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LittleBigPlanet Devs Were Working On Portal Game, Met With Valve
Posted by Luke Plunkett at 1:40 PM on September 30, 2008
Alternate history alert: seems LittleBigPlanet devs Media Molecule were, at one stage before starting on LBP, working on a game very similar to Portal. Indeed, it was so similar to Portal it was "more Portally than Portal". While pitching the game, they met with the guys who published Media Molecule founder Mark Healey's Rag Doll Kung Fu on the PC: Valve. Valve brought up the idea of MM and the PC gaming overlords doing something together with the project, but nothing ever came of it. Imagine, though, if it had. We'd have Portal, but no LittleBigPlanet. Or...we'd have both, but with Sackboys tearing open the fabric of time and space, while PS3 owners built platform games made of...cake. The mind boggles.
LittleBigPlanet: The Very Big Interview [Kikizo]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
ShaggE
Posted 2:12 PM 30/9/08
I'm starting to warm up to Sackboy. That picture is made of cute.
ShaggE
fahrenheit
Posted 2:11 PM 30/9/08
It was hard enough disposing of my faithful companion cube. Now I'm supposed to incinerate sackboys?
This isn't brave...Its Sackicide!
fahrenheit
-Scrixx-
Posted 2:06 PM 30/9/08
@Mister_Jack:
And then ate it!
Lol jk, <3 Gabe and Valve.
-Scrixx-
Mister_Jack
Posted 2:01 PM 30/9/08
@DolemiteToTheMax: Don't hold your breath. Gabe Newell thinks that the PS3 raped and killed his mother.
Mister_Jack
DolemiteToTheMax
Posted 1:59 PM 30/9/08
I think this means a hopeful future for Valve developing for the PS3.
Valve, a great game developer with little to no PS3 experience, and Media Molecule, a fairly new developer who has been working with the PS3 for a few years now, coming together? I'm excited.
DolemiteToTheMax
Grumpz®
Posted 1:57 PM 30/9/08
@Luke Plunkett: After reading the article I see it is just a casual aside and small mention.
Grumpz®
KSPRAYDAD
Posted 1:54 PM 30/9/08
@Talleh: I just like my games to be gamey.
KSPRAYDAD
Talleh
Posted 1:50 PM 30/9/08
More portal then portal? Sounds like a song. Still, I wonder what they mean...I mean, portal is...pretty portal-y. Imagine if other franchises were themselves+. What if half life, was more half life? Or tetris, more tetris?! What if GTA...were even MORE GTA?! We can only imagine.
Talleh
LittleBigPlaneteer
Posted 1:50 PM 30/9/08
Awesome. I can't wait for LittleBigPortal levels either. You just know that'll happen.
LittleBigPlaneteer
Luke Plunkett
Posted 1:49 PM 30/9/08
@Grumpz®: No. You are. They're just saying they came up with a similar idea. Just like many people will have over the last 50 years.
Luke Plunkett
Xuchilbara
Posted 1:48 PM 30/9/08
They should have portaled more beta codes....
Xuchilbara
Grumpz®
Posted 1:46 PM 30/9/08
So they're saying they thought of Portal first? What kinda lame press is that to put out. They should also say they pitched a zombie coop game and came up with the name Gordon Freeman and Valve liked it better than their first choice John Freeman.
Grumpz®
RaptureScientist
Posted 1:45 PM 30/9/08
Sometimes the most favorable events do happen together :)
RaptureScientist
Mit
Posted 1:45 PM 30/9/08
@icegoat: It's gotta be real.
And I want it.
Mit
Littlefields
Posted 1:45 PM 30/9/08
Makes sense. Innovative + Innovative = win.
Littlefields
Mit
Posted 1:44 PM 30/9/08
If LittleBigPlanet had portals in it too, that'd be awesome. The physics engine begs for them, and it would add even more platforming elements to it.
Mit
Noks415
Posted 1:44 PM 30/9/08
Ok, they really need to add the portal gun to LBP
Noks415
icegoat
Posted 1:44 PM 30/9/08
Is that a rendered sackboy? The texture is INSANE!
icegoat
Chaoticevl
Posted 1:44 PM 30/9/08
That would have been weird. But I think I prefer it as it's happened.
Off topic question, is there a way to have more threads on one page at a time as 26 which seems to be my limit.
Chaoticevl
Mister_Jack
Posted 1:43 PM 30/9/08
LittleBigPortal? Sounds sexy.
Mister_Jack
Strife56
Posted 2:39 PM 30/9/08
Perhaps this could mean some Portal DLC for LittleBigPlanet in the future!
Strife56
Mister_Jack
Posted 2:29 PM 30/9/08
@Rev: He just thinks it's too hard to develop for.
Mister_Jack
crespo
Posted 2:28 PM 30/9/08
Something's up here. I thought it was a group of college students who thought up Portal and were picked up by Valve to work on it (IIRC, they were even located close to Valve, in WA; I could be wrong). Pretty sure that was a big part of the hype surrounding Portal's original release alongside HL2.
Anyone else remember this?
crespo
Rev
Posted 2:22 PM 30/9/08
@demonknightinuyasha: Just curious, I was aware he had a strong dislike of the PS3, anyone know why?
Rev
xzentrico
Posted 2:20 PM 30/9/08
@icegoat: lol. No, it's not a rendering. It's real; it was made by a LBP fan. The best sackboy BTW.
xzentrico
demonknightinuyasha
Posted 2:16 PM 30/9/08
i think i like things the way they are as well.
doubtful this means any change in valve and the ps3. gabe seems to hate it, im sure there are others that do as well.
i think what it comes down to is all their experience is with the pc, therefore its easiest to basically keep doing the same than learn something new.
demonknightinuyasha
dowingba
Posted 2:59 PM 30/9/08
I'm pretty sure MM had this idea before video games were even invented. We're talking about a real portal device. And Valve are just trying to keep it hush hush. Possibly using some sort of delicious bribe to accomplish this...
dowingba
icegoat
Posted 2:55 PM 30/9/08
@icegoat: Shoulda had a "?!" for the comical effect. Ahh, the internet and its fantastic comical tones.
icegoat
BadByte
Posted 2:54 PM 30/9/08
Nice the Shining reference in the picture used. Give sackboy there a hatchet and let the horror begin.
BadByte
topaz420
Posted 2:53 PM 30/9/08
@crespo:
Yep, the game was "Narbacular Drop", and it's every bit as fun as Portal.
They started working on that one like 4 years ago, so I really doubt the LBP guys can predate that.
topaz420
Luke Plunkett
Posted 2:51 PM 30/9/08
@joeloliol: Uh, this all pre-dates Portal by quite some time.
Luke Plunkett
NeVeRMoRe666
Posted 2:51 PM 30/9/08
LBP AND Portal together?!? Whoa...whoa..whoa. I just want a video game, I don't want to rip a hole in the space-time continium...
NeVeRMoRe666
Prezel4
Posted 2:44 PM 30/9/08
@Talleh:
What if sexy beach was more sexy?
Prezel4
joeloliol
Posted 2:43 PM 30/9/08
i think the idea was AFTER portal was out, but before work on LBP had begun.
joeloliol
HoxtonHero
Posted 2:41 PM 30/9/08
@crespo: Yeah it was thought up by college students. They attended Digipen, one of the game focused school here in WA. A couple of my friends were their classmates.
HoxtonHero
GDW1017
Posted 3:23 PM 30/9/08
DUH!!!!!
What the heck did you think the badges in the menu were covering? Not Portals? Puh-sha!
GDW1017
wocyob
Posted 3:54 PM 30/9/08
while PS3 owners built platform games made of...cake. The mind boggles.
hm that cake part.... were u looking at joystiqs LBP beta key contest..... and saw my post about makeing a level with cake......
[www.joystiq.com]
page 18 if it didnt save
i use the same name as i use here...
well cake was my idea lol
wocyob
Xenigma
Posted 4:25 PM 30/9/08
Seriously? Sounds like Media Molecule is packed with geniuses. No wonder LittleBigPlanet looks so amazing. This is the kind of company gaming needs: fantastic, original ideas complemented with fantastic execution (well, at least for the one game they eventually made).
Xenigma
GummyTumor
Posted 5:09 PM 30/9/08
Why for Kotaku not have LBP beta keys?!!1!
GummyTumor
Psudonym
Posted 5:03 PM 30/9/08
@arniejolt:
Well, looking at the tools available in the BETA I can't for the life of me figure out how to make a teleporter work.
Psudonym
arniejolt
Posted 4:53 PM 30/9/08
I wonder how long it'll be before somebody custom creates Portal levels in LBP
arniejolt
Zero_
Posted 4:52 PM 30/9/08
@-Scrixx-:
Nah, it was -Gabe- that ate his mother.
Zero_
Zero_
Posted 4:52 PM 30/9/08
@xzentrico:
It was made by one of the developer's mum! :D They should mass produce these as plushies, so cute.
Zero_
Furu
Posted 6:03 PM 30/9/08
@Psudonym: Luckily Media Molecule is listening to what the people want, so getting teleporting tools for the game is just a matter of whine.
Furu
Furu
Posted 6:00 PM 30/9/08
@demonknightinuyasha: Gabe had to turn that boat around already, so in his latest rant Valve is now considering more about PS3 development. It turned from 'piece of shit, I hate it' to 'I think it's ok'
Furu
Mike's Stalker
Posted 5:43 PM 30/9/08
Since 360 getting another Portal as a DLC, maybe it'll work its way onto LittleBigPlanet. Sounds fair, no?
Mike's Stalker
Hopanoe
Posted 8:21 PM 30/9/08
@Mike's Stalker: It's not "another" Portal. It is Portal, just with a few new maps the PC version gets free.
Hopanoe
pikpikjuice
Posted 10:24 PM 30/9/08
I hope MM never gets with valve or we'll never get anyything on the PS3 with those haters.
pikpikjuice
Rybo5000
Posted 10:46 PM 30/9/08
There should be a portal gun in LBP as a cameo!
Or even GLaDOS
Rybo5000
endekks
Posted 11:19 PM 30/9/08
Once Valve found out MM wanted to do something for the PS3 Valve got all upset and said "no way".
endekks
somarix
Posted 11:08 PM 30/9/08
@Luke Plunkett: BTW, let's not forget that the idea of Portal was _completely_ developed by 2 college students, and published as a freeware game. Valve hired those students, and added their own expertise for making fun levels and the "story".
And also, the idea of portals becomes evident when a programmer studies gamedev.... (rendering via portals has been used for 10+ years already). What you see as a player in Portal, is what gamedevs actually see/use in games (that have that type of "scenegraph").
somarix
GrandfatherParadox
Posted 12:27 AM 1/10/08
So Valve ripped off the concept from MM?
Can't say I'm surprised.
GrandfatherParadox
Toasticus
Posted 12:58 AM 1/10/08
@GrandfatherParadox: You are quite mistaken. Portal was made by a small team formed from a group that made a student project called Narbacular Drop, which also featured the innovative dual-portal gameplay. Valve saw Narbacular Drop and hired the group to make Portal, back in 2005. There was no thievery going on.
Toasticus
Kensei
Posted 12:52 AM 1/10/08
@GrandfatherParadox: No, they took it from a independant game called Nabacular Drop, which they brought the team behind that in to make Portal.
Although, I guess they wanted MM to work on it with them or instead of them initially.
Kensei
Sir_Crocidile
Posted 2:13 AM 1/10/08
Wait. . . so they're saying they came up with the idea and not the Digipen team that made Narbacular drop (and went on to actually make portal)? Something doesn't add up here.
Sir_Crocidile
_Ted_
Posted 2:04 AM 1/10/08
feel that? that was your mind just getting blown! woah
_Ted_
rateoforange
Posted 8:49 AM 1/10/08
@Sir_Crocidile:
Here's what doesn't add up. Saying "I had awesomeIdeaX before the other guys." in public and maybe alluding your idea was stolen is a totally classless maneuver. People in these parts have come to expect a lot of LPB and wouldn't like to think that of the devs. Cognitive dissonance follows!
rateoforange
kokiri-kid
Posted 1:02 PM 2/10/08
i don't think they could make a game "more portally than portal"
or it at least wouldn't be as amazing as portal...
kokiri-kid