PlayStation LifeStyle » Lego

Building a PS3 Controller One Block at a Time

Cameron Teague — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:44:44 +0000

LEGO’s have been in the homes of little kids for a long time now, most of us grew up building anything we could with them. Now the PlayStation has joined in on the building fun.

Chile has recently put out a promotional poster ad for PlayStation showing the image of a PS3 controller made of those amazing building blocks. This is a very cool way to show off the PlayStation brand and possibly bring in more kids, or maybe just a great way to lose a lot of time trying to duplicate it.

So how many people are pulling out their lego’s right now?

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LEGO Indiana Jones 2 Character List Revealed

Kyle P. — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:58:55 +0000

The LEGO series of video games has captured the heart of the young and old. LEGO Indiana Jones was well recieved and the sequel is on its way. Recently, the full character list for LEGO Indiana Jones 2 has been revealed. Characters from all of the Indiana Jones films are represented.

The characters are:

Cairo Digger
Crystal Skull (Object)
Enemy Mechanic
Indiana Jones
Lao Che
Major Arnold Toht
Marion Ravenwood
Mola Ram
Mutt
Native
Professor Henry Jones Senior
Rene Belloq
Short Round
Spalko
Willie Scott

The game releases November 17th for the PSP, PS2 and PS3. Stay connected with PlayStation LifeStyle for all of the news regarding Indy and his latest adventure!

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LEGO Rock Band Track List Revealed

Kyle P. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:32:02 +0000

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), today announced the full track list for the upcoming LEGO® Rock Band™ game, including songs from Queen, Bon Jovi, P!NK, Jimi Hendrix and Blur.

In addition, the game will support downloadable content from the massive Rock Band™ Music Store to be played within LEGO Rock Band, while enabling songs from LEGO Rock Band to be exported on Xbox® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft or PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and available to play across all game modes in the Rock Band Music Platform.

Filled with chart-topping songs and classic favourites suitable for family members of all ages, the full track list for LEGO Rock Band console versions includes:

All American Rejects, “Swing, Swing”
The Automatic, “Monster”
Blink-182, “Aliens Exist”
Blur, “Song 2”
Bon Jovi, “You Give Love a Bad Name”
Boys like Girls, “Thunder”
Bryan Adams, “Summer of 69”
Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighting”
The Coral, “Dreaming of You”
Counting Crows, “Accidentally in Love”
David Bowie, “Let’s Dance”
Elton John, “Crocodile Rock”
Europe, “The Final Countdown”
Everlife, “Real Wild Child”
Foo Fighters, “Breakout”
Good Charlotte, “Girls & Boys”
The Hives, “Tick Tick Boom!”
Iggy Pop, “The Passenger”
Incubus, “Dig”
Jackson 5, “I Want You Back”
Jimi Hendrix, “Fire”
Kaiser Chiefs, “Ruby”
Katrina & The Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
The Kooks, “Naïve”
KoRn, “Word Up!”
KT Tunstall, “Suddenly I See”
Lostprophets, “Rooftops”
P!NK, “So What”
The Police, “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
The Primitives, “Crash”
Queen, “We Are The Champions”
Queen, “We Will Rock You”
Rascal Flatts, “Life is a Highway”
Ray Parker Jr., “Ghostbusters”
Razorlight, “Stumble and Fall”
Spin Doctors, “Two Princes”
Spinal Tap, “Short & Sweet”
Steve Harly, “Make Me Smile”
Sum 41, “In Too Deep”
Supergrass, “Grace”
Tom Petty, “Free Fallin”
T-Rex, “Ride a White Swan”
Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”
We the Kings, “Check Yes Juliet”
The Zutons, “Valerie”

Fans can extend their LEGO Rock Band experience on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with downloadable content that can be purchased through the LEGO Rock Band store. Players will have access to all of the songs in the Rock Band Music Store that have been identified to be suitable for all ages. Those cleared songs are the only tracks that will appear within the LEGO Rock Band store for purchase. The LEGO Rock Band store will continually highlight any new family-friendly tunes that can be played across the Rock Band platform as they are released for Rock Band.

Disc export will rely on the technology pioneered by Harmonix to export tracks from the original Rock Band disc to the music library of Rock Band 2. Owners of LEGO Rock Band on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be able to enter a unique code from an insert in their game manual into a dedicated website. The website will provide instructions allowing owners to unlock the export functionality of LEGO Rock Band. At that point, players will be able to export tracks from LEGO Rock Band to their hard drives for play in all game modes of Rock Band Music Platform for a nominal export fee. An internet connection is required to perform this disc export.

LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band with the fun, customization and humour of the LEGO videogame franchise to create a unique family-friendly music experience that allows tweens, teens and parents to experience a wild journey to rock stardom where they can “Build a Band and Rock the Universe.” Players will become rockers as they work their way through local venues, stadiums and fantasy locations on Earth and beyond that mimic the imaginative settings that the LEGO world offers.

Also continuing the LEGO “build-and-play” gaming experience, gamers can create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew. LEGO Rock Band is compatible with all Rock Band and The Beatles™: Rock Band™ instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero® and other authorized third-party music video game peripherals and microphones.

LEGO Rock Band for Xbox 360®, PlayStation 3 and Wii™ system is rated “E 10+” by the ESRB and is developed by TT Games in partnership with Harmonix. The Nintendo DS version is rated “E” by the ESRB and is developed by Backbone Entertainment, a Foundation 9 Entertainment studio, and will be compatible with Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS™ Lite and Nintendo DSi™. All versions are scheduled for release holiday 2009.

The Lesser Known Bricks of Lego Rock Band

Devon Simpson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:51:50 +0000

As The Beatles Rock Band has just graced us with the fab 4, we have one more Rock Band release to build up to this November, Lego Rock Band. Information on this game has been scarce since inception till E3 when the game was finally debuted to the public, here’s the information you need to snap your bricks together till the game releases.

4 players (like Rock Band 2)
Lego Avatars in game
Import songs ala Rock Band 1 to Rock band 2′s set list
Songs targeting a “family audience”, but include: Foo Fighters Breakout, Ghostbusters Theme Song, Queen We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions, Song 2 (Whew Who) by Blur, and Kung Fu Fighting to name a few.
Developed by Harmonix, published by Warner Bros. Interactive
No box sets will be available, only stand alone software
Feature’s much different cover art than other Rock Band / Lego Games

Breaking out in November

Lego Rock Band Allows Players to Tackle Monsters, With Rock!

Kyle P. — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:55:15 +0000

The upcoming Lego Rock Band is just the latest iteration in the Lego craze that is sweeping the gaming world. However, TT Games head Jonathan Smith is making sure this Lego game will sticking out from the rest.

“In a Lego world, where anything is possible, all the brilliant things about Rock Band mix with all the brilliant things about Lego,” Smith said.
“The Lego character customizer means that pirates, knights and skeletons can be rock stars too, in amazing new locations. Battle sea-monsters, smash up an entire building, or take a trip into space, all with the power of rock!
“That essential Rock Band gameplay is still there; but now it’s also accessible to a broader audience, with new easy-play options, songs which everyone knows, and lyrics which are appropriate for all ages.”

Smith then went on to talk about customization, and how it isn’t essential to the game, and players won’t have to do it if they don’t want to.

“Customization is a key concept in all Lego games – but it’s totally up to you how much time you spend on it.”

Lego Rock Band, releasing later this year on the PS3, is set to go head-to-head with the titans of the music genre, the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series.

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First Trailer for Lego Harry Potter

Adam Wolfe — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:52:25 +0000

Warner Bros. has released a trailer for the recently announced Lego Harry Potter game.

The trailer does not show a lot, just a few seconds of in-game footage is seen. The game is supposed to cover the first four movies, and will release sometime in 2010. Be sure to check back as more info becomes available.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Lego Rock Band Rocks out With its Blocks Out

Dan Massi — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:02:26 +0000

The first trailer of Lego Rock Band has debuted. Lego Rock Band is the fifth iteration in the Rock Band franchise. It’s expected to release Holiday 2009.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you think? Is this a worthy purchase, or they just milking a franchise? Post your comments below.

Twisted Metal Fan Puts Lego Skills to Good Use

Michael Gruver — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:05:32 +0000

A passion for gaming is something that varies from person to person. Some of us get more involved than others, and for one such gamer, his passion for Twisted Metal was directed into building some really awesome Lego replicas.

He has crafted six different lego Twisted Metal cars that were made popular in the first, third, and fourth Twisted Metal games. Check here to view all six vehicles.

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New Details Stack Up for Lego Rock Band

Dan Massi — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:10:14 +0000

New details have emerged for Lego Rock Band, the newest installment in the Rock Band series:

- Game progression includes collecting Lego pieces, which allow you to “build cooler vehicles and move to new venues.”
- There will be an extra easy mode in the game.
- You will be able to “destroy a giant robot, summon a storm, and demolish a skyscraper.”

New info on Lego Rock Band will be reported as it hits.

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Rock the Blocks: Lego Rock Band Coming

Dan Massi — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:40:28 +0000

After months of spectulation, Lego Rock Band has been confirmed, with TT Games and Harmonix at the wheel. The game will be coming to PS3, 360, Wii and DS, this holiday season, and promises some kid friendly fun. So far, a list of songs from the game have been confirmed:

Blur: “Song 2”
Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
Europe: “The Final Countdown”
Good Charlotte: “Boys and Girls”
Pink: “So What”

It has also been confirmed that Lego Rock Band will be using all existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero controllers. Unless you want to buy super cool Lego peripherals (if they’re real).

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PSP Review – Lego Indiana Jones

JohnDraisey — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:13:17 +0000

Lego Indiana Jones is yet another installment in the Lego game series, which is famous for putting a tasteful spin on such famous franchises as Star Wars and Batman. Developer Traveller’s Tales has managed to shrink the console version of Lego Indy onto the PlayStation Portable, and unfortunately this was not a wise choice. The hardware itself is the root of several problems, but there are also some questionable design choices on the part of the developer.

The story mode takes inspiration from the original Indy Trilogy, and pokes fun at some key moments of those films. The humor is very slapstick, and it has to be since there’s absolutely no dialogue in the game. There isn’t even any text to read off of. All communication is done with grunting…seriously. While I’m sure this was a good cost-saving measure, they could have at least hired stand-in voice actors. Since events from the film are only loosely followed, the level progression stays fresh throughout.

The game is also entirely co-op, and you will always have an A.I. partner to assist you in your adventure. Unfortunately, there is no way of playing ad-hoc or online with a friend. The game requires you to dynamically switch between characters since they all have slightly different abilities. For example, Indy is the only one who can swing across chasms, while Myriam is the only one who can jump to a decent height. The A.I. immediately takes over the other character, and this gameplay feature ties in directly with the countless puzzles placed within each level.

Lego Indy is essentially a side-scroller platforming game, but allows for full 3D movement within the environment. There’s no ability to control the camera, and it simply follows your character from a distant vantage point. This does lead to the occasional ‘missed platform jump’, but nothing too serious. The controls for Lego Indy are simple at first glance, but the developer did map a few too many functions onto the face buttons.

For example, the Square button dishes out physical attacks, but also picks up special items. And the Circle button controls Indy’s Whip attacks, his Whip jumps, and releases/throws whichever items he’s throwing, depending on the situation. It’s not too difficult to work with after a while, but it’s strange that the shoulder buttons went unused. But this is a seemingly minor problem when compared to how your character moves and interacts with the game world.

Platforming games require tight, responsive controls due to the nature of the genre, and the fact that your character has so many opportunities to die when exploring the game world. Travellers Tales, however, made the controls somewhat floaty and imprecise. And it’s hard to blame the Analog Nub when so many other platformers have managed to have tight controls on the PSP. What makes this issue even worse is that the levels become very frustrating as a result. There are basic physics applied to the characters, but it often results in falling to your death or being pushed off the level by enemies (or even your AI partner).

Co-op gameplay works, but only when the A.I. works with you. I died countless times due to my A.I. partner either pushing me off a platform, or walking off a trigger button that was holding some hidden floor spikes at bay. There are even a few areas that are literally impossible to venture through due to the A.I. issues, but luckily these are optional areas that that don’t hold back your campaign progression. It really is a shame since when the co-op system works, it works beautifully and really ups the fun factor. Where the A.I. is truly effective is during combat, as your partners are very enthusiastic about taking down as many enemies as possible. Expect to die a lot, though, as the combat system is a total brawl-fest. The developers made up for this by providing an infinite number of lives spawning your characters exactly where they died.

While viewing the included screenshots of Lego Indy, you may notice something off-putting. There are some weird visual artifacts that look like banding/interlace glitches, and I found it VERY distracting. The actual graphical content is done well and there’s a lot of detail in the environments, save for the low-res backgrounds. But because of the bad graphics engine, scenes that would normally look beautiful end up looking grainy and glitchy. The sound effects are punchy, and the music (when it remembers to turn on) adds a lot to the scenes. The only thing I didn’t like was how schizophrenic the music system is. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself looking for enemies since the Enemy Song is being played, only to find out you’re supposed to be solving a puzzle. Not a single an enemy in sight.

Glitches are also a significant feature of the game. I say ‘Feature’ because glitches actually help this game out once in a while. If you ever get stuck in a random area and happen to be holding the wrong “secret item”, no worries. You’ll probably be able to hop over the barrier and simply grab the right item to escape the area…you..just…escaped. It’s also fun to lose track of your AI partner once in a while, as you suddenly appreciate their presence all over again. I found this out when I tried to jump up to a ledge that only Myriam could reach. Indy and Myriam are the same height, but for some reason the developers believe “women are more agile.” Yes, the game tells you that.

What the PSP version of Lego Indy ends up proving is that porting from a console to a handheld has significant drawbacks. Despite being nearly as powerful as the PS2, the optimal way to build a PSP game is to start from scratch. Camera placement and level design that works on a television doesn’t necessarily work on a 5 inch screen. Also, having 30~45 second load times in between levels, as well as load times after turning your PSP back on from Sleep Mode, is unnacceptable. Lego Indy can be very fun to play at times, but bad design decisions end up making the title a chore to play through. Even the ‘simple puzzles’ can leave you dumbfounded, which is disturbing considering that children are the main target audience. Even if you’re fan of the Lego series or Indiana Jones, I do not recommend picking up the PSP version of Lego Indy.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

Tongue-in-cheek humor can be fun.

Horrifically long load times.

AI system, level design, and graphics are disappointing.

Harmonix Accidentally Confirms LEGO Rock Band

Dan Massi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:33:09 +0000

Harmonix’s Dan Teasdale has accidentally confirmed LEGO Rock Band. The news came from a blog post from his website that Harmonix had planned to announce LEGO Rock Band at GDC (Game Developers Conference). The post showed a slideshow, which showed icons with LEGO in between Rock Band Unplugged and The Beatles: Rock Band.

This would only make one assume that the game should hit sometime in 2009, in between the PSP version of Rock Ban, and the brand new Beatles title.

Developer’s Perspective: LEGO Universe

JohnDraisey — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:00:18 +0000

Ryan Seabury, the creative director of upcoming MMO “LEGO Universe”, was able to sit down with MTV Multiplayer and discuss the development process of this recently delayed title. The developers over at NetDevil have actually had a pretty rough time making LEGO Universe, mainly because they lack a significant advantage that Travellers Tales have, which is the ability to use Movie Licenses.

Every LEGO title so far as been based on popular movie franchises, and all future LEGO titles from Traveller Tales will continue this tradition. This leaves NetDevil at a serious disadvantage since it’s been forced to give players a sense of purpose within the game world. Rather than playing as Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones, they play as themselves. Seabury offered his team’s solution to this problem:

“We provide this pretty epic story and this conflict, a good-and-evil type thing where there’s some dark chaotic forces that make different things across the universe come together, battle and save the day. Battle and build, with creativity at the core. Then you make your community bond, and the creative possibilities open up from there, which leads to you having much more of an investment to stay in that world and continue building.”

But as Seabury revealed, Travellers Tales actually opened a lot of doors for his team. LEGO was originally very adamant about breathing much life into the minifigures represented in LEGO Star Wars. Seabury said that LEGO’s stance at first was, “Things can’t be too different then the bricks. If the plastic is bending in weird ways someone will freak out.” But after TT gained their trust and showcased the game’s progress, they were able to apply much more animation to both the characters and environment.

NetDevil and Travellers Tales have a very strong relationship, and TT has even been able to play-test LEGO Universe and provide some critical feedback for the development team. Seabury revealed it was possible for the two companies to collaborate on a LEGO project in the future.

“They do those kinds of games extremely well, and we have a lot to learn from the, but on the other hand we have a lot of online MMO experience. We’re looking at ways we can collaborate long-term, strategically.”

LEGO Universe is set for release in 2010.

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