LittleBigPlanet Karting Message Board

Many of you saw the announcement last Friday of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and LittleBigPlanet: Karting. In addition to those, I’m here to drop some new content and sales for this week’s PlayStation Plus update, which include Machinarium coming free for PS Plus members, and an E3 2013 sale on some of the biggest games available digitally. It’s a big week, with a ton of content, so read on to learn more!

June 11th PlayStation Plus Update UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3) Single Player and Free to Play Multiplayer Bundle PSN Price: This item is only available as Free for PS Plus members
The highly acclaimed single player campaign of Uncharted 3, along with the Free to Play Multiplayer Mode will be available for all PS Plus members to experience, free with their membership! A search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands” propels fortune hunter Nathan Drake into a desperate bid for survival that strains the limits of his endurance, forcing him to confront his deepest fears. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PS3) PSN Price: $39.99, Free for PS Plus members
From the award-winning creators of Civilization comes an action-strategy game about humanity’s last stand. Threatened by an unknown enemy, Earth’s governments unite to form an elite paramilitary organization, known as XCOM. As the commander of XCOM, you must create a fully operational base, research alien technologies, plan combat missions, and lead your soldiers in fierce battles against a terrifying alien invasion. The decisions you make will affect the fate of humanity. You are our last hope. LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3) PSN Price: $39.99, Free for PS Plus members
Sackboy returns in a completely new Karting adventure to save the Craftworld universe! Get behind the wheel to race through fun-filled tracks, battle in hectic arenas, and collect items in open-world environments. Compete in exciting mini-games and modes unlike anything you’ve seen, and enjoy endless levels created by the LittleBigPlanet community. From game modes to weapon types, never before has Sackboy had so many customization options. If you can dream it, you can drive it! Machinarium (PS3) PSN Price: $9.99, Free for PS Plus members
An astoundingly unique adventure with the best of adventure game sensibilities, Machinarum is one game that you might have always heard of, but never had a chance to play. Gamers who loved the puzzle mechanics of games like The Walking Dead will find much to love with Machniarium. With a unique art style and several awards including ‘Best Indie Game of the Year’ by Gamasutra.com, you owe it to yourself to check out this unique title on PS3. Music Unlimited (Offer only on subscriptions purchased on PS3 or PS Vita) 30% Discount for PS Plus members (PSN Price: $59.99; PS Plus Price: $41.99)
Connect instantly to the songs you love with the Music Unlimited service. A library of songs, playlists and channels streaming from your favorite devices. Millions of choices. No ads. E3 2013 Sale (PS3) Various Discounts
You’re already set to take in all the amazing E3 news and announcements coming this week. We’re excited too, and while a lot of the games shown at E3 won’t be available to play at home for a while, we’re happy to pass along some amazing deals on some of the best in PS3 and PS Vita gaming to help tide you over.

E3 2013 Sale

Game Title Normal Price Sale Price PS Plus Price Dishonored $29.99 $23.99 $21.59 Tomb Raider $59.99 $22.49 $20.24 Call of Duty Black Ops II $59.99 $41.99 $37.79 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance $49.99 $39.99 $29.99 Resident Evil 6 $29.99 $23.99 $17.99 PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale $39.99 $27.99 $14.00 NBA 2K13 $59.99 $41.99 $29.39 FIFA Soccer 13 $59.99 $41.99 $29.39 Far Cry 3 $59.99 $41.99 $29.39 Borderlands 2 $39.99 $27.99 $19.59 Assassin’s Creed III $39.99 $27.99 $19.59 Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two $39.99 $27.99 $19.59 Assassin’s Creed III Liberation $26.99 $18.99 $13.29 Sound Shapes $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 Sound Shapes PS Vita $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 Quantum Conundrum $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 Guardians of Middle-Earth $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 The Unfinished Swan $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit $14.99 $7.49 $3.75 The Walking Dead – Season Pass $19.99 $9.99 $5.00 Dishonored – Dunwall City Trials $4.99 $3.49 $2.79 Dishonored – The Knife of Dunwall $9.99 $6.99 $5.59 Dishonored – Void Walker’s Arsenal $3.99 $2.79 $2.23

Last Chance (Leaving on 6/18)

Instant Game Collection
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny

Discounts
DISHONORED
Tomb Raider
Call of Duty Black Ops II
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Resident Evil 6
Playstation All Stars Battle Royale
NBA 2K13
FIFA Soccer 13
Far Cry 3
Borderlands 2
Assassin’s Creed III
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Assassin’s Creed® III Liberation
SOUND SHAPES
SOUND SHAPES VITA
Quantum Conundrum
Guardians of Middle-Earth
The Unfinished Swan
HELL YEAH! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
The Walking Dead – Season Pass
Dunwall City Trials
The Knife of Dunwall
Void Walker’s Arsenal
PORTAL 2
PORTAL 2 IN MOTION
MENS ROOM MAYHEM

What’s your favorite content from this week’s update?

You’ll find all the content detailed above with their Plus benefits active when the PlayStation Store updates tomorrow.

There will be plenty more to discuss this week, so make sure you watch for all the PlayStation announcements to come at E3. In fact, you can watch today’s press conference right here on PlayStation.Blog.. In the meantime, if you’ve got feedback or thoughts on today’s Plus update, leave them below, or, if you’re looking to engage with more of the PS community, make sure you head over to the PlayStation Community to discuss this week’s news more, find other topics to contribute your thoughts to, or start one for yourself. See you in the comments!

With E3 right around the corner, everyone here at PlayStation is putting the final touches on what’s sure to be an exciting event for gamers everywhere. Among other things, we’re excited to see PlayStation Plus continue to evolve, and we’re happy to announce the inclusion of three new PS3 Full Games.

With next week’s PlayStation Store update, we’ll welcome UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and LittleBigPlanet: Karting into the Instant Game Collection!

As many of you keenly observed in Monday’s PlayStation Plus blog post, three PS3 Full Games – LittleBigPlanet 2, inFAMOUS 2, and Ratchet & Clank All 4 One – have only four days left in the Instant Game Collection. This means that it’s your last chance to download these great titles as they’ll be stepping down after a year of faithful PS Plus service.

June 11th PlayStation Plus Update UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3) Single Player and Free to Play Multiplayer Bundle

PSN Price: This item is only Free for PS Plus members

The highly acclaimed single player campaign of Uncharted 3, along with the Free to Play Multiplayer Mode will be available for all PS Plus members to experience, free with their membership! A search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands” propels fortune hunter Nathan Drake into a desperate bid for survival that strains the limits of his endurance, forcing him to confront his deepest fears. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PS3)

PSN Price: $39.99, Free for PS Plus members

From the award-winning creators of Civilization comes an action-strategy game about humanity’s last stand. Threatened by an unknown enemy, Earth’s governments unite to form an elite paramilitary organization, known as XCOM. As the commander of XCOM, you must create a fully operational base, research alien technologies, plan combat missions, and lead your soldiers in fierce battles against a terrifying alien invasion. The decisions you make will affect the fate of humanity. You are our last hope. LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3)

PSN Price: $39.99, Free for PS Plus members

Sackboy returns in a completely new Karting adventure to save the Craftworld universe! Get behind the wheel to race through fun-filled tracks, battle in hectic arenas, and collect items in open-world environments. Compete in exciting mini-games and modes unlike anything you’ve seen, and enjoy endless levels created by the LittleBigPlanet community. From game modes to weapon types, never before has Sackboy had so many customization options. If you can dream it, you can drive it!

You’ll find all the content detailed above with their Plus benefits active when the PlayStation Store updates on Tuesday; along with additional Plus content that was announced as part of the June preview, and special discounts as well.

Speaking of the June preview, with all this PS Plus content, this month is shaping up to be one of the best PlayStation Plus months yet. UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3), XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PS3), and LittleBigPlanet: Karting (PS3) are all dropping next week, joining Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3) which joined PS Plus last week. You’ll still have Machinarium (PS3), Saints Row The Third (PS3), Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (PS Vita), and God Eater Burst (PSP, PS Vita compatible), all coming in June as well! It’s never been a better time to join up.

We’ve got more to come next week, so again, make sure you watch for all the PlayStation announcements to come at E3. In fact, you can watch Monday’s press conference right here on PlayStation.Blog. In the meantime, if you’ve got feedback or thoughts on this special PS Plus update, leave them below, or, if you’re looking to engage with more of the PS community, make sure you head over to the PlayStation Community Forums to discuss this week’s news more, find other topics to contribute your thoughts to, or start one for yourself. See you in the comments!

Come and Join the LittleBigPlanet Forums!

Each week on Sack it to Me, we give just an overview into the latest community activities and creations for LittleBigPlanet. The fun and creativity doesn’t stop there though! Our community is a constant hub of activity, so why not come and join us on the Official LittleBigPlanet Forums?

If you want to keep up-to-date with all of the latest LittleBigPlanet events, discussions and competitions – This is the place to be! So be sure to pop in and say hello!

LittleBigPlanet 2: Mm Picks

It’s time to take a look at some of the amazing creations being published by the community in our weekly LittleBigPlanet 2: Mm Picks.

We start this week’s showcase with Octagon Dial by tksksmz2, a mind-bending puzzler of a game that will see you twisting and switching colors around with the aim to get three of the same color in a row! Incredibly addictive and quite the challenge, have a go and see if you can get the high-score!

It’s time to get really retro in our next level, which was created by Mr_Hijinx.

Bunchy’s Adventure is a wonderful 8-bit extravaganza that sees the titular Bunchy the Bird collecting gems and jumping on enemies to reach his tomato nemesis. – A truly classic gaming adventure.

Our last stop this week is the brilliantly bouncy, Bounce of Galaxy! by LBPCreatorKit.

We’re back in familiar territory with some classic Sackboy platforming here… Well, as familiar as you can get with Sackboy when he’s bouncing all over a space station in a whacky adventure! – As an extra game, see if you can count how many times Sackboy bounces in the video below:

Jump over to LBP.me now and be sure to queue up all of these amazing LittleBigPlanet 2: Mm Picks!

Community Spotlights: LBPCentral’s Community Spotlight – 105

It’s time for some keen level reviewers from within the community to highlight their own favorite levels from LittleBigPlanet 2 and this week it’s LBPCentral.com’s turn!

LBPCentral Community Spotlight: 105

The LBPCentral.com Spotlight Crew have a brilliant eye for quality, so you should check out this great hub level to see just what they think we should all be playing.

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita: Team Pick

This week’s Team Pick is Xenomooch by tsr13. Xenomooch is a pun and fun filled point-and-click adventure game set in space. It will take some time to play through it all, but thanks to some clever use of the Memoriser you can come back to it later and continue from where you left off.

Xenomooch By tsr13

“A different kind of alien adventure.”

Start Your Engines! New Karts Available Now!

Sackboy has a brand new selection of Karts available to add to his garage in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Nothing says speed better than these vehicles from the LittleBigPlanet Emergency Services!

You may be driving a Police Car or an Ambulance but don’t expect other Sackfolk to pull over for you and let you overtake them in the middle of a race! It’s LittleBigPlanet Karting and every racer is in it for themself!

Race on over to our Game Add-Ons Catalogue to check out these rather fab new vehicles, and whilst you’re there, take a moment to peruse all of the DLC Costumes that are now available for LittleBigPlanet Karting!

From dressing up your Sackperson in the latest styles to tricking out your Kart with the new hotness, customization is one of the most rewarding parts of playing LittleBigPlanet Karting. It provides a powerful, dynamic way to express yourself while you’re venturing through the abundance of tracks, arenas, and other fantastic content that Karting has to offer.

However, the LBP universe is vast. So vast, many of our biggest Karting fans are also huge fans of our other LittleBigPlanet titles, such as LittleBigPlanet 2 and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita. So instead of limiting your wardrobe to what’s available in Karting, today we’re adding a new feature to the game that will allow you to bring your other LBP DLC costumes along for the ride – entirely for free!

Plus, if you purchase any new costumes in the future, your updated wardrobe will be automatically available across all of our LittleBigPlanet titles. So no matter which LittleBigPlanet game you’re enjoying, worrying about your costume options are now a thing of the past!

For more information on Cross-Compatibility, be sure to check out our FAQ.

As if that weren’t enough, we’re also offering four new Emergency Services Karts as well – a Police Car, a Fire Truck, an Ambulance, and even a Recue Dinghy – which are actually designed to match each of the Emergency Services uniforms!

Of course, these Karts are exclusive to LittleBigPlanet Karting, so don’t miss your chance to snag them. You won’t see them anywhere else!

Are you in Canada? Did you score some sweet gift cards over the holidays? If yes, you’ll want to check out PlayStation Canada’s Boxing Week sale.

Between December 25th and December 31st, you can pick up a 160GB PlayStation 3 system for $199.99 at Best Buy, EB Games, Future Shop and Walmart. This console is perfect for a new PS3 owner, or is a great second system if you already have a PS3.

But, that’s not all we have on sale for Boxing Week – one of our favourite games is also available at a discount. You can pick up LittleBigPlanet Karting for $29.99. Playing this year’s biggest and best games on PS3 is a great way to spend the rest of the holidays.

If you’re still looking for more great Canadian PlayStation deals, check out our Play Days promotion. Play Days is on until Thursday, January 10, 2013. For more information, click here.

So, Canadian PlayStation fans, let us know what gear you plan on picking up on sale in the comments, and enjoy the rest of the holidays!

Creating a quality track in LittleBigPlanet Karting is no easy task, so we’ve gathered this list to arm you with the knowledge you need to make use of some of the more advanced Creative methods. Have your own ideas? Let us know in the comments!

Track Modification

• Did you know your paint roller can follow the elevation of the terrain? Simply press L1 while painting your track and it will automatically stick to the topography below. This is a great way to keep your track flush to the ground without accidentally changing the terrain itself.
• If you’re looking for more precise track Creation, consider modifying your track’s Control Points. Control Points are automatically generated lines along your track that define its length, width, elevation, and direction. To modify them, simply use the Horizontal Shift / Vertical Shift tools (in your Track & Arena Edit Popit menu) to edit the position of existing Control Points, and the Add / Remove Control Points tool to create / delete them entirely.
• Consider including a shortcut! Well-designed shortcuts are fantastic ways to reward clever racers with a small head-start or a hidden prize (or both!). To create one, you have two options at your disposal (in Track & Arena Edit): Branches or Breadcrumbs.
• Branches are fairly simple to create but more limited in terms of potential, making them perfect for quickly making alternate paths or other more “basic” shortcuts. Just pick two points along the track and, provided they’re valid, a shortcut will be automatically generated.
• Breadcrumbs are not as easy to utilize for shortcut creation, but they’re also very flexible – making them perfect for more carefully-crafted off-track experiences. After choosing a starting point, simply use Left Stick to “drive” out a new Breadcrumb path. Provided you return to the track and save, your new path will always be a valid route. However, Breadcrumbs are not displayed on screen in Play mode, so racers will not know about your new route automatically – you have to tell them somehow!

Selection and Grouping (add 1)

• The dedicated Grouping Tool is useful, but we also have a nifty shortcut for those looking for quick Grouping. Simply grab one of the objects you’d like to Group, move it until it is touching the others (look for the highlight around them), then press and hold X until you see “Glued!” pop up on the screen. Voilà – you have a new Group!
• Although Karting supports standard Groups, you can also create temporary Groups which immediately disband once you are done modifying them. To make one, whip out your Popit cursor, press the Down directional button to enable Group mode, then hold down X and “paint” the cursor through each of the items you’d like to Group. When you’re finished highlighting, simply press X again to confirm the selection.
• Need more precision when creating temporary Groups? Instead of painting your selection with X, use Triangle to individually select each item you’d like to include.

Materials

• Not all Materials are made equal – some have different physical properties, some are animated, and some even serve special Create purposes. Make sure to experiment!
• Like the shape of your new object, but not a fan of the material? Have no fear: the Material Changer is here! Simply grab the Material Changer from the Functions menu in your Tools Bag, pick out a Material you like, and then select an object to instantly change its material. (Remember, this includes physical properties too, such as weight and friction. Keep this in mind, as it can have a huge effect on your track!)
• Sometimes you’ll find that you like the material of an object, but you don’t like the direction its pattern (or “texture”) is facing. That’s where the UV Tool comes in! The UV Tool allows you to modify both the rotation and position of the textures on each of your object’s sides (or “faces”), allowing for very detailed customization of its appearance. Simply snag the UV Tool from the Functions menu in your Tools Bag, select with X the object you’d like to modify, and then follow the on-screen tooltips to make changes to each face.

Miscellaneous

• Tutorials can be viewed from both your “Me” Pod menu and the Create Mode Popit “Tutorials” menu, but did you know there’s also a third method? While in Create Mode, simply highlight any Tool, Gadget, or other item in your Popit and press Square to view its context menu. If a Tutorial is available, a special “Tutorial” option will appear that you can use to instantly brush up on how that Popit item works. Handy!
• Creating custom weapons? Be sure to explore the Weapon Frequency page in the Weaponator Tweak Popit menu – it allows you to customize a racer’s chance of receiving each available weapon based on their current position in the race, making it a very powerful tool for influencing the way your track ultimately plays.
• Don’t forget to check the Global Settings menu in your Popit. It’s packed to the brim with ways to further customize your Track: sounds, lighting, fog, and more!

If you enjoyed this post, consider picking up the LittleBigPlanet Karting Prima Official Game Guide! It’s packed to the brim with even more tips, tricks, and other ideas, making it the perfect companion for budding track Creators. Grab your copy today!

First up, we have this brand new set of Marvel Heroes Costumes to reveal to you.
LittleBigPlanet always needs heroes and we have two brand new costume packs heading your way containing a whole bunch of new Marvel Heroes to help save the day!

This week we will be releasing Marvel Heroes Costume Pack 5 which contains Black Bolt, Black Widow, Iron Fist, Nova and Star Lord.
Not only that, we will have Marvel Heroes Costume Pack 6 containing an additional five costumes coming early in the New Year.
As an extra gift to you, we have also put together the rather nifty wallpaper that you can see above, so be sure to download it right away!

Winter Seasonal Creator Kit Re-Release

Winter is fast approaching and it’s time to fill up some LittleBigPlanet levels with some suitably winter cheer, which coupled with our previously released Festive Level Kit and Santa Costume, will give you everything you need to add some festive cheer to your levels.

Craftworld Christmas Collaboration: Music Giveaway!

It’s the time for giving and the newly formed Craftworld Collaboration team are doing just that!

If you’ve just put together a rather festive creation and you’re stuck with trying to find the perfect song for your brand new level, then perhaps you can dig deep into the Winter stocking that is the Craftworld Christmas Collaboration: Music Giveaway and find the tune that’s just right for you!

So if you’re looking for some festive music to add to your own levels or just want to crank up LittleBigPlanet’s very own music jukebox for your Christmas party, be sure to head to this level!

Craftworld Christmas Collaboration: Music Giveaway! By CraftworldCollab

Time Saver DLC coming to LittleBigPlanet PS Vita this week!

This week will see the release of the Time Saver DLC for LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and will be available for $2.99.

This unique DLC will instantly grant you access to all of the collectible goodies from the game’s main story and tutorials. So you can immediately start creating the most fantastic levels with all of these great assets!

Of course you will still be able to get all of the game’s Trophies, even if you purchase the LittleBigPlanet PS Vita: Time Saver DLC!

Rocket Cheetah is now taking LBP PS Vita Video Requests

Chimpanzee over at the Rocket Cheetah website is also in a festive giving mood and is kindly offering to record your LittleBigPlanet PS Vita levels for you!

So, if you have published or even recently played a great LittleBigPlanet PS Vita level that you want everyone else to see, you can ask Chimpanzee to record them for you.

Simply go to his Video Request Page and fill out the form.

That way you can get even more people to see the awesomeness that you have published or discovered for LittleBigPlanet PS Vita! Such as this great level by deadmn!

Now that you’ve seen this great level in action, why not head over to Vita.LBP.me and queue it up ready for the next time that you’re playing LittleBigPlanet PS Vita?

[LBLV1] The high life By deadmn

LittleBigPlanet Karting: Team Picks

We’ve prepared an exciting set of LittleBigPlanet Karting: Team Picks for you this week, including a visit to Mount Hades and a rather fun jungle jam for our speediest of Sackfolk.
Give ‘em a go – we can’t wait for you to enjoy them!

Mount Hades (God of War) By FIaco

War of the Sackworlds By ZhugeLiang527

LittleBigHouse Raceway By ZhugeLiang527

Jungle Jam By Ebolaids

Still haven’t gotten behind the wheel of LittleBigPlanet Karting? You’re in luck: the official LBP Karting Demo is available now! Containing a Tutorial track, two Story tracks, a minigame, and a solid selection of costumes, karts, stickers, and more to customize your experience with, the Karting demo is a fantastic way to try our game before you buy.

Give it a go and if you enjoy it, remember that the full game contains over 10 times more tracks, costumes, and other content than the demo. And that’s just what’s on the disc! Add to that all of the content made in Create mode and the list becomes nearly endless. LittleBigPlanet Karting has only been in the community’s hands for a few weeks now, and there is already a ton of content to download and start exploring. So if you’re not feeling especially creative and would rather jump right into some pre-made levels, there’s plenty to choose from.

We’re also releasing a new trailer for Karting today, which showcases the massive potential of the game’s Creative toolset. We could say more, but let’s let the trailer speak for itself.

Like what you see? Then click here or head over to your favorite video game retailer to get your copy today!

You may think a bunch of puppets in go karts doesn't have any narrative significance but this LittleBigPlanet Karting trailer proves there's a real conflict fueling this racing game.

We’re packing up some of our favorite games this fall and hitting the road to bring you the PlayStation Varsity Challenge. We want you to come battle it out in a gaming tournament for a chance to win prizes, perks, bragging rights and the chance to compete in our final championship event in Spring 2013.

This year we’re featuring PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and NHL 13. Come out to play with PlayStation and our partners – NOS, Virgin Gaming and EB Games – to prove that you’re the best video game brawler, a first place karting champ or a hot shot hockey star.

Students outside Ontario – we’re sad we can’t visit you this year, but we’re looking forward to expanding our tour next year. Tell us where you are, and we’ll do our best to bring you the chance to compete.

October 16th-17th York University: Student Centre October 30th-31st Queen’s University: John Deutsch Student Centre November 6th-7th University of Ottawa: The Agora November 13th-14th University of Western Ontario: UCC November 19th-20th University of Guelph: Centre Courtyard November 22nd-23rd University of Waterloo: Student Life Centre-Great Hall November 26th-27th McMaster University: Market Place December 3rd-4th University of Toronto: Location TBC

For more information check out the PlayStation Varsity Challenge app on our Facebook page.

Apparently, after the events of LittleBigPlanet 2, mysterious beings from far away lands arrived on Craftworld and began hoarding all of the world's most valuable treasures, with no other motivation than to be in possession of them. Somehow, this all translates to go-kart racing.

This summer from June 25th to 29th, seven of our LittleBigPlanet community super creators joined the LittleBigPlanet Karting team at SCEA’s San Diego Studio for a Game Jam to help test drive Sackboy’s fastest and most competitive adventure yet. During their stay, they Played a variety of the built-in tracks, Created using LittleBigPlanet Karting‘s revolutionary 3D Create mode, and Shared their thoughts and opinions with all of us here at the studio, so that we could utilize their feedback to help shape LBPK into the best game possible.

On the last few days of the visit, we took the opportunity to document their experiences and get their take on LBPK as a whole, so that we could turn their impressions into a video and share it with our fans. So, in honor of PAX Prime this weekend – a show designed for the fans – we’re happy to present the finished product with all of you. Enjoy!

LittleBigPlanet Karting’s November 6th release date is coming up fast — don’t forget that you can pre-order the game now! Those who pre-order at GameStop will receive the exclusive Headstart Pack, which unlocks over 900 items – karts, costumes, materials, and music – as soon as you boot up the game. This way, you can start creating and sharing amazing levels without having to collect every item. With a new 3D LittleBigPlanet Karting world, there will be no end to the unique content you can invent! Also for GameStop preorders, fans will receive a United Front Games General Costume and an Arcade Cabinet Kart. These pre-order items are in addition to the previously announced Kevin Butler Sackboy Costume and Executive Golf Kart – pretty cool!

If you find yourself in Seattle for PAX this weekend, come visit the LittleBigPlanet section of the PlayStation Booth for some major Playing, Creating, and Karting! We will be showcasing new race and battle courses in LittleBigPlanet Karting, and our lucky and loyal fans can score a PAX-exclusive, fan-created, LBPK T-shirt chosen from last month’s PS.Blog contest. It’ll be a LittleBigParty weekend — you won’t want to miss out!

#littlebigplanet The coolest kart racer we never knew we wanted fires the starting gun on November 6, when creative types begin flooding the PlayStation Network with crazy tracks for the crazy racers of LittleBigPlanet Karting. More »

LittleBigPlanet Karting will have its vehicles cobbled together and ready to roll on Tuesday, November 6 in North America, Sony announced today. Of course, you'll be free to do your own cobbling after that.

To accompany this news, Sony sent out the new "Summer Sports" trailer, which is worth a watch for anyone carrying a torch for this game. Honestly, it just shows us what we're missing in the summer Olympics. Right now, the best Slap Judo athletes in the world are going untested.

Good news, everyone… we can finally share the release date for LittleBigPlanet Karting! You’ll be able to get your hands on Sackboy’s fastest adventure yet in North America on Tuesday, November 6th.

Here’s a new trailer to get your competitive juices flowing:

Now that we’ve got you nice and amped up, don’t forget you can pre-order LittleBigPlanet Karting right now! Those who do will receive an exclusive Kevin Butler Sackboy Costume and Executive Golf Kart.

Also, don’t forget you still have one day left to enter the LBP Karting PAX T-Shirt Contest! This is your chance to design our PAX Prime LBP Karting t-shirt, which will be shared with thousands of fans at the show in Seattle — you might even win a PlayStation Vita! Check out the contest page for all of the details and rules, and to enter.

In LittleBigPlanet Karting, get behind the steering wheel and get ready to race through fun-filled tracks, discover unlockables in 3D environments, and battle in karting arenas filled with pick-up items and weaponry, all in an unmistakably LittleBigPlanet open world. Players can sculpt their own unique racing experience using the in-game editor to customize tracks, karts, weapons and Sackboy costumes, then download designs built by players around the world — your race never has to end!

Last year we released a special LittleBigPrius level which formed the basis for a popular creation contest. The level was very well-received and has been played more than 300,000 times to date! The winning contest entry, Prius_Eco Adventure, became an Mm Pick and has been played over 88,000 times — pretty cool, right?

Now we’re back again with another custom level and contest, courtesy of our friends at Progressive Insurance. You might have downloaded the free Flo mod, kart, and track content for ModNation Racers, but now everyone’s favorite raven-haired, red lipstick and apron wearing spokeswoman is coming to LittleBigPlanet. It seems that those two salesmen from “A. Nother Insurance Company” have attempted to steal Flo’s bundler tool, with unexpected results!

This level is the focal point of a “Create Your Own Level” contest, which officially begins tomorrow. Play our “LittleBigProgressive” level to collect prize bubble items, and use them to create your own Progressive-inspired level. When you publish your level to the world, be sure to name it “Pro [Your level name here…]” so that it will be easy for everyone to find.

Make sure you get your level built and published prior to the conclusion of the contest at midnight on Tuesday, September 4th. That’s when our judges will take a closer look at the 10 most popular levels, as determined by the LittleBigPlanet community. We’ll judge these levels based upon originality, quality/polish, Progressive brand awareness, and use of the items obtained from our “LittleBigProgressive” level. From these finalists, we’ll pick a Grand Prize winner who will receive a PlayStation 3, a PlayStation Vita with a 4GB memory card, and copies of LittleBigPlanet Karting and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, as well as both the PS3 and PS Vita versions of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as soon as the game is released. Our four Second Place winners will receive a PS Vita with a 4GB memory card and a copy of LittleBigPlanet PS Vita. That’s a whole lot of gaming goodness right there! The full contest details can be found here.

The Perseids Costume Returns!

To celebrate the annual return of the Perseids Meteor Shower to our night’s sky, we are re-releasing the Perseids Costume for LittleBigPlanet this week.

This rather dazzling costume is free, and will only be available for one week!

Be sure to head on over to the Store later this week to pick up this rather special costume for your Sackperson before it’s too late. Otherwise — much like the Perseids Meteor Shower itself — you will have to wait until next year for it to return.

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita Release Date Announced

Just in case you missed the news, last week we announced that Sackboy’s upcoming portable adventure will be released September 25th in North America!

That means that in just seven weeks, you will be able to join Sackboy on his amazing journey as explores the exciting new world of Carnivalia.

LittleBigPlanet Karting Beta Recap

On July 10th, the LittleBigPlanet Karting Beta opened its doors to the world, and for three weeks both fans and newcomers alike had the opportunity to experience LBP Karting for themselves. With nearly 350 levels published every day and over 125,000 total participants, the LBP Karting Beta was extremely successful and we again would like to thank everyone involved for their participation and feedback.

For those of you who didn’t get to play, we’d like to take this opportunity to share a sampling of some of the most impressive creations that were crafted using LBP Karting’s incredibly deep 3D Create tools. To check out the rest, take a peek at our full Beta recap, which was posted on the Playstation.Blog earlier this week.

Tree Top Tromp by AmazingFlyingPoo

Lava Tubin’ by Argorokx

Lightbeam from Outerspace by ShadowriverUB

You can also head over to LittleBigPlanetarium.com to check out some other great LittleBigPlanet Karting Beta videos, which have been collected and curated by our community for your viewing pleasure.

PAX T-Shirt Contest

Don’t forget you still have a few days left to enter the LBP Karting PAX T-Shirt Contest! This is your chance to design our PAX Prime LBP Karting t-shirt, which will be shared with thousands of fans at the show in Seattle — AND you even win a PlayStation Vita! Check out the contest page for all of the details, rules, and to enter (link to http://us.playstation.com/events/lbpkpaxcontest.html).

Mm Picks

This week we have a nice selection of new Mm Picks, as Sackboy explores Geraldo’s Hideout, Phosphur’s Dream and the Apple Garden in these great platforming adventures created by a trio of talented creators. Whilst our mini-game fans will enjoy a good game of Air Hockey or competing with their friends to see which Sackperson has the best lawn mowing skills!

Geraldo’s Hideout (1 Player Only) by Der_GamEr_1994

Game Studio – Grassive Aggressive: Rise of the Dillweed (2-4P) by

MiniS Game : Air Hockey retro version (update 1.04) by martsack

Phosphur’s Dream by BossVeg

Apple Garden [JPN] by Akinachan

Are you curious about how the Play, Create, Share ethos and charming DIY aesthetic of LittleBigPlanet transfer to a kart racer? Or do you just want to drive some super cute little cars? Either way, we can help!

Sony provided us with 1,000 codes that will allow any PS3 user in the US, Canada, or Mexico to enter the LittleBigPlanet Karting beta going on right now. All you have to do is click here to get yourself a code.

Hurry! The beta is only open through July 31. And then hurry while you're playing, because it's a racing game after all.

Get your beta code (North America only)

Sony's San Diego Studio recently held a game jam to do some hardcore testing on the Create tools for the upcoming LittleBigPlanet Karting, and apparently it went pretty well because the studio has announced the game's going into beta soon. The beta test for the title will start next Tuesday, July 10, and then go through the end of the month.

You can read some impressions from the game jam over on the forums, including some breathless (we imagine) excitement from the game's fans and players on how the title worked and what they made. Codes will go out soon to selected players, and the game itself is due out later on this year.

Sony's San Diego Studio recently held a game jam to do some hardcore testing on the Create tools for the upcoming LittleBigPlanet Karting title, and apparently it went pretty well, because the studio has announced the game's going into beta soon. The beta test for the title will start next Tuesday, July 10, and then go through the end of the month.

You can read some impressions from the game jam over on the forums, including some breathless (we imagine) excitement from the game's fans and players on how the title worked and what they made. Codes will go out soon to selected players, and the game itself is due out later on this year.

A select few beta applicants for LittleBigPlanet Karting will find the virtual gates open next week, with codes being sent out as of Tuesday, July 10. The PlayStation Blog tells us more people will be let in gradually before the program's conclusion on July 31.

If you didn't sign up for the beta and find you have an interest in doing so (those karts are awfully cute), you can still sign up online.

LittleBigPlanet Karting is accepting beta applications right this very moment. If you're interested in a PS3 Sackboy-Mario Kart-style mash-up, sign up through the PSN Beta page.

Sony of course warns that not everyone will qualify for the beta, but we assume the question "Do you own a PS3?" may be one with a correct answer, while "Which of the following games have you played before?" may be more lenient.

While touring the Sony booth at E3, we sat down with United Front Games design director William Ho to talk about LittleBigPlanet Karting. Check out the video above to learn how the studio is translating the vision of LittleBigPlanet into a completely customizable racer.

Weapons, tracks, and much more can be customized in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Take your loveable Sackboy online and battle it out go-kart style in Little Big Planet Karting.

LittleBigPlanet Karting's Design Director, William Ho, narrates a walkthrough on the E3 floor.

Swing across gaps, fire cannons and collect eggs in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Play, Create, Share...Kart!

Sackboy and friends go karting through your creations in Little Big Planet Karting.

With E3 less than a week away, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a quick update on what you’ll be seeing at the show in Los Angeles. We’ll be unveiling our multiplayer mode, which supports one to four players offline and one to eight players online, and I’m sure you’ll be reading plenty of hands-on reports from the press during E3 week. I can tell you that it’s addictively fun — you won’t want to put the controller down! We’ll also be showing off more of the single-player campaign that users will be able to explore, as well as some of the additional non-racing experiences that are unique to LBP Karting, so get ready!

Secondly, I wanted to quickly thank our friends in the press who have spoken highly of Sackboy’s newest karting adventure. As IGN put it…”LittleBigPlanet Karting is already an incredibly promising step up and a great new direction for the LittleBigPlanet franchise.” To give you a sense of the recent impressions out there so far, here are a few links— Chicago Tribune, Forbes, IGN, 1UP, Kotaku, Game Informer, GameTrailers, Destructoid, Digital Trends, GameSpot, Games Radar, Polygon, GameFan, etc.

Lastly, I wanted to pass along a quick reminder about our pre-order bonus offer. Those who pre-order the game through Amazon or GameStop will receive a bonus voucher code that grants access to the Kevin Butler DLC Pack, which includes the Kevin Butler Sackboy Costume and Executive Golf Kart. Here’s a look…

The easiest part of showing off LittleBigPlanet Karting is just getting to play it outside of United Front Games. We don’t make fun, fresh, addictive games just for ourselves. We make them for you, your friends, your brothers, your sisters, Little Timmy and even for Crazy Uncle Larry. So it’s incredibly important for us to get the game in the hands of real people — real gamers — like we did in Los Angeles last week.

Thanks to everyone who came from the four corners of globe to get hands-on time with LittleBigPlanet Karting. Merci, France! Gracias, Mexico and Spain! Spasibo, Russia! Cheers, Australia! No worries, Canada!

It was great to see smiles for every drift and every jump, every big air swing with the Grappling Hook and every on-the-spot slapfight. Our new Battle Mode was definitely a hit. “Garden Grip”, a race course that lovingly pays homage to the very first LBP level, opened everyone’s eyes to how beautiful Craftworld can be in full 3-D. And “Future Perfect,” a race course that captures the joy of flying, showed that the Imagisphere never stops expanding. We hope that everyone saw for themselves that LittleBigPlanet Karting promises to be a great new karting adventure.

The hardest part of taking part in events like these is not having enough time to talk about every single cool thing in LittleBigPlanet Karting. I think the fastest I’ve ever talked about the game’s entire feature set in one sitting is one hour and forty minutes. And I had to talk *fast*. There’s a lot of stuff for even the most seasoned LittleBigPlanet veterans to absorb.

So over the next while, my teammates and I are looking forward to revealing more of LittleBigPlanet Karting’s secrets and surprises. Stay tuned for answers to burning questions like:

• Can I really make any karting adventure I can imagine? I have a pretty good imagination…
• Can Crazy Uncle Larry play LittleBigPlanet Karting with me? He hasn’t played a video game since 1994…
• I’ve always wanted to shoot my friends with heat-seeking cows that spew green gas. Can I put that in a race? Please? Pretty please?