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Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 conjures up iOS port
Just in time for Hogwarts summer break, Warner Bros. has released Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 on the iTunes App store. The new universal app for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch will set eager Expelliarmus users back $4.99.In addition to the base game, the iOS port features a Dueling Club expansion where players can take on famous Harry Potter characters like Professor Snape, Lord Voldemort and more.%Gallery-154590%
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 has this release-date thing figured out
The magical art of Arithmancy can be a huge help to video-game marketing executives, charting the best days to hold a sale, raise prices, or release an entire game. Warner Bros., of course, has access to the best wizards of our age and it was able to calculate the most profitable day to release Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 -- 11-11-11. Now we just have to figure out which wizards are working with Bethesda and hope they're not evil. Oh, it looks like one of them is named Tom Riddle. That sounds like a safe, friendly name. We should be all right.
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 has round glasses, square people
It doesn't take seven years at Hogwarts to see that Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 looks to be packed with magical charm (hopefully as much as its predecessor). And it goes without saying, Lego Dumbledore? Adorable.
Lego Harry Potter ships over 2.7 million units
What would the appropriate spell be called? Financialus Maximus? Cashius Give-it-all-to-us? Look, we're not hip to this Harry Potter thing the kids are into, but with the latest Warner Bros. financial earnings showing Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 has "shipped over 2.7 million units," we want in. The game launched on June 29 and received favorable marks across the board, even from yours truly. Of course, it should be noted that "shipped" does not equal sold -- copies of the game could very well be sitting on store shelves right now. Regardless, don't expect you'll be seeing the last of these Lego games anytime soon.
Crackdown 2 holds on to top UK sales spot; Xbox 360 S has solid launch
Crackdown 2 just barely held off Dance on Broadway last week to maintain the top spot on the UK all formats chart for a second week in a row. According to Chart-Track, "Orb Collector 2" sales dropped 36 percent and only sold about 800 units more than Ubisoft's show tune-themed Just Dance successor (the original Just Dance retained a supporting role in the ten spot). Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Red Dead Redemption each slipped one spot to third and fourth, respectively. The lone new entry in the top ten was Disney's Toy Story 3 in fifth place. In hardware sales, although Chart-Track didn't reveal specific numbers, the Xbox 360 Slim (or Short) enjoyed the UK's most successful launch for a "revised" console. The redesigned console surpassed the relaunches of both the PS2 and PS3 slim models and, in its opening weekend, matched the regional launch figures of the Pro and Core Xbox 360 SKUs from back in late 2005.
Crackdown 2 jumps to top of UK charts
Crackdown 2 has broken the "petrificus totalus" spell cast upon the UK sales charts for the last couple weeks. Skills for broken spells, agent? Ruffian's compulsive orb-collecting sequel leaped ahead of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Red Dead Redemption, which found comfortable homes on the range at second and third, respectively. Ubisoft's Just Dance took its greatest tumble to date, dropping all the way down to ninth place -- most likely because everyone in the UK already owns it. However, proving that Just Dance wasn't a singular sensation for the publisher, newcomer Dance on Broadway steps up from sixth to fourth. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Swag Sunday: Lego Harry Potter (360) [update]
Update: The comments are now closed and a winner will be contacted shortly via email. Thanks everyone for commenting! Of the many things that the non-muggles among us are capable of doing with magic, conjuring money unfortunately isn't on the list. The rest of us are in the same boat, and so even if Lego Harry Potter only costs $30 at retail, we felt it best to give away our review copy of the game (same as retail) to either group of folks. For a chance to win that copy of LHP, all you have to do is tell us your favorite spell from the series. Wingardium Leviosa, perhaps? Crucio, maybe ... you monster? Tell us in the comments below in the next 24 hours and keep an eye on your email inbox! Leave a comment telling us what your favorite spell from the Harry Potter franchise is. You must be 13 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). Limit 1 entry per person. This entry period ends at 7:01PM ET on Monday, July 12. At that time, we will randomly select one winner to receive a copy of Lego Harry Potter on Xbox 360 (ARV: $29.99) and various Harry Potter trinkets (ARV: $10). For a list of complete rules, click here. What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.
Lego Harry Potter casts 'petrificus totalus' on UK chart toppers
The boy who lived placed a binding curse on the Chart Track's UK all-formats chart last week, sticking Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in their present descending order, with Mr. Potter grabbing the golden snitch (and top spot) for the second week in a row. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, available on all the major consoles, premiered at number four last week. Also, the Wii's one singular sensation, Ubisoft's Dance on Broadway, let in the sunshine and basked with a sixth place premiere. Of course, perennial favorite Just Dance was ballroom dancing with its Broadway partner in the seventh spot. Find the complete UK top ten after the break.
Review: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
I spent a lot of this week wondering while playing (and enjoying) Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, "What in the world am I gonna tell our readers about this that they don't already know?" Considering it's the hojillionth Lego game to be released, what could I possibly impart about the latest iteration that isn't a variation on the "This is a great game for kids of all ages and for parents with Harry Potter-loving children" descriptor? Thankfully, the answer was more obvious than I could have hoped: It's just like Metroid with training wheels! ... And, you know, with Harry Potter instead of a space bounty hunter. %Gallery-89979%
OnLive reports smooth launch, adds Lego Harry Potter
OnLive has posted a "state of the service" on its official blog after ten days of accepting beta users, and from the report, everything seems to be going well. While there were a few bugs, the service has been up 24/7 since launch, and OnLive says it's "accommodated far more members at this stage than ever anticipated." We've contacted the company to see if we can find out just how many members OnLive is serving so far. And the company is also adding games -- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is being added this week, hours before stores open to sell the physical copy of the title. There's a contest as well -- if you happen to be an OnLive member and are the first to complete the game entirely, you can take a video of your winnings, upload it to the service and drop an email about it, and you could win an iPad or iPod touch. We don't know how many people are floating out in the cloud quite yet, but it is drifting right along. Thanks, Dennis!
UK charts: Harry Potter casts Chartium Supremus on Red Dead
If you're wondering what it would take to best Rockstar's dust-em-up, Red Dead Redemption, in a battle for UK chart supremacy, it would seem it only takes a wizard -- a blocky, mute interpretation of the nation's own Harry Potter. It only makes sense that Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4 would debut at the top spot. Isn't he like the UK's Prime Minister now? The boy with a scarred forehead has pushed nearly everyone down a spot from last week: Red Dead Redemption has fallen to second, while Super Mario Galaxy 2 now takes up third. Also of note are strong UK debuts of several games, including Naughty Bear, Demon's Souls and Transformers: War for Cybertron. Find the complete top ten sales breakdown posted after the break.
Lego Harry Potter trailer previews cast of 'Spellbinding' characters
We admit it: This latest trailer for Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 resonates with us in a big, big way. How could we not be on board with a video that shows how nearly every character from the first four books has been transmogrified into Lego form? That's like a sure-fire recipe for nerd ambrosia. So, Lego Harry's good at flying on brooms, Lego Hermione is good at puzzle-solving and Lego Ron is good at ... being a good friend? We guess?
Block some spells with the Lego Harry Potter demo on XBLM
Or should that be: spell some blocks? Anyway, the point is that a Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Finally, you can relive all the great moments from the books. Like when Harry accidentally summoned the Staypuft Marshmallow Man, or when Hermione flew the Millennium Falcon through the Death Star. Okay, so none of those things happened, but it's been like three years since the last book came out. Give us a break. Xbox.com: Add Lego Harry Potter demo to your Xbox 360 download queue
Lego Harry Potter demo materializes on Xbox Live June 7, PS3 and PC to follow
Would you like to try Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, before its June 29 release date? Luckily for you, the wizards at Hogwarts have decided to share a quick magic lesson that will allow you to do just that starting June 7. Here's how you perform the spell, which, for complicated magical reasons, won't work until June 7: Download the demo from Xbox Live Maybe say a magic word or gesture with a wand or something The incantations and potion-brewing required to bring this demo into existence are somewhat more difficult for a PlayStation 3 and PC demo, so those versions won't be available until later in June. You'll be able to summon those demos just as easily, however, when the time arrives. You have the power within you.
Lego Harry Potter trailer shows the return of 'Mort
A brief aside: The scaly antagonist from the Harry Potter series would be a whole lot less intimidating if everyone just shortened his name to Mort, wouldn't he? That's not a name that inspires much fear, even when prefaced with "The Nefarious Dark Lord of All-Wizardkind." Check out the video above to see a brief vignette of clips from the fourth and final school year featured in Lego Harry Potter, which covers the events of Goblet of Fire. You know, the one with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and Mad-Eye Moody, and all the thinly veiled lessons about the frightening changes puberty can visit upon teenagers. Yeah, that one.
LEGO Harry Potter Collector's Edition magically increases the price by $20
A listing on Gamestop.com has revealed a Collector's Edition release for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii versions of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4. The package includes the game disc (yes!) as well as behind-the-scenes featurettes about both the game and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie, plus a set of four "House Crest LEGO magnets." In addition, the Xbox 360 version of the game will include an exclusive Avatar item. The price for this bundle? $70, fully $20 over the cost of the standard edition. For our $20, we'd need substantially more LEGOs. Even if those House Crests are functional, interlocking LEGOs, we can't build anything out of four of them.
Lego Harry Potter 'Behind the Scenes' video shows us around Blockwarts ... er, Hogwarts
Are you ready to explore the "largest, most detailed Hogwarts" that's ever been created in a game world? We're not certain that we are either, but TT Games certainly has high hopes that we'll get to that point before LEGO Harry Potter's delayed June release window arrives. The latest "Behind the Scenes" video (seen above) has employees from the UK-based developer detailing the enormous, immersive world that they've built (primarily out of LEGOs, as one might imagine). And though we might argue that we're not exactly looking for "immersive experiences" from our LEGO-based titles, well, it's pretty cute watching little LEGO Harry in action. Even "He Who Must Not Be Named" is kinda adorable with a cylinder head -- how could we resist?! %Gallery-89979%
Hands-on: Lego Harry Potter, Years 1-4
While Lego Batman and Lego Rock Band have tempted me, I've always stuck with the regular versions of those games rather than diving into any block-based variations. Nevertheless, I previewed TT Games' latest Lego outing, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, with an open mind -- I have read and liked the Harry Potter books and seen and enjoyed most of the movies. Maybe actually seeing Lego Hogwarts in action would win me over. %Gallery-89979%
Lego Harry Potter trailer is Sirius business
Kids these days, they're big into this Harry Potter dude. Whether it's the books or the movies, the kids want to know what's going down at the Hogwarts, whereas we were more concerned with what was going down at the F.A.O. Schwartz in our younger years. That keyboard from Big? We were all about it. That's why the above trailer is so hard to understand for us. Of course, the classic Traveler's Tales stamp of charismatic plastic dudes and dudettes is there and easily recognizable, but we're just not up on that Potter tip. We lack the info. Good thing Lego Harry Potter is a crash course on the up-and-coming wizard's first four years at that crazy school, right?
Lego and TT Games sticking together through 2016
If you like the Lego (popular entertainment property) series of games, great news: developer TT Games and Lego will be held together like some kind of interlocking toy until 2016 -- by which time, the kid for whom you pretend to buy these games will no longer be a kid. In the announcement of the renewed deal, WBIE notes that the Lego series, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman games (Lego Rock Band isn't mentioned for some reason), has sold "close to 50 million units worldwide." Next up for the Lego/TT Games collaboration are Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 this May, and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars this fall.
