Childhood fads would come and go – but LEGO has outlasted them all as the most creative and innovative toy created, it all started with a humble block in the nineteen forties and now it’s come full circle and incorporating twenty-first century tech toys into playtime – namely the iPad and iPhone.
LEGO’s Life of George is a fantastic new spin on the old instructional guides, which came in the box of bits, and taught you how to build some great creations out of all your colourful pieces and the official press release challenges “Combining physical building with a digital gaming application, LEGO Life of George invites builders to test building skills in a race against time.”
Photos capturing events and objects from George’s life appear on your gadget’s screen via an iOS ‘EyeCue’ app and it’s down to you to build what you see from the 144 provided pieces and on a matt which also comes supplied. Using the app to snap the final creation will bring up an analysis of the building, which will factor in time spend and accuracy compared to the original image.
A very simple but genius idea, which includes 12 levels each with 10 photos to build on the matt, they also come in different difficulty modes – so this one isn’t just for the little ones!
To keep playtime entertaining for a long time, Lego has provided a two-player competitive mode and a self-creation option so you can recreate your own photos as a Lego construct, which maybe offers a lot more appeal than the in-game snaps themselves.
LEGO’s Life of George comes out in a few days time costing $30 for the software, blocks and mat. Read below the video for the LEGO Press Release for the “first fully-integrated digital-to-physical gaming experience” – and also check out George’s Facebook page for a sample of the type of snaps you’ll be required to build in his game!
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via or @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook Group.
[spoiler]LEGO GROUP UNVEILS FIRST FULLY INTEGRATED DIGITAL-TO-PHYSICAL GAMING EXPERIENCE
– Combining physical building with a digital gaming application, LEGO® Life of George invites builders to test building skills in a race against time-
BILLUND, Denmark, September 29, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced LEGO® Life of George, its first product to combine digital and physical play for a hands-on LEGO gaming experience. Featuring patent-pending brick recognition software, powered by EyeCue, the game challenges players to build models, and place them on a play mat that acts as a “green screen” to capture the image and receive a score based on accuracy and speed. Beginning October 1, 2011, players can purchase the LEGO Life of George set for $29.99 from LEGO Stores and shop.lego.com and download the free Apple iOS compatible gaming application.
LEGO Life of George is a 12-level game that can be played in novice or expert mode. Each level showcases an adventure from George, around whom the game revolves, and is comprised of models of varying difficulty based on the number of bricks needed and the building techniques required to replicate them. Builders are challenged to physically recreate the virtual models from George’s photo album using the LEGO bricks included with the game; once they have successfully completed all 10 models the next level will be unlocked.
In addition to Game Mode which can be played alone or against one competitor in a pass-and-play format, a Creation Mode called “My Life” enables users to design and capture their own models in the app’s virtual scrapbook.
“We understand consumers’ powerful connection to casual gaming, and we have seen how successfully the LEGO brand can translate to a virtual experience, so we pursued development of a fun way to combine both physical and virtual play into one product,” says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of new business at LEGO Group. “Life of George is a result of our desire to provide an innovative way for existing and new fans to play with LEGO bricks and interact with the brand.”
Who is George?
George is a software engineer by day and adventurer by night. His main hobbies are travel, photography and numbers, and has a fun storyline for players to follow and engage with via his Facebook page, I Am George. Fans can expect to see updates and photography from George on his travels as well as hints to new game levels and app updates through his posts.[/spoiler]