One example that came to mind for me was a platformer video game called Little Big Planet. There are two main reasons why this game not only changed the way I interacted with games but also influenced the way I thought of them as a whole. To give some background info on what LBP is, it’s a simple looking game developed by a studio called Media Molecule that was only released on the PS3 in 2009. The main reason why I call it simple looking is because of the theme that it uses in both character design and world building. Everything is made from materials you would find at something like an art and craft store. Since the PS3 was the first system I ever had with internet capabilities, the interaction between players that weren’t physically there was entirely new to me. Multiplayer in games was at its infant stage at that time so it was cool to have an experience that not only worked well in practice but was also taken to the next level by the developers.
This brings me to my second reason in how LBP, apart from being a full-fledged game, also included level making tools for people to make whatever they wanted. There were so many games, costumes, stickers, and mini games that changed what LBP was to a lot of people. I can’t even remember how much time I spent just browsing community created levels and being amazed at what people could do with very limited tools. In some way, that was the first time that I was exposed to a coding language because the tools were basically simple programming presented as wire connections and switches. While it’s sad that the game servers have been shut down since then, its legacy still lives on through a new game made by the same developers called Dreams. This game expands on the creation capabilities started in LBP with tools like modeling and it puts a heavy emphasis on having the player do whatever they want.
– Cristian Barrera
