Sack Boy

To start my analysis of Little Big Planet I will look at the main character of the game, Sack Boy. This is the character that the player(s) control during the game. From the start of the game you are able to edit Sack Boy’s appearance, gaining more items to do this during game play, or through downloads from the Playstation shop. Sack Boy can also be referred to as ‘Sack Girl’ depending on the gender the player dresses the character in.

Sack Boy’s initial appearance is friendly and welcoming. In this picture we can see he is smiling, which gives the player a good feeling towards this character. The mouth is large in proportion to the rest of the body, so it draws your eye towards it. This may signify that the creators of the game want you to like sack boy as you will be controlling him.

Sack Boy’s posture is also very neutral. Here we can see him standing in a very open position; his hips are tilted slightly which gives the effect that he is relaxed. Sack Boy is made out of what appears to be a woollen material. The material itself is reminiscent of a time when I was made to wear knitted clothes by my Nan when I was young. It reminds me of a positive loving feeling, which incorporates well with the positive feelings towards Sack Boy.

Sack Boy is in comparison to the rest of the game, very plain. The levels are brightly lit and detailed, but Sack boy himself is quite dull and plain. I suspect there may be two reasons behind this. The first and most likely may be that the creators of the game are trying to encourage you to edit Sack Boy’s appearance so that you may benefit from all areas of the game, and also get into the spirit of Little Big Planet who’s tagline is ‘Play, Create, Share’. The second reason may be that with all the detail in the background of the levels, having an over detailed character may affect his ability to stand out from the scenery. Some parts of the game move very quickly, and without a clear view of the character, they may become difficult to complete.

The zip that features on the body of Sack Boy is probably just an extra bit of detailing to make the character look complete. It has been made oversized in comparison to add to the cute effect that Sack Boy has.

I think that Sack Boy is a fun friendly character that is designed just to be a starting point for the players themselves. The game creators want players to like and engage with Sack Boy. This has been demonstrated by a relatively simple character design and a very open and friendly personality given off by Sack Boy himself.