Microsoft can expect LittleBigPlanet rip-off accusations with Boku

2:03 PM on 11.01.2008   |   Jim Sterling

48 comments

User-generated content is all the rage these days, helped in no small way by LittleBigPlanet taking player power to the masses with its high profile PlayStation 3 release. Microsoft seems to have taken note, and has chosen now to remind us all of Boku, a game that, like LBP, is all about making your own game content. No, I don't recall it being announced last year either.

Straight plagiarism this most certainly isn't, although the comparisons have already started. Boku allows you to create racing games, puzzlers and your own variants of classics, such as the Frogger clone seen in the above clip. However, with a character referred to as Stickboy and the emphasis on child-friendly content building, this can easily look like a less-than-subtle attempt to ride the coat tails of the biggest game to hit the PS3 this generation.

This is being billed as more of a tool than a game in its own right, and it certainly looks interesting even outside of whatever LBP comparisons could be made. That said, am I the only one who doesn't really care about user-generated content? There is a reason that I, and many other gamers, are not game designers ourselves.

I prefer to leave my game making to the experts. I'm never crafting something as brilliant as Half-Life 2, and I don't need to be reminded of the fact.