Little Big Planet launched the "Play, Create, Share" mantra into gamers' minds last year, and now with ModNation Racers, Sony hopes to mine similar success from a kart racer with similarly robust creation and customization options. Before kicking off the online beta test in December, developer United Front Games opened the doors of its Vancouver studio to let us test out those tools and get a sense of what to expect from ModNation Racers' retail release next spring.

Inspired by the DIY vinyl toy scene (where artists purchase blank figurines and customize them in oft-wondrous ways), ModNation Racers eschews the genre's typical franchise or licensed characters in favor of blank-slate drivers that can be manipulated via an accessible character creation interface. But unlike the real vinyl toys, you won't need markers, brushes, or physical artistic skill to turn the ModNation version into something that represents you and your style.