Nerd News for Your Inner Geek
Lego Cuusoo is a peer submission platform where fans can vote on design submissions, and if they get enough momentum Lego will actually release the set.
Mojang has actually started a new project to create official Minecraft sets. This seems like a match made in blocky heaven. You can vote for the project here.
Lego has made the tough decision to close down the game on January 31st of next year. The company says they will focus on the licensed games developed by 3rd parties, which makes sense given their success.
However, this is a sad day for fans of the game and the brand. It really was an innovative and engaging project, and I hope that the developers give the game the proper send-off before they shut off the lights.
I am a huge fan of Lego, as evidenced by my other blog, Brickd, which focuses on Lego design. I've long lusted after the intricate and amazing "Modular Houses" line, which boasts an amount of compexity and detail not found in other sets. However, I've never taken the plunge into these more advanced builds because they are fairly large and I don't have the space.
That is why I was delighted to read the announcement that Lego will be introducing a "Mini Modulars" set this January for $79.99. This new set will be exclusively available to members of Lego's VIP program, and features microscale recreations of the larger structures. You can hear more about it in the video below.
The always impressive Lego builder "Orion Pax" made a rendition of these legendary shoes in Lego form.
I've been enjoying this game since the beta phase, and with it now free to try out, there is no reason you shouldn't join in on the fun and give it a go. You can download the game for Mac or PC here.
Today is the last day you can preorder the Lego Universe MMO in order to gain early access. The game opens to the public on October 26th, but if you preorder today, you'll get let in on October 12th.
I've been lucky enough to be in the beta test, and trust me when I say that not only will the game be worth every penny, but you'll regret not having this game in your mitts as soon as you can if you miss this offer. Plus, they are shipping a special minifig to those that preorder, so what do you have to lose?
You can buy the game here.
I'm lucky enough to be in the closed beta of the upcoming Lego Universe MMO. I've been playing it on a PC at home, since it launched without a Mac client. Recently they did bring it to my platform of choice, and I've been excited to play it on my brand new Mac Mini I have hooked up to a monitor with serious real estate.
I recently patched the game with a new update, and was greeted by this confirmation screen. It seems that the developers, NetDevil, are using a code translation technology called "Cider" to help port the game to the Mac. The developer of the engine, TransGaming, describes the platform as a wrapper for PC API calls that doesn't require the developer to modify the game's source code.
This means that the game isn't running truly natively on the Mac platform. The real questions is whether or not this will cause a performance hit. There is a possibility that Cider could make a similar argument to Wine and claim that the advantages of the platform make up for a potential speed tax that the extra layer causes. Ultimately, the only way to be sure is to play the game extensively on both platforms and run some benchmarks, which is a task I'm more than happy to do.
This video features Conny Kalcher, the VP of Consumer Experience at Lego, discussing the company's philosophy on working with the community. It is refreshing to hear an executive extolling the benefits of working with fans and embracing a philosophy of openness. I think this outlook is what help keeps Lego fresh and sets them apart from other toy companies.
