• Gamespot: Spaceship Demo in the “The Cosmos” part of the story, with the level selection on a planet despite your being on a spaceship flying through space, showing off sackbot actors (I counted at least 12 in one level), controllinator minigames, level links (which can be automatic or manual), semi-interactive cutscenes(?), and a little low gravity platforming, .  What’s referred to as gravity reversal appears to be just an illusion, unless you can selectively not affect sackboys and sackbots.

• Gamespot: Creatinator Demo in the “Victoria’s Laboratory” part of the story, demos the creatinator emitting cake icing (rather than “cows” or “fiery napalm death”) as the “Cakeinator”, sticky materials (icing), animated flowing chocolate waterfalls and dissolving icing, using sticky emitted material to solve physics puzzles, and cute little cake-based enemies.  Alex reiterates that you can record your own voice acting, and that the sackbot actors are following pre-recorded sixaxis control.

• GameSpot: Grapple Hook Demo in the “Da Vinci’s Hideout” part of the story, demos the grapple hook and bounce pads and reveals that the “Tower of Whoop” is doable in one score bubble chain (but not easily).

• GameSpot: Sequencer Demo – LBP2 will have a “great licensed soundtrack” but “20, 30 tracks is never going to cut it”.  Demos Christophe’s “Caterpillar Climb” level (Christophe having been hired from the community), which switches from horizontal platformer to vertical racer.  Beautiful animated waterfalls, sackbots turning to watch Sackboy (even in Create mode), but amazingly: dynamic track being generated during play out of pre-built sections, using the intended-for-music sequencer.  Stephen Fry is back narating, as we know.  Some of the new awesome backgrounds done by Fireproof Studios.  ”Stingers” of short musical themes available (“Love” theme shown), but the musical sequencer is the main attraction.  There will be some Mm-provided sequences in final game.  It looks like a separate thermometer shows up just to track the space on a sequencer…?  Object tweakers (like fire) can be added to sequencer.  Twinkle, twinkle, fiery napalm death.

• GameSpot: LBP2 Interview: Alex Evans – talk of the music sequencer, expectation of “more finessed” levels from the community, competitive minigames, stickiness, at the “no sleeping” polish stage of development, “can’t wait to have this baby out”.  [Pregnant women of the world sympathize, I'm sure. -Ed]

• GameSpot: GamesCom Tour, Hall 7 – Jealousy fuel for us non-Europeans.  Apparently the copy of LBP2 being shown called itself “Beta”, and pics have shown up in the forums claiming the Beta has already begun.  Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, as Kevin Butler says.

• IGN: short but beautiful, GC 2010: Gameplay 1 (1:38 of Caterpillar Climb), GC 2010: Gameplay 2 (1:03 of the spaceship arcade), GC 2010: Gameplay 3 (1:22 of rescuing sackbots in low gravity on falling-apart spaceship).

• Fnac Gaming Network: LBP2: Creations and Gameplay (5:06), music sequencer demo, then the sackbot splitscreen puzzle (which indicates that the creator _can_ program a sackbot to mimic the player’s costume), rubber-band-ball basketball minigame (showing power gloves also carrying other sackboys).

• PS3Community.ch: Gamescom 2010: LBP2 Interview (6:44) – designers inspired by community, story has nice sense of humour, racing minigame with level-select (mentioned, not shown), a few seconds of a swampy level(?), LBP.me overview (no PSN account required to browse), developing LBP1 required some cheating but LBP2 levels purely made on PS3 (fixed stuff that drove the designers crazy),  first planned DLC is Move support for creators (sample levels will be on disc), LBP1 content available even if you only buy LBP2.

• PS Gaming Blog: LBP2 Footage Part 1 (1:31 a little sackbot escort footage in the Factory of a Better Tomorrow), LBP2 Footage Part 2 (0:39 playing “Science Diner” [pong] and “Parmesan” in the spaceship arcade; looks like Parmesan gives you a level key), LBP2 Footage Part 3 (1:04 “Tower of Whoop”).

• Oyungezer Online: Gamescom 2010: LBP2 Ozel Sunumu (27:36) – Some people just want to play, designers just use PS3, level 4 in Da Vinci’s area with grappling hook and bounce pads, grappling hook grabs soft things but Sackboy is also soft, Victoria the bipolar baker and evil cupcakes, creatinator, d-pad for emotion works when recording sackbot actors, costumes with names like “Berrie”, multiplayer minigame basketball in the Factory of a Better Tomorrow, Higgenbotham (who created the great spaceship) is in Eve’s Asylum?, multiplayer(!) sackboy splitscreen puzzle, sequencer has been added to the game since E3, mentions sequencing sackbot emotions (sequencer in sackbot brain, or external sackbot emotion control?), demo of Caterpillar Climb level, then sequencer twinkle twinkle napalm death demo, soundtrack shaping up to be awesome, complex new stuff makes it easier, first cutscene with the Oz-like Avalon Centrifuge (“Surely, You Will Fall Prostrate When Confronted By My Magnificence”), hopping bunny with health meter and collectable carrots.  [Lots of homage to Oz and HHGttG in at least this part of the story, I think. -Ed]

• GamerSyde: LBP Interview Alex Evans (Gamescom) – more integrated story, cutscenes, game variety, being pulled between game and toolset, making creation enjoyable, direct control and sackboys, updated pop-it system, Eve’s Asylum (Eve’s invented a machine to create life, but it’s gone wrong?), demo single-player sackbot splitscreen puzzle (further than other demos, and mentioning there are sixty (!) puzzles), trademark/copyright issues and moderation, offensive material more of a problem than copyright, LBP2 will have new tools for the moderators, you can always edit and republish, cutscenes with recorded voices, ambient occlusion and volumetric lighting, old levels look remastered, new transparency and particle effects, Avalon Centrifuge into cutscene, not-just-music sequencer (cameras, movement, etc), addressing platforming issues [floaty whining -Ed] with power-ups and bounce pads and direct control, wall-jumping rabbit, sixty levels in story (incl. minigames), basketball minigame, PS Eye camera support same as in LBP?, “Split Path” sackbot-leading level.

• Misc shakey-cam: LBP2 Gameplay (3:01 in pod and the Factory of a Better Tomorrow, including sackboy escort and an interesting-looking enemy who spits fire), LBP2 Arcade Background (0:17 in create mode), Animated Material Showoff (0:24 of waterfall and x-ray?), Lift-Off Level Gameplay (0:36 of low-grav multiplayer platforming), Create Mode Materials (2:11 of colour-picked glass, animated, shiny, etc), Tower of Whoop (3:43 complete playthrough with two players).

• GameSpot’s LittleBigPlanet 2 Impressions from GamesCom, including a great cakeinator demonstration video.

• Here’s video of the guy in the big Sackboy costume at GamesCom.

• Here in the States, the Subway sandwich company is running a promotional contest with a variety of Sony prizes, including both regular and collector’s edition LittleBigPlanet 2.  PlayStation.blog details – Subway Fiery Footlong Frenzy site – Subway Freshbuzz twitter page.  [I've only won some Uncharted 2 DLC so far, and have gained twenty pounds.]

• Spaff says there’s an LBP2 Beta coming soon.  The LBP Beta was a crazy fun time (I even got to hand out a few codes), so we’re really excited.

• As the reigning PAX East LBP PSP champion, I certainly agree that LBP2 PSP would be cool.

• New trailer released at the Gamescom Sony Press Conference.  More on that later.

• Speaking of Gamescom, looking forward to the European PlayStation Blog‘s interview with Alex Evans.  “We shot a short video interview which is being edited as we speak and that you can look forward to seeing either at the end of this week or the beginning of next. He gave me an insight into LittleBigPlanet 2’s story and shed details of the incredible sounding music creation, which should give a new lease of life to those LBP musicians out there.”

• Speaking of Gamescom, looking forward to hearing about the imminent Media Molecule Gamescom Fan Meet 2010.  We couldn’t send anyone to Germany this year, due to what is known around LiBiPl.net HQ as “the currywurst incident“, but we’ll look forward to living the good life vicariously through our more European friends.

• Speaking of Gamescom, looking forward to the LittleBigPlanet team maybe taking a page from Zipper’s book and announcing a Beta strategy this week.  Maybe?

• Speaking of not-Gamescom, there’s a PlayStation Move event in Washington D.C. next week.  In the comments on the east coast Washington event, PlayStation Social Media Superman Jeff Rubenstein revealed their intention to reveal their intentions regarding the upcoming west coast Washington event:  PAX meetup details next week!  We’re definitely being represented at PAX, so we’re eager to find out next week whether we’re arriving too late or leaving too early to meet the American Sony dudes.

I know E3 Season is really busy, but really?  — Wait, glass houses time: looks like we’ve referred to him as “Leo Cubbins” on multiple occasions.  Our bad.

Those of you experiencing withdrawal can pour salt in your wounds by watching some Beta levels you may not have had an opportunity to play.  Wired has a top 10, Media Molecule has their Mmonday picks (1st Monday, 2nd Monday).

One eagle-eyed blogger has noticed that the LittleBigPlanet seaside resembles Brighton.

Since they seem to be so popular, Sam gave a rocket car construction step-by-step.

If you experienced a lot of lag at times during the Beta, don’t despair.  The servers were deliberately cut back.

Kikizo talked to Mark, Alex, and Pete last month.  Interesting bits: They were working on a “more Portally than Portal” game at one point, and originally in LittleBigPlanet you could make infinitely deep levels.

Here’s a splendid attempt at a LittleBigPlanet cake.

For a little while, this page was advertising an opening for developers to work on LittleBigPlanet PSP, but that detail’s been removed.  This, along with Mark telling EuroGamer that “There’s definitely scope for a PSP version,” bring some old rumours back to life.

Kunal Patel, one of the Parsons students responsible for the award-winning “Shadow of the LittleBigColossus” level, has an interesting post on the official PlayStation Blog, calling LittleBigPlanet “Legos for a new generation”.

More homemade Sackboys, this time including Kratos, Old Snake, and Nariko.

Someone tried to auction off LittleBigBillboard #27, but set the reserve at over $198.50?

Wired’s First Impressions of LittleBigPlanet gets bonus points for reminding us about ZZT.  From the text, however, it sounds like they were dealing with something earlier than the Beta.

As the fervor for the LittleBigPlanet Beta turned to madness, Sony says they weren’t surprised.