LEGO is huge, and we're not just talking about the Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones video games. A recent trip to Disney World's LEGO Imagination Center was evidence of that, as well over a hundred children and their parents snatched play sets off shelves, posed for pictures with LEGO people and plunged their hands into troughs of bricks. LEGO intends to bank on this popularity with the upcoming LEGO Universe, a massively-multiplayer online game developed in conjunction with NetDevil (Guild Wars) and available on PC next year. We don't expect it to topple World of Warcraft, but considering the possibilities, it could make a dent.
Unlike most massively multiplayer (MMO) games, which promote lots of grinding and senseless killing, LEGO Universe was designed with the family in mind. Although you'll be able to party up with fellow LEGO fans, you won't jump into an arena for player versus player combat. Instead, the game promotes creativity amongst LEGO users by offering an outlet to build whatever their hearts desire, just like with an actual bucket of bricks.
To start, you'll create your own LEGO figure, outfitting him, her or possibly it with numerous parts. Then you'll enter an enormous world where you can interact with other players as well as create whatever you want using pieces of all shapes and sizes. To get them, you'll complete various tasks around the game world, defeat enemies, uncover secrets and/or purchase them with the game's currency, which LEGO describes as "plastic."
Once you acquire LEGO bricks, you're free to build anything, and unlike real life, you can make your creations indestructible, so you won't need to worry about someone coming along and stomping your house. Of course, if you trust the game's users, you can allow them to alter your designs.
At this point, not much else is known about the game. LEGO insists that players will be able to communicate with each other a number of ways (and the game has parental controls), but it hasn't revealed anything. The same goes for LEGO sets, which could include blueprints for making things currently on store shelves and from the company's back catalog. Finally, the game will follow the familiar MMO subscription model, but LEGO hasn't announced pricing information.
Despite the small list of details, it appears that LEGO and NetDevil intend to create this grand utopia that promotes friendship and creativity, which is a nice change from all the raiding and leveling up in other MMOs. It also poses a threat to Sony Online Entertainment's Free Realms, a kid friendly game that, like LEGO Universe, promotes G-rated activities over slaughtering fellow players. Considering the impact LEGO has had on multiple generations, this video game stands to impact the online arena.
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