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The Lego Movie Videogame now in toy sto-- no, theatr-- no, game shops
The Lego Movie Videogame, the toy-turned-film-turned-game adaptation from developer Traveller's Tales, is now available, and the kids in the above trailer couldn't be more thrilled; they're getting literally blown away. Okay, so maybe they're getting a gentle breeze in their face. Still. The game about a movie about a toy is available on just about every console: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, Vita and 3DS. You may have noticed that the release date given in the trailer is February 14, which has not yet come to pass. That's because February 14 is the date for the game's European territory release. Or at least, that's what they want you to think. Notice how the controllers being held by the children in the trailer don't match any platform that the game is available on? We can only assume these people are time travelers. That or wizards. Yeah, wizards makes more sense. The Lego Movie Videogame: out now in North America and February 14 in Europe, played by child-sorcerers.
LEGO Lord of the Rings brings Middle-earth to Mac on Feb. 21
There's a new Lord of the Rings game on the block and it's coming to Mac later this month. Oh, and it features characters and a world that are literally made out of blocks. Feral Interactive is preparing a port of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's LEGO Lord of the Rings, released last fall on other platforms, and will be launching it on the Mac App Store and via its own site on February 21 for US$29.99. The game adheres to the formula employed by other LEGO titles from developer Traveler's Tales, such as LEGO Batman and Star Wars, and sees the Fellowship of the Ring battling orcs and other baddies from Tolkien's tomes while assembling things out of LEGO bricks to help them on their quest. Two players will be able to collaborate on the adventure which will offer the opportunity to unlock more than 80 playable characters. (Let us just suggest that you keep plastic Frodo and the gang away from the fires of Mt. Doom.) If this sounds like the sort of adventure you'd like to embark on, you'll need a Mac running OS X 10.7.5 with 4 GB of RAM and 256 MB of video memory to play. [Via Loop Insight]
LEGO Batman 2 DLC adds past bonus heroes and villains
Batman and his buddies better get some more corn chips, because a bunch of new visitors have joined the Lego-branded party. Late last week, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes received two new downloadable content packs featuring five additional characters each.The Heroes Pack DLC includes Nightwing, Katana, Shazam, Zatanna, and the new Robin – Bruce Wayne's son, Damian Wayne. Fans of the DC Universe 'Rogues Gallery' can add Bizarro, Captain Cold, Black Adam, Black Manta, and Gorilla Grodd in the Villains Pack DLC. The ten characters were previously offered as retailer-specific pre-order bonuses.Each are priced at $1.99 on the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Exploring an open-world Gotham in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
Lego bricks inspire creativity, but that sense of discovery and creation is all but lost in the video games from developer Travelers Tales. The experiences are largely linear affairs, with not much in the way of making your own fun.Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes has a different design philosophy. Rather than give players a list of levels they can select, TT Games has removed the barriers around Batman's hometown. While the vision of an open world is welcome, a short demo of the game during GDC showed there's still a lot that tethers The Dark Knight to Gotham.%Gallery-150793%
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.
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%
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?
Queue it up, Short Round! Lego Indiana Jones 2 demo on Xbox Live
Interested in revisiting the world of everyone's favorite action professor, minus all the live-action footage? Xbox Live has got you covered with a brand new demo of the recently released LEGO Indiana Jones 2. The LEGO-fied version of Indy's latest includes new levels from his original adventures, as well as hilarious antics from The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Sadly, the game does not include a "punch Shia LaBeouf endlessly for helping to ruin so much of our beloved past" mode. We're hoping for that addition to come in the form of DLC. Add the LEGO Indiana Jones 2 Demo to your Xbox 360 download queue
Traveler's Tales founder: PSP Go will die if downloads don't get cheaper
While speaking at the Develop Jury Service (a pow-wow for industry figures to discuss current gaming trends and topics), Traveler's Tales founder Jon Burton questioned the prolonged survival of the PSP Go platform, since UMD games can often be purchased new or pre-owned at a lower price than the digital versions compatible with PSP Go. "I own a PSP Go but don't want to buy LittleBigPlanet, for instance, as I can get it 20-percent cheaper on UMD from Amazon and could resell it once I'm finished with it," Burton explained. "But if I download it, I get no discount, and no chance to resell -- how annoying is that?" According to Burton, PSP Go's all-digital system is more than just a minor inconvenience. He later added, "I'm betting on Sony making PSP Go games much cheaper than the UMD versions, or the PSP Go will die." Oh no! The PSP Go is far too tiny and adorable to die so young. Listen to the man, Sony!
'About 50%' of Lego Rock Band team was against the game concept
"omg they're selling out. they are humpin' the cash cow like activision has been till shes dried up . they're gonna beat the rock band name to a pulp until we are absolutely sick and tired of instrument rhythm games." –fffunfarm06"I'm so sick of these corny games. All of you people should just learn to play with REAL Legos." –Troy PowersLEGO Rock Band's very existence is something that both the Joystiq staff and community couldn't help but question. However, animator Matt Palmer revealed that developer TT Fusion also had doubts about the bizarre collaboration. "I know people were saying, 'Oh, they're flogging a Lego license again,'" he recalled during a Develop panel. "I'd say about 50 percent of our studio were for the idea, and about 50 percent were against it."Considering the game actually came out (this week!), it's apparent that the team eventually banded together to finish the project. Why the change of heart, though? "Many of us started realizing that we weren't just skinning one franchise on another," Palmer explained, noting the need to hand animate the blocky Lego celebrity characters to capture their various "signature styles." That's ... something. Right?
Lego Indiana Jones 2 swinging to stores this fall
You may remember that Harry Potter and a second Indiana Jones game were confirmed to be getting the LEGO treatment back in March. LucasArts and Traveler's Tales are finally talking about one of those titles, confirming LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues coming to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PSP this fall.Though the name is different than the last time we heard about it, the new Indy will still apparently cover the latest film in the series. We can't wait to see if a LEGO fridge can stand up to a nuclear explosion.
Review: LEGO Batman
I won't lie to you: I'm a huge Batman fan. A Bat-freak, you might say. From collecting comics and watching The Animated Series ad infinitum to camping out for tickets to the midnight showing of new Bat-films (barring the Joel Schumacher travesties), if it's Batman, I'll give it a shot.So great is my Batman fanaticism that I purposely skipped LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures in order to maintain my anticipation for LEGO Batman. The two properties may seem unrelated, but the truth is, I knew full well that despite all the Batman lore that Traveler's Tales would no doubt cram into a Gotham built brick by LEGO brick, taking in too much of the LEGO action game formula would kill Batman's fun factor quicker than a whiff of the Joker's deadly gas. As I predicted, LEGO Batman is immense fun -- if you can look past the LEGO formula's reoccurring flaws that should have been fixed after the first LEGO Star Wars.%Gallery-33378%
Enjoy this bounty of LEGO Indiana Jones videos
IGN has uploaded a nice variety of trailers for LEGO Indiana Jones. The trailers show off different aspects of the gameplay, including using Indy's famous whip to navigate through environments. Aside from that, we also get to look at the game's retelling of a very famous scene from one of the films, as well as other game footage. After giving the videos a watch, we're convinced that we want to get our hands on this.Head on past the break for the other videos. After that, read IGN's hands-on writeup of the game.
Indy stars in new trailer, opens his own section of internet to celebrate
A new trailer from the upcoming LEGO Indiana Jones game has been released and it's pretty much everything you'd expect. Indy's catchy tune is there, as well as plenty of cutscene footage showing off the many characters that will be in the game. Also, may we say the Temple of Doom looks awesome in this trailer? We may? Thank you!Also of note is the good doctor's new website that recently launched. It has plenty of other media available, including screens and artwork from the game. Are you excited for this one yet?%Gallery-15539%
LEGO Indy whips a small portion of the internet into shape
For all of you whipoholics out there, we've got an adventure for you. The website for the upcoming LEGO Indiana Jones game has gone live. What is the adventure? Exploring the deepest, darkest and most dangerous corners of the small slice of internet it occupies.It's a little light on the DS side, instead offering up screens and other media from the console versions of the game, but there's some nice concept art to look at, as well as a link to a demo of the game you can play on your PC. That's something, right? Right?
Lego Indy Footage: Gameplay, Boulder Running
To go with today's earlier story about Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures we bring you the latest piece of footage released by Lucasarts. The clip begins in a cutscene that displays the quirky humor that the Lego games have become know for, then moves into gameplay where we see the whip in action alongside the usual brick-breaking Lego action. After a few minutes the gameplay cuts to the infamous boulder scene and we get to see the characters run toward the screen while jumping over spikes, pits and more. Despite the increase in number of games for the IP (don't forget, there's going to be a Lego MMO) it seems that the quality across the board remains high, with everything from level design to humor to reward systems all looking to be worth their while. It's just too bad that Lego Halo game turned out to be fake.
Lego Indy Demo included in US Indy DVD set
For those big Indiana Jones fans out there who were thinking of picking up the DVD box set of the original trilogy, it will be seeing a little something extra in that box on May 13. The special edition boxed set is set to come with a trailer and demo of the forthcoming game, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, which is itself set to be released almost a month later on the 3rd of June. Unfortunately, our European readers are out of luck on this, as the promotion applies only to Region 1 discs, but it is likely that there will be a demo released via XBLM, after all, Lego Star Wars had a demo. With the new movie set to open worldwide a week after the special edition boxed sets, one would think that Lucasarts would've that promotion worldwide too. Oh well.
LEGO Indy dated, exclusive DS features revealed
Concealed deep within Stephen Totilo's impressions of LEGO Indiana Jones, positioned on a platform beyond a series of deadly, dart-based traps, we came across a rare, precious treasure of inestimable value: details of the DS version, and a release date! Trembling with anticipation, our eyes lit by nearby torches, we grabbed the loot, and rolled beneath the rapidly closing exit, stylishly snatching our hat on the way.Once outside, we examined our haul, and found that Traveler's Tales' whip-crackin', boulder-fleein' game would ship on June 3rd. Totilo -- sorry, the treasure -- also revealed that the DS version would feature stylus control for Indy's whip, will have microphone support (to blow out torches, natch), and will allow us to control the monkey from Raiders of the Lost Ark.Monkeys can only make anything better, really.
GDC08: X-play gets a look at Lego Indiana Jones
With the game's recent announcement of four-player co-op, this game has more potential customers excited than it ever had before, and with the media for the game slowly being released, that doesn't seem likely to change. The X-play guys seem just as excited about the game, and recently released their interview with the game's producer at GDC. The topics range from the gameplay evolution, to the character selection (60 different choices), to the game's design philosophy. With a release scheduled for this June, summer is starting to look rather full.
Fresh deets for LEGO Indiana Jones
MTV's Stephen Totilo managed to get a sneak peak at the upcoming Indiana Jones-based LEGO title from developer Traveler's Tales. Sure, he played the Xbox 360 version of the game, but that doesn't mean there isn't information on the Wii port on offer.First of all, up to four players will be able to take part in the fun, however the majority of the game's puzzles are designed to incorporate two players. Also, Indy's whip will be handled through motion-based controls much like the lightsaber handled in LEGO Star Wars. The expected release date for the game is June 3, 2008.%Gallery-15539%
