Last month, my Playstation 3’s Blu-ray drive broke for the second time and I now own a new one. Immediately after removing my new PS3 from the box, I began attempting to backup all of my save files. Maybe it was due to my lack of knowledge, but I found the backup process to be complicated. Couple my confusion with the fact that I celebrated Christmas, my dad’s birthday, and my birthday during that period, resulting in little time to worry about save files.  Finally, one day before I was set to return to college, I managed to backup all of the files.

Problem solved? Not quite, because the files have not been transferred to the same PS3, my games believe them to be corrupted. At first I tried to fix it. But after spending what little free time I’ve had the last few weeks pouring over forum posts and reading manuals, I’m done. My pile of shame is growing while I try to salvage a few old save files and it’s starting to feel ridiculous. But there is still one game that makes me want to keep trying: LittleBigPlanet. Last year most of my close friends became addicted to LittleBigPlanet, and losing those 16 saves is breaking my heart.

Last winter my three roommates and I found ourselves with easy classes and an inordinate amount of free time. Couple that with a harsh winter (we even had a university wide snow day, I go into detail about that here) and life was good. Before I knew it we were playing LittleBigPlanet at least three hours a night, most nights more than that. I cannot overemphasize how much we played that game. We even had spectators among our friends who just liked to watch us play. Within a month my PS3 had 16 users, most of whom never played a PS3 game besides LittleBigPlanet.  

Purely as a side note, one of the things that frustrated me about LittleBigPlanet’s marketing was that it underemphasized the Co-op. The “Fun shall overcome” videos showed off the art and cute factor nicely, but said little about the game. The ads should have looked more like the television spots for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Maybe those ads were cheesy, but the point (co-op is fun!) was clear. Playing the game with two or more people is an absolute blast. Most of my friends who play the game are non-gamers. Mainly they were drawn in by the co-op. For seasoned gamers LittleBigPlanet becomes a nostalgia fest. Many a play session was fueled by memories of Sonic or Mario. Had co-op been a major selling point, I wonder if sales wouldn’t have been more robust.

After a month of constant LittleBigPlanet, the more competitive among us needed ways to keep the game fresh. So, we learned how to screw up one another’s jumps and generally grief the games. At some point during this time we began to refer to each other by the in-game appearance of our sack person. Spectators were treated to us yelling things like: “Jump, Chicken, jump!” “Damn it Russian what are you doing!” “Ninja, seriously, stop hitting me with the fry pan.” Looking back on it I realize the neighbors probably thought we were crazy.  

High scores and completion percentage became a point of pride for my gamer friends. Despite not having 100% on many of the levels, I still held most of the single player high scores. A friend of mine realized this and started coming over when I was in class to beat my scores. He slowly combed through the levels to find all of the score bubbles. Once I noticed what was happening I wanted revenge. Because he was going through the levels sequentially, my plan was to earn a score so high he would get stuck. This required not dying during an epic speed run. I knew just the level: my friends and I call it the Russian wheel of death.

Anyone who played the game knows which one I’m talking about. Basically the player starts at the top of a spinning round maze that has electric, and therefore deadly, areas. Getting through it with more than one player is almost impossible and even on my own I had a hard time. It is jarringly difficult in an otherwise only moderately challenging game. I waited until I was the only one home and set to work. After three hours I had done it! I leapt up in joy, only to lamely fall backwards onto our coffee table. Three hours sitting cross-legged had taken its toll. But who cared! A few days later my friend conceded defeat. That’s a save I’m particularly loath to lose. Not for the high score, but out of love for the memory.

This past weekend one of my former roommates came over and wanted to play LittleBigPlanet. I explained about the saves, and although disappointed she initially didn’t mind starting over. But then her sack person appeared on screen, stripped of all the personality we had filled it with. She looked at me sadly and said: “It’s not me anymore is it?” No it isn’t. I never thought I would be this sad over losing some game data, but it feels as though my friends are graduating all over again.         

If you are interested in purchasing a Playstation 3 with a burnt out Blu-ray drive please contact me via email rj380706@ohio.edu.