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Look sharp, US-based Sackboy enthusiasts -- an update on PlayStation.Blog has revealed that the beta test for LittleBigPlanet 2 will be expanded next week, when a second round of invites will be sent out to a mix of "LBP contributors, DLC owners and PlayStation Plus members" worldwide. The update explains that this will be a "small phase," so if you're not one of the chosen ones, don't feel too bad about it.

Just kidding, of course! You're going to feel really bad about it when you watch LBP 2's happy-go-lucky "Bounce Pad" featurette posted after the jump, because you're going to be sad that you're not playing it right now.

Greetings Sackfolk! Tons of cool new videos to share today, starting with a new LittleBigPlanet 2 featurette.

Featurette: Bounce Pads

Many of you wanted to see more uses of the new Bounce Pads in LittleBigPlanet 2 and in our latest featurette, we highlight its use with a little creation of our own.

If you missed it, check out our Grappling Hook Featurette, and for the future, let us know what else you want to see.

Coming Soon: New LittleBigPlanet PSP Story levels courtesy of our fans!
We can honestly say that we didn’t see this coming! Introducing Kindred, “a collaborative project that introduces a brand new story level series to the PSP community.”

Kindred is a completely new storyline developed by some fabulous Creators over on LBPCentral. In addition to the teaser trailer, we love the mini-marketing teaser posters. Find out more at their main page.

To the Kindred team: amazingflyingpoo, Arrestor/Maboe84, BlueBulletBill, CyberSora, Domick12, Fastbro, jeffcu28, Lleonard Pler/Lleonard, salieri/SalieriAAX, Spark15, Taffey/tsr13, VelcroJonze. That’s quite a team you guys have assembled! We’ve come to know your talent and individual styles through all the community competitions, and some of you have already received Sackies from us for your hard work. We look forward to seeing this project when its done.

Introducing “LBP Bloggies”
Thanks to our friends at Sony Electronics, we’re rolling out little series called “LBP Bloggies”. Recently, with a Bloggie HD in hand at our recent LBP2/PAX Community Corner, we wanted to showcase all the cool games/levels that were being made from our hand-picked community Creators. Here’s our first showing off Morgana25′s simple, yet beautifully designed PAX maze level. (…please excuse my high-pitched nasally voice…)

More PAX/LBP Bloggies to come, and stay tuned for opportunities to join our LBP Bloggie team.

AND FINALLY…LittleBigPlanet 2 U.S. online beta
Good news…the 2nd phase of our online beta will be ready next week. This phase will be a small phase, with invites going to a special mix of LBP contributors, DLC owners and PlayStation Plus members, so be on the lookout for an e-mail soon with your beta code. Don’t worry: there are more beta phases in the works, so if you don’t get in next week, we’ll keep you posted on following phases.

Hands-on with the uniquely designed cooperative mode that gives Media Molecule's platformer surprising new life.

Media Molecule delayed LittleBigPlanet 2 until next year because the developer did not want the game to be dependent on launch-day patches. Speaking with VG247, MM head Alex Evans explained the team wanted the retail disc to "perfect" and something the company could be "proud of," ensuring that folks who didn't have a PS3 connected to the internet would still receive the "full experience" without patches.

"We could have shipped it and it would have been fine," Evans told the site. "However we realized that with just a couple of extra weeks we could make the game super amazing, adding the super onto the already amazing which exists today. This is something that will live forever and the delay, people will forget about."

Strangely, at no point in the interview did Evans say, "Oh yes, and one more thing, the real reason we delayed LBP2 was to spite that Griffin McElroy. Muahahahahahahaha!" Seriously, poor guy hasn't stopped rocking in the corner, wracked with denial, since the delay was announced last month.

#ps3 LittleBigPlanet 2 gamers will be able pretzel the recently-delayed game into the shape of many other games, including Street Fighter 2, Zone of the Enders and, seen here, relaxing 2007 downloadable PlayStation 3 game flOw. More »

Greetings Sackboys (and Sackgirls),

I’m sure you’ve heard the news yesterday about our new release date, January 18th. We’re bummed too, but with still so much LBP goodness floating around we wanted to keep you updated on the latest…

Must-see LittleBigPlanet 2 beta videos

Over in the UK, where the LittleBigPlanet 2 online beta has already started, there have been some amazing new games being made by our CREATORS. We’ve been watching all the new videos appearing on the web and wanted to share our favorites.

Making the most out of the LBP/ Street Fighter costumes (by Gevurah22)

Top-down racing anyone? (by Compherm)

Brilliant flOw remake (by Raphaei)

For a one-stop site for more videos, check out LittleBigPlanetGalaxy.com’s coverage of all the amazing LBP2 beta levels.

And don’t worry — the US phase of the LBP2 beta is almost here…

LBP2 physics analyzed

Our friends at EuroGamer are working on an extensive tech analysis of LBP2. Here’s a quick preview (with videos) of improvements to the new physics engine and graphical improvements.

Sackboys sighted

Looking for those hard to find Sackboy toys?!?!? Apparently, Toys “R” Us has them on store shelves now, so run don’t walk to your nearest Toys “R” Us.

Love 3D Dot Heroes? Love Sackboy? We’ve got some great news for you…

Community Happenings

LittleBigLand’s 4-in-1 Epic-Ness competition unveils its entries. Consider these must plays over the weekend.

And finally, our Daniel and Austin with yet another LittleBigPodcast. Amazing you guys are up to 86 episodes. Love the Move love!

While we're still so totally mad at LittleBigPlanet 2 for its recently announced delay, we couldn't avoid sharing Digital Foundry's recent examination of the game's improved graphics engine. In a series of levels designed to test the game's graphical strength, the Digital Foundry team compared the fog, lighting, textures and special effects to those of LittleBigPlanet the first, concluding that ... um, the sequel looks way better.

However, the comparison brought about concerns that some minor changes between the two engines, such as the draw distance of fog effects, might end up breaking some of the user-made levels from the first game. Check out the comparison photos and video over on Digital Foundry.

As you may have heard today, Media Molecule shared some news regarding the release date of LittleBigPlanet 2. Obviously this is a big blow to our LittleBigPlanet fans, but we’re sure you’ll understand our decision. As we focus on a 2011 release for our North American, Canadian, and Latin America consumers, we look forward to releasing LittleBigPlanet 2 on January 18th, 2011. Please keep an eye out for more game details and updates as we move closer to our launch.

Here is the statement from Media Molecule:

LittleBigPlanet 2 is a crazy dream, a dream to allow players to make whatever kind of game they want, but also to play though a great adventure of drama and excitement, power-ups, and cinematics. But like all of the most ambitious ideas, it can be a considerable challenge to turn these dreams in fun games. We’ve all been working like powered-up space ninjas and we’re almost there, but because we love what we’ve made, and we love our little sack-friends, and most of all we love all our fans out there, we couldn’t let you all get together until we knew we were giving you the best experience imaginable. Which is why we’ve taken the hard decision to delay the worldwide release of LittleBigPlanet 2, originally slated for later this year to January 2011.

We know this will come as disappointing news for all you LittleBigPlanet fans, and believe us, we are disappointed too. We are a tight-knit team and we take enormous pride in our work, so to raise the bar we’ve set with the original LittleBigPlanet, a game that has been so embraced by all, we’ve agreed to allow ourselves a bit more time to deliver the experience that our great fans and community deserve. We are truly sorry, but hope you understand that we have to build the best possible game, as it is the foundation of our community.

On the upside, we are going to find a way to give more of you a taste of LBP2 prior to launch, so stay tuned.

Thanks for your continued love and support, it won’t be long – we promise.

Lots of love from all at Mm

Sony-owned studio Media Molecule has announced that LittleBigPlanet 2 will miss its original November 2010 release date and arrive sometime during January 2011. Writing on the official website, the development team expressed disappointment, but deemed the extra time necessary to deliver "the experience that our great fans and community deserve."

"We've all been working like powered-up space ninjas and we're almost there, but because we love what we've made, and we love our little sack-friends, and most of all we love all our fans out there, we couldn't let you all get together until we knew we were giving you the best experience imaginable."

Considering the complexity seen in some of the game types and levels in the LBP2 beta so far, fans can clearly imagine some impressive experiences already. We'll see you next year, Sackboy.

Sackboy sacked off until next year.

#clips Watch as players transform LittleBigPlanet into Guile's Street Fighter 2 stage, a Zone of the Enders level, and a first-person shooter in these videos from the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta. More »

We have no earthly way of knowing who YouTube user TheFinalBurst is, but we're pretty sure the mystery creator's series of videos from the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta could serve as more effective marketing for the game than any ad campaign Sony could put together. Over the past week, TheFinalBurst's managed to create some mind-bogglingly intricate games using LBP 2's tool set -- games like Pac-Man, Micro Machines, an air hockey mini-game and even a first-person shooter, which we're still trying to wrap our heads around.

Check out a few of our favorite selections after the jump, or visit TheFinalBurst's YouTube page to check out all of this homebrew designer's brilliant creations. Those beta invites can't arrive soon enough.

A shared language isn't necessary for good co-op.

Jealous that you weren't one of the lucky few who got a golden ticket to join in the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta test? There's probably a pretty good reason for that: You don't live in Europe. A recent update on PlayStation.Blog clarified that the beta invites sent out earlier this week only went to active members of the European LBP community, and that similarly Sackboy-obsessed gamers living in the US and other countries will be added to the testing group "in a few weeks."

A few weeks? So we can either wait like, 21 days, or buy a plane ticket to London and forge some important citizenship documents? That sounds like an awful lot of work. On the other hand -- grappling hooks.

Online Beta Update

For those of you paying attention, you’ve probably heard that LittleBigPlanet 2 beta codes are being distributed. Here’s the skinny: Yes, beta codes are going out. But globally, we’re taking steps to best test our server environment, so we’re distributing beta codes in phases. The first phase of testing started earlier this week with our European LBP community. In a few weeks, we’ll be growing the participant base with US and other countries. More news to come…

Start Featurettes

With so many new features in LittleBigPlanet 2, its impossible to discuss all the new things in one sitting. So we’re introducing a series of LittleBigPlanet 2 Featurettes that highlight some of the many new things you can do in LBP2, such as the new Grappling Hook and the revamped SHARE experience. Stay tuned to the PlayStation.Blog for continuing episodes of LBP2’s Featurettes.

PAX Ends

The dust is still settling from this past weekend’s PAX 2010, and we had a blast seeing all our fans. From watching all the four-player fun, community corner activity (stay tuned next week when we start our “Bloggie” reports), the feverish lines for free Sackboy T-shirts, and the extremely sought after Sackboy plushies. Thanks to all our fans in making PAX 2010 our most memorable yet! And thanks to comphermc, confusedcartman, jaeyden, and morgana25 for hosting our Community Corner.

Here’s a quick glimpse of the fun we had over the weekend:

Mm’s Tom & Spaff right before the doors open

Sackboy plushies for sale!!!….before we sold out

Four-player goodness

And EPIC music sequencer usage

Tweet, Tweet!

We recently “officially” obtained the @LittleBigPlanet Twitter account, and our community managers at Media Molecule have been great at keeping our fans up-to-date on all things LBP. Follow us! (I have a wager that we can get over 100k followers by the end of the month, so please tell your friends and help me win!!!)

LittleBigChallenge

And finally: here’s a glimpse of the fun drawings from the previous artwork challenge. Great stuff guys, thanks for putting your links in our comments section!

This week, the challenge is to show us a picture of your in-game Sackboy. We’d love to see how creative you guys have been with the different outfits (I’m still working on my football outfit, but can’t seem to get it right). Add your link to the comments below and we’ll be sure to check it out.

What level could better demonstrate the practical applications of LittleBigPlanet 2's grappling hook than one based on Tarzan, the O.G. of using swinging as a form of locomotion? Check out Media Molecule's "Sackzan" featurette below, and imagine how you'll incorporate the new toy in your own levels.

Want an early sneak peek at LittleBigPlanet 2's fancy new features? Beta invitations will be going out this week, but they will be reserved for "users who've been really active in LittleBigPlanet," according to a post on PlayStation Europe's forums. If you haven't been playing, sharing and creating lately, you may be out of luck. "Unfortunately we are not able to recruit any further Beta Testers at present."

First off, thanks to all our LittleBigPlanet Creators! We’ve officially reached 3 million levels online. LBP fans FTW!

Packin’ for PAX

We’re neck deep in preparing for next week’s PAX (aka Penny Arcade Expo), a big gaming event in Seattle. While we’re at it, we wanted to send an early invite for you to come out and hang with us at PAX. We’ll have tons of activities, including:

• PLAY new Story mode levels
• CREATE in our hands-on Community Corner
• SHARE Central: Ask us any question and we’ll answer it!
• Sackboy PLUSHIES for sale!
• Photo ops with our larger-than-life Sackboy
• …and T-shirt GIVEAWAYS throughout the day.

Drop by during PAX (September 3 – 5) and look for us at booth #112. You can’t miss us!

Sackboy on the Web

• We owe our thanks to EatMyDst and SackRacer77, sorry we didn’t give you the props you deserved on the last post for the awesome cardboard POD!
• At the beach (by Rhyfelwr):

Keep a safe hold on your coffee…good stuff, Sarah!

Community Corner

Lots of community goodness from our ever-loving fans and fan sites.

• MUST-PLAY community level (seriously, this is amazing) = Dragon Slayer by Jaeyden and Centurion24
• More awesome LittleBigPlanet Contraptions (LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lEW9GbGbYU) from our EU sister community forum challenge…

• LittleBigLand.com’s LittleBigPlanet 2 FAQ update

And finally…

• Step-by-step instructions on how to draw your own Sackboy by Dawn at Dragoart.com

Let’s see YOUR drawings! Include a link in the comments below. Who knows? You might get some goodies from us…

Welcome Sackboys and Sackgirls! It’s been a few weeks since our last recap and, with gamescom underway, there are lots of new LittleBigPlanet 2 updates to share.

HOT LittleBigPlanet 2 interviews from gamescom (thanks GameSpot)

• Introducing the Creatinator with some frosty goodness.

• Welcome aboard the new U.S.S. Sackboy Spaceship! Play arcade games, experiment with reverse-gravity, and level link to watch cutscenes.
• Alex tells us how to make a top down racing game from the new Music Sequencer (MIND BLOWING).

Raw footage from the gamescom demos

• Gran “Fur”ismo – LittleBigPlanet 2’s latest top-down racing level

• Get a glimpse of one of the new levels with Sackboy and “unicycle-like doohickeys”
• “Low gravity” escape. And yes, gravity is adjustable now…

New on the PlayStation Store

• PS3: All 20 Marvel Sackboy costumes and level kit now available (plus new EPIC wallpaper

• PSP: Robin Hood: Men in Sacks DLC (You know you need some new tights)

Random images from the week

• Magazine cover awesomeness…

• Light writing goodness (cool stuff @Jac_sin)…

• Mt. Sackmore? A LittleBigPodcast exclusive …

• OMG, LBP POD!!!

#gamescom2010 I played a LittleBigPlanet 2 basketball game with Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans today, then watched someone else control multiple Sackbots in a puzzle game. Both were very different from LittleBigPlanet's platforming sections. Neither was as cool as the racing game Evans demonstrated. More »

The demo of LittleBigPlanet 2 that was shown at Cologne's Gamescom this week was similar to the build shown off to great effect at E3 a few months ago. But there was one significant level-editing feature that was being demonstrated for the first time here: a music sequencer that's also quite a bit more.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Technical Director Alex Evans demonstrated the sequencer, which lets you arrange notes on a four-measure grid with the beat at the bottom and multiple octaves of notes running vertically. You choose from a selection of instrument samples including a honky tonk piano, acoustic guitar, drum kit, beatbox, and roughly 30 more that were shown in the demo (more are expected for the final game, Evans said). Notes can be built into samples, which can then be repeated and mixed further via a larger timeline object in the level creation screen.

Dear Media Molecule: stop blowing our minds.

We know you just got that Passion Pit song from LittleBigPlanet 2's debut trailer out of your head, so we apologize for the video posted just after the break. Sony's Gamescom 2010 press conference offered its crowded attendees a look at even more of the customizable sequel's creation tools, such as the music editor and cutscene direction process. It also shows off more of the main campaign's multitude of colorful backdrops -- all set to the infinitely brain-adhering "Sleepyhead."

Check out the new video after the jump -- and keep your fingers crossed for a chance to get in the upcoming LittleBigPlanet 2 closed beta test.

#littlebigplanet Here's the GamesCom trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2. There are new features to see and new characters to meet, but really, like the first game, the best thing about it is the smile it puts on your face. More »

This week, on Media Molecules’ side of the Atlantic, is the gaming event known as gamescom (think E3, but in German). It’s a pretty big deal – and if you’re going to be in our neck of the woods, you’ll have a chance to hang with the ‘Molecules’ at their annual Fan Meet Up.

You’ll be able to check out the newest demo featuring tons of new LittleBigPlanet 2 games and levels. We’ll also be sure to update you with all the great press coverage and game footage that our press partners will get from the gamescom show floor.

For those of you that can’t make it (or just need a video to kick off the gamescom show) we have a new video for you highlighting more of the story you can expect from LittleBigPlanet 2.

There's a LittleBigPlanet 2 beta on the wayhttp://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/content.php?211-LBP2-Beta-Coming-soon! for a select group of lucky PS3 owners, but beyond that details are scarce. Keep an eye peeled! More »

Between the grappling hooks, AI Sackboys and gigantic, "Everlong"-sized hand attachments, we couldn't blame you for wanting to get your hands on LittleBigPlanet 2 before its release. You're in luck -- Media Molecule community guru Spaff recently announced on the game's official forums that, much like its predecessor, the game would undergo a beta process "soon."

Spaff didn't deliver any specifics about when it would begin, but did mention that information how recruitment will go down will also surface "soon." We'd imagine he means "sooner" than the actual beta kicks off -- in that instance, the actual time table for the beta test is "soon, but not the soonest," or, in simpler terms, "soonish."

There is plenty for LittleBigPlanet fans to soak up in the newest trailer for the customizable platformer's upcoming sequel. The most tantalizing clips offer a look at some of the new tools Sackboy will have at his disposal, including the Grappling Hook, Creatinator (used as a Shadow Complex-esque Foam Gun in this particular video) and the Power Gloves, which appear to allow Sackboy to lift enemies and objects and toss them at other things, Super Mario Bros. 2 style.

The PlayStation.Blog post revealing the trailer also gives a few hints about the game's plot, which sees Sackboy protecting "Craftworld" from the nefarious, vacuum cleaner-shaped Negativatron in an "epic adventure through time and space." Check out the video below the jump, and, as is the case with most of Media Molecule's marketing videos, get your tapping toe ready for a workout.

#clips Media Molecule and Sony have been focusing on LittleBigPlanet 2's versatile game creation tools, but as this latest trailer shows, it'll also have a deep adventure mode, and that adventure mode has grappling hooks. More »

I know you have been clamoring for more information about LittleBigPlanet 2. As always, Mark has keeping you in the know with FAQs on some of the features of LittleBigPlanet 2, as well as some of Sackboy’s new abilities that you’re dying to try out. Then last week at Comic-Con we announced our launch date and preorder goodies!

Excellent, yes, but what about the story mode, you ask? Let me just say this: if you enjoyed the story mode of the original LittleBigPlanet, then the new adventure you and your Sackboy (or Sackgirl) are about to go on will blow you away. Get ready for an all-new adventure, with an amazing new cast of characters that will take Sackboy on an “out-of-this-world” adventure.

A mysterious and terrible evil, The Negativitron, is out to destroy Craft World. The “Alliance” and our brand new Adventure trailer await you…

I know you’ll have more questions for us, so hit us up in the comments below and we’ll tell you what we can. Look for LittleBigPlanet 2 to hit your favorite retailer on November 16th, and as Mark mentioned, the Collector’s Edition is very limited — reserve your copy today.