  Teflon02,
  
  1. No specific comments on underwater, but I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with the breadth on offer :)
  2. 2 player online split-screen is definitely a go for this game, it’s one of my most fun ways to play!
  3. Unfortunately (well, fortunately :)) you guessed wrong here – 4 player split-screen is in there as well
  4. We are taking a strong cue from LBP here for our music in the game. We will be selecting specific tracks for our own levels, as well as putting this control in the players hands for their own levels.
  
  Thanks for the questions!
avdavidw
March 22, 2012 at 1:23 pm PDT

The load times is the main item that kept me away from MNR. On paper it’s a game I should have loved but in reality it wasn’t something I had any desire to come back to.

From what I’m reading this looks to address all of the issues I had with MNR. Looking forward to giving it a try.

After playing countless hours playing LBP I don’t think SackBoy will be content just racing around with carts on the ground. I think he’d want to race in water, in the sky and in outer space as well.
Juan1992
March 22, 2012 at 1:27 pm PDT

If there’s going to be an Unkarted game, then I’ll pick my character, Doughnut Drake. LOL
bigz512
March 22, 2012 at 1:28 pm PDT

WOW! Littlebigplanet quickly stole my heart as one of the greatest games ever.
And sack boy is as cute as a button.

I cant wait for this.

Step aside Bioshock Inifinite, we have my new most anticipated PS3 game
LLJKIcedude
March 22, 2012 at 1:31 pm PDT

I recently picked my copy of Modnation Racers up again so the timing of this news is a crazy coincidence! I can barely contain my anticipation already :D

Although I have to wonder, the addition of the LBP tools solves a LOT of the problems I had with MNR’s creation tools, but it also makes me slightly worried. LBP’s character creation is nowhere near as robust as MNR’s so I’m worried that lack of customisation might carry over to the karts too.

Also, will be be seeing a return of the MNR track tools (paving, branching, etc), or have they been fully scrapped and replaced by fully LBP style tools? Combining the MNR track basics with LBP’s more advanced tools would be a dream come true for track design.
angelspawn77
March 22, 2012 at 1:33 pm PDT

I gotta say I was skeptical about this game when I heard about it a few weeks ago, I thought what is the point when we already have Modnation Racers for Play Create Share, but after seeing the trailer it made me very interested, it looks like kart racing with a twist, grapple hooks and different racing styles look fun.
Kaimera123
March 22, 2012 at 1:35 pm PDT

I feel like the only thing that would be needed to be address are those pesky load times that plagued MNR, fix that and this game will be an insta-hit imo.
ceedub2
March 22, 2012 at 1:39 pm PDT

This sounds like a fun game for me and the kids to play together.
ZeusinTraining
March 22, 2012 at 1:51 pm PDT

Will you be able to import Costumes and Costume pieces from LBP2? Just wondering, it looks as so from the trailer.
Hooligantuan
March 22, 2012 at 1:55 pm PDT

@87: The purpose of Vita is to sell Vitas.

It is a product they produced to sell. Whatever happens after that doesn’t even matter, since it’s unlikely to make a dent in the handheld market. Has a better chance than the PSP and the laughable PSP Go, but it’s mostly just Sony trying to get a bite out of that market. Can’t blame them for trying, after the 3DS left them a fresh welcome mat.
llrm2121
March 22, 2012 at 2:05 pm PDT

Could this mean one step closer to a 3D LBP!!!!! You could build in all directions not just side to side!!!!!!!!!
leithal7
March 22, 2012 at 2:06 pm PDT

Well, when ever i think of kart racer on PS3, i thought of ModNation Racers. Weird move to take by making another kart racer on PS3.
kabirdsall14
March 22, 2012 at 2:07 pm PDT

James Grieve,
I have one question. This will be an important one.
Will it have online create mode? Can I bring a friend into create with me? just like I can in LBP1 and 2.

This would be a huge…turn on? for buying it. If it doesn’t have it, I would want to know why, because online create is a HGUE part of LBP. It would help keep your game alive.

I am a huge LBP fan, and have been since it came out, and I just want to see this be a success
Thanks,
Kabird14

:)
La_maravich_22
March 22, 2012 at 2:10 pm PDT

Please released a vita version a bundle like mlb the show $80.00 and dont forguet about Modnation Racers Franchise in my opinion its a better game that lbp karting the mods are better that the sackboy looks more pretty and more real and the races looks more faster that lbp karting in my opinion i would like to see modnation 2 not lbp karting.
Carl-G
March 22, 2012 at 2:12 pm PDT

YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! :P
La_maravich_22
March 22, 2012 at 2:13 pm PDT

Make a vita version with cross platform
Thane_of_Fife
March 22, 2012 at 2:26 pm PDT

Things in my mind:
1.) Team Play and modes. MNR lacked the ability to play with a team similar to red vs blue in mario kart.I mean I love the 8 vs 8 tournaments in mario kart, that was somehting I loved and mroe then that I was able to play multiple events not just racing. We need a lot of diffrent events, with team play, and the Max cap for players should be at least 16 or 12, if it really is 8 I trust u guys to deliver
2.) Powerups in MNR was disappointing largely because they barely came in use. Powerups were meant to be a last second game changer, I mean if ur last in going into the last lap, you still have a chance of becoming first, this was hard in MNR becuase u would have to upgrade ur powerups which I found annoying. Judging from the trailer, the powerups will hopefully be one powerful powerup, instead of a powerup that needs to be updated by getting a second or third powerup
I also hope 4 player split screen online is possible, Also the A.I in MNR would decrease with the number of players playing splitscreen, I hope that is not the case as I found that a bit disappointing, I also hope that A.I can be played with in online matches with splitscreen as well. I’m really excited for this game. Thx
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 3:55 pm PDT
  
  Hey Thane_of_Fife, we’re going to be talking more about games modes shortly. As I mentioned in the post, we are definitely going to be opening the doors here to a wide range of possibilities, and I think you’ll be excited when you see what’s on offer.
  
  As for powerups, we are going to be implementing a unique set of weapons for LBPK. The real game changer here though is that we are building these weapons with the same set of tools available to creators in the game. If you want your own take on a karting weapon set, you have all the tools available to make your own.
  
  Finally, on split-screen that’s a definitely yes to 4 player local split-screen. We’re going to have more news on that front in the upcoming months.
Ozmafire101
March 22, 2012 at 2:42 pm PDT

Well, I think it’s safe to say that this game looks extremely, and i mean EXTREMELY fun. I cannot wait to get my hands on this! I feel bad for Modnation Racers though because this is definitely gonna take the checkered flag =P
D-Squad3
March 22, 2012 at 2:47 pm PDT

I’m a huge LittleBigPlanet fan and I’ve gotten every single LBP game, I will definitely be getting this one and the one for the Vita (it’s a shame this isn’t gonna be on the Vita). However, one of the most important thing to address about Kart racing games is that they NEED to be fun.

I have Modnation Racers and I honestly didn’t find the gameplay to be fun.

– The load times
– The Steering, it felt like there’s a delay when turning which is a big turn off
– The weapons, there were only a handful of weapons in the game and they weren’t really different from each other

PLEASE make the gameplay as good as Mario Kart if not better!
AcuraPSV
March 22, 2012 at 3:30 pm PDT

Hi james
I feel very sad news that no there plans even for a vita version, as mentioned this game is a perfect example to succes for the future of vita, as a fundamental need to compete with mario kart 3ds
Please note the possibility, talk to sony for the financing to port on vita, sony keeps repeating that he will not make the same mistakes with vita that took psp, and now the mentality of people in general is that not there seems to be an effort to carry vita on the right track
PsVita has some amazing possibilities, but if not given the support and effort is made to a place and make history, it will not happen of course, as of today there a very strong competition in this area and if does not offer the hard work to make a difference is not going to win the confidence of users

We must all do our part, but sony and the devs have to be the first to show, I would not fail to miss the great opportunity it is vita to become the best laptop of history may come to regret. only trust the support and hard work and we can all do.
Sorry, but I wanted to say this, I am saddened to see some impressive ads and take some disappointments equally impressive…
Sony PSVita is in your hands, you decide if we will mark a before and after.
TapDatApp
March 22, 2012 at 3:52 pm PDT

I think AwRy108 had it all spot-on honestly. But anyways, I’m really excited to finally see this with my own eyes! :D
Thane_of_Fife
March 22, 2012 at 3:58 pm PDT

And also don’t let the ppl saying VITA fool u, concentrate on making this the best game possible on the ps3, and odn’t wrry about hurrying it up, or the VITA. Once your sure the VITA won’t distract this game and that this game is finished then port the game over to the vita, otherwise, it’s not worth making it inferior just to add cross play or to make it on the vita just yet.
DMcgee627
March 22, 2012 at 4:04 pm PDT

I hope the AI is as broken as it was in Modnation.
They had to patch in a casual career mode, and they still cheated.
Teflon02
March 22, 2012 at 4:13 pm PDT

Thanks James!
I’m GLAD there is 4 Players Split screen, not enough games these days have that :).
I am beyond happy to hear the music will be exactly how I want it to be. I can finally make stages with the music to go with the theme :).
Though I wish you guys would have made a Vita version, but either way I would have bought both versions, so I guess this saves me money :D. Can’t wait
SolusPrime
March 22, 2012 at 4:15 pm PDT

Almost makes me want to buy a ps3, bring this to the Vita and ill be first in line, Mod Nation who? :P
Teflon02
March 22, 2012 at 4:17 pm PDT

@131 even on the hard difficulty the game isn’t hard. Learn to conserve your boost and use it only a a shield no matter how bad the situation gets. I did all the achievement in it, even the patched ones before the patch and apart from those 2 that were patched, everything was easy, very easy. Casual, is like beginner
wolf11reno
March 22, 2012 at 4:22 pm PDT

WOW that is so awsome but you know you should make another lbp game kinda like the halo reach forge world but you know in littlebigplanet form. that would be cool and you could call it somthing like
little big 3D planet. Yaa Right back if you think so
wolf11reno
March 22, 2012 at 4:27 pm PDT

When dose it come out in stores and how much money is it or is it an atachment to lbp2
wolf11reno
March 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm PDT

or when did it come out
Imputed7-14
March 22, 2012 at 4:29 pm PDT

As much as I enjoyed Modnation, and I did, I am ten time more excited about this. You have my preorder because of LBP and the team at UFG. Look forward to more info. Thanks for making great games…again and again. Cheers.
- James Grieve
  March 22, 2012 at 4:37 pm PDT
  
  Thanks for the kind words Imputed7-14!
LLJKIcedude
March 22, 2012 at 4:50 pm PDT

I wonder if we’re going to get something similar to LBP2’s sackbots? I don’t mean AI racers, as those are practically a given, but I mean NPCs that you can put in your track that follow a certain behaviour, so you can have stuff like wandering targets/enemies in battle mode, or large vehicles to avoid on road-based tracks.
Sephir007
March 22, 2012 at 5:01 pm PDT

This is great, I loved the trailer!

Will it include a music maker?
Can we play our own music?

Thanks!
The5rozos
March 22, 2012 at 5:01 pm PDT

I’ve been following LittleBigPlanet since its debut in 2008 and it’s amazing how much the series has evolved. LBP doesn’t try to be like Mario, it’s unique in its own way.

I remember countless times how I wished there was a ‘LBP Kart’ racing game… can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw it was announced. So thank you UFG for your hard work on MNR(loved it), but also for developing this awesome new LBP game. It’s a day 1 buy for me.

And between this and LBP Vita, this year is a good time to be a LBP fan. :)
hypersk_us
March 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm PDT

Wow, it’s great to read that you already had at least most of the ideas that I have, if they’re executed well, I bet this will be the GOTY!!!

I’m looking forward to the AI fix too, I really don’t want this game to be as frustrating as MNR is with it’s single player campaign… :)
Seventy_X_Seven
March 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm PDT

When can we expect to get details on the tool set for custom game modes? Would be totally wicked if you could recreate something similar to Crash Team Racing!

Also the player created stuff I see in MNR still amazes me despite the really limited tool set provided, can’t imagine what I’ll end up seeing in this one if the tool set is more akin to LBP!
ZeusinTraining
March 22, 2012 at 5:33 pm PDT

This will work with Version modems right? I don’t want to not be able to connect to the racing server on this like it is on MRN.
mr_chun
March 22, 2012 at 5:33 pm PDT

SOLD
IL0YDI
March 22, 2012 at 5:36 pm PDT

I dont get how can you leave Vita without LBP Karts,it makes no sense,didn’t mariokart sales teach you anything?
Marcellino
March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm PDT

Thoroughly excited about the game, but I feel like the poor title suffers from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” syndrome. I understand the importance of maintaining the brand name in the title, but seriously, am I the only one who thinks “LittleBigKarts” sounds a heck of a lot better? Jus’ sayin’.
turtletoe-
March 22, 2012 at 7:32 pm PDT

I hope this is better then Modnationracers and i hope its coming for little big planet 2 for dlc, if not what will the game cost?