It all begins with a brand-new story mode that provides a beautifully reshaped world for Sackboy to explore and play. Each story level is influenced by cultural high points in history and is visually stunning. LittleBigPlanet 2 will offer revolutionary gameplay mechanics and a level of customization and creative control that has never been seen before. Players can reset the controller buttons for any object and change the rules to any level through an ability called Direct Control and new multiplayer abilities advance the types of games possible for a social/competitive experience — imagine racing games, flying games, shooters, puzzle games, sports, action/adventure, and more. Users will be able to link levels together to provide longer gameplay experiences without the breakup of going back to the Pod.

SCEA has several exciting pre-order offers through several retail partners.  Each pre-order consists of 2 parts – a very special costume offer from our partners @ Disney / Pixar and Insomniac; and 4 new “Even More Animals” costumes.  That’s 5-6 different LBP2 costumes just for pre-ordering LBP2.  Here’s a sneak peek of a few pre-order programs coming soon to our US retailers:

• Amazon.com – If you’re a fan of the Ratchet & Clank franchise (who isn’t), you’ll love this.  Pre-order at Amazon.com and get 6 Sackboy costumes including exclusive access to Ratchet & Clank costumes from the ever popular Ratchet & Clank franchise.  In addition to the exclusive 2 costumes, you’ll get four new “Animals” costumes, for a total of 6 costumes.
• BestBuy & BestBuy.com – All together now…”the claw!!!”  We’ve partnered with Disney & Pixar to provide the exclusive “Aliens” costume for BestBuy pre-orderers.  We can already imagine the number of uses you guys will use this costume combined with the new Sackbots feature.  And be on the lookout for more characters thru an upcoming Toy Story 3 DLC in the near future.  Plus the 4 costumes from “Even More Animals”
• GameStop & GameStop.com – Are you as excited for the release of TRON: Legacy as we are?  If so, head on over to GameStop and pre-order to get the exclusive *Clu* Sackboy costume from Tron: Legacy. Be the first to have this costume and hold tight for more TRON: Legacy costumes later this year.  And again, you also get the 4 different “Even More Animals” costumes.

SCEA are offering a Collector’s Edition of LittleBigPlanet 2 in the US, bad news is it’ll be a limited run, so you better pre-order soon to ensure you get one. The LittleBigPlanet 2 Collectors Edition, will also be available at select retailers at $79.99, and in limited quantity.  Here’s what you can expect from the LittleBigPlanet 2 Collectors Edition:

• A copy of LittleBigPlanet 2 – duh.
• Your own little “Sackboy” – 7” of plushie-goodness for you to accompany you on your journey thru LBP2.
• Exclusive LBP2 “game ends” – keep your PS3 games in a tidy, organized and ‘Sack-ured” within these unique bookends
• One stop shop for exclusive DLC + more – regarding in-game content, the LBP2 Collector’s Edition comes packed with 11 different pre-order costumes, including:
  • Disney / Pixar’s Toy Story 3’s “Aliens” Sackboy Costume
  • Disney’s TRON: Legacy “Clu” Sackboy Costume
  • The Muppets’ “The Great Gonzo” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Ratchet” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Clank” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Crocodile” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Vulture” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Cobra” Sackboy Costume
  • Even More Animals’ “Mandrill” Sackboy Costume
• And exclusive to the LittleBigPlanet 2’s Collectors Edition:
  • PlayStation’s “Jak” Sackboy Costume
  • PlayStation’s “Daxter” Sackboy Costume
  • 5 exclusive LBP2 PSN Avatars – Lastly, complete your PlayStation experience with a new identity on the PlayStation Network with these new avatars.

Key Features:

• More Than 40 New Story Levels Across Six Themes — Everything in LittleBigPlanet 2 is influenced by cultural high points in history providing an artistically reworked canvas for Sackboy to explore. All of the new levels and territories to Play fuse different historical ideas together to create fresh aesthetics that populate this new world, with themes including: Techno Renaissance, Steampunk and Cake, Neon Propaganda, Fluffy High-Tech, Designer Organic, and Hand-made Arcade.
• Four-Player Offline/Online Multiplayer — New game/scoring modes allow players to include, scoreboards, and other elements in their creations to advance the types of games possible for a four-player social/competitive multiplayer experience, including puzzle, racing/sports, and action/adventure games. Players can also make Sack-buddies with other players across the world while they Play, Create, and Share together online.
• New Gadgets — Along his adventure, Sackboy will have new tools and equipment to aid him on his journey, including a Grapple Hook for swinging across large gaps and pulling small objects towards you, Power Gloves for picking things up and throwing them, and a customizable Creatinator for Sackboy to carry that spews out anything a creator desires.
• Create Full-Scale Games — Evolved Create tools allow users to not only make better levels, but completely new games. Featuring new Controlinator abilities, players can reset the controller buttons for any object and change the rules to any level. Your vehicles and creations can behave exactly the way you want them to. LittleBigPlanet 2 can become your own handmade arcade to Create games across multiple genres— imagine racing games, flying games, shooters, puzzle games, sports, action/adventure, and more—anything you can image, you can Create.
• A.I. Sackbots — Customizable Sackbots (non player Sackboys) are interactive, programmable non player characters that bring the game to life. Customize sizing and clothing for each individual or group of Sackbots, place them in your game creations or cut scenes, dress them up, choose different behavior patterns (make them mean or friendly, safe or dangerous), and even record your own voiceovers and/or actions for them to perform.
• Cinematic cut scene Maker — A new camera system, along with cinematic tools makes it easy to Create full cut scenes, whether as stand-alone movies or cut-sequences in levels, for a more immersive and narrative experience to Play. You now have full control over camera position, movement (including tilt, zoom and shake), transitions, and timings, as well as the ability record full voice-overs for Sackboys and Sackbots that can be used in music videos, short films or even entire movies.
• New Create Materials — Players will have new base materials with a selection of Filters, dangerous Plasma to add to fire and electricity, Electrical Neon that can change color with a switch, and Holographic material to make your own HUDS, all added to the infinite amount of stickers, decorations, materials (glass, metal, sponge, polystyrene, cardboard, and rubber), bolts (springs, motor, and wobble bolts), and rods to choose from while you Create.
• New Create Tools — Multiple new gadgets are at your disposal, including a Level Link Badge to jump from level to level by simply placing a badge without going back to the 'Pod,' Global Gravity to change the effects of gravity within the whole scene, Bounce Pads to launch Sackboys and Sackbots in the air, a Smoke Machine for a smoke releasing effect, and Circuit Boards which enable creators to layout complex logic connections onto a single chip. No longer do creators have to conceal complex tangles of logic strings behind curtains, they can now simply add to a Circuit Board and hide it away. Circuit Boards can also be used to control the behavior of Sackbots.
• Stunning Visuals — LittleBigPlanet 2 utilizing a revamped graphics engine and state-of-the-art visual technologies to showcase Sackboy and his new world better than ever. Players will also be able to access the more than two million user-created levels from the original LittleBigPlanet, all which will shine due to the newly enhanced graphics engine.
• Share Easier — An enhanced Share experience will have gamers spending less time searching and more time playing the millions of levels and games created by fans around the world. With the unveil of LBP.me, a social networking website, every published online game/level will get its own webpage, so users can search/find creations while online at home/work, mark them, and have these favorites queued up and ready to Play when you return to your PS3 and sign onto PlayStation Network. Users will also be able keep an eye on what games/levels your friends are playing via activity steams, as well as link levels together to provide longer gameplay experiences without the breakup of going back to the 'Pod.'
• Backwards Compatible — LittleBigPlanet 2 players can enjoy the more than two million online community levels created with the original game, levels that will look even better when seen through our revamped graphics engine. All purchased and earned downloadable content from LittleBigPlanet can be used as well.
• Move Demo — LittleBigPlanet 2 will include a standalone, 10 level demo that supports PlayStation Move.
• Trophy Support — LittleBigPlanet 2 supports a host of fun and challenging trophies to collect along the way.