Day 165: LittleBigTurtles

Guess what? I have another video game post for you guys. I beat Modern Warfare 2, played online for like a day and then got bored. Now I'm back to a game that I bought a while ago and I kept put off playing: LittleBigPlanet 2.

Let me explain something about the LittleBigPlanet series. The games are comprised of over-the-top adorable characters called Sack Boys (or if you prefer the gender neutral, Sack Things) in a world made entirely of craft materials. It's all about using your imagination and creating whatever you can think of. You can play the story mode to collect new materials, build your own levels or play any of the millions of levels created by other users. The whole thing is very wholesome and cutesy and British so it's just oozing with cheekiness. And just so we're on the same page let me be very clear on this one thing:

I fucking love LittleBigPlanet.

I was totally on board for this adorable-train well before the first game was released. I got into the beta and loved every second of it and LittleBigPlanet is one of the few games I actually bought myself on the day it was released. I played the shit out of it, collected every prize/costume/sticker thing and I created my own level (it's a Hogwart's level and it's bitchin'). I even have my own character that I created for myself in the game. Part of the fun is collecting different materials and outfit pieces to customize your Sack Boy in a trillion different ways, but I created this character early on and have pretty much stuck with him ever since. I used him as my Facebook and Twitter profile pictures for a long time and it drives my wife crazy that I'm so attached to this guy. I call him the Dapper Lion and if you see him online say hi, cause he is me.

The Dapper Lion in all his... dapperness.

My good friend, Mandy, even crocheted me a Sack Boy with a Dapper Lion mask to go with it.

 I made a top hat later, but don't have a picture.

So, LittleBigPlanet was one of my favorite games of all time, and then a second one came out and... I didn't get it. I don't remember why I didn't buy it at the release. I remember wanting to, but I waited and bought it used some time later. Even then I played it very little for some reason. I think in my mind LittleBigPlanet is a big time commitment because I really want to finish the story-mode, get all the prizes and use those things to create some new levels I've been thinking of. That's a lot of work and inevitably I found other games to play that were less time intensive or that I was more excited to play right then. I had grown comfortable with LittleBigPlanet and I took it for granted. That was up until about a week ago.

I finished Modern Warfare 2 (or at least what I wanted to get out of it) and I thought, "Hmm... maybe now is a good time to get back into LittleBigPlanet 2." Since then I've been finding little snippets of time to play whenever I can. I'm reliving all the fun I had with the first one and I'm glad I came back to it. I don't know what I was thinking before. LittleBigPlanet is not time-intensive. It's perfect for killing 5 or 10 minutes on some user created content, or spending a whole day bulding your own creations. That's one of the things I love about the game; it can be whatever you want it to be.

Anyway, I'll stop gushing about this game even though I really do love it. And in case you're wondering I do have a Ninja Turtle costume for my Sack Boy. I have the ability to make all of the Turtles, but the only one I have saved is Donatello. The color's a bit off because I took the photo of my TV. It's not my design, but it looks pretty good.

Day 25: The Turtles Get Electric Powers

So for a while now I've been playing this game on my PS3, inFamous 2. It's awesome. If you haven't heard of the inFamous games the basic premise is an explosion goes off in the city and gives you--a kind of assholish bike messenger guy--electrical super powers. You can throw bolts of electricity, grind along electrified power lines and climb basically any structure using a combination of your character's love of parkour and an increased control over your own electromagnetism. I love the story line and the comic book style cut scenes. I even loved the main character's Batman-esqu comically gruff voice in the first one. inFamous was one of the few games to surprise me with the ending and I can't wait until I finish the sequel.

While playing inFamous 2 the other day I was inspired. What would it be like if the Ninja Turtles gained power over electricity? Well, I imagine it would look something like this. Donatello is obviously becoming drunk on his power, but I'm sure that will be overtaken by the desire to do good. Michelangelo is climbing a building after probably accidentally blowing himself off the roof with an electrical explosion. Rafael is channeling his powers to create a massive lightning storm (and posing like Raiden) and Leonardo is trying out his static thrusters which will enable him to glide through the magical use of electricity just like in the game. The last thing I want everyone to notice is the color of the electricity they're using. It's blue, which, if you've played the game, you know means they're all good guys. Bad guys get red lightning powers, good guys get blue, just in case you were wondering.