The PlayStation Network Welcome Back program appears to have been a success for Media Molecule, creator of the LittleBigPlanet franchise. The first game in the series was offered as one of the free titles available to returning PS3 owners. It appears many decided to give the platformer a try, as Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans told Develop attendees that LBP has seen 1.5 million new users since the outage a few months ago.

READ MORE: LittleBigPlanet's free-to-play origins »

The PlayStation Network program has been deemed a success, according to industry analyst firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR). The findings (PDF), based on data collected from IGN users, showed that 17% of the users purchased a PlayStation Network game in June, up from 13% in March. EEDAR also found that even without the freebies, 15% of users purchased a PSN game in June, up from 13% in March.

This indicates that the Welcome Back program brought gamers back to the PSN and ready to buy. Good will gesture aside, Sony had a vested interest in putting its user base back in a spending mood, and it apparently paid off. Read more »

Developer Media Molecule is ready to move beyond the franchise that made it famous. Speaking at Game Lab, Media Molecule's Siobhan Ready told the audience: "we’re stepping away from LittleBigPlanet to focus on some new ideas." (via Edge)

This development should come as unsurprising to anyone that's experimented with the robust creation engine of LittleBigPlanet 2. Whereas its predecessor allowed gamers to make new levels, Media Molecule's last effort offered full game creation. One would assume it would be difficult to truly iterate from there. Read more »

The PlayStation Network has been back for a full day now, but for the wounds so deep that only free stuff can mend them, Sony has now implemented its Welcome Back program.

As previously reported, you can pick two PS3 games from a list of five (Infamous, Dead Nation, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD), plus two PSP games from a list of four (LittleBigPlanet PSP, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation). Read more »

The PlayStation Network will be coming back online in various Asian territories tomorrow, says Sony. The planned restoration includes Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malasia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The announcement was paired with game giveaways planned for the territory. Like the Welcome Back offers in the US and Europe, PSN members can select two PS3 and two PSP games from the choices. The PS3 line-up is The Last Guy, LocoRoco!! BuuBuu Cocoreccho!, Echochrome, Wipeout HD, and Hustler King. The PSP choices are Yuhshanokuseninamaikida, Everybody's Stress Buster, Patapon 2, LittleBigPlanet PSP,, and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. Read more »

Sony has just added ten games to the PlayStation 3's Greatest Hits catalog, with each title now carrying a price tag of $29.99 or less.

They are: Read more »

Sony's upcoming wand-shaped PlayStation 3 motion controller, previously know as the "PlayStation Motion Controller," is now officially titled the "PlayStation Move."

The announcement came during Sony's Game Developers Conference event today, with the company also demonstrating various games.

The PlayStation Move will be available in various forms, including a "starter kit" that includes the device, the required PlayStation Eye camera, and a game. Exact pricing wasn't disclosed, though Sony hopes the "starter kit" will be under $100. Read more »

LittleBigPlanet (PS3) developer Media Molecule is independent no more, as Sony has acquired the England-based studio and will be integrating it into the Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios family.

The exact terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, with Sony describing it as "a strategic move to continue to secure excellence in game development for current and future PlayStation platforms." Read more »

Oh those cheeky Brits. Throughout Decemeber LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule has been handing out "Sackies" from the Sackademy of LittleBigPlanet Arts. These awards recognized the best in a variety of categories for user-created levels and content in the game.

The Official PlayStation Blog recaps the winners today and reminds us that there's still time to get in votes for the biggest Sackie of them all: the Level of the Year Award. Unlike the other awards which were chosen by the Media Molecule team, you get to vote for your favorite LittleBigPlanet level. Read more »

A bumper haul of downloadable LittleBigPlanet booty on December 22 will add the long-awaited water as well as a treasure trove of goodies themed around Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies, developer Media Molecule announced today.

The $6 Pirates of the Caribbean Premium Level Kit adds five PotC-themed levels and a 'cannibal' costume, and will bolster players' level-creation toolkits with water, new music, trophies, materials, decorations, objects, stickers and other nautical goodies. Read more »

The weekly update to the North American PlayStation Store has arrived, delivering a wealth of digital goods to PlayStation 3 and PSP, including some freebies.

Said freebies include PlayStation 3 demos for Bayonetta and Fairytale Fights, along with a Santa outfit for owners of LittleBigPlanet. Should you be interested in more LBP costumes, Sackpeople can now dress like Assassin's Creed II's Ezio for $2. Read more »

Developer Media Molecule has released their latest free update for LittleBigPlanet today, to the delight of little sackboys and sackgirls everywhere. The version 1.21 update, called 'Leerdammer,' includes numerous improvements and additions, the most notable of which is a new 'Online Create' mode that lets up to four players to engage in cooperative level-building. If you found the initial level-design process to be a bit too solitary of an undertaking, 'Leerdammer' might be just the fix you've been looking for.

Much of the network code has also been improved to reduce general issues with lag, and location-based matchmaking logic has been added to help ensure solid connections with other players. Other tweaks have been made to how LBP profiles and levels are saved and stored, and the user data limit has also been increased, effectively doubling the number of photos and costumes that can be saved to a single profile. Read more »

The release date for the PSP version of Media Molecule's cutesy platformer LittleBigPlanet has been pinned down to November 17, Sony has announced.

Developed primarily by Sony's Cambridge Studio, the PSP outing packs brings the same joys as its PlayStation 3 parent--adorable platforming hijinks with thirty new developer-created levels, and a level creator complete with online sharing and rating.

With the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 both set to receive new motion-tracking controllers next year, it has been revealed that some existing PlayStation 3 software will be updated with enhanced control schemes via patches while Xbox 360 games probably won't.

Though Microsoft has demonstrated the Xbox 360's motion-sensitive Project Natal camera with retrofitted versions of existing titles, such as Burnout Paradise and Beautiful Katamari, project head Kudo Tsunoda told Destructoid that such efforts required a significant amount of code to be changed--presumably more than a patch could. Read more »

Amidst the torrent of Sony news this morning was the announcement of the upcoming addition of water to LittleBigPlanet.

LBP developer Media Molecule released a short, rather humorous trailer to introduce the feature.