By Jim Rossignol on August 20th, 2009 at 10:06 am.
The official Lego Universe site has some images of the game “in action”. They all look at little concept-y to me, but if it’s a rough approximation of what we can expect from the game then I’m interested. Gleaning what little we can from this shots, we can see that it’s going to have a Lego minifig spin on the traditional avatar creation and customisation, while the game is probably going to feature collaborative building projects of some kind – we can see a monument and a rocket here.
It’s also going to feature pirates and ninjas. Which makes sense. Could this be the next big thing for Lego videogames? It’s certainly intriguing, and the idea of being able to construct things from virtual Lego and then port them into the game world makes this an interesting overlap with the Second Life world-building themes that usually get left out of game-like MMOs.
20/08/2009 at 10:11 Irish Al says:
Not convinced how much this will take off … are your hardcore MMORPG crowd going to bother? No. Will kids have the patience for it? I don’t think so.
20/08/2009 at 10:18 Tei says:
Based on the mission stament: “The LEGO Group is developing a new massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) called LEGO Universe. Players in this revolutionary gameworld will experience the fun, creativity and quality of a LEGO product in an awe-inspiring virtual environment. ”
It seems LEGO is delivering a awe inspiring experience that will synergize the enviroment and revolutionize a virtual world, streamlining fun. This is forward thinking out of the box using best practices in a win-win situation.
20/08/2009 at 10:18 RubyW says:
I hope you can build from a first-person perspective like in minecraft.
20/08/2009 at 10:39 Jim Rossignol says:
Never underestimate the power of Lego.
20/08/2009 at 10:44 Alaphic says:
@Tei: Stop speaking corporate.
20/08/2009 at 10:58 Mr Pink says:
I think this could be a lot of fun. Definitely keeping half an eye on it anyway.
20/08/2009 at 11:33 Gap Gen says:
Those little Lego pirate cannons were great.
Tei: Yeah, there seems to be a dissonance between publishers speaking to investors, and publishers talking to their customers. As a customer, words like “IP” make me want to throw up, but to a shareholder no doubt it makes them horny. I don’t know.
20/08/2009 at 11:46 hjh123 says:
I read somewhere that its free to play if you buy the game in stores.
20/08/2009 at 11:50 jon_hill987 says:
@ Gap Gen: So I’m not the only one whom hates the term IP then. I also can’t stand the term DLC, particularly when some unlock something already on your disk, and those that don’t are just expansion packs that are not big enough to justify putting on a DVD.
20/08/2009 at 11:51 Lack_26 says:
Yey, Lego, I love Lego. Don’t look at me like that.
20/08/2009 at 11:57 Schaulustiger says:
If it combines the freedom of Garry’s Mod with the entertaining qualities of the former LEGO games it can be quite good. I’m definitely keeping an eye on that.
20/08/2009 at 12:12 Clovus says:
I’m betting that moderation will ruin this game. The almost complete lack of moderation (and therefore uber-griefing) makes minecraft a pain. But in Lego-land I’m sure you won’t be able to build that gigantic penis. Not a big deal, but don’t be shocked when much tamer subjects get banned. Like an giant ascii-art Obama/joker/hitler or a burning Twin Towers.
Anyway, since it seems similar, have y’all been following minecraft’s developement? I find it odd. People seem to be enjoying the building up of things, and tearing down of other things. You can do these things rather rapidly. The wierd thing is Notch’s plans for “Survival mode”. It seems to be at odds with what people actually enjoy about the game. Recently he revealed that destroying blocks will take a few beats depending on type. Oh boy! Honestly, it’s like he came up with a great basic idea, but has no idea what people like about it, or how to turn it into a game. I don’t think you can.
I guess this Lego MMO could end up like that. People are going to want to create things very quickly. But MMO has me thinking that before you build your Taj Mahal you will have to spend a few hours mining bricks. Bleh.
20/08/2009 at 12:21 DrazharLn says:
I’m actually quite interested in this one, I always thought a more co-op-y MMO would be interesting.
I didn’t like second life when I “played” it, it was underpopulated, the graphics, controls and all that shizzle were weird. I liked the idea of it including a scripting system in-game, but I haven’t bothered to learn LUA (or whatever language they use)…
I’m rambling.
Anyway, I always loved lego, I have approximately a metric tonne of the stuff sitting around in boxes, so the prospect of a slick lego MMO with worldbuilding elements makes me happy
20/08/2009 at 13:47 MacBeth says:
I’d quite like a virtual Lego set to just build stuff with, perhaps build the Legotown with integrated rail services etc. that was always the dream…
But grind/micropay to expand my brick collection to obtain the right piece? No thanks…
20/08/2009 at 15:15 Moonracer says:
I’m pretty doubtful of this. It seems like there have been a ton of Lego games released in the past and none of them have captured the core element which makes Legos what they are. If the building mechanism works and has little limitation it will be great. If it is just lego aesthetics like previous games I’m sure a lot of people will buy it anyway.
20/08/2009 at 16:40 Wulf says:
This intrigues me, I’m mildly put off by the ubiquitous presence of lego, but I’m excited about the prospect of another building MMO, perhaps something that might even be somewhere between A Tale in the Desert, Uru, and Second Life, with extra added cute. We’ll see.
@Gap Gen: I want a shareholder to whom I can pose that question right now. That or someone needs to create a YouTube meme out of it.
“Do you get horny over Intellectual Property? Does the prospect of spotting increasing profit-lines on graphs turn you on? Do you suffer midnight cravings for rising RRPs? If so, don’t worry because there’s every chance you aren’t a freak, it’s quite possible you have Shareholder’s Syndrome.
“Shareholder’s Syndrome is a serious condition, but one that’s easily treated once discovered. If you think you might have Shareholder’s Syndrome, call our hotline (1-555-OMGCASH) and we’ll put you in touch with a specialist. We can help.“
20/08/2009 at 16:52 pirate0r says:
you had me at pirates and ninjas…
20/08/2009 at 16:55 Thecolours says:
If we can get a tool kit similiar to the creature kit from spore, or little big planet this could be a lot of fun. I want to design my own virtual 12th century castle. Also, if we can buy property on main street and design our own shops, that would be cool too.
20/08/2009 at 17:27 Trollwind says:
I’m intrigued by LEGO trying their hand at a building MMO, but so far I’ve not been impressed by what little they’ve released on it. I’m hoping they don’t try to dumb-it-down too much.
On the other hand, I can’t wait to troll the LU forums as Penny Arcade predicted early last year.
20/08/2009 at 17:42 cncplyr says:
Been waiting for this for a while now, looking good so far! :D
20/08/2009 at 17:57 Malibu Stacey says:
snap.
20/08/2009 at 23:15 Kieran says:
Hoping for Ultima Online style house building for players!
25/08/2009 at 17:00 Britter says:
lego universe??? coop building??? are u kidding me??? I grew up on this in the 70s! I’M IN!!!
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