LittleBigPlanet Transforms Players Into DIY Gods

I've been playing LittleBigPlanet for just a few minutes, but I already feel like a god. I summon a block of wood and sculpt it into a vaguely humanoid form. I snap a picture of my face and stamp it onto the thing's head. Then I install a tiny motor and my baby twitches disturbingly. Alive ... it's alive! It's alive! This game development thing is a snap. At least, it is in LBP, out in October for PlayStation 3. At first glance, it's kind of like the classic Super Mario Bros. — navigate a cute little burlap doll through elaborate obstacle courses. But players can also design and build their own game levels, with unique objects and challenges. Unlike the abstruse 3-D design and physics programming that most game development requires, this experience is meant to be as simple, intuitive, and addictive as the gameplay. "We're all really into music," says Alex Evans, cofounder of the game's developer, Media Molecule, "and we see this as a form of jamming." People have used the tools to create musical instruments, as well as tanks, slingshots, and gigantic monsters that make my crude effort look pathetic. (Sony used the game in lieu of Power Point at a recent press conference.) Best of all, LittleBigPlanet lets anyone upload and share their works as easily as YouTube clips. — J.R.