"There's an expectation now that there would be a LEGO game per year, and we certainly feel that one or two games would be the right amount per year, otherwise there'd be a saturation of LEGO games and they'd lose the charm...We're also conscious that we're making games for young kids. We don't want to take the piss out of the consumer and end up making any old rubbish. We're hoping people feel our games are of a high standard and we want to continue doing that."

Thank goodness I say. Games like Lego Caligula and Lego Schindler's List need to stay in my imagination, for the good of all mankind.

TT not going to "take the piss" out of LEGO-game fans News [Eurogamer]

Happy Meals [McDonalds, via Go Nintendo]

"My understanding is that they will use the engine, the Maya files where the characters come to life, but they'll be creating animated... I think it's a 20-minute cartoon. I'm personally quite intrigued to see how it comes out. Lego, every time they've had a new brand out, they've done some CGI stuff as well, but I think this will be quite different."

This would be a perfect opportunity to bring Adam West back into the Batman fold, as I can't see Batman: The Animated Series lead Kevin Conroy's voice coming out of Lego Batman's little round head.

20-minute Lego Batman cartoon in works [GI.biz]

There have been earlier Java midlet versions of LEGO games - notably Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, but it would be nice to think that theiPhone would get a proper conversion..

The possibilities for manipulating LEGO bricks using multi-touch gestures could make for an interesting twist on the LEGO gameplay. Even if it is just a port of the DS version, though, it should be worth checking out providing the thorny issue of lack of D-Pad is resolved.

Pocketgamer don't mention a source for the news — hence the rumor tag — but as soon as we get more details, you shall be the first to know.

LEGO Batman goes crimefighting onto iPhone [PocketGamer]

Enjoy the new screens of Alfred, along with a shot of Batgirl that snuck in there when we weren't looking.

A tipster sent us the attached SKU query (full size mobile phone pic after the jump) which claims a metallic silver DS drops in less than a month (Sept. 7). Also looks like the PS2 "Family Value Pack" that includes the console, Lego Batman and the Justice League: New Frontiers DVD, for $149, has a street date of Sept 23.

DS Fanboy reported the metallic silver rumor last month saying it would arrive in September, but didn't specify a date.

Fair warning, this is not a full screen shot, so if you work at a Best Buy and want to nitpick what's not shown on the screen.

Rumor: USA to be Awarded Silver [DS Fanboy]

This video was recorded in NetDevil's second Lego Universe Project event. According to Scott Brown, NetDevil's president, in the first LUP event they asked these Lego users to give them an idea of what the game should be like, which of course resulted in them building hundreds of actual Lego models of monsters, places, and all kinds of devices, machinery, and vehicles.

After that session, NetDevil started to program the software tools and the models needed to design Lego Universe terrains and structures. Now, in the second LUP event, they have trained those Lego people on the tools themselves, which they are using to create the virtual worlds. Apparently, NetDevil is very impressed by how fast these people—who in their day jobs are mostly engineers—got into the tools after just a three-hour class. Hopefuly that means things are progressing fast and we will see this game—which seems to have great potential—sooner than later.

I shouldn't have to go on from there, but I will.

LEGO Batman: The Videogame looks like it will be delivering the sort of over-the-top addictive LEGO fun of both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, but with even more memorable and equipment-laden playable characters than both games combined.

"Over the decades there have been lots of stories about Batman, this is a distillation," said Traveller's Tale's Jonathan Smith. "It is our original telling of Gotham City in chaos."

While the game will have you playing as a "stern Batman" and "try too hard Boy Wonder", Smith said you will also be able to play as a number of villains including the Joker and the Penguin. The game will include a 15 level campaign divided between the heroes and villains.

The game's central hub will be the the Batcave and yes, Alfred will be an unlockable playable minifig.

Sitting down with the game, I found it fairly easy to drop into. The main difference between LEGO Batman: The Videogame and past LEGO games is the batarang mechanic. To use Batman's nifty weapon you tap the X button and then move a bat symbol around the screen to target things, multiple things if you want. It may sound a bit clunky, but it works really well and the added step of targeting prevents you from overusing the batarang.

I played through quite a hefty chunk of a level with Batman and Robin, battling across some of Gotham's rooftops with the dynamic duo felt very familiar, but in a good way. The batarang was most useful when targeting items or distant foes. Which is probably for the best. The few puzzles I ran into were about as challenging as those found in the Star Wars and Indiie games, so not very.

To get Batman or Robin to change outfits you have to find a suit swapper, something typically that has to be built with loose LEGO pieces. Once you step on it you switch to a predetermined suit. I got a chance to check out a mag suit which allowed Robin to slowly walk his way up metal walls and such. Batman's glide suit was way cooler, letting him float gently across the sky. While I didn't get to test drive them, I'm told that there will be a number of vehicles in the game as well including the Batmobile, Batboat and Batwing.

After playing around with the Batman and Robin level for a bit I jumped into a level that had me playing as The Joker and disturbingly sexy minifig Harley Quinn.

In these levels I had a lot more puzzles to deal with while taking on a seemingly endless stream of Gotham cops. While The Joker can take people down with old school punching, he can also give them a hearty buzzer handshake. Grabbing onto an enemy with The Joker makes the little minifig light up, briefly showing a faded minifig skeleton as the character vibrates until it falls apart. That minifig dismemberment is right up there with Chewbacca's arm-ripping attack.

While I didn't have time to play as the Penguin, I was told his attack involved exploding penguins.

I suspect that LEGO Batman The Videogame is going to resonate with gamers as much as LEGO Star Wars did, both because of the excellent design and the abundance of memorable characters.

This video is 15 minutes long. I'm pissed there's no sound, because I love the Lego speak in the cutscenes, and God only knows what they're "saying" in that opening. It looks like a delightful game, with tons of LOL potential.

LEGO Batman: The Videogame E3 2008 Gameplay Trailer (HD) [GamersHell]

How do you guys like the new music? ZP was getting a bit too big to continue using commercial music without drawing attention, so now it opens and closes with generic heavy metal. Call it his Guilty Gear period.

Zero Punctuation: LEGO Indy [The Escapist]

Rather than masquerade a single video as an entire post, here are some highlights of what's available from other sites in the way of movies and screens:

• Above is the new trailer for Lego Batman. We picked it up from Gamers Hell. It's got Poison Ivy building some evil-looking plant mini-kits, and Bruce Wayne kicking ass with a briefcase.

• Some more screens from Tomb Raider: Underworld. (Also Gamers Hell)

• Also the World Exclusive Debut Trailer for Blitz: The League II. It's at Gametrailers, because everything over there is a world exclusive.

There I am chatting with him about the upcoming Lego: Batman game and suggesting that a Lego: Transformers game would be fun. He asks me, essentially, for an on-the-spot verbal pitch. As chronicled on my Multiplayer blog, I say

I said, you’d take advantage of the wide cast of Transformers characters and put them in the format started by “Lego: Star Wars.” There are plenty of Transformers for gamers to control and swap, certainly more characters in the pantheon than there were for “Lego: Indiana Jones.”

I said TT coul have all sorts of fun letting the characters transform to get through the levels. You have the existing good mix of character and vehicle stuff in the Lego games, so there’s a blueprint there.

“Sounds like you just want a good Transformers game,” Smith replied

I tried more. He didn't bite. Where did I go wrong? Bad concept?

How I Failed To Successfully Pitch ‘Lego: Transformers - The Game’ [MTV Multiplayer blog] [Pic]

The Minus World gang put together a list of five LEGO video games that will never ever happen, though we're not 100% sure that LEGO Juno is completely off the table. Our favorite is above, but heretics may find LEGO The Passion of the Christ more to their liking.

5 LEGO Video Games That Will Never Happen [The Minus-World]

Warner Bros. has just hooked us up with some screens showing off the newest characters revealed for the upcoming LEGO Batman: Nightwing, Bane and Clayface.

If you're like me and know next-to-no Batman lore, you wouldn't have learned until right this second that Nightwing is who Robin became when he struck out on his own. Former actor Clayface is now a shape-shifting bad guy, and prison escapee Bane resists damage and has super strength.

Thankfully, bios and screens follow the jump, which will probably explain all of the things I couldn't tell you.

NIGHTWING
REAL NAME: Dick Grayson
OCCUPATION: Police Officer
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Blüdhaven
EYES: Blue
HAIR: Black

After his circus aerialist parents were murdered by criminals, young Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne, becoming his ward...and his partner in the war against crime as Batman's sidekick, Robin. Years later, Robin struck out on his own as Nightwing and now lives in the corruption ridden city of Blüdhaven where by day he serves as a member of that city's police department...and patrols its streets by night as Nightwing.

Attributes:
• Expert in most known forms of martial arts
• Trained in all aspects of criminology
• Trained gymnast
• Trained in stealth and espionage techniques
• Expert escape artist

Powers and Abilities:
In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Nightwing is a bonus character, he can also utilize all of Robin’s technology suits.

BANE
REAL NAME: Unknown
OCCUPATION: Professional criminal
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Gotham City
EYES: Unknown
HAIR: Unknown

Born a prisoner for crimes committed by his father, the child who would become Bane survived cruel solitary confinement in a Santa Prisca prison. During his long lonely years, he developed incredible powers of concentration, and, once released into the prison population, studied every book he could get his hands on. After nearly four decades of imprisonment, he was chosen for a military experiment with the drug Venom, which greatly enhanced his strength. Escaping, he sought out Batman to prove himself to the world by destroying the greatest specimen of mankind. Bane broke Batman, but the Dark Knight went on to recover and defeat Bane.

Attributes:
• Master strategist
• Enhanced stamina
• Enhanced strength
• Superior hand-to-hand combatant

Powers and Abilities:
In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Bane has the ability to pass through toxic gases unharmed as well as super strength, which allows him to carry and throw huge objects.

CLAYFACE
REAL NAME: Basil Karlo
OCCUPATION: Former Actor, Professional Criminal
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Mobile
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Black

Initially an actor in horror films, Karlo went mad when he learned a classic film of his was to be remade. He donned the mask of the film’s villain, Clayface, and killed several of the remake’s cast and crew before being stopped by Batman and Robin. Later, Karlo joined a collection of villains who subsequently used the name Clayface in an alliance that came to be known as the Mud Pack. While that group was defeated, Karlo tricked his allies, injecting himself with the essences of several of them, becoming a superhuman imbued with the abilities to change shape, melt others into protoplasm with a touch, and mimic the powers of heroes or villains he copies.

Attributes:
• Clayface can alter his physical form, adopting the appearance of anyone or anything.
• If those whose appearance he adopts have super powers, he copies those as well.
• His touch can reduce an enemy to proptoplasm.

Powers and Abilities:
In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Clayface has the ability of super jump allowing him to jump to heights unattainable by other characters and even make his body elastic to reach higher characters. Clayface also has the ability of super strength, enabling him to pick up super strength objects and smash super strength walls.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures looks like and plays like the Star Wars games, but is it as fun controlling a mini-fig Short Round as it was controlling the blocky, arm-ripping Chewbacca? Read on to find out.

Loved
Art Design: Traveller's Tales nails the look of this latest LEGO adaption of a beloved movie franchise. The mini-figs are lovingly detailed, from the large-dot stubble on Indy's chin to the trim of Willie Scott's dress. The environments are naturally more organic looking than those found in Star Wars with plenty of plastic spiders, bugs and snakes crawling around amid lots of jungles. And the traps, from spears to spikes to saw blades, add a much needed sense of trepidation to the game.

Fun Abilities: Any first-timer with the game is going to want to bogart Indy and run around whipping things, anything, because it's that much fun. But the other characters also have some fun abilities. Satipo comes equipped with a shovel for digging things up, some of the female characters can jump higher, Thuggees can access secret passage ways behind statues, Henry Jones Sr. can solve hieroglyphic puzzles, to name a few. My favorite? Willie Scott has a button dedicated to her famous scream... and it breaks glass.

Phobias: Call them anti-abilities, but some of the characters in the game have phobias that have a pretty sizable impact on gameplay. Indiana Jones' famous fear of snakes, for instance, is so strong that when he approaches one, or hundreds, he covers his eyes and walks around in little circles moaning until they move away. But his is not the only phobia in the game.

Lots of Depth: It may not have taken me much more than a few days to make my way through the three movies, but there's still lots to explore. A typical play-through of a chapter meant I found maybe a third of what was there for me to do. All of the chapters, once unlocked for freeplay, are going to require going through multiple times with different characters to find everything.

Happy Easter: Apart from the depth of the game, the ability to replay levels over and over again just to find everything Indiana Jones related, this game is packed, absolutely packed with Easter Eggs. Everything from out of time, out of space characters to whole scenes from other movies make appearances in the game and uncovering them is always a delight.

Hated
Plot Change: LEGO-fying a movie gives developers a lot of latitude about what they can deal with without getting a higher rating, I suspect. This game manages to deliver decapitations, people being crushed to death, impaled on spikes, all in a way that I allowed my 7-year-old to watch. So why did they decide to remove crucial scenes from the movie in this adaptation? How can it be the Last Crusade without Nazis? How can it be the Raiders without face melting? The only heart plucking going on in this trilogy is the one the developers did when they created Temple of Doom without its most memorable scene.

Perspective Issues: As with the LEGO Star Wars game, Indy has some issues with perspective. While platforming through levels, the odd perspective makes it almost impossible to tell if you're going to land on solid ground or thin air. Fortunately, this doesn't happen enough to bog down the whole game and the developers did add some visual cues to help locate hanging objects.

Not So Funny: Maybe LEGO Star Wars set the bar too high, maybe there isn't a lot of inherent comedy in a story about a death-defying archaeologist wrestling with supernatural powers and (ahem) generic German bad guys, but I really didn't find a lot of opportunities to laugh in this game. Part of the problem, most certainly, was their decision to cut some pretty memorable scenes, which would have been quite funny played out in LEGO. I also think that the writing never quite finds the proper pacing.

Weak Multiplayer: LEGO games, while fun alone, are really about playing together, often, at least in my house, with family members. It's disappointing that the game not only maintains the two-player drop-in cooperative play cap, but loses the online multiplayer ability.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is a blast to play and a fun way to be introduced or reintroduced to the Indiana Jones trilogy, but it doesn't quite live up to Star Wars. I suspect the problem is more with the source material than the developers. Indiana Jones doesn't really have a lot of memorable side-kicks. You've got Short Round, several woman who scream a lot and a bunch of faceless bad guys. Fortunately, what set-backs and problems the game has are more than made up for by the stunningly detailed set pieces and intricately detailed mini-figs. Rats, snakes, spiders, intricate puzzles, traps and phobias, they all help vividly capture a trilogy deserving of good games. I'd call it stunning, but deleting some of the most memorable scenes of the movies prevents it from quite delivering that accolade.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts. Retails for$50. Available on DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360. Played to completion on the PlayStation 3. Played half with my son and half by myself.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Now the two companies have teamed up again to give the classic Indiana Jones trilogy the tiny toy treatment in the hopes of recapturing the magic and wonder of the first two outings. Have they unearthed yet another treasure, or are they up to their waist in a pit full of snakes? Throw me the whip, and I'll throw you the review roundup.

G4 X-Play
The LEGO games have never been lookers, per se, but they’ve always had solid graphics and, most importantly, a great style accenting the notion of an evilly possessed LEGO play set. Original Adventures definitely continues the trend, delivering the same sort of clean and goofy looking graphics seen in the Star Wars games. Each character’s simple animations deliver a ton of personality, and while the environments are a bit flat, they set the scene well.

GameSpot
Though the puzzle aspects alone are enough to make Lego Indy worthwhile, the humor makes it enjoyable even for people just watching the action. The silent cutscenes take you through the journey in a much sillier manner than Steven Spielberg originally envisioned. No, you won't see the Lost Ark melt some unfortunate Lego person's face, but you will see Indy's father fall asleep (because he's old!) and even the Harrison Ford look-alike donning a blonde wig to deceive a foolish guard.

Eurogamer
Where the game unfortunately suffers is in what's been taken out. It's not entirely fair to compare Indy to the feast of content that was LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga since that was a compilation of sorts, but even compared to the single Star Wars editions this feels disappointingly light on the features that matter once the story mode has been exhausted.

TeamXbox
Lego Indy doesn’t vary much in scope and content from the previous titles that the pair (LucasArts and Traveller's Tales) have worked on, but it’s still a fun game to play and a smart take on the game-from-a-movie process, which more times than not turns out to be lacking in the “game” portion. Most of all, it makes me wonder what they’ll team up on next.

Perhaps they didn't capture all of the magic of the Lego Star Wars series, but a great deal of it made it into Lego Indy.

The list details the 10 and upcoming 11th (Lego Indiana Jones on June 6) and 12th (a TBA action title later) games featuring Dr. Jones. Ahhhhh but they left one out!!! Neener-neener this is why I posted it, to make myself look smart! Midscape released "Indiana Jones in the Lost Kingdom" for Commodore 64 in 1984 — and it deliberately did not include an instruction manual. "No one told Indiana Jones the rules. And no one will tell you."

It was a puzzle game, and definitely not rendered with the kind of appeal the Lego games have. Death consisted largely of being hit by a bird or falling from a great height, then running off the screen in a panic as a funeral dirge played. It was hard and stupid. But because it was Indiana Jones, I felt compelled to play it.

That hooks back into my feeling about Crystal Skull. I was gonna see it no matter how badly it was reviewed, and pretty much everyone except Roger Ebert put a butt-hurting on it. I felt very much like I did during the Star Wars Prequels. After coming out of Attack of the Clones, I told a friend: "George Lucas has created a new moviegoing experience. The Joyless Obligation." And now it's infiltrated the Indiana Jones franchise.

Hey, we're not the only ones. Sex and the City fans probably know what I'm talking about after this weekend, too.

Indiana Jones and the History of his Video Games [British Gaming Blog]

Perhaps your appearance in Lego Batman will finally help me finally move on. While you do lose some of the tragic villain mystique you've built up with the whole frozen wife storyline, you might manage to make it up in sheer Lego adorability. Fingers crossed!

And it's quite possible that this is viral marketing for the upcoming title (out in June), if not the movie (this week). They roll this sucker in San Francisco, and LucasArts is around the block in the Presidio. Five million Legos is not something you buy or assemble that quick — if it is a solid 5 mil Legos. I don't really see them flaking off as it tumbles, so it may be a bunch of big pieces- parts made by Lego and assembled by this team. Also, it's S.F. in the middle of the day, no moving cars in the shot, very few parked, so they probably got a filming permit. And the big flatbed truck too ... good bet this is marketing.

But it's clever, and I admire any creative impulse that gets you to roll a Lego boulder down a big hill into a parked van. Plus it has a guy dressed as Sallah, and fezzes are awesome. But if this was Boston, they'd all be arrested for terrorism.

LEGO Boulder [YouTube, thanks cashius22]

Lego Indiana Jones Demo {Games For Windows]

LEGO Universe design director Brian Booker says that the game will have an "overarching epic storyline about the origins of LEGO Universe and the minifigs that inhabit it."

I can't tell everything about the game just yet, but maybe I can give you some hints... Aside from just playing games or trading and socializing, the story allows minifigs to team up—and that's when the real adventuring begins. If the teams of little LEGO people are successful in their endeavors, they'll uncover new zones where they can have new and different experiences...

Booker also walks us through the games economy which isn't, it turns out, based on studs.

Turns out that LEGO's are going to be toting around... plastic to buy things.

Essentially, new minifigs enter LEGO Universe with nothing: no money, no bricks, no stuff. Then they go through the world completing challenges, defeating enemies, gathering goods, discovering treasures and unlocking secrets. Along the way, the minifigs find bricks and collect a highly valuable currency— plastic.

Using plastic, you can buy and sell goods to do things like customize your minifig; all the shops and vendors in LEGO Universe take plastic!

Since LEGO bricks are actually made of plastic, your minifig can also use it to create the bricks they need for their models or pets. But you could also trade with other minifigs for the bricks you need —so you can conserve your currency by cooperating!

Lego Indiana Jones Website [LucasArts.com]

It's this little fat plastic cube... It doesn't look the least bit like me. How could it, a little yellow plastic cube? It wears a white hat at some point. It is better than Marian's, though. They haven't made her the most beautiful LEGO figure in the world, have they? Her hair looks a bit like a tea cosy. It's strange.

Today, NetDevil announces a new name change to NetAngel. This new company name establishes a clearer link to our commitment to make immersive and socially responsible massively multiplayer online games. This change takes effect on April 1st, 2008.

NetDevilAngel Home Page [Official Site]

Previews: Lego Halo [1UP]

The ship comes with mini-figs of Juno Eclipse, Battle Damaged Darth Vader and Darth Vader's Apprentice. Hit the jump for close ups of the trip of little men. I wonder if this is going to be a new trend, LEGO screenshots.

LEGO Portal [Nick Larsen Media]

There's a lot of material in the interview but there were two things he touched upon that I found really interesting. First is how LEGO Universe is going to deal with violence and still attract younger gamers.

For LEGO Universe I'm seeking out creative ways to represent aggressive play and darker themes while still retaining LEGO values. This is an exciting challenge for me. I enjoy challenges that push my creative limits!

I'd like this game to feel more like Asian games. My goal is to design a visual package that has a distinct style, has a bright clean look, and complements the look of LEGO bricks. Executing this high goal is also an exciting challenge to me. Finally, I want LU to appeal to girl players in ways that aren't condescending or stereotypical. These are things I'd like to achieve to create a game that retains LEGO values while appealing to a wide range of cultures.

Also interesting is how LEGO Universe is going to manage to build a game that includes a diverse collection of sets. It's a pretty big challenge if you think about it. LEGO has everything from their younger City sets to things like Black Knight's Castle.

We could have designed the game so that all of the pieces had to visually fit into the world in specific ways, but I recognized early on that this might make it impossible to include virtual versions of some LEGO elements and play themes. So, I wanted to create an adaptable environment where it would be possible for Black Knight's Castle to come in contact with the City and it wouldn't look out of place.

Our art fiction is making that possible. Since very early on in the design process we've focused on the creative idea that imaginations will come to life in the game. So, if a child can imagine Black Knight's Castle and the City together—and kids do that from the research that I've seen— then it's acceptable in LEGO Universe.

From the art execution side, we are designing assets that can be used to unify two very different looking play themes. These can be simple things like small bushes placed between the two sets that soften up the visual transition. We will investigate many techniques to achieve visual continuity.

Still no word on whether IP-themed sets, like Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones will be making appearances. My money is on no.

LEGO Universe