jamesster

Biznis Kitty? I... I don't even.

Anybody else point out that Uni-Kitty seems to be on some sort of TV show in Lord Business's hideout? "Where are my pants?" There's a camera, lighting equipment, etc.

*ahem* http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=84753&st=350#entry1731139

So, there's a brick-built nine volt battery, and a brick built tube of krazy glue with the letters crossed out/written in to form the word "kragle", and it's being used to glue some poor policeman minifigures in place. Fits in with what we know so far: Kinda funny to see everyday items like the battery and glue tube built to scale out of LEGO pieces in a real set. I wonder if they'll be actual real-world objects in the movie, not brick built like this? Vitruvius's staff in the movie is a half-eaten candy thing after all. Also, lol, a "where are my pants?" sign. Oh, and remember this from some of the early descriptions of the movie? Now we know Alison Brie is playing Uni-Kitty. So Uni-Kitty has some sort of pretty major role.

This. Some of them look nice but overall I'm disappointed in it. Oh well.

What's with the red 1x1 round plate on Emmet's leg?

And now, Batman:

More on Metal Beard:

http://www.toplessro...s_new_image.php http://www.addicting...ckbust-game.jsp The images it reveals aren't actually new, they're still clips from the trailer. It does say something interesting though:

Meanwhile in The LEGO Movie: He's a pirate that got blown to pieces by the villain and now uses a mech suit thingy. The picture is from a news article on the movie (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/10/29/nick-offerman-facial-hair-lego/3295937/), not sure if it's CGI from the movie itself or the actual set, but the character is indeed part of a set.

Ladies and mentlegen, I present to you Metalbeard. He's certainly not what I expected. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/10/29/nick-offerman-facial-hair-lego/3295937/

Parov Stelar and Caravan Palace... Electro swing!

It's a literal unikitty. ... What.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/10/23/lego-movie-peek-will-ferrell/2918385/ Far left of the first image... Is that "Uni-Kitty"?

Ah, I love xkcd. There's also this one: http://xkcd.com/659/ "Dad, where is Grandpa right now?"

The Exo Suit and Space Troopers projects were the ones I was the most interested in, though I was worried about Space Troopers conflicting with Galaxy Squad. Ah well... Glad to see the Exo Suit made it. Now, can we get some more support for Steamrod and Hyperborea?

http://en.wikipedia....Point_and_click Diablo and its countless clones say otherwise.

A new interview was published today: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/10/21/piecing-together-the-details-of-lego-minifigures-online-with-the/

Very nice list! Only flaw I see is that "Stormling" is actually supposed to be spelled "Stromling".

Of course, they always have been, including the non-TT games. Here's the thing - they (and as somebody noted, many other franchises) have happened upon formula for a game that sells well (in this case, simple gameplay with "puzzles" that are more akin to a paint by numbers kit, and a popular existing IP), and have decided to milk it for all its worth. Are they still selling well? It appears so. So would it be a good business idea to keep on milking them for years to come? It seems they've decided so; they've got a contract going up to 2016. But are you seriously content with going through the same motions year after year, after eight years and 15 or so games that all rely on the same mechanics? I enjoyed the TT games at first, but as they've been pumped out more and more and gotten more cinematic their weaknesses have only become more and more apparent: They put you in an existing universe full of tens and hundreds of characters with detailed backstories, and put you through a linear story with levels that don't involve any freedom or emergent gameplay of any sort - there's a lock here, you put a key in it. The keys and locks have many different shapes and forms that at most provide different visual effects (the toxic waste lock can be opened by a character/key that's immune, the shiny silver LEGO lock can be opened by a character/key that has the ability to destroy it, etc). Nearly all games involve lock-and-key mechanics, of course, but the extent to which TT takes it is absurd. And as that other guy here said, it's hardly a problem exclusive to LEGO games - while typing this out I was reminded of an article I once read on the subject of Zelda, and some comments on said article - it's not perfect; it's written in a somewhat overdramatic way, and sometimes repeats its points, but a lot of those points also apply to TT's LEGO games, and says what I'm trying to say here quite clearly (spoiler'd due to length): So why am I making such a fuss over TT's LEGO games specifically? Because LEGO is nearly the exact opposite of what TT is doing. LEGO is about open ended play, discovery, and imagination, creating your own stories and locations, not holding the hand of a guide who shows you the fabulously specific adventures of whatever characters they decided to license. LEGO, altogether, is the perfect match for a fantastic, unique, and original sandbox adventure game, as well as other genres like real-time strategy and racing, and yet they don't take hold of the opportunity these days because the licensed titles are still providing milk. "But jamesster, these games are for kids, they need to hold your hand or kids won't play them!" Excuse me, but my favorite childhood games (and LEGO games) were the ones that actually provided challenge, an option of failure. Actual secrets and tactics to be discovered and deduced, not told to me. See also: Mario. I got bored very quickly with games similar to what TT is currently making, and instead spent my time on games like LEGO Rock Raiders, LEGOLAND, and LEGO Alpha Team. I drew maps of Rock Raiders levels on graph paper, planning large bases, and kept track of the upgraded minifigures I had named. Those games weren't perfect, but they sure did something right if not only I got so much out of them, but so many other people did too, to the point where fans are now modding the games and making new content to expand and improve them even further, even with the help of some of the original developers. But these days LEGO is almost exclusively interested in linear licensed titles that fall into the pitfalls listed above, with only a small handfull of games outside of the formula slipping through occasionally. So yeah, that's why I wasn't impressed by the Marvel demo.

It's the same core gameplay we've been playing for eight years: Enter level, swap between characters, destroy objects to get studs, hold a button to build jumping piles of pieces, find collectibles, get "True ____" status, rinse, repeat. As I said, it's another evolution of the same game - they've gotten bigger, with more shiny graphics and more shiny characters and bigger hub areas and whatever license LEGO is doing at the time, but it's still the same gameplay that they've been milking since 2005. Now, I'm not saying that the massive wave of LEGO Star Wars clones aren't fun, they are. The problem is they're stale. There also isn't really any chance for emergent gameplay... The levels are a linear path carefully constructed by the designers, and even in the newer open world areas the gameplay still comes down to the same sort of lock-and-key "puzzles" you see in the main levels, but dotted throughout a larger environment. Indiana Jones 2 and Harry Potter had level builders, which looked like they were finally perhaps taking the series in a better direction, but TT seems to have dropped that in newer titles. LEGO revolves around creativity, and earlier games reflected that by not only including lots of diversity in the assortment of games themselves, but included more open ended play and building in each individual game: LEGO Creator let you build your own town and then explore and interact with it as a minifigure either on foot or in a vehicle, the LEGO Racers games let you build and upgrade your own vehicles brick by brick and compete in them, etc. Today's technology is far beyond what it was when games like that were developed in the early late 90s and 2000s, and modern games like LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, TrackMania, and heck, even Minecraft are prime examples of what can be done now when it comes to creativity in games, and . Yes, that's Blockland in the last link, and I've honestly had more fun with it than any TT game as of late - and it's only made by two people.

Tried the demo... Once again, another evolution of LEGO Star Wars. Sure wish TT would try something new and fresh at least once in a while.

Very good list so far! Very useful, I've bookmarked the page. I'm afraid I can't help when it comes to translating the Dutch and French magazines, though.

*Youtube video removed* I don't know what I expected, but goodness gracious...

Fantastic, looks like that one cutscene from the game with the waterfall but in real life.