I jump at the chance to play alternative styles, and Little Big Planet looks extremely interesting.

Unfortunately I don’t have a PS3, just PC and Xbox 360, so I can’t play it.

You’re right that the PS3′s current role in the console wars makes things tougher, but don’t forget that Gran Turismo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 were the second and fourth best selling games for the PS2. The rest of the top five was occupied by the Grand Theft Auto series. This is a pattern that hasn’t changed over the years.

I think LittleBigPlanet will be around for a long, long time to come.

However Little Big Planet had an enormous challenge in front of it. The demographic that already owns a PS3 probably wouldn’t like the game – they’re hard core gamers who bought the system for titles like Metal Gear Solid and Grand Turismo. That means it needs to appeal to a whole new demographic AND be a system seller for a $400 system. That’s a tall order for any game. Beyond that, a large part of the appeal in this game is in its future potential, i.e. user generated content. I can’t think of a non-free game that’s ever sold based on that concept.

So I think LBP is a bad example of an interesting trend. And I don’t think the trend is toward advertising influencing purchases, but rather social circles influencing purchases. With technology our friends are now based more on interest than location, and so they have much more influence over our entertainment purchases (cause we know they generally like what we like). I’d be willing to bet this isn’t being taken into account in these surveys.