An Issue with Creativity

Many are exciting about the potential in the upcoming PS3 game Little Big Planet. Graphics, style, and coop aside, this game features a rich level editor and an innovative system of posting and sharing these levels with the world. The developers of LBP are essentially putting us (the players) to work for ourselves. While this is interesting in itself, being powered by the creative energies of the world comes with a unique issue.

Like in Halo's forge, many will be daunted by the task at hand and opt out of making something of their own. After all, there's nothing quite like the discouraging feeling of wanting to creating something but having no ideas when all the necessary tools are laid out generously in front of you.

There will be others who will attempt to create something, and the result often times ends ends up being something that looks and plays like garbage. Let's face it. Creativity is hard to come by. And in the case of games with editors, being able to pull off a creative idea is a rare moment in history. But we take our chances by playing the numbers game. If the games we play sell millions, surely there is at least one person out there that will give the world something truly wonderful.

Sharing such content is important for such games. To help illustrate this point, I posted a video (see the top of sidebar) of a song transposed from one of Jason Mraz's songs. The Japanese import game Daigasso! Band-Brothers has a extremely flexible music editor. Only those with a fairly strong background in music theory/notation can make sense of things. I spent somewhere between 5 and 10 hours putting in all the notes after listening very carefully to the song so many times I lost count. And now that it is finished, the only way I can share my accomplishment with the world is through youtube. This ambitious DS game came out long before the DS was online, so sharing is limited to local lan transactions. What are the chances that I'll find a fellow Japanese DS game importing Jason Mraz Daigasso Band Brothers fan on the street? Not very likely.

Sharing is caring. And it's also the lifeblood of creativity. It allows for one spark to set off another. Let's hope the darks days are over. Enjoy the music.