@ twestern, brilliant

Back on topic:
a) I just watched the video of this game on the PS blog and I am now certainly buying it just for a bit of fun
b) By the time this game is released (September) the PS3 will be down to $350 at the most (£250). Although this is still not quite "casual gamer price" it will still attract a wider range of consumers. With titles like this, Singstar and Buzz more casual gamers will be tempted to buy it, although I still think that it will not sell brilliantly, but I think it will break 1m

Actually there are other programs that are even more dumbed down the LBP. For example the one i linked couldn't be any more dumbed down.

Basically you are saying what it going to make it different is that it's on a console. (make you own games have been on consoles before.)

And that it's going to sell well. (Which has yet to be seen.)

I'd argue that creation of game content is in of itself a niche market, sure everyone like the occasional customization of your character, but very very few people are going to have the paitence to make their own stages. Even with the most user friendly interfaces.

It's also anything but casual. Well unless the level sucks. I don't think your average casual player is going to want to go online and search for good levels to play. I don't think your average casual user even has their system hooked up to the internet.

To me this feels more like all these other games feel like. A guy or two makes a few sweet stages... (Well he thinks so anyway) and bugs his friends to play it.

I think this will pretty much pitch to the same demographic that likes to be D&D dungeon masters. I'm not seeing too many soccer moms coming home and spending time making stages and puzzles.

Just because it has cutesy graphics doesn't mean it's casual.
 

To those who are concerned about the actual gameplay of this game, I think you have to be fair and realize that this game has at least 6 months of dev time left on it. Judging by the dev' comments ("we just added character death"), they've opted to perfect the presentation and creation aspects of the game first.

While gameplay is a legitimate concern to have, especially since it seems to be a bit of an afterthought, I don't think that it's a foregone conclusion for this game. One of the foundations of gameplay is level design, and even if the levels that ship with the game are weak, there's a decent chance that amazing levels will start showing up a month after release.

I think one of Sony's main problems with the PS3 is that it is seen as a hardcore machine like 360.

In Europe (at least) I think there are a lot of PS3s bought for family but are failing in that purpose due to lack of games like LBP. Sales or not I think Sony is going to have to grit its teeth and get more family games and marketing out there as its this market they need sales from (which is old PS2 market) and which Wii is taking from them every day.

To be honest (and I know dedicated gamers would disagree) PS3 is already past the worst for more hardcore games. COD4 and AC showed that and I think it will sell big franchises fine now.

But it is still terribly weak for casual (and why is that Sixaxis there? Did Sony not realise why Nintendo were going with motion and thought games like COD4 would use it?) and I believe its hurting sales.

If I was Sony I would put a big (no BR, no Cell, no Power of PS3 rubbish either) push behind LBP as a game for the family, as something creative and fun, and above all as something unique and unique to the PS3 only.

I've showed my kids (7 & 10) trailers, etc. for LBP and they were watering at the mouth to get ahold of it.

Will poeple who like zooming around getting headshots like it? Probably not. But if Sony want any chance at PS2 like sales for PS3 they must start taking some casual market share and they must convince people PS3 is a great family entertainment centre.

My view anyway as a hardcore gamer with kids! (Yes, we do exist, we're just slower to react than we used to be...)

 Well, it's not just the simplicity of the creation system, or the fact that it's on a console, though those are both important. It's also the fantastic presentation, the cooperative elements, the centralized sharing system that the PS3 will bring, and the (as far as we can tell so far) fun game that it's all wrapped around. The best mod program in the world will get old in minutes if there isn't a compelling game experience to use it with. You need to be able to create an amazing world and then have just as much fun diving in and playing around in it. Past "make your own game" games on consoles haven't provided this, and PC FPSs, the main source of fun moddable games until now, have reached too small an audience.

But I shouldn't have to explain that there's something unique about LBP. Most people knew it the moment they saw it.

 And no, not every soccer mom will probably get heavily into the creation aspect. But that's only half the game. Remember, what made people fall in love with LBP in the first place wasn't the level creation system, which we didn't even know existed until later -- it was that first video with the four players cooperatively making their way through an incredible level. It oozed fun and charm. It was like nothing we'd seen before. Even without the user generated content, LBP would have been something special. The gameplay alone may be enough for a lot of soccer-mom types.

Finally, while the most casual of casual gamers might not be interested in level design, there ought to be legions of less casual, normal, and hardcore gamers -- the ones who've always been interested in modding but have never had the skills -- who will pounce on the opportunity. This game could be bigger than any of us imagine. 

The problem with this game (though I have not played it so I cannot make final judgement) is the complication.

It's way to complicated for the casual crowd that it is aiming towards (the physics are confusing and annoying and way too realistic for a cutesy platformer even to me as a seasoned gamer).

For a game to be successful with the casual crowd, it needs to have a simple interface and no long drawn out system to create levels.

This game will not be a system mover - it will become a hardcore gamer hit however as the game actually looks to be very promising if you're capable of something like that.

It may eventually sell over 1 million copies world wide, but there is no way it will hit 1 million in any individual territory.

I'm willing to place sig bets on the line on this one.

Actually, a casual game does not always be simple. Madden is one of the most casual games out there yet it also has the most complicated control scheme of any game out there. You have a completely different control scheme for passing, running, offensive tackling, defensive tackling, rushing, kicking, and I'm sure there are more. Each one of those control schemes uses every button on the controller and it's insane for even the most hardcore of games.

Man that looks like an amazing game can't believe how much it got delayed though!!