Sony: "LittleBigPlanet potentially PS3's biggest game"

Sony plans an open beta but demo unlikely.

Upcoming user-generated platformer LittleBigPlanet could be the PS3's biggest game of 2008, Sony has said.

Speaking at an event for the game in London, Sony's senior product manager Nick Robinson told VideoGamer.com that LittleBigPlanet, which allows users to create and share platform-based levels and objects through PSN, will be a triple-A Blu-ray release and will be a fully priced product.

He said: "LittleBigPlanet is potentially our biggest Blu-ray release of 2008. We definitely see it as a triple-A Blu-ray release and will be a full price product."

According to Robinson's comments, gamers can expect LittleBigPlanet to cost between £44.99 and £49.99 when it is released some time in September this year.

His comments will come as some surprise to certain Sony fans who might expect more conventional games to perform much better at retail. The PS3's confirmed exclusives for 2008 include first-person-shooters Resistance 2, Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.

Robinson also confirmed that Sony plans an open beta for the game at some point before its release, but said it will focus on the creation and sharing side of the game as opposed to traditional platform levels.

"It's not like you will get to play the full game early," he said. "It will focus on the create and share side of things. The potential for people to break the game is amazing."

However, it looks unlikely that we'll see a demo of the game. "I'm not sure," Robinson said when asked. "How do you do a Little Big Planet demo? If we put up a level people will just finish it."

He added: "You can't sum it up in a press release. And in some respects you can't sum it up in trailers."

Expect a hands-on preview of LittleBigPlanet right here on VideoGamer.com later in the week.