In some ways, you can see that the game’s final aesthetic has a lot in common with its formative sketches. But in others – the ones that look like French cartoons from the early ’90s – the furry, felty world of LittleBigPlanet seems a world away

Like what you see? There’s plenty more at the link below.

Concept Art [LittleBigPlanet, via Boing Boing]

Consider the annoyance of leaving the house to invest in a UMD a thing of the past as of tomorrow. Yes, the PlayStation Store will update a little earlier than normal in North America this week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving by gorging on turkeys and LittleBigPlanet PSP levels.

New of LittleBigPlanet being uttered in the same sentence as Barack Obama and of video games being included in the President’s push for new ways to inspire kids to learn science, technology, engineering and math sat well with Entertainment Software Association chief Michael Gallagher today.

“This is a very, very good day for the gaming industry,” he told Kotaku today. “This is a significant leap into maturity and toward acceptance.”

Gallagher literally sat one row behind former astronaut Sally Ride and right near the former chairman of Intel and the current head of the group behind Sesame Street today in Washington at a press conference where Obama announced plans for “Educate To Innovate,” a series of mostly privately-funded initiatives to improve kids’ knowledge of and enthusiasm for math and science.

The new programs could be the gaming industry’s reach for the stars, to build on an astronomical analogy Gallagher said he used with White House officials as the new programs were taking shape. “Much as the space program inspired a generation of children to go into engineering,” he said. “Today’s learners are inspired by video games.” Those who make games, in other words, have the capacity to influence America’s youth toward scientific and technological greatness.

The gaming aspect of the Obama program involves two contests, both geared toward making games that will help children learn science, technology, engineering or math, so-called STEM topics. One contest involves the design of LittleBigPlanet levels. The other challenges developers to make browser games for children of different ages. Both embody what Gallagher says are the two defining characteristics of the gaming industry: Innovation and Competition.

But today was unusual. The video game industry doesn’t often get a call from the White House, as the ESA did three months ago, to launch the programs announced today. Rare is the Administration that refers to games at all in a positive way.

Perhaps equally rare is an Administration that even understands games. Gallagher, who worked in the George W. Bush White House said that the “communication gap was a lot smaller” dealing with Obama officials. Some of the current President’s speech writers, after all, recently stopped by an ESA reception to play The Beatles Rock Band, he said.

The ESA has also worked to promote the reputation of games and has enjoyed the findings of groups such as the Joan Ganz Cooney centre, which announced earlier this year that it saw games playing a key role in the future of education.

All of this helped produce a climate that led the White House to think positively about games.

“There is a preponderance of belief that we’re a force for good and quality, as opposed to being stigmatized.”

So it wasn’t a complete shock to Gallagher that, three months ago, the White House contacted the ESA to invite the gaming industry to get involved in the President’s education initiative.

From that request emerged the STEM National Video Game Competition, the browser game challenge, which will involve not just the ESA and the Information Technology Industry Council (an advocacy group for tech companies), but also Microsoft and Games4Change, a group dedicated to supporting games that serve a social good.

Anyone will be able to make games for the contest, vying for a portion of the total prize of $US300,000. Even more alluring may be Gallagher’s belief that the winning entries, which will be announced in June at E3 could become part of school curricula as soon as next school year. “We could be reaching and saving today’s learners,” he said, not waiting for a future generation and giving up already on today’s kids.

“The objective is learning, not teaching,” Gallagher said of the games he hopes people will make. He explained that a popular belief among educators is that teaching — the dispensing of information — is over-emphasizes in school programs and that more attention needs to be paid toward learning — what goes on in a child’s mind. It’s learning where games have such strong potential, Gallagher argued, because the medium already has proven it has the ability to captivate a child’s imagination and tap his or her curiosity.

The other program announced today involves Sony providing 1,000 PlayStation 3s and copies of LittleBigPlanet as part of an effort backed by the MacArthur Foundation to encourage learning through digital means.

“We should be proud of this moment because it shows a maturity of our industry,” Gallagher told Kotaku today. “It shows an acceptance of our industry as vital to our country’s ability to meeting significant challenges.” If video games can help America get better at science, technology, engineering and math, Gallagher would consider that a job well done.

President Barack Obama announced today at a press conference that the overarching directive on the gaming plans are part of the Administration’s commitment to its STEM program, an initiative for focusing on science, technology engineering and maths education.

Among the participating private-backed initiatives is a two-year focus on science on Sesame Street as well as a variety of video-game initiatives.

“Our industry’s lifeblood is the energy and innovation of new, emerging developers,” Michael Gallagher, president of the Electronic Software Association, the industry’s lobbying group, said in a press release today. “To create the next generation’s epic titles and incredibly immersive storylines, we need America’s youth to have strategic and analytic thinking skills along with complex problem-solving abilities. It is my hope that it will produce games that will have a lasting impact on the STEM skills our nation’s students so desperately need.”

The Sony LittleBigPlanet initiative, Game Changers, is part of a $US2 million 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition funded by the MacArthur foundation. It involves Sony donating 1000 PlayStation 3s and copies of LittleBigPlanet to libraries and community organisations. Participants will strive to create levels that involve science, technology, engineering and maths.

A second program, called the Stem National Video Game Competition, was also announced. It is a three-pronged $US300,000 contest encouraging entrants to create the best browser video games that teach the STEM disciplines for a trio of age ranges: 4-8, 8-12 and 12-16. This competition is intended to reach “historically underserved populations including girls and minority students,” according to an ESA press release. Specifics for this contest will be announced in early 2010, with winners showcased at E3 in June.

The gaming initiatives announced today are backed by the Information Technology Industry Council, an advocacy group. Microsoft and the Games4Change group are also both involved in these plans, according to the ESA release.

More details about both contests will be announced in the next few weeks, according to the ESA.

We asked you to write a limerick beginning with “There once was a Sackboy…” You can read all 341 entries here and here. But only two can win.

This is them:

Brent Harrison
There was a sackboy named Michael,
who thought banning games was delightful,
Until one day,
Voters sent him away,
By electing his political rival.

Ryan Stalgis
There once was a sackgirl named Rose
Who picked a loose thread from her nose
She soon felt dim-witted
For since she was knitted
She unraveled right down to her toes!

Congratulations guys, I’ll be in touch later today to arrange delivery of your prize.

UPDATE: This competition is now closed. The second winner will be announced 11am Monday.

LittleBigPlanet on PSP is an entirely new Sackboy adventure with an Australiana themed area just one of more than 35 original levels. And just like on PS3, you can create your own levels and share them online with the PSP community.

Thanks to our friends at Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, we have two prize packs up for grabs, both including:

* A turqiose Slim & Lite PSP
* A copy of LittleBigPlanet on UMD
* A Sackboy screenwipe
* And a Sackboy PSP pouch

How do you win? It’s limerick time again. You have to write a LittleBigPlanet themed limerick that begins “There once was a Sackboy…” (Remember: limericks have fives lines; lines 1, 2 & 5 should rhyme, and lines 3 & 4 should rhyme.)

Good luck!

NOTE: As with all Kotaku comps, only one entry per draw is allowed. If you leave multiple entries, only the first one will be considered.

And the first winner is… Brent Harrison, who submitted not just the first but the best classification-themed limerick:

There was a sackboy named Michael,
who thought banning games was delightful,
Until one day,
Voters sent him away,
By electing his political rival.

Remember, leave your limerick here to go into the second draw. Entries close at midnight Sunday.

[Terms and Conditions]

According to PlayStation.com’s Hong Kong presence, as spotted by Siliconera, LittleBigPlanet costumes that ape Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Werehog, Tails, Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman) and Knuckles will be available later this year. December 17, at least in Hong Kong, to be exact.

While we’d PlayStation.com to be right about the particulars, we’re checking in with Sony and Media Molecule to see when we can enjoy dressing our Sackboys up as Sonic and his friends on our PS3s.

LittleBigPlanet Sonic the Hedgehog Costumes (English/Chinese Ver.) [PlayStation Hong Kong via Siliconera]

LittleBigPlanet on PSP is an entirely new Sackboy adventure with an Australiana themed area just one of more than 35 original levels. And just like on PS3, you can create your own levels and share them online with the PSP community.

Thanks to our friends at Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, we have two prize packs up for grabs, both including:

* A turqiose Slim & Lite PSP
* A copy of LittleBigPlanet on UMD
* A Sackboy screenwipe
* And a Sackboy PSP pouch

How do you win? It’s limerick time again. You have to write a LittleBigPlanet themed limerick that begins “There once was a Sackboy…” (Remember: limericks have fives lines; lines 1, 2 & 5 should rhyme, and lines 3 & 4 should rhyme.)

There’ll be two draws, one for today and Friday and a second one for the weekend. You’ve got until midnight tomorrow to get your entry in for the first draw. Then stay tuned for the opening of the second draw at 10am Saturday, where we’ll also announce the first winner. Got that?

Good luck!

NOTE: As with all Kotaku comps, only one entry per draw is allowed. If you leave multiple entries, only the first one will be considered.

[Terms and Conditions]

“We’d never want to do that,” said Danny Leaver, adding that a sequel would fragment the game’s community. Producer Martin Lynagh said that the game’s existing strategy of updates and DLC — and both have been robust enough — will be status quo.

“I think what you’ve seen so far from LittleBigPlanet, that’s the way it’s going to continue,” Lynagh told Critical Gamer.

There’s this and much more in an extensive interview, the first part of which was published today.

A LittleBigPlanet 2 Would Be “Counterproductive” Say Media Molecule [Critical Gamer via Evil Avatar]

That would be the launch ready Space Suit Sackboy Costume, re-releasing the week of November 5 for LittleBigPlanet latecomers. Media Molecule’s also letting PlayStation 3 owners eat cake, prepping a candle-headed, slice-suited Sackboy, seen floating in space above.

Both are, thankfully, free!

Happy Birthday LittleBigPlanet! [Media Molecule]