2008

It was late afternoon, and the rain was pouring heavily. An old fireplace was lit, where an eight-year-old boy and his brother eight years his senior sat comfortably nearby in front of the television with their PlayStation 3, playing what was going to be his favourite video game of all time.

"On LittleBigPlanet, you're a little sack person. This is you. Aww bless, you're quite a cute one."

Out popped two stuffed ragdolls from a round entrance, darkness completely enveloping them with nothing but a single spotlight and the soothing narration of Stephen Fry.

"So, what do you do in this game?" the young boy asked his older brother.

"Something marvellous. You'll see," the older brother replied, pointing to the screen to indicate his Sackboy needed to move.

"Now, to move around, use the left stick. Just push it a little for dainty tippy-toes, or push it all the way to run like your sacking depends on it. And don't forget your three J's: Jump, jump, jump!"

"Oh, that one is me!" the young boy stated, recognising his plain Sackboy avatar responding to the left stick he was nudging left and right. The spotlight followed their every move, as they illuminated more of the path ahead, until the darkness completely vanished. The area was brightly lit now and "Left Bank Two" by The Noveltones began to play. The young boy was overwhelmed at this sudden positive atmosphere unfolding, which his brother noticed. He just shook his head in fascination and smiled as they both continued playing.

The young boy couldn't contain his excitement as he came across all sorts of various obstacles and imagery popping about, introducing the developers of this newfound video game he was playing. This was but a handful of the many people who worked hard to bring this platformer to life.

"Now you'll probably want to look stylish and sexy, as you're gadding about LittleBigPlanet. So you need to know how to get your kit on, or how to put your glad rags on. Press the menu button, to access your Popit."

"Is this where I can change how my Sackboy looks?!" the young boy beamed in excitement. Noticing that Sackboy was customisable, he could now express himself as much as we wanted through different colours and pieces of clothing and cloth alike. Given that it was only the introduction, only a limited portion of customisable items were made available, and the young boy settled with a white knitted cloth and teeth to boot. His brother chose an orange colour to easily distinguish who is who between the two. After they were satisfied with their current looks, they pushed further on into another dark-ish room which seemed to be a small platform with cut-outs of human silhouettes underneath, and another big computer screen lighting up as the two Sackboys came closer. Once more, a tutorial began to play.

"Okay, it's time to shake things up a bit. If you tilt the wireless controller you're holding, you can animate yourself! Press the left stick to alternate moving your head, and your pelvis! You can change your Sackperson's expressions too, using the directional buttons. Come on then, give us a little smile. Press the up button. Go on!"

"Who knew that such simple inputs could bring a character even more to life?" the older brother was amused. He watched as his younger brother couldn't help but wear an even wider smile adjacent to his Sackboy on-screen. The more he pressed up, the wider his Sackboy smiled.

"There, see? You're happy! Press the down button, and you'll become down… Look at that, a face like a smacked bottom. Press the left button, and you'll go all worried. *Gasp* What was that? Press the right button, and you get all cross and tough. By holding down the limb buttons, you can use the sticks to control your arms. Yes, you can stop being mean and moody now, we're all very impressed."

Moments later of being shown the expressions and limb movements, the computer screen retracted underneath the platform, revealing a globe of various creations and pieces of art. This globe opened horizontally to reveal the game's logo, accompanied by the cheers of people in the background, feeling as they were applauding the two Sackboys on the platform. The introduction level was complete. The screen faded to black.

"Is that a rocket? We get to fly in that?" the young boy questioned, as soon as the next part played. His brother nodded. "This is our very own Pod. It's your home, a place where you can be yourself, and travel to anywhere you want in the world. Well, in this world." He explained.

The young boy moved his Sackboy about and familiarised himself within the Pod for the very first time, noticing a PlayStation 3 controller neatly fitted smack in the middle. He couldn't help but compare Sackboy to its size, looking at the controller in his own two hands.

"If Sackboy were real, would he have been this big?" the younger brother stated in fascination, sizing a little open space between his palms, and imagining his very own Sackboy come to life right before his eyes, picturing one controlling his own controller.

"Huh. I guess you're right. That would be the case." His brother agreed. What a peculiar thought. The brothers continued spending the night figuring out the basics of LittleBigPlanet, but not before they were called to dinner shortly after. The camera pans into the two controllers sitting on the mat in front of the television and faded to the movie's iteration of the LittleBigPlanet logo, with "The Gardens" interactive soundtrack began to play.

A scene of the two meeting the King in The Gardens, as well as the Queen and Humpty Dumpty. Another scene of learning his first steps into their first world, memorising the basics of timed jumps, and grabbing. Finding out each level had collectibles of all sorts, from costume pieces to stickers they could place anywhere they wanted. The young boy's love for the game grew more and more as time passed, every day a new adventure and new challenges awaited him.

At times there were obstacles where he had more than he bargained for and managed to drain all of his checkpoints' lives. Fortunately, his brother who had the natural talent of fast reflexes and awareness, he passed them with ease and made way for his brother to continue the story.

"Thank you so much, I kept getting stuck at this annoying bit!" the young boy pouted. He wished to be as skillful as his older brother one day but alas, he was still a very young boy in his early learning phase. Even so, as both their Sackboys reached the computer to mark their completion of The Gardens, the number one trophy appeared above the young boy's Sackboy (the older brother secretly let him collect the score bubbles). To the older brother, he didn't care about competitions, he just wanted to share the happiness of LittleBigPlanet with his brother and felt pure happiness seeing the smile on his face.