LittleBigPlanet 3 Release Date, Pre-Orders Announced

Those looking for the newest Sackboy adventure now have a light at the end of the tunnel, as Sony announced a Nov. 18 release date for LittleBigPlanet 3 via the PlayStation Blog.

The game will launch on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, which means both console generations will get a heaping helping of Sackboy and his friends. Better still are the insaneamount of pre-order bonuses available to those who get in early. First comes the exclusive and adorable Sackboy plushies, including a Target-exclusive one wearing a Target hat so you'll never forget where you pre-ordered your game.

After the stuffed Sackboy comes a ton of downloadable costumes for the PS4 versions that vary depending on where you pre-order the game. Every copy of the "Day One Edition" gets a Dragon Age: Inquisition costume pack featuring armor and looks from the upcoming BioWare epic, as well as a "4 The Players" pack with costumes from many popular PlayStation games. We see Ellie from The Last of Us and Delsin from Infamous: Second Son are included, so we're in. Finally come the retailer-exclusive packs, where GameStop shoppers will receive the Mythical Creatures pack, Amazon customers will pick up the PlayStation Favorites pack, and Best Buy frequenters will get the Hidden Animals pack. Amazon's pack has the Traveler from Journey, so there's a clear winner.

All of this stuff sounds great, but it continues a silly industry trend: retailer-specific pre-order bonuses. Universal pre-order bonuses aren't a big deal, everyone gets the same thing, but having to go to Amazon to get the sweet PlayStation costumes when you usually prefer going to a store to buy games is dumb. Games industry, y you do dis?