As if that’s not enough to keep me busy on top of studying and school, Tuesday is coming up mighty soon and you know what that means: Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines. And I still need to write some reviews of movies to post over at Visual Crack. I am a busy little bee.

I’ve thought about playing Assassin’s Creed again, but then I thought it might make me go even more crazy, so I think I’m going to go back to the new Prince of Persia, which I have been sadly unable to complete as of yet. Which of course gives me good reason to play it again – and then review it. Yeah, I know, old news. But there are always new people picking up PS3s, especially with the price drop, and I know if I was one of those people I would like to know more about some of the older PS3 games.

UPDATE: Even better.

Today I thought I’d give the franchise another go because I saw the preview for Final Fantasy XIV and was then looking at Final Fantasy XIII and thought, “I really should give the franchise at least one more try.” I was sold, albeit cautiously, when I learned that Final Fantasy XII is barely turn-based at all. And it was only $12 at Gamestop so I could hardly pass it up.

So far it’s a decent game and the graphics are great. Don’t get me wrong, if I had any input into these things I wouldn’t rate it anywhere near, say, Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, both games with absolutely beautiful graphics and great game play.

I have to say I just don’t see what is so great about the Final Fantasy franchise. I get that for many people it’s pretty much the be-all and end-all of video gaming, but I just don’t see it. I am willing to change my mind, however, as a review I read regarding FFXII mentioned that it took a few hours to really get going. I’m cautiously optimistic that I will eventually grow to like the series for more than just the pretty graphics (I’ve never been a fan of the game play but I’ve always thought the graphics looked outstanding). Thankfully, to help me out a friend of mine who is planning on getting the Japanese version of FFXIII (gotta love being in the same region as Japan on the PS3) when it comes out in December is going to give me a heads up on what I can expect when it hits the US next year, so I can decide whether I want to give it a try or not.

Any thoughts? I know there are a lot of FF faithful out there, but I’m sure, likewise, there are others like me who just don’t get what all the hype is about. I’m willing to listen to both sides.

But lately I’ve been talking about games on Facebook and wanting share my love of gaming with others. And, let’s be honest, Facebook is great for getting back in touch with people you’ve lost contact with, but not so great to spread the good word about the coolest games you played and your favorite gaming moments.

I will link periodically to my friend’s video reviews because they are pretty funny and he definitely knows what he likes and dislikes about games.

So I hope to see more of you returning to both this blog and the main blog, Visual Crack as I throw myself back into entertainment review blogging.

With the advent of the most recent generation of gaming consoles has come a giant leap in our expectations of game developers and their offerings. We expect bigger levels, more impressive graphics, and more open gameplay.

Enter LittleBigPlanet, one of the most hotly anticipated games of this year and number two on my own list of games I must own as soon as it hits the shelf. I have actually asked that the celebration of my own birthday be delayed to coincide with the street date of this game. If that doesn’t tell you how excited I am I don’t know what will.

LittleBigPlanet is a truly original concept: a game built for people want to both play and create their own levels and share them over a network. We’re not talking about your average level builder included in some other games. In this game you can build anything you want and if you see something in another level you want but don’t know how to build, you will have different options on how to obtain that item. This is the epitome of “Game 3.0″.

Gameplay starts out with the base character, affectionately dubbed Sackboy. He looks exactly like he’s knitted out of yarn. The graphics are that good. Don’t believe me? Compare. On the left you see the digital Sackboy, on the right you see a real knitted Sackboy* (which I really want, by the way). Tell me that doesn’t look amazing.

But it doesn’t end there: Sackboy’s got personality. Feel like breaking out in air guitar in the middle of a run? Go right ahead. Feeling blue? Sackboy’s face – and hands – can reflect that. Compared to other games I’ve seen and played, you have an unprecedented amount of control over the character’s personality and appearance in real time. And the game’s not even finished yet. Come on, even the manliest among you can let that fangirl squee out. Nobody’s going to laugh; they’ll all be doing the same thing.

Building your level and building your character use pretty much the same mechanic: a bubble above Sackboy’s head filled with various items and shapes you can use. You can even decide what type of material you want to use to make your items, be it wood, cardboard, sponge, or rock. You can make sizzling hot pits to fry Sackboy to a crisp, electrify items to shock the plucky puppet, or even drop in ice blocks that will instantly encase the little guy in an ice cube if touched. The possibilities are endless.

The different items you can actually build are astounding. From things that just look pretty to items you can actually use, you can create just about anything. And if you can’t figure out how to create it, there are people out there who can and probably will. echochrome, another game that gives players the option to build and share levels, could just be giving us a taste of how much creativity we can look forward to when LittleBigPlanet hits the street.

You can make your level as complex or simple as you’d like. When you’ve finished building it you can take it for a test drive and tweak it before you unleash it on the rest of the world. You make the rules for the levels you build (as long as those rules obey the laws of the physics engine, of course). And if you’ve managed to make something totally awesome you can choose to share it or keep it to yourself (just remember: Sharing is caring).

Now, I’ve never been big on multi-player games, but the brains at Media Molecule have done the impossible: just the idea of playing this with friends is enough to send me into a fangirl squee. This game can be played alone, but its real draw is in the cooperative play. Some levels will be a lot easier to get through if you’ve got some buddies to help with the heavy lifting (literally). This is a very social game and the first game that I’ve been excited about largely because of that social aspect.

I was going to link to more individual videos but when I ran across the Gametrailers LittleBigPlanet site I figured I’d just provide you with the link and let you have at it. I will, however, specifically link to the GDC 2007 demonstration video. It’s 18 minutes long but well worth your time. Also, check out Media Molecule’s blog. They’re the guys responsible for this masterpiece of gaming goodness and there’s no reason you shouldn’t pay them a visit.

Another good resource for LittleBigPlanet is the LiBiPl Blog.

*Real knitted Sackboy by one of the artist’s mothers.

I would like to make the announcement (to those who haven’t visited Visual Crack this will be news) that the remaining posts regarding my “Most Anticipated Games of 2008″ will be released at the rate of one every Wednesday at 12:00pm MDT. This week you can look forward to my thoughts on LittleBigPlanet.

As far as my progress on Fallout is concerned, I haven’t played much (see comments above regarding this weekend but I’m hoping to get a chance to really sit down and play this week.

But, as I also pointed out over at Visual Crack, you don’t have to worry if you were hoping to read my thoughts on Killzone 2 because I’m currently compiling my “Most Anticipated 2009″ list, which I will release after my 2008 series of posts.