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[makingmusic476]

If you play LBP by yourself, you're doing it wrong.

This. LBP1 is hands down my most played ps3 game. Multiplayer is an absolute blast. I played LBP2 a good bit less, for a number of reasons, but it's still amazing. Two of my favorite ps3 games, alongside Demon's/Dark Souls and Nier.

Tearaway is also far and away my favorite PSV game.

I would say Media Molecule is my favorite Sony team, but that depends on whether or not the Last Guardian ever comes out and blows me away. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus put Team ICO/Japan Studio up there.

 

[dead souls]

With the terrible floaty controls in the LBP games MM doesn't really deserve any love.

 

[Renekton]

With the terrible floaty controls in the LBP games MM doesn't really deserve any love.

Rayman Origins/Legends are pretty floaty and slippery but very few people gave them shit for it.

I think the main issue is that the level design, though artistically great, isn't as platform-y like Mario or Rayman.

 

[meta4]

Tearaway is one of the best games ever made. I am really excited about MM's next IP.

 

[RoboPlato]

Not hating on GG's here or anything because I love those guys and their technical brilliance.

But how come they have 270+ employees when MM's funding only allows them to employ 47?? It can't be to do with sales:

Little Big Planet - 5.4 million ww sales
LBP2 - 3.2 million

Killzone 2 - 2.9 million
Killzone 3 - 2.6 million

I don't think Media Molecule wants to expand. They seem to like being small so they can collaborate better.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Is this a joke?

No.

Media Molecule has never made a good game.

Is this a joke?

I think they would definitely fit in as a first-party Nintendo developer, but I'm glad Sony has them for the variety.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. That's not to say that I don't think there is an audience for them on PS4. There is, that's partly what this thread is about.

 

[Basileus777]

Tearaway was good and they got plenty of attention for that considering it's a Vita title. LBP was a heavily hyped and marketed product that was a disappointment, and even then it still reviewed well. I think Media Molecule gets the credit they deserve.

 

[AstroNut325]

I'll just say this... I'm more excited about the next Media Molecule project than the Naughty Dog project.

 

[macewank]

Not hating on GG's here or anything because I love those guys and their technical brilliance.

But how come they have 270+ employees when MM's funding only allows them to employ 47?? It can't be to do with sales:

Little Big Planet - 5.4 million ww sales
LBP2 - 3.2 million

Killzone 2 - 2.9 million
Killzone 3 - 2.6 million

You're making a pretty large assumption that the staff level at MM directly correlates to the amount of funding they're receiving from WWS. I'm willing to bet that's not an accurate assumption to make.

MM makes the games they want to make and WWS empowers them to do so. There's a certain point where you've got too many people and I'm sure MM wants to avoid that.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

You're making a pretty large assumption that the staff level at MM directly correlates to the amount of funding they're receiving from WWS. I'm willing to bet that's not an accurate assumption to make.

MM makes the games they want to make and WWS empowers them to do so. There's a certain point where you've got too many people and I'm sure MM wants to avoid that.

Surely it is indicative, no?

The wages for an office of -50 employees is going to be considerably less than a couple hundred. That right there is a disparity in funding.

 

[Nightengale]

Surely it is indicative, no?

The wages for an office of -50 employees is going to be considerably less than a couple hundred. That right there is a disparity in funding.

While we've not gotten an update since this report http://deve1op.net/175JQFu , MM spends a lot of money on R&D.

Tearaway came out last year,but their core console team hasn't released a game in 3 years.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

The majority of their games are floaty, unresponsive platformers with an emphasis on user interactivity which is used as a scapegoat to mask the developers' shitty sense of level design.

Thank god I played Tearaway. Otherwise I'd think they're not capable of proper level design.

They need to do more Tearaways. Less LBPs.

I'm glad Naughty Dog is capable of making a competent game like The Last of Us after two stinkers like Uncharted 2/3.

Stinker? Uncharted 2? Lol. 3? It´s alright and in no way a stinker.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I think they would definitely fit in as a first-party Nintendo developer, but I'm glad Sony has them for the variety.

To be honest, I don't think that they'd have any place at Nintendo.

Anyway, I think the biggest problem for MM is that the game that many consider to be their best is on a handheld. So, most people haven't played it while everyone has played ND's games. Plus ND has a huge track record that MM just doesn't have.

 

[Luft Vanship]

I love there use of music

 

[Zoned]

I found LBP to be one of the worst games that I have played so no for me.

 

[outunderthestars]

I found LBP to be one of the worst games that I have played so no for me.

I really wanted to like it, but hated the controls.

 

[coolasj19]

Surely it is indicative, no?
The wages for an office of -50 employees is going to be considerably less than a couple hundred. That right there is a disparity in funding.

Media Molecule would only want "Media Molecule" employees. They want people that fit a very specific level of creativity and other workplace things. That's not including the fact that it's entirely possible the studio heads have decided that 50 employees is the golden number for them. At that small, everyone gets to know one another and chemistry is high. Perhaps MM makes more money wholesale for GG just by saving from employee wages and R&D, but I guarantee that not only MM gets all the money it needs, all decisions like number of employees is made by the studio heads.

Based on those Metacritic scores they appear to be a studio in decline.
But I'm sure they will release something soon with a cute thing cooing at the screen over which man children can get all dewey eyed. Reaffirm gaming's potential to create joy by guiding some sort of muppet through a candyland.

I'm sorry MM kicked your puppy.

 

[VanWinkle]

To be honest, I don't think that they'd have any place at Nintendo.

Anyway, I think the biggest problem for MM is that the game that many consider to be their best is on a handheld. So, most people haven't played it while everyone has played ND's games. Plus ND has a huge track record that MM just doesn't have.

Why not? Incredibly polished colorful games with great visuals that are made for all ages. How does that not fit with Nintendo?

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

They make amazing games, I feel they get vastly overlooked though because their games don't fit Sony's style. They seem more like they'd be a Nintendo developer with the likes of LBP and Tearaway.

I like they're with Sony though because they can give you that Nintendo flare on something on something other than a Nintendo console.

Nintendo is not the only company which makes catoonish and creative games.

It's one of the best games on Vita. I don't see why it's on Vita, it diminishes their capabilities.

What? If Tearaway was not on the Vita it would not be as creative or as good, since Tearaway uses Vita different control schemes. Diminish their capabilities? Lol.

 

[serversurfer]

Surely it is indicative, no?

The wages for an office of -50 employees is going to be considerably less than a couple hundred. That right there is a disparity in funding.

Again, you're assuming they're underfunded, but why do you think that? What do you think would change if they did have a team of 200? No one but you seems to think they need a bigger team, so why do you think that?

 

[Zen]

I really wanted to like it, but hated the controls.

had they nailed the controls Sony could have had a Mario on their hands.

LBP in particular requires more from the player to get the most out of it, and the other games while excellent, unfortunately don't appeal to as many people.

Naughty Dog gameplay is nothing particularly special, but they excel at story/immersion. Lower bar of entry.

Naughty Dog exceols at execution in all ways, including gameplay. They only seem to reinvent the wheel by executing on a very mainstream concept that much better than anyone else, to the point where it becomes something else.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Media Molecule would only want "Media Molecule" employees. They want people that fit a very specific level of creativity and other workplace things. That's not including the fact that it's entirely possible the studio heads have decided that 50 employees is the golden number for them. At that small, everyone gets to know one another and chemistry is high. Perhaps MM makes more money wholesale for GG just by saving from employee wages and R&D, but I guarantee that not only MM gets all the money it needs, all decisions like number of employees is made by the studio heads.

I'm sorry MM kicked your puppy.

Ok, but lets not get hung up on the point about studio sizes, even though I brought it up.

I just don't understand why Sony doesn't put them more at the forefront of their software.

Their games clearly sell and are critically acclaimed. So what's the risk in Sony actually going to them and saying 'we want you to create an AAAA title now, you're gonna need to staff up' a bit like the case with RAD. Why (and I'm sorry to say) give them the thankless task of trying to prop up the Vita instead?

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Again, you're assuming they're underfunded, but why do you think that? What do you think would change if they did have a team of 200? No one but you seems to think they need a bigger team, so why do you think that?

I'm not saying they are under-funded.

I'm saying the priority with Sony appears to be going in the direction of other studios, based off of the headcount of staff as one indicator.

Edit:

Also, they don't need a bigger team so far as they have been making PS3 games and a Vita title.

They sure as hell need a bigger team if they want to make an AAAA title the likes of which they deserve. Do you think they would be happy making games on the Vita which no-one plays?

So you ask me - what could they do with a bigger team: they could make a big PS4 system-seller is one thing. All indications are that they are capable.

 

[Camjo-Z]

I've yet to play anything made by MM that puts them up there with the best developers. (Not that I think Naughty Dog is amazing either, but that's another story). LBP has some neat ideas but its unwillingness to scrap the horrible floaty physics keep it squarely in mediocre territory, and Tearaway has excellent graphics and a unique concept but relies entirely on cutesy gimmicks instead of having a strong 3D platforming core. When they can make their gameplay as good as the other parts of their games, that's when I'll view them as something special.

 

[Nightengale]

I'm not saying they are under-funded.

I'm saying the priority with Sony appears to be going in the direction of other studios, based off of the headcount of staff as one indicator.

Not at priority?

LBP, LBP2, LBP Karting, Tearaway, LBP Vita, LBP Hub. There's even the rumoured LBP 3.

Sony wanted those games made and they could've easily added another 50 people to make those games. But instead MM remains small, and all those got outsourced instead.

If anything, Sony gives a lot of leeway to Media Molecule by allowing them to work on their next game with Valve time, and continues to put their brand in the forefront via externally developed LBP titles.

 

[serversurfer]

I'm not saying they are under-funded.

I'm saying the priority with Sony appears to be going in the direction of other studios, based off of the headcount of staff as one indicator.

But I still don't understand why you think they're getting the short end of the stick, or why they need more staff than they have.

Sony: Got everything you need, Alex?
Alex: Oh, very much so, yes. Thank you.
Coulomb_Barrier: Fuck you, Sony, you stingy bastards!!
surfer:

 

[SolidSnakex]

Why not? Incredibly polished colorful games with great visuals that are made for all ages. How does that not fit with Nintendo?

From a visual standpoint and theme standpoint they definitely fit. But they don't fit at all from a development standpoint. They're a western studio that's been given freedom to make whatever they want, and what they want to make is new IP's (which is why they moved on from LBP). That's not something that Nintendo seems to be interested in doing. Retro is their most well known western studio and they've only released games based on Nintendo IP's for two generations. And they've started off this gen continuing that tradition.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

But I still don't understand why you think they're getting the short end of the stick, or why they need more staff than they have.

Sony: Got everything you need, Alex?
Alex: Oh, very much so, yes. Thank you.
Coulomb_Barrier: Fuck you, Sony, you stingy bastards!!
surfer:

Put it this way - you made two 90+ metacritic titles on PS3 with a dev team of around 50 people.

That is magic out of a hat levels of competency. They've exceeded expectations.

So their next task is to try prop up the Vita. They deliver with an 87 mc title (bear in mind Vita titles probably average lower scores than home consoles slightly).

No-one buys the game.

Now I'm not saying Sony held a gun to their head and forced them to work on the Vita. But you would feel like you're getting the short end of the stick after that turn of events, especially if Sony is expecting them to create magic on PS4 now with a team of 50 people. Isn't that a PS2-sized dev team?

 

[Meier]

Couldn't disagree more personally. Found Tearaway to be absolutely dreadfully boring and thought LBP was average at best due to the floaty mechanics and underwhelming level design. I got LBP 2 for free due to the hacking fiasco but never did play it to see how well it compared.

They're completely middle tier IMO.

 

[Nightengale]

Put it this way - you made two 90+ metacritic titles on PS3 with a dev team of around 50 people.

That is magic out of a hat levels of competency. They've exceeded expectations.

So their next task is to try prop up the Vita. They deliver with an 87 mc title (bear in mind Vita titles probably average lower scores than home consoles slightly).

No-one buys the game.

Now I'm not saying Sony held a gun to their head and forced them to work on the Vita. But you would feel like you're getting the short end of the stick after that turn of events, especially if Sony is expecting them to create magic on PS4 now with a team of 50 people. Isn't that a PS2-sized dev team?

That Vita game was made by 8-13 people. If anything, it was an opportunity for Media Molecule to give one of their top designers a leading role. ( Rex Crowle)

The rest of the studio have been working on that new IP.

Also, as a UGC focused studio, they don't need to be big because their game is a creation game where the tools are far more important than the assets.

 

[El-Pistolero]

Media Molecule has never made a good game.

And you a good post...

 

[J Range]

They don't make what this industry considers to be AAA experiences. Naughty Dog does.

Their weak showcase at the PS4 reveal probably dampened some hopes, though.

Weak or misunderstood? Reading through the thread about their tech demo last year, it was pretty clear a good majority of users did not understand what Media Molecule had shown, with some even saying it was a music game of some sort if I recall. It was quite clearly a showcase for a play/create/share game where you sculpt the level in 3D. Its very much a game changer for the creative folks out there.

 

[serversurfer]

Put it this way - you made two 90+ metacritic titles on PS3 with a dev team of around 50 people.

That is magic out of a hat levels of competency. They've exceeded expectations.

So their next task is to try prop up the Vita. They deliver with an 87 mc title (bear in mind Vita titles probably average lower scores than home consoles slightly).

No-one buys the game.

Now I'm not saying Sony held a gun to their head and forced them to work on the Vita. But you would feel like you're getting the short end of the stick after that turn of events, especially if Sony is expecting them to create magic on PS4 now with a team of 50 people. Isn't that a PS2-sized dev team?

How would their PS4 game be more magical if they had double the staff? What do you feel their current staff size prevents them from doing?

That Vita game was made by 8-13 people. If anything, it was an opportunity for Media Molecule to give one of their top designers a leading role. ( Rex Crowle)

The rest of the studio have been working on that new IP.

Also, as a UGC focused studio, they don't need to be big because their game is a creation game where the tools are far more important than the assets.

This. If their physics guy decides he needs an assistant, I'm sure they can find the money to hire him one.

 

[El-Pistolero]

niche titles that aren't mega sellers despite being media darlings :\

This thread is like a graveyard where facts are sent to die. LBP and LBP2 are two of the most successful PS3 titles...

I think they would definitely fit in as a first-party Nintendo developer, but I'm glad Sony has them for the variety.

Respectfully disagree. Their visual creativity and experimental concepts embody the philosophy of SCE. Sony has always delivered on that front, especially through the past efforts of Japan Studio.

had they nailed the controls Sony could have had a Mario on their hands.

Herein lies the problem. It was never intended to be a Mario. The let-your-imagination-run wild - construct and share is the core philosophy of LBP. Those who had the patience, the dedication and the penchant for learning the trope of building and animating stuff have greatly enjoyed the franchise.

 

[The Weeknd]

The two LBP games are magical.

Played them with my little sister for many hours, and she doesn't even enjoy video games and she would always bug me to play them with her lol truly brilliant it's just pure fun and joy with others.

 

[Dysun]

Little Big Planet is overrated (and kinda bad), and nobody has a Vita

 

[El-Pistolero]

Little Big Planet is overrated (and kinda bad), and nobody has a Vita

Nice of you to jump from quality to quantity, as the sole success criterion. You gotta look for arguments everywhere just to dismiss, I guess...

 

[FranXico]

No love? What?

Ever since LBP, everybody with taste loves MM and is always intrigued by what they'll come up with next.

 

[RedStep]

Their games clearly sell and are critically acclaimed.

First, why even bother making a thread when you baselessly disagree with every comment that comes up? It doesn't appear that they want more than they're getting, so where's the injustice?

Second, the sales that you quote come from a bullshit site and have no base. I don't doubt that LBP 1&2 did okay, but they were positioned as the new PS mascot. LBP1 was in a good place at the beginning of the PS3 cycle, but things have been declining since. That's not a good angle.

They're good at making sandboxes, but they should stick to that. My kids play the games (mostly 2 and Vita) endlessly, but they finished about 4 levels in the story and lost interest - all the rest of their time has been spent with user-created levels. When UGC is the primary attraction in your title instead of a time extender, you've done something wrong. I'd be happy with them just selling "toolkit"-style game creation packages for $20 and losing the boring-ass stories with cardboard English people dropping down on strings and narrating.

 

[coolasj19]

Ok, but lets not get hung up on the point about studio sizes, even though I brought it up.
I just don't understand why Sony doesn't put them more at the forefront of their software.
Their games clearly sell and are critically acclaimed. So what's the risk in Sony actually going to them and saying 'we want you to create an AAAA title now, you're gonna need to staff up' a bit like the case with RAD. Why (and I'm sorry to say) give them the thankless task of trying to prop up the Vita instead?

Stop that. Your entire argument uses Studio Size as a part of it. MM obviously feels 50 is the best number of employees. They can make any game they want to make with that 50 people. The games MM makes and the game RAD is making are completely different. The Order needed bulk because they have a deadline and they need the manpower. MM games don't need all of that.

Bigger Studio =/= Bigger Games. Ever.

Also, MM pitched Tearaway to Sony. And their games have gotten appropriate amounts of exposure for their scope and potential reach. Not to mention, WWS studios are mostly autonomous, the games, number of employees, anything that's not directly decided by their publisher, is made by the studio heads.

 

[StealthGoblin]

I'm worried about their next game.

I hope it isn't Morpheus exclusive or Move exclusive. I even hope that they aren't necessary to get the absolute most out of the game.

Sony runs each of their studios like a business. If they don't make money they close them. Tearaway bombed (unfortunately) and having a big (for them) budget PS4 game bomb could damage them. I've no doubt it'll be creative and awesome but financially viable? Hmm.

They spent £4.1 million ($6.9 million) on R&D in 2010 alone.

 

[Stampy]

Why are people saying we don't know what are they doing next, when we have firm info about their next project. It's a new IP focused on 3D UGC creation. The game will most likely have a story behind (as LBP did), and an awesome tool for creating stuff in 3D. They showeed us the tech, they explained in an interview that this game is not Move centric, and that the focus is to be able to play it with DS4.

Only thing we are not certain is what genre the game is, and I would say it's a safe bet to conclude that the game will be a mix of everything, with the main genre being 3D platformer.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

eh, naughty dog isn't up there with mediamolecule. mediamolecule managed to both tell a story and make a 3d platformer.

But Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy.

 

[Asbear]

Because all they have made are the LBP series which are sorely unentertaining IMO.

 

[Stimpack]

Media Molecule is alright, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here....

Also, yeah, I agree that Little Big Planet is not a great game. It is simply alright.

 

[The Weeknd]

First, why even bother making a thread when you baselessly disagree with every comment that comes up? It doesn't appear that they want more than they're getting, so where's the injustice?

Second, the sales that you quote come from a bullshit site and have no base. I don't doubt that LBP 1&2 did okay, but they were positioned as the new PS mascot. LBP1 was in a good place at the beginning of the PS3 cycle, but things have been declining since. That's not a good angle.

They're good at making sandboxes, but they should stick to that. My kids play the games (mostly 2 and Vita) endlessly, but they finished about 4 levels in the story and lost interest - all the rest of their time has been spent with user-created levels. When UGC is the primary attraction in your title instead of a time extender, you've done something wrong. I'd be happy with them just selling "toolkit"-style game creation packages for $20 and losing the boring-ass stories with cardboard English people dropping down on strings and narrating.

In January 2009, Sony announced that the game had sold 611,000 units in North America up to the end of December 2008[140] and that there were 1.3 million unique users playing LittleBigPlanet.[145] As of March 2010, the game has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.[146] SCEE President Andrew House announced at Gamescom 2010 that the game has now sold over 4.5 million worldwide.[147]

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

I don't know, man; I've always been a sucker for their games pre-release (high expectations, hype building, and stuff), but I always feel like they are lacking something. I still don't know what is it that I don't like about LittleBigPlanet, it feels soulless, if that makes any sense. The only thing I know is that I get that same feeling when I play Tearaway.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Well judging form the sales of LBP and the critical acclaim their games guess, isn't it clear they get plenty of love OP?

People don't know what to expect with MM (since there have been little hints) and the tech demo thing was weird and meh.

 

[ZackieChan]

I think the promise of LBP1 wasn't met at launch, and this caused many to be turned off. I don't think they got it back with LBP2, even though it was a superior product in almost every way.

Two reasons:
The jump (which I had no problem with) and the three levels (which I'm not a huge fan of, but you get used to it)
The terrible online of the first game. Honestly, it was so laggy and awful when the game came out, I think it made a lot of people stop playing. If it had worked flawlessly, the game would have been infinitely more fun. Exploring all those wild levels people came up with was really great, and slapping your friends around while you did was pretty cool.

I don't have a Vita, so I never played Tearaway. Hoping their PS4 title shows off this insane level of creativity they're capable of.

 

[AniHawk]

But Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy.

don't make me tap the sign