Lego Fans Of The World, Unite

Calling all LEGO fanboys. Children who love snapping together those plastic bricks will soon have a new way to meet up. Denmark’s LEGO, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is readying a so-called massively multiplayer online game (or MMOG), à la World of Warcraft. Lego Universe, coming in the second half of 2009, builds on the company’s experience developing console video games such as Bionicle, a sci-fi fantasy inspired by Polynesian mythology.
Players will be able to enter various LEGO worlds, inhabit different characters, and, of course, build together. The virtual game will target the company’s core market, boys ages 8 to 12, but developers promise it will incorporate elements that will appeal to older folks who are in touch with their inner child. –Oscar Raymundo