Having the power of the Playstation 3 at my disposal and constantly looking for a game that uses the full potential of a high def system frequently sets me out on a mission to find a visually breathtaking game.

Don’t get me wrong, game-play factor is important, let us not forget, but sometimes a game with stunning visuals can just blow your mind. Have you and your friends tripping out for hours, throw in fantastic game-play and you will be garbling about it for ages (e.g., LittleBigPlanet).

Katamari Damacy, a game I came across with a while back on PS2, did this for me. At first glance, I thought of it as another retarded weird Japanese collage of color and weird tunes. Eventually, it totally flipped me 360 and never again did i judge so quickly. The complexity of visuals and the fantastic game-play just wowed me. Who thought a game which involved a star rolling through a a landscape, like your bedroom, collecting everything from spiders to erasers a la snowball effect to create a world of its own would be so damn amusing? Since then, I have been hooked on the creatively weird.

Weird yet Wonderful

Now you have visually stunning games like Bio-Shock, Prince of Persia and so on. But action-based games usually are for the ultra-visual, and with the power of PS3 and XBox 360, this should come as no surprise at all. But what about the other quirky titles? Well, with that technology on their side, it just got a whole lot more interesting.

PS3 is still due to release Katamari Forever, so we will just wait for that with bated breath…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDBksi0g-Us

Lets move on, shall we.

Enter, Flower

At first glance, serious male gamers might get discouraged as it looks girly and poofy (i said that once), but upon closer look, I was amazed at how the game unfolds. Who would have thought?

The story line is a little complex, however you look at it…  it is a poem within a dream. And you start as a petal flying through a colorless landscape. As you progress, you collect more petals in a ribbon train, bringing color and life to the landscape, thus changing the dreamscape and allowing the poem to move on… Confused? Well i was, until i went on.

Playstation's Flower

After seeing the game-play and learning that the control system is not basic, I realized that the game is precise and seamless:  if you turn your controller upside down, in comes your tom cruise top gun moment and your flower petal team does a full-blown barrel roll. Friggin’ mind-blowing!

Visually Breathtaking

Visit full review at www.ign.com.

I could write more about this game, but it is best seen to be believed. From the world of FPS and MMORPG and all the yadda yadda, a game like this will take you away from violence and gore, and bring about a sense of peace. The hippie in me is telling me to consume herbals and drift away in the beauty and tranquility of Flower…

* Thanks to IGN and all respective copyright holders for the visuals and videos.

…and that’s the first thing i learned about gaming.

yes, my first game entry, and i am extremely proud to make it LittleBigPlanet.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGzOKbVC2r8&hl=en&fs=1]

here’s the low-down: LittleBigPlanet or LBP was developed by the british studio media molecule and published by sony computer entertainment europe. it was first announced in march 2007 to a standing ovation at the game developers conference in los angeles. since its release, it has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from game critics. among its numerous achievements: it was the big winner in the 2009 AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards, bagging eight trophies including Overall Game of the Year.

in layman’s terms: lpb is made by a company called media molecule and can only be played on sony ps3. game developers and critics love it. it won eight, including the highest honor in the AIAS awards. you know, it’s like the oscar awards for video games.

now i don’t know much about the tiff going on between the xbox360 and ps3 fanboys, but i’m glad my husband’s a ps loyalist, otherwise i wouldn’t have known about this awesome game.

in lbp, you control a character affectionately called sackboy (or sackgirl, based on what appearance you make of it) in several platforming scenes. in my husband’s words, “it’s a 3D world played on a 2D platform,” meaning it’s like playing the old-school super mario bros. in more than one depth.

the game has a “story” of pre-constructed levels that you can complete (and in no time if you’re a real gamer), but its greatest characteristic is its future potential. it has the most customizable nature you can find in the gaming universe, enabling you to tailor-make everything from sackboy’s appearance to entirely new levels.

and what do you do with the objects and levels you have created, aside from play them yourself until you’re blue in the face? simple, that’s where the online feature comes handy. you share them with other lbp gamers through a huge online global community, very much like social networking sites, only this one is composed mostly of geeks (like us). and that’s where the competition is blown out of the water. the possibilities of this game is simply endless, it boggles the mind.

watch this trailer to see just how confounding its imaginative capacity is:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXp4ednGYcc&hl=en&fs=1]

this is the game that will certainly amplify your creativity to its limits. i hope more pinoys start to appreciate this game, i’d really like to see how many local gamers can “filipinize” their lbp levels.

the allure of lbp lies in the fact that it can be enjoyed by both the hard-core gamers and the casual players. i bought this as a gift for my husband last year, knowing it will provide him fun without end. guess who got addicted to it…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYNcaI1bMiU&hl=en&fs=1]

you can create levels like so (as shown in the european adverts):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOLbeLUN62M&hl=en&fs=1]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYGfYVCp6q8&hl=en&fs=1]

takes my breath away everytime.