Team Fortress 2 Sentry [Lair of the Legomancer, via Shift Gamer, thanks reader Mohammed]

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]

Lwelyk's Legos

A month back or so I noted that Colorado game developer NetDevil had signed a deal with a big toy company to make a massively multiplayer online game.

There were some impressive guesses in the comments, but none of them, I don't think, have the potential that the actual game will.

On Monday we broke the news that NetDevil and LEGO had announced a deal to create an MMO. Earlier today I had a chance to speak with Ryan Seabury, the upcoming game's producer, about how they landed the title, the game's terrific potential and other things NetDevil.

While Seabury couldn't talk about what the game, due to hit late next year, would include specifically, he could talk generalities.

"The specific IPs we will use are still under investigation, but you can safely say it's World of LEGO. It won't be confined to one thing," he said. "We are focusing on an experience that is playing and building and socializing."

"There will be building components."

Seabury said the team was first asked if they were interested in working on the game last year, several months before Auto Assault shipped.

The team was trying to figure out what they should work on next when they received an email from the company asking if they were interesting in the concept.

"We went to the store bought a bunch of LEGO and put them on the table and we were building stuff," he said.

Then in December a business developer and technology evaluator from LEGO flew out to Colorado to meet with the team.

When the finally got the tap to make the game, Seabury and the team thought it was because of their work with destructible environments, but later they heard that the real key was their passion for gaming.

LEGO is leaving much of the development process in the hands of NetDevil, so far they've decided it's going to be a fully-realized game, not just a sandbox and that the community is going to play a big role.

Since getting the project the game has grown from their all-time high of 48, just before the Auto Assault ship, to more than 60 people. And they expect they could grow to the 150 person range in a couple of years.

I think this could be one of the biggest things to happen to MMOs in a long time. Could be? The point is it has great, tremendous potential from the variety of IP and the ability to create your own in-game content to the blending of the virtual and the real worlds.

For instance, when I asked Seabury if there was any talk of a function that would allow you to create something in -game and then buy it in the real world he would only say that that idea is not off the table.
Brian Crecente

I think, if done right, this could very well be the next evolutionary step in massively mulitplayer online games.

"As children around the world continue to spend more time online we are developing new and engaging ways for them to interact with our brand," said Lisbeth Valther Pallesen, Executive Vice President, Community, Education and Direct Division LEGO Group. "The LEGO brand represents construction, creativity and problem solving — values that compliment the MMOG market. By merging the online world of social interaction with physical play, the LEGO brand is providing new experiences for children, as well as fans. NetDevil's technological capability, openness to work with a large community, and their enthusiasm for the LEGO brand made them a natural partner."

"Playing with LEGO bricks and developing online worlds are both creative activities. To bring them together is deeply professionally satisfying and we look forward to working with the LEGO team," said Scott Brown, President of NetDevil.

What I've heard is that the game could be sort of like Second Life but, you know, a game. The idea, I believe, is that you will be able to construct your own in-game content using the fun and familiar mechanic of building with real world Legos.

I suspect part of the reason NetDevil was selected is because of their amazing work with destructible environments, though I'm sure their enthusiasm for game development also played a large role in the decision.

We'll be meeting with the NetDevil guys, fellow Coloradoans, later this week and I'll make sure to ask all of the right questions. Like, does Lego have the go ahead to build Star Wars, Batman or their other IP into this game? SO HOT! Brian Crecente

BILLUND, Denmark, March 5 /PRNewswire/ — The LEGO(R) Group today announced it has commenced a working relationship with NetDevil(R) to develop a massively multiplayer online gaming experience to further engage its dedicated and active community.

"As children around the world continue to spend more time online we are developing new and engaging ways for them to interact with our brand," said Lisbeth Valther Pallesen, Executive Vice President, Community, Education and Direct Division LEGO Group. "The LEGO brand represents construction, creativity and problem solving — values that compliment the MMOG market. By merging the online world of social interaction with physical play, the LEGO brand is providing new experiences for children, as well as fans. NetDevil's technological capability, openness to work with a large community, and their enthusiasm for the LEGO brand made them a natural partner."

"Playing with LEGO bricks and developing online worlds are both creative activities. To bring them together is deeply professionally satisfying and we look forward to working with the LEGO team," said Scott Brown, President of NetDevil.

Alice points to Dunechaser's amazing Flickr of Lego Minifigs which includes an entire section on the little plastic people inspires by video games.

This gallery is just a sampling make sure to hit Flickr for the full run of amazing shot. Wait, wasn't their a Kratos minifig out there? Brian Crecente

Gaming heroes minifigs [Wonderland]

Ever wonder how Santa Claus manages to work his way down chimneys way too small for him? Or how he seems to stop time in order to visit all of the world's good boys and girls every Christmas morning? LucasArts and TT Games know the answer: Santa Claus is a Jedi Knight whose amazing Force powers allow him to pull off such spectacular feats. A long time ago, he came to us from a galaxy far, far away to exile himself from the Jedi purge led by Darth Vader. (No... that's not official canon.)

Step 1: At the Mos Eisley Cantina, enter the following two codes:

CL4U5H (for Santa hat and red clothes)
TYH319 (for white beard Extra)

Step 2: Go to the Character Customizer and create the proper costume. Use a human head, the appropriate red clothing...and don't forget the red cap! Santa can wield the weapon of your choice — we recommend the green or red lightsaber to seasonally complement his shiny red duds. (Remember, the color of his lightsaber decides whether his Force powers are naughty or nice.)

Step 3: In the Extras menu, activate Disguise 3.

Step 4: Enter the character-based level of your choice in Free Play.

Step 5: Spread holiday cheer to a galaxy in pieces.

Okay, Pyramidhead loses a bit of something in Lego form. The rank, fetid flesh, clammy with the condensation of a thousand hellish boilers. His penchant for making sweet, rapey love to tormented women with their flesh sewn inside out.

What raises his plastic homunculus to excellence is the blurry, saturated Silent Hill quality of the photo. Or maybe it's less art than cheapness and incompetence. Whatever. Florian Eckhardt

Pyramid Head in Legos [Gay Gamer]

Over at recently launched animation site Bitflicks, they've posted an absolutely wonderful stop-motion Lego clip of Mario running through the first level of his third eponymous title. According to Bitflicks, it's a "mix of stop motion animation, Lego and CGI, all mixed up until the lines between each element begin to blur."

I'm a tad skeptical that any actual Lego wrangling was done here, but even without, it sure is pretty nifty. Florian Eckhardt

Super Mario 3 Stop-Motion in Legos [Bitflicks]

As I sit here, on a train trundling its way to Denver, writing this post, I can feel my Playstation Portable sitting in the bag laying by my feet.

It's there, unplayed. Typically, that wouldn't bother me so much, but for the past few days I've been trancing through my half hour daily commute to work on a Star Wars high, a Legos Star Wars high.

On Tuesday, Lucas Arts sent me copies of Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy for the Xbox 360 and Playstation Portable. I had contacted them for a copy of the 360 version so I could review it for the newspaper. But they asked me if they should include the PSP version as well. Sure, why not, I told them, I'll review it for Kotaku.

I'm shocked at how good the PSP game is. Not that I don't expect there to be the occasional great game for the PSP, but this version seemingly has all of the substance, cut-scenes and style of the 360 version.

Granted, the 360 version looks a little better, but not much. That isn't to say that the 360 version is ugly, it's just that the PSP version is surprisingly beautiful.

The game is much like its predecessor in general play, but this time focuses on the three movies most Star Wars fans love most, the original three.

Like the original Legos Star Wars, you play through a Lego-replicated version of the movies as key characters, light-sabering and blasting your way from memorable plot-point to memorable plot-point. The game also still features its not too subtle form of humor, with bizarre little side jokes and funny Lego action.

While I don't notice a substantive difference between this version and the last, there does seem to be a lot more packed into each level. This time around there are a lot more hidden areas, side-missions and rideable vehicles.

One of the big additions to the game this time around, is the ability to mix and match the pieces of the characters you've unlocked to create new, outlandish people.

After beating the first story in the first movie, the game grants you access to all three movies. As soon as I was able, I jumped into the third movie and powered my way through the chapters until I had unlocked Princess Leia in the slave outfit, you know the one; the metal bikini affair.

Then I went back and unlocked Chewbacca. Then I created furry-armed, bikini-clad Han Solos and laughed and laughed and laughed until my sides hurt. Good times. Good times.

While the game is a blast to play, Lucas Arts still didn't include online multiplayer. For the Xbox 360, that means you and a friend can co-op through the game. For the PSP version you can buddy up wirelessly with another in-room PSP-owning buddy, but no online for you. Which just plain sucks.

I really wanted to take on someone else's abhorrent creations with my ChewLeia Solo.

The PSP version does have two very cool exclusive features. The first, The Story So Far, lets you view scenes from the original Lego Star Wars game and even play through the last leave of each of the three chapters. Challenge Mode is a new unlockable feature that has you running around inside levels trying to find hidden canisters. This mode lets you unlock characters from the first game. All said, the game includes 100 characters for your playing and splicing pleasure.

If there ever was a game for the Playstation Portable that could sell the handheld, this is it. It's just as substantive, easy to play and fun as the full blow version and it's a sizeable game.

There were times, when hopping from 360 to PSP and back, that I wish I could just transfer my progress because I felt I had already enjoyed the full experience, be it on PSP or 360. That's amazing.

Brian Crecente

This postmodern housing structure sits in Madrid and was designed by architect Blanca Lleo, who seems to be either way into Legos or Tetris. I say, Tetris. Comments from the peanut gallery? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Cathode Tan]

A snickering dog holds up the carcass of a still twitching fowl, its eyes wide and glassy, frozen in the moment of its final wakening. Meanwhile, a passing duck kamikaze dives butt-first into the side of the canine's head. All in Lego.

Courtesy of bits & bytes & pixels & sprites, who are looking for similar Nintendo in Lego images. Metroid would be nice to see. Forgive the lack of punch line in this post, water is shooting down from my ceiling at a truly alarming rate. Florian Eckhardt

An infamous performance art troupe from SoCal punk'd a group of college students looking for gaming jobs. The interested applicants are forced to sit through his horrible "demo" of a title this phony company is currently working on. Not sure, who's getting punk'd here as we are forced to sit through the demo as well. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Destructoid]

Johnny, the leathery faced, grimacing webmaster of thermos14.com, ripped apart an XBox and an SNES and encased their inner workings in a hodge-podge Lego chassis.

I call it the SNEX it is the un-holy merger of the XBOX and the SNES in a custom made box of Legos. It took me probly 15+ hours to build from scrach.

In addition to more pictures, Johnny has posted details on how he built his Lego SNEXbox, in addition to a laundry list of his various medical complaints, which include: a h-pylori infection, acid-reflux, five ulcers and spleen surgery adhesions. Sounds like a fun guy! FLORIAN ECKHARDT

SNEX (via Destructoid)

Japanese Lego site Brick Time has Resident Evil homage from a while back. The cool thing about the page isn't just the game bricks. Oh no no, there's a side story as well, which is kinda like the talking noise yours truly children make when playing with toys. And how can you beat Lego zombies? I mean, really, how? —Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Brick Time]

In a fitting and supposedly final tribute, brickartist Nathan Sawaya created the fingers-crossed-gonna-be-redesigned PS3 controller in LEGOs. Gamers have complained that the controller looks like a boomerang, but thanks to Nathan's creation, it appears we were all wrong. It actually looks like a Battlestar Galatica reject. He also did a send up of the not-dog-ugly Xbox 360 d-pad. Pics after the jump.

More Here [NathanBrickArtist]