Okay, Little Big Planet didn't sell as well as they had hoped. This got me thinking the other day why? It was such a hyped game... even if you weren't in to gaming chances are you have heard about it.

Little Big Planet were very generous with the amount of people they gave access to the beta, could this be linked to the low sales chart.

Now I for one loved the game, but I have to admit I got over it fairly quickly and started searching for something else to play. I dare say that a lot of the beta testers got their taste of what LBP had to offer and decided to not purchase the full game.

Do you think that Sony need to reduce the amount of beta testers in order to ensure better sale figures?

hummm. Maybe. nut then again the more peple that play the more word of moth will get about.

For LBP they should have limited the number of beta testers and released a small, almost teaser demo on the PSN.
I think that would have helped it.

But a Beta isn't there to spread the word, Beta's are in place to iron out some bugs that they may not have detected. Spreading the word of a game is all to do with marketing and advertising.

Another thing... when you get that many Beta testers there, you would think that upon release you would have a game that works fully out of the box.

More beta testers, Less Beta Players

I would like to point out betas have become tteasers. I mean come on public betas. while yes find bugs. Seem made more of as a teaser

I dont think so,I just think it was new and different so people were a bit apprehensive about it.

But a Beta isn't there to spread the word, Beta's are in place to iron out some bugs that they may not have detected. Spreading the word of a game is all to do with marketing and advertising.

Another thing... when you get that many Beta testers there, you would think that upon release you would have a game that works fully out of the box.

More beta testers, Less Beta Players

Distinguish between beta testers and beta players? Beta invites were sent out en masse to test the capacity of LBP's servers , and perhaps in the same way that demos can change people's minds betas can too, even if they aren't at a 100% complete stage.

Well, demos in my case do hurt the final product. I can probably fill this post with demos I have played that kept me from buying the game, but to give a few examples: Lord of the Ring: Conquest, Mirror's Edge, Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm. All these games had their own perks to them but the final product just felt too generic and dissuaded me from purchasing them.

In LittleBigPlanet's case... I didn't partake in the beta... I didn't purchase the game... I did nothing relating to it at all.

You may be wondering why I'm bothering to post in this threat and are probably thinking I'm about to flame everything. I assure you, I'm not.

I see LittleBigPlanet as a big innovation in something that doesn't mean a lot to me. User generated content is awesome, but frankly it wasn't that interesting. The gameplay as a platformer seemed like a more interactive Super Mario Bros with literal depth (as in being able to move at different depths away from the player). The ability to create your own levels was cool. I thought it really was a great idea. As much as a good idea it is, nothing, not commercials, reviews, friend's coersive statements, or anything could possibly get me to buy it let alone play it. It's just not captivating to me. Though I think the whole premise is cool, it doesn't fit my gaming style. I think that's the biggest driving factor in this. It's very casual in that from what I understand people can just pick up and play it, and then hardcore in that you can do - so - much in the creator, but it's different and doesn't hold mass appeal to specific genres, if that makes sense.

Basically it's an amazing concept that was pulled off successfully, but doesn't garner the mass appeal that everyone expected. I think it's a brilliant idea, very creative, but not what the masses are generally looking for.

I played in the beta and I own the game. I love it. I think that one of the problems that they are faced with is that often times, playing online is slow...very slow, which makes the experience not as much fun. Even when playing by myself and trying to play community levels, it can be a bit sluggish to load the game. This is something they need to fix. I know if I were to go to a friends house and he was playing the game and I saw that I would have to sit and wait over a minute for a level to load, I will probably not run right out and buy it.

Distinguish between beta testers and beta players? Beta invites were sent out en masse to test the capacity of LBP's servers , and perhaps in the same way that demos can change people's minds betas can too, even if they aren't at a 100% complete stage.

This is what I meant, surely developers would have access to proper beta testers, people who know what to look for and who can try to break the game and properly report on bugs... games like this should have more of a closed beta than an open one.

I think that once people heard about the beta keys to LBP, they instantly thought "woo... I get to play the game before anyone else..." Then thats what happened, they played the Beta to death, got their taste of the game and in essence saved themselves some money so they could buy another game to play. I am not saying that this is the instance in every case, I would like to know how many of the beta players went out after they closed it and purchased the game.

Now the same is happening with Killzone 2, the next big game on the PS3... what happens if the sales of this game aren't as explosive as they had hoped for? People at Sony and developers will start to ask questions "Is it worth it?"

I would also like to point out... in Australia, we don't get access to any of these beta's, only the demo's that are available over PSN which did not have a LBP demo.

demos only help to give a taste of what there is in the game. if its a good game, it will attract attention, and if it stinks, it is likely that more pope will turn away from it.

I think everyone is missing something pretty important here. What about advertising. Especially tv advertising. Sure word of mouth is important too, but if you aren't around on websites all day or might not even have a PS3 yet, shouldn't advertising be there to help generate more buzz about the product. There have been PS3 advertising, but not recently, it has pretty much just been generic advertising with no mention of the titles, just some clips playing on people's shirts and crap like that. I remember earlier in the year advertising for MGS4 and I am sure that brought a lot of attention. I see advertising on tv for Xbox games all the time, but only generic crap for the PS3. I think that right there is the problem not only with LBP but many games for the PS3 and the PS3 itself.

LBP got a lot of advertising on TV here in Australia... I know they did a lot of press advertising, billboards and such over in the states as well.

I think everyone is missing something pretty important here. What about advertising. Especially tv advertising. Sure word of mouth is important too, but if you aren't around on websites all day or might not even have a PS3 yet, shouldn't advertising be there to help generate more buzz about the product. There have been PS3 advertising, but not recently, it has pretty much just been generic advertising with no mention of the titles, just some clips playing on people's shirts and crap like that. I remember earlier in the year advertising for MGS4 and I am sure that brought a lot of attention. I see advertising on tv for Xbox games all the time, but only generic crap for the PS3. I think that right there is the problem not only with LBP but many games for the PS3 and the PS3 itself.


the problem with this:


Microsoft =
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


Sony =
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$ - minus 2 after todays hit on the stock market

the problem with this:
Microsoft =
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Sony =
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$ - minus 2 after todays hit on the stock market

That is very true, but I mean they should at least make an attempt at advertising. Every time I see a multi-platform game being advertised, it always shows the little XboxLive clip after it, with no mention of the PS3. I even see way more Wii commercials than PS3 commercials which seem to be non-existent. My family is into to gaming quite a bit, but my sister had never even heard of LBP until she visited for Christmas and showed it to her.

Anyway you look at it Sony needs to step it up