* People care because as a whole, humanity is insecure and we all have to seek strength in numbers. Or, more simply, nobody can stand to pick the "loser" and (as such) will steadfastly defend his/her choice despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

* That also accounts for fanboys in general.

* I too lament that platform games (GOOD ONES that is) are no longer mainstream. LBP deserves much better. I don't own it yet, but I will after holiday bills.

* Why oh why did the OP have to ruin the thread by insinuating that LBP is better than Galaxy? Up till then the post was mostly coherant. Having an opinion is fine, but both critical and popular opinion largely disagree though...

* For the record, I liked LBP better than Galaxy (though I have played LBP much more, so perhaps that is unfair). However, honestly, I think I prefer LBP because it is more old school 2D(ish). And... gasp (along those lines) LBP is not as good as SMB3, SMW or NSMB. Or, to paraphrase the OP, LBP is very but those others are oh so much better.

 Now, THAT'S depressing. Platformers are my fav genre.

@ Reasonable, you're over thinking it IMO.

If I saw LBP in the store, picked it up, read the front and back cover etc I would put it down again and buy something else if I didn't know what it was.

The huge issue of the game is theres nothing compelling for me from the front cover to the back cover which would assure me that my $130 would be well spent on that game.

I think what causes this is the fact that the game is supposed to mean so much to so many people that it means very little to any of them. Its attention is spread to thin, it doesn't know what it is.

Take Mario, you know what Mario is as soon as you pick it up, Gears of War is pretty obvious when you see the box, Gran Turismo is pretty obvious too. But what is LBP?

I understand.  It seems as if humanity has failed you.  How can people be so stupid as to ignore such an amazing game?

But don't be depressed.

Be glad that you have Little Big Planet, and it's a FREAKING AWESOME GAME.

Have a seat, Little Billy.....

*sits in rocking chair and grabs pipe*

You see, Little Big Planet is like them there "Build-A-Bear Workshops" that all the cool kids are into nowadays. Sure, you can go in there and make your own Teddy Bear. The only limit is your imagination. While some of us are excited by the potential to make a stuffed animal with boobs and sexy sexy legs, there are others that are more than happy to buy an awesome Teddy Bear right off of the rack. Nothing's wrong with that. It shouldn't effect your enjoyment of building Teddy Bears at all. If you make a Teddy Bear as awesome as World of Wonder's "Teddy Ruxpin" (fat chance. that is one sexy sexy bear!), then it's their loss isn't it? Go ahead and enjoy your stuffed animals!! I guess, what I'm trying to say is........you're adopted.


See ya next time, Little Billy. But before you go, bring me a glass of ice.

*grabs bottle of Scotch*

For the most part I agree with you.  If someone were to describe LBP by saying "It's like a Mario game," then that would make a lot of sense.  But to say...

"...the game is supposed to mean so much to so many people that it means very little to any of them. Its attention is spread to thin, it doesn't know what it is..."

...I have to respectfully disagree.  As a platformer with online options to play with others I think is more than enough to pass this game as its own.  The level editor is a bonus.  But for a platformer, this is something overall new so it's unfamiliar to the mainstream as I said in my earlier post.  As a new IP, the so far +700,000 worldwide sales are quite nice from my standpoint.  Hey, maybe this is what you meant if I misunderstood you.

The thing is...developers will always take risks and try something new. It may not be the same company that did LBP...but someone else will step up. Its how new gaming companies get noticed...

Sure, there will be activision and EA milking the same titles every year...COD 21 and NFL 2324 are all but confirmed...but those companies have to support 1000s of jobs hence they can't risk as much as the smaller companies. However those smaller companies can't compete with the big ones when it comes to production budgets and sheer scope of game production...hence taking risks is all they have going for them.

I am so happy to see everyone is liking LBP as a game be it other console owners.

now hopefully we will see great legs.

If we don't then its just too bad for gamers who didn't get to play it I guess.

I bet you buy books based on the cover too...

Actually much as I love shooters I mostly hate their covers.  Sheesh the covers of Gears 2 would put me off for sure.  I agree on LBP though.  More than anything its struggling with the fact most people buy genres (something most creative people I've meet actually hate funnily enough) and despite the loose 'platformer' association its actually something unique and hard to categorize.

P.S. I think I read someone thinking I'd insulted SMG.  I don't believe I did.  My point is that having played both they offer a pretty similar experience (and I don't buy a visual trick makes SMG 'different') with regard to the campaign of LBP but then look how much more LBP offers - online play, offline coop, custom levels, the ability to build your own, at least (if not better) art direction, better graphics (SMG looks very nice but it really pales next to LBP on an HD for textures, richness of the gaming world, etc), and so on.  I note that even its creators are stating it was rather conservative as a title.

How much a game appeals to you and you enjoy it is subjective - but you can quantify certain elements and clearly LBP offers much, much more than SMG as a whole.

I think it you look a little more closely you'll see the majority of developers, irrespective of size, following trends and churning out what they believe will be a hit based on existing examples.  I really don't think the games on shelves / Live, etc. back up your statement.  Most games/films are straight clones of something original that hit well and are copied until the well is dry (and often beyond these days).

And every time something creative doesn't take off it tips the balance for a while to even more conservative approaches and churn out generic shooter/platformer/RPG/etc. 13450B.

The same goes for pretty much every entertainment medium but that doesn't mean I have to like it