The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day LEGO fans!

Is everyone around you wearing green and testing out their fake Irish accents? Or perhaps everyone around you is talking about brackets and college kids playing basketball.

Don’t worry, you have found your safe space: a blog about LEGO.

And this week we’re talking LEGO video games. We may have covered video games once or twice before on this blog, but there seems to be a lot going on right now with LEGO video games, and so it warrants another topic of the week.

Newsflash: LEGO makes popular video games. Popular as in a lot of people buy them and those people enjoy playing them.

I’ll give you a second to take that shocking news in.

Two weeks ago I discussed the terrific sales for LEGO in 2015. Their 25% jump in revenue was helped greatly by the release of LEGO Dimensions; LEGO’s first foray into the toys-to-life video game genre.

And although I couldn’t find any specific numbers related to the U.S. or global video game market, there were a lot of good numbers reported in the UK market. Specifically, in the 4^th quarter of 2015 (the last 3 months of the year), LEGO Dimensions had a 52.8 percent value share. Basically, Dimensions dominated over half the market. And this was up against the veterans of the genre, Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

Although the UK is only a fraction of the worldwide video game market, these numbers are a good indicator of LEGO’s success in the video game market worldwide.

And what’s great about LEGO Dimensions is that it has never-ending possibilities when it comes to expansions packs.

Speaking of which, there have been some very exciting new releases.

First up, the Midway Arcade Level Pack. This is exciting because it’s a whole new level to play for those who have completed the first 5 levels a million times already. 

And this new level is a pretty original concept compared to the other levels that were based on movies or TV shows like Back to the Future and Doctor Who. This level is based on classic arcade games, specifically ones made by the now defunct Midway Games. In 2009 when Midway Games was going out of business, they sold most of their assets to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. Guess who produces all of LEGO’s video games??

Warner Brothers!

So how are these classic arcade games integrated into the LEGO Dimensions world?

Here’s LEGO’s description:

Your favorite retro Midway Arcade™ characters have escaped from their games and Gamer Kid needs your help to put them back where they belong!Activate his Stealth, Laser, Speed, Invulnerability and Super Strength abilities to solve puzzles and overpower enemies. When he needs a power-up, add the rebuildable 3-in-1 G-6155 Spy Hunter car or Arcade Machine into the game! Unlocks over 20 Classic Arcade Games from Midway Arcade™ as an exclusive level.

Even cooler, check out the trailer:

Here are all the classic arcade games featured in LEGO Dimensions:Seven Twenty, Badlands, Blasteroids, Championship Sprint, Defender, Defender II, Gauntlet, Gauntlet II, KLAX, Joust, Joust 2, Marble Madness, Paperboy, Rampage, Road Blasters, Robron, Spyhunter, SuperSprint, Timber, Toobin, Cyberball, VindicatorsXybots.

This is just a totally awesome and different direction for LEGO to take with the Dimensions franchise. Instead of using another established franchise of characters, they went a little out-of-the-box. 

Speaking of established franchises though, this week is also the release of three new “fun” packs for LEGO Dimensions.

Each fun pack comes with a character and a gadget or vehicle.

                  Superman and a Hover Pod                               Aquaman and the Aqua Watercraft

Instead of trying to paraphrase, I’ll let comicbook.com describe the new characters and game-play for each pack:

Superman and Aquaman are the latest to join the LEGO Dimensions Justice League roster, which already includes Batman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg. The DC Comics Superman Fun Pack includes a buildable Superman minifigure and Hover Pod. Superman’s in game abilities include Flying, Dive, Invulnerability, Laser Deflector, Freeze Breath, X-Ray Vision, and Super Strength. The Hover Pod can be rebuilt into a Krypton Striker and Super Stealth Pod for upgraded in-game abilities.

The DC Comics Aquaman Fun Pack features a buildable Aquaman minifigure and Aqua Watercraft. Aquaman uses Dive, Growth, Atlantis and Hazard Cleaner. The Aqua Watercraft can be rebuilt as a Seven Seas Speeder and Trident of Fire for upgraded powers in the game.


                                        Stay Puft (from Ghostbusters) and Terror Dog

The Ghostbusters Stay Puft Fun Pack comes with the first-ever buildable Stay Puft minifigure and Terror Dog. Stay Puft uses Hazard Protection, Big Transform and Super Strength abilities. The Terror Dog can be called in as back-up and rebuilt as the Terror Dog Destroyer and Soaring Terror Dog for upgraded powers in the game. The pack also allows access to the Ghostbusters Adventure World where gamers can play as any one of the four Ghostbusters characters.

In other LEGO video game news, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, which came out in January is getting ready to launch a Captain America: Civil War character pack based on the upcoming film being released in May.

The original game already features content from six different Marvel Comic films, including both Avengers movies. There are over 200 characters that can be unlocked including over 100 characters that have not appeared in a LEGO video game before.

The Civil War character pack includes 9 characters from the new movie: Captain America, Agent 13, Black Panther, Falcon, Iron Man (Mark 46), Crossbones, Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, and War Machine. The Marvel Cinematic Universe versions of Black Panther and Crossbones have never appeared in any video game ever (LEGO or otherwise).

Check out the trailer for this new pack:

Right now this new content is exclusively available as a free download for PlayStation 3 and 4. According to the trailer, the exclusivity runs through April 26^th. I assume that means the content will be available for all other game consoles starting right after that.

Also noted at the end of the trailer is that the upcoming Ant-Man Level and Character pack will be released exclusively to PlayStation starting April 5^th and remain exclusive until July 5^th.

So there’s a lot to enjoy in the world of LEGO video games. I kind of wish I had a video game console. The LEGO Dimensions starter pack is only $49.99 at Target, Walmart, and Amazon right now. I could see myself spending $50 on something that offers high quality fun and will be continually expanded for years to come.

But then I’d have to shell out a few hundred bucks on a game console. No thanks! Although, the Xbox 360 is on Amazon for only $150........................no. Nope! Can’t do it.

But hey, I gave it some serious thought. I think that shows my dedication to the LEGO fandom. It’s probably for the best because I think I have a somewhat addictive personality. And my life is already lacking in focus and motivation without throwing a video game addiction into the mix.

Plus I don’t want to be one of those people that spend hours and hours of their lives staring at a screen, watching meaningless content...

Oh wait! I watch like 30 hours of television a week.

I guess I actually have a lot in common with gamers…except that my hours in front of a screen don’t require any effort or thinking like video games. Although, last night one of the shows I watched made me read subtitles for some scenes. So much effort!

Alright, enough silliness from me! What are your thoughts, readers? Are you a gamer? Are you a LEGO gamer? Is it weird to read about gaming from a non-gamer?

Am I using the correct lingo? Is this too many questions?

Okay, I'm done.

Thanks for reading! Leave some comments! Like about whose side you are on in the Civil War. I honestly don’t know! Iron Man is my favorite Avenger, but I kind of agree with the Cap about the Avengers being able to work without government interference. So conflicted!

Until next time…get that Shamrock Shake while you still can!

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet.*