105-402: Lego Island is a Lego -themed open world action-adventure game developed and published by Mindscape . It was released for Windows on September 26, 1997, as the second Lego video game overall and the first one outside Japan. In the "proto-open world" game, players explore the eponymous island as one of five unique minifigure characters, and can build vehicles and complete side quests ;
210-919: A demo entitled Port Pizza, featuring a small island with a limited scope. Lego Lego ( / ˈ l ɛ ɡ oʊ / , LEG -oh ; Danish: [ˈle̝ːko] ; stylised as LEGO ) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group , a privately held company based in Billund , Denmark . Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that accompany an array of gears , figurines called minifigures , and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Assembled Lego models can be taken apart, and their pieces can be reused to create new constructions. The Lego Group began manufacturing
315-515: A music game . U-Sing performed well at retail, but the cost of music licenses for the game had a severe impact on its revenue, while Crasher underperformed in general. As a result, Mindscape announced on August 10, 2011, that it had closed Punchers Impact and laid off its forty employees, while itself would effectively exit the video game industry . Some regional subsidiaries, such as Mindscape Asia-Pacific in Sydney , Australia, continued operating in
420-440: A Lego-branded personal computer game on January 27, 1996, then targeting to release the game in the fourth quarter of that year. Jenkins headed the project as its creative director , while Melmed acted as the education and research director. Other leads included senior producer Scott Anderson, director of development Dennis Goodrow, project manager Mari Collings, and the lead 3D artist Dave Patch. The lead programmer, Jim Brown,
525-537: A children's toy, there have also been adult fans of the toys. In 2020, Lego introduced sets aged at 18+, generally some of their more expensive and difficult-to-assemble sets based on real world or fictional objects, such as the Concorde or Rivendell . The timing of these sets favorably aligned with the COVID-19 pandemic , with many adults purchasing these sets to work on during various lockdown periods. Popularity within adults
630-468: A common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk. By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred , had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become
735-530: A criminal incarcerated in Lego Island's jail. Each character can perform a different action to customize non-player characters and vegetation on the island, such as changing their colors or giving them different hats. The game also includes numerous Easter eggs spread across the island. The player can also construct a race car, jet ski , dune buggy , or police helicopter with the help of mechanic Bill Ding, which can be customized and used in missions or to explore
840-509: A follow-up to the game, titled Beneath the Lego Phanta Sea . This follow-up would have explored the "importance of ecology and environmentalism from an educational perspective". However, after the release of Lego Island , the Lego Group terminated Mindscape's license for future Lego-based games. Silicon Dreams Studio eventually developed two sequels: Lego Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge (2001) and Island Xtreme Stunts (2002). During
945-518: A height of 149 cm (60 in), which makes it the tallest set and tower but the second in number of parts after the World Map. The company also initiated a robotics line of toys called 'Mindstorms' in 1999, and continued to expand and update this range until it was eventually discontinued in 2022. The roots of the product originated with a programmable brick developed at the MIT Media Lab , and
1050-401: A large fan community based around building competitions and custom creations, and a range of films , games , and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund , Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from
1155-527: A lease of 21,000 square feet (2,000 m ) of office space in Wheeling, Illinois , for $ 236,000 . Robert A. Drell, formerly of Dresher Inc., became VP of finance and chief financial officer in October 1988. In December 1989, the video game company The Software Toolworks reached an agreement to acquire Mindscape, exchanging every Mindscape share for 0.4375 shares in newly issued Toolworks common stock . The deal
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#17330941855391260-565: A pizza delivery boy who serves as the protagonist . Each playable character possesses their own unique abilities and interactions modeled after different intelligence types listed in Howard Gardner 's theory of multiple intelligences ; the game showcases two additional intelligence types via non-player characters the Infomaniac, the island's founder who serves as a tour guide , and the Brickster,
1365-410: A release in the third quarter of 1997. As Lego Island , the game was released worldwide on September 26, 1997; copies of the game included a comic book that acted as the game's instruction manual, as well as a Lego minifigure of the Infomaniac. One day prior to the release, Mindscape fired the entirety of Lego Island ' s development team. The company had a program for bonuses in place, so several of
1470-402: A safe digital environment for children, including the protection of personal information and the heavy moderation of all uploaded user-generated content and communication. My Lego Network was a social networking site that involved items, blueprints, ranks, badges which were earned for completing certain tasks, trading and trophies called masterpieces which allowed users to progress to go to
1575-528: A separate entity in Boulogne-Billancourt , a suburb of Paris , France, and assuming a managerial role. In October 2005, French video game developer and publisher Coktel Vision was sold to Mindscape, wherein eleven Coktel employees were absorbed into Mindscape. The Coktel brand name, however, was retained by Mindscape for many years afterwards; its history officially ended in 2011 when Mindscape closed. By December 2009, Thierry Bensoussan had become
1680-493: A serious form of play. Lego branched out into the video game market in 1997 by founding Lego Media International Limited , and Lego Island was released that year by Mindscape . After this Lego released titles such as Lego Creator and Lego Racers . After Lego closed down their publishing subsidiary, they moved on to a partnership with Traveller's Tales , and went on to make games like Lego Star Wars , Lego Indiana Jones , Lego Batman , and many more including
1785-429: A shipment of bricks delivered by clone producer Qman was blocked from passing through German customs due to concerns over the potential infringement of Lego's intellectual property. The recipient toy retailer initiated an appeal for donations to import containers of Lego clones from China to Germany and donate them to children's homes, which received more than € 350,000 within a couple of weeks. First launched in 1996,
1890-557: A subsidiary of the company's Mattel Media division, later renamed Mattel Interactive . By then, Mattel occasionally used the Mindscape name for publishing. TLC and Mattel Interactive's gaming assets were acquired by Gores Technology Group in 2000 and its game brands were reformed under a new entity, Game Studios, in January 2001. The same year, former TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman bought out Mindscape from TLC, installing it as
1995-491: A system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: Their locking ability was still limited, and they were not yet versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; ABS subsequently replaced cellulose acetate as the manufacturing material five years later. A patent application for the modern Lego brick design was filed in Denmark on 28 January 1958 and in various other countries in
2100-699: A television series titled Nexo Knights made its debut for the Lego Nexo Knights brand. An animated series titled Lego Elves was released in 2015 and another titled Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale was released in 2017 for the Lego Elves brand. In 2016, Lego Bionicle: The Journey To One was released for the Bionicle franchise and Lego Friends: The Power of Friendship for the Lego Friends brand. In June 2019, an animated series titled Lego City Adventures
2205-407: A tolerance of up to twenty micrometres to ensure the bricks remain connected. Human inspectors check the output of the moulds to eliminate significant variations in colour or thickness. According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required. Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process. If
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#17330941855392310-595: A wave hit a cargo ship off the coast of Cornwall , England. Pieces have washed up over the ensuing decades, attracting attention from news outlets and social media. In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station , where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity , as a part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. In May 2013,
2415-564: A weekend-long event in which a Master Model Builder creates, with the help of volunteers—a larger-than-life Lego statue, which is then displayed at the new store for several weeks. Since around 2000, the Lego Group has been promoting "Lego Serious Play", a form of business consultancy fostering creative thinking, in which team members build metaphors of their organizational identities and experiences using Lego bricks. Participants work through imaginary scenarios using visual three-dimensional Lego constructions, imaginatively exploring possibilities in
2520-460: A year. The claim was reiterated in 2012. In April 2023, Lego broke ground on its first manufacturing facility in the United States. The new carbon-neutral factory will be located near Richmond, Virginia. It will amount to over $ 1 billion in investment once completed in 2025. The 340 acre site will have rooftop and ground solar panels and an on-site 35-40 MW solar plant, generating the equivalent of
2625-606: Is 4,240 newtons . Since an average 2×2 Lego brick has a mass of 1.152 grams (0.0406 oz), according to their calculations it would take a stack of 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 3,591 metres (11,781 ft) in height. Private tests have shown several thousand assembly-disassembly cycles before the bricks begin to wear out , although Lego tests show fewer cycles. In 2018, Lego announced that it will be using bio-derived polyethylene to make its botanical elements (parts such as leaves, bushes and trees). The New York Times reported
2730-412: Is a nonlinear video game played from a first-person perspective. The player is able to freely roam around the eponymous Lego Island, interact with non-player characters , build and drive vehicles, or complete several different missions. The game features five playable characters: police officers Laura and Nick Brick; pizzeria proprietors Mama and Papa Brickolini; and their adopted son Pepper Roni,
2835-411: Is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to create their own digital Lego designs. The program once allowed customers to order custom designs with a service to ship physical models from Digital Designer to consumers; the service ended in 2012. Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from ABS plastic. As of September 2008 , Lego engineers use
2940-405: Is available as a free download and only features Lego-related content. It was designed to be a social network for children to be inspired, create and share their Lego builds, photos and videos with a like-minded community, whilst also providing Lego content in the form of product advertising, images, videos, campaigns and competitions. The app incorporates a variety of child safety features to provide
3045-538: Is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holidays, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based on the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modelling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These prototypes are presented to
3150-1031: The Blackstone Group of New York while the remaining 30% is still held by Lego Group. There are also eight Legoland Discovery Centres , two in Germany, four in the United States, one in Japan and one in the United Kingdom. Two Legoland Discovery Centres opened in 2013: one at the Westchester Ridge Hill shopping complex in Yonkers , New York, and one at the Vaughan Mills in Vaughan , Ontario, Canada. Another opened at American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey , in 2021. The first Lego store to open anywhere in
3255-688: The CoCo Toy Company in Beijing for copyright infringement over its "Coko bricks" product. CoCo was ordered to cease manufacture of the products, publish a formal apology and pay damages. Lego sued the English company Best-Lock Construction Toys in German courts in 2004 and 2009; the Federal Patent Court of Germany denied Lego trademark protection for the shape of its bricks for the latter case. In 2005,
Lego Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-541: The Danish phrase leg godt [lɑjˀ ˈkʌt] , which means "play well". In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys. In 1949 the business began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, invented by Hilary Page in 1939 and patented in
3465-614: The Lego line of toys. Mindscape subsequently hired Wes Jenkins, who, in turn, brought on Paul Melmed. Jenkins and Melmed drafted a game concept based on the "Town" theme of Lego sets. Both attended the Toy Fair in New York City in February 1995, pitching the concept to the Lego Group. Around the same time, the Lego Group (as well as other toy manufacturers) were trying to explore or gain a foothold in
3570-543: The NX CAD / CAM / CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimised by way of mould flow and stress analysis . Prototype moulds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production. The ABS plastic is heated to 232 °C (450 °F) until it reaches a dough -like consistency. It is then injected into the moulds using forces of between 25 and 150 tonnes and takes approximately 15 seconds to cool. The moulds are permitted
3675-586: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prepare an initial public offering (IPO) and become a public company . The move aimed at raising $ 9.6 million through sale of stock to reduce bank loan debts of $ 9.8 million . The IPO was completed later that month, with the company beginning trading over-the-counter , and the first shares were issued by July. Bob Ingersoll and Dennis O'Malley were appointed vice president (VP) of marketing and VP of sales, respectively, in May 1987. In November, Mindscape signed
3780-509: The managing director for Mindscape. The company opened an internal development studio, Punchers Impact, in Paris to develop multi-platform digital download games. The studio's managers, Guillaume Descamps and Jérôme Amouyal, left the studio less than a year later, in September 2010, to found a new studio, Birdies Road. Punchers Impact developed two games— Crasher , a racing game , and U-Sing ,
3885-553: The video game industry in August 2011. Notable titles released by Mindscape include the MacVenture series, Balance of Power , Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight , Legend , Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat , Warhammer: Dark Omen and Lego Island . Mindscape was founded in October 1983 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company SFN Companies. Mindscape's founder,
3990-624: The video game industry . The only previous Lego-branded video game was Lego Fun to Build , which was released by Sega in December 1995 for the Japanese Sega Pico market. The Lego Group had established the Futura research and development group in Boston , which was looking at possible intersections between Lego products and digital media, including video games and virtual reality experiences. In 1995,
4095-503: The 15th position on the annual sales charts, with 309,698 units sold. The success of Lego Island revived Mindscape's business, which was in trouble at the time. The company's total sales rose by 70% in 1997, driven primarily by Lego Island . In partnering with the Lego Group, Mindscape had gained the rights to produce multiple Lego-branded games. Prior to the Lego Island developers' dismissal, they had been conceptualizing and prototyping
4200-504: The 15th-best-selling computer game of that period. It was the country's 11th-best-selling computer game in 1997, with 323,085 units sold and almost $ 12 million earned in revenue. It reached eighth place on the United States' chart for the January–November 1998 period. It ultimately placed seventh for the full year of 1998, with 404,858 sales. Its revenue that year alone was over $ 10.2 million . The following year, it dropped to
4305-647: The Australian entrepreneur Roger Buoy, had previously been a computer analyst for Rolls-Royce and later worked for the software division of Scholastic Inc. before being hired by SFN. Buoy acted as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mindscape, and the company released its first product in April 1984. Early games include Déjà Vu , Balance of Power , and Sub Mission: A Matter of Life and Death . In its early years, Mindscape lost about US$ 6 million annually. In July 1986, Mindscape acquired
Lego Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-464: The Brickster, and Jenkins voicing several minor roles. The development team created a bespoke game engine for Lego Island , which was intended to be reused in potential sequels. The DirectX technology set was used to render 3D environments. According to Brown, graphics accelerators were in their infancy, so Lego Island was designed to work on computers that did not have one, while simultaneously being able to take advantage of an accelerator if one
4515-452: The Infomaniac reassures the player that they can rebuild the island and the Brickster will be returned to his cell. Lego Island was developed by Mindscape , a developer of edutainment software based in Novato, California . The head of one of the company's departments was looking for a partner company in the toy industry and, after some research, settled for the Lego Group , the producer of
4620-681: The Lego Company sued Canadian company Ritvik Holdings Inc., which makes Mega Bloks , for trademark violation. However, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Ritvik Holdings Inc.'s rights to sell its product . In 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that the eight-peg design of the original Lego brick "merely performs a technical function [and] cannot be registered as a trademark." In 2020 and 2021, Lego sent cease and desist letters to small toy retailers and popular YouTubers in Germany. In 2021,
4725-440: The Lego Group employee Tormod Askildsen was tasked with exploring the company's potential venture into the video game market. He hired a handful of people and prepared a report, titled "Elvis", which he presented during a workshop on December 21, 1995. The report stated that the Lego Group's entrance into the video game market was a necessity, rather than an option. Mindscape and the Lego Group jointly announced their collaboration for
4830-409: The Lego website has developed over the years, and provides many extra services beyond an online store and a product catalogue. There are also moderated message boards that were founded in 2001. The site also includes instruction booklets for all Lego sets dating back to 2002. The Lego website features a social media app named Lego Life , which is designed for children under 13 years of age. The app
4935-556: The United Kingdom in 1940 before being displayed at the 1947 Earl's Court Toy Fair. Lego had received a sample of the Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate , were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time. The Lego Group's motto , "only the best is good enough" ( Danish : det bedste er ikke for godt , literally "the best isn't excessively good")
5040-604: The United Kingdom to mark the opening of the games. For the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro , Lego released a kit with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots Vinicius and Tom . One of the largest commercially produced Lego sets was a minifigure -scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon . Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and contained 5,195 pieces. It
5145-442: The activity of the muscle in the stump and send a signal to control movement in the attachment. A processing unit in the body of the prosthetic contained an engine compatible with Lego Mindstorms, which allowed the wearer to build an extensive range of customised, programmable limbs. Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many cultural works, including books, films, and art. It has even been used in
5250-410: The affected employees believed that Mindscape laid them off solely to avoid paying royalties. In a contemporary retrospective of Lego Creator: Harry Potter , another Lego-based edutainment game, Kotaku ' s Zack Zwiezen noted that edutainment titles in general (including Lego Island ) were rarely reviewed by video game critics upon release due to the young target demographic. Despite that,
5355-452: The assets of Scarborough Systems, a software company from Tarrytown, New York . Scarborough Systems continued its operations through Lifeboat Associates , a subsidiary that was not acquired by Mindscape. In October, SFN announced that it would be selling or closing large parts of its business, including plans to liquidate Mindscape. On December 31, Mindscape bought the assets of Roslyn, New York -based company Learning Well. Since Mindscape
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#17330941855395460-534: The bricks themselves, but as is common for trademarks , Lego group insists on the name being used as an adjective when referring to a product (as in "LEGO bricks"). Lego bricks have a reputation for causing pain when stepped on, often being humorously exaggerated as more extreme than that caused by even the worst injuries. The last significant patent for Lego bricks expired in 1978. Since then, competitors have produced blocks of similar dimensions and design that can be connected with Lego bricks. In 2002, Lego sued
5565-636: The classic themes that continue to the present day include Lego City (a line of sets depicting city life introduced in 1973) and Lego Technic (a line aimed at emulating complex machinery, introduced in 1977). Over the years, the company has licensed themes from numerous cartoon and film franchises and some from video games. These include Batman , Indiana Jones , Pirates of the Caribbean , Harry Potter , Star Wars , Marvel , Minecraft and Wicked . Although some of these themes, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, had highly successful sales,
5670-651: The classroom as a teaching tool. In the US, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the educational division of the Lego Group. In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester , New York. "Lego" is commonly used as a mass noun ("some Lego") or, in American English , as a countable noun with plural "Legos", to refer to
5775-542: The company expressed in 2015 a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes and less upon such licensed themes. Some sets include references to other themes such as a Bionicle mask in one of the Harry Potter sets. Discontinued sets may become a collectable and command value on the secondary market . For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , Lego released a special Team GB Minifigures series exclusively in
5880-532: The company said it would aim to produce its bricks without using crude oil , by using recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles, but in 2023 it reversed this decision, having found that this did not reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Since the 1950s, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including space , pirates , trains , (European) castle , dinosaurs , undersea exploration , and wild west , as well as wholly original themes like Bionicle and Hero Factory . Some of
5985-438: The company's footprint that year was "about a million tons of carbon dioxide each year" and that it was investing about 1 billion kroner and hiring 100 people to work on changes. The paper reported that Lego's researchers "have already experimented with around 200 alternatives." In 2020, Lego announced that it would cease packaging its products in single-use plastic bags and would instead be using recyclable paper bags. In 2021,
6090-582: The deal closing on May 12, 1994. Pearson was criticized for overpaying in the acquisition, and the acquired company lost $ 69 million within its first few years under the new ownership. By November 1994, the Toolworks name was discontinued in favor of the Mindscape brand. The same year, Mindscape acquired the video game developer Strategic Simulations . In September 1995, it acquired Micrologic Software of Emeryville, California , to undisclosed terms. In January 1996, John F. Moore became CEO after leaving
6195-559: The developers, produced documentaries and podcasts , and developed unofficial patches to allow the game to run on newer computers. A fan-made sequel, Project Island , was initiated as a solo project by Floris Thoonen in the mid-2010s. The game was formally announced around Lego Island ' s twentieth anniversary in 2017. As of 2020, around 50 people are working on Project Island with varying degrees of activity, with all of them contributing during their spare time. The project team irregularly publishes update videos and intends to release
6300-441: The development of The Brickster's Revenge , the studio was aware of the original Lego Island and Beneath the Lego Phanta Sea but decided to build a new concept from scratch. Island Xtreme Stunts became the final entry in the Lego Island series. Lego Island has inspired a number of preservationists and other enthusiasts. Among other things, fans of the game have distributed archives of old production material obtained from
6405-439: The development of Lego-themed video games, and created Darwin, a "Strategic Product Unit" that absorbed most of Futura. Mindscape regularly communicated with Lego Media and Darwin, which led to the inclusion of further buildings and vehicles in the game, as well as the exclusion of non-Lego elements like ropes. In January 1997, Mindscape and the Lego Group reintroduced the game, now titled Adventures on Lego Island and scheduled for
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#17330941855396510-413: The earliest iteration of the product, the program would be uploaded to the programmable brick via an infrared transmitter, while in later versions this was achieved via Bluetooth or a USB cable. Unofficial programming languages that can be used with Lego Mindstorms programmable bricks have also been developed There have been several robotics competitions which used the Lego robotics sets. The earliest
6615-613: The early 1990s. As of March 2024 , Lego operates 1031 retail shops, called Lego Stores, globally. The world's largest Lego store is located in Leicester Square , London. The U.S. stores include the Downtown Disney shopping complexes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts as well as in Mall of America in Bloomington , Minnesota. The opening of each new store is celebrated with
6720-576: The end of a child's limb. Iko was the work of the Chicago-based Colombian designer Carlos Arturo Torres, and is a modular system that allows children to customise their own prosthetics with the ease of clicking together plastic bricks. Designed with Lego's Future Lab, the Danish toy company's experimental research department, and Cirec, a Colombian foundation for physical rehabilitation, the modular prosthetic incorporated myoelectric sensors that register
6825-521: The energy of powering 10,000 American homes. In December 2012, the BBC 's More or Less radio program asked the Open University 's engineering department to determine "how many Lego bricks, stacked one on top of the other, it would take for the weight to destroy the bottom brick?" Using a hydraulic testing machine, members of the department determined the average maximum force a 2×2 Lego brick can stand
6930-414: The entire project team for comment and testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups . Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organisation for marketing and packaging. Lego Digital Designer
7035-512: The following years. Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers was released on DVD in February 2010, a computer-animated film made by Tinseltown Toons. A computer-generated animated series titled Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu began in January 2011 for the Lego Ninjago brand. Another television series titled Legends of Chima began in 2013 for the Legends of Chima brand. In December 2015,
7140-607: The former three countries and in Kladno in the Czech Republic . The Lego Group estimates that in five decades it has produced 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. According to an article in BusinessWeek in 2006, Lego could also be considered the world's number-one tyre manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million small rubber tyres
7245-815: The fourth in Carlsbad , California, the fifth in Winter Haven , Florida, the sixth in Iskandar Puteri , Malaysia, the seventh in Dubai , United Arab Emirates, and the eighth in Nagoya , Japan. A ninth is planned to open in 2020 in Goshen , New York, United States, and a tenth in 2022 in Shanghai , China. On 13 July 2005, the control of 70% of the Legoland parks was sold for $ 460 million to
7350-526: The game "only ran happily on the 200." Lego Island won the Interactive Achievement Award for " PC Family/Kids Entertainment Title of the Year " during the inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards . In 2016, Sam Loveridge of Digital Spy ranked Lego Island as the 14th best Lego game in a list of 15. In the United States, Lego Island sold over 909,000 copies between 1997 and 1999, making it
7455-448: The game received mainly positive reception among critics from newspapers; Gary Duchane of the Hartford Courant praised the game's graphics and animations while appreciating the multiple player characters and side quests. The Windsor Star ' s Paul Dame was dismayed with the restricted building options in the game, though he recommended it to "children who love Lego." Writing for Tribune Media Services , Pam Gleichman commented that
7560-843: The game to avoid paying them any bonuses. Pearson proceeded to sell Mindscape to The Learning Company (TLC) in March 1998 for $ 150 million in cash and stock. A waiting period was temporarily imposed by the Federal Trade Commission and subsequently terminated the same month. TLC expected that its stocks would rise $ 0.05 per share as a result of the acquisition, while Pearson lost around $ 347 million . Later that year, when TLC integrated its Broderbund division, Mindscape took over Broderbund's productivity, reference and entertainment brands. The company's Mindscape unit would acquire Petz developer PF.Magic in 1998. TLC would be eventually acquired by Mattel in May 1999 and became
7665-557: The game was widely acclaimed by boys while receiving more mixed reception among girls after they tested it out. Minor criticism was leveled at the game's system requirements ; Aaron Curtiss of the Los Angeles Times complained that the game was "an absolute resource hog, pushing most home desktops to the limit—even in low-resolution mode." Duchane concurred, noting that he attempted to load the game on computers with Pentium processors clocked at 90, 133, and 200 MHz, and found that
7770-507: The game's elements, including the sky and trees, were made customizable with the goal of incentivizing girls to play the game. In so-called "Yes meetings", team members could present any further ideas they had to the rest of the team. If another member agreed, the proposer would sleep over it and, on the next day, try to frame a realistic implementation of the feature. During 1996, the Lego Group established Lego Media as its video game division based in London , invested US$ 2 million in
7875-504: The game's main story involves Pepper Roni, a pizza delivery boy, and his efforts to stop an escaped prisoner known as the Brickster from destroying the island. Lego Island was the first video game developed after the Lego Group began efforts to gain a foothold in the video game industry . The game's main characters are each modeled after an intelligence type according to the theory of multiple intelligences . The development team studied how children engaged with Lego bricks to help shape
7980-445: The game's scope and gameplay. Lego Island received generally positive reviews from critics. It was a commercial success, selling close to one million copies by 1999. The game was followed by two sequels, both developed by Silicon Dreams Studio : Lego Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge (2001) and Island Xtreme Stunts (2002). It has since gained a cult following , with a fan-made sequel in development as of 2020. Lego Island
8085-563: The games use dice . In Lego Games, the dice are Lego, with Lego squares with symbols on Lego studs on the dice, surrounded by rubber. The games vary from simple to complex; some are similar to "traditional" board games, while others are completely different. The first official Lego film was the straight-to-DVD release of Bionicle: Mask of Light in 2003 developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and distributed by Miramax Home Entertainment . Several other straight-to-DVD computer-animated Bionicle sequels and Hero Factory movies were produced in
8190-405: The helicopter to fire donuts to speed Nick and Laura up and pizzas to slow the Brickster down, allowing him to be captured. The Brickster is thrown back in jail, and the citizens congratulate Pepper and the player. If the Brickster is not caught before he disassembles all the buildings, an alternate ending occurs in which the Brickster gloats about his success as the citizens break down crying, though
8295-472: The helicopter, stealing the power brick from the top of the Information Center. He then disassembles the helicopter and steals vehicles from the hospital and police station, planning to disassemble everything on the island with a laser gun powered by the stolen power brick. Giving chase on his skateboard, Pepper pursues the Brickster and recovers the pieces of the helicopter. Once it is rebuilt, Pepper uses
8400-550: The interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Moulding is done in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in the Czech Republic. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. One of Europe's biggest companies, Lego is the largest toy manufacturer in the world by sales. As of July 2015 , 600 billion Lego parts had been produced. Lego maintains
8505-450: The island. There are five missions that the player can perform as any of the playable characters: a motor race at the race track; a jet ski race at the beach; a pizza delivery for Brickolini's Pizzeria; a towing job for the Octan gas station; and ambulance driving for the hospital. The player will be awarded a red, blue, or yellow brick per character for each mission depending on how they place in
8610-440: The largest model ever created, made of over 5 million bricks, was displayed in New York City; a one-to-one scale model of a Star Wars X-wing fighter . Other record breakers include a 34-metre (112 ft) tower and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway. In February 2015, marketing consulting company Brand Finance ranked Lego as the "world's most powerful brand", overtaking Ferrari . While Lego has generally been considered
8715-742: The name was taken from a paper by Seymour Papert , a computer scientist and educator who developed the educational theory of constructionism , and whose research was at times funded by the Lego Group . The programmable Lego brick which was at the heart of these robotics sets underwent several updates and redesigns, with the last being called the 'EV3' brick, being sold under the name of Lego Mindstorms EV3. The set included various sensors such as touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader. The programmable brick could be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers. In
8820-399: The next rank. The website had a built-in inbox which allowed users to send pre-written messages to one another. The Lego Network included automated non-player characters within called "Networkers", who were able to do things which normal users could not do, sending custom messages, and selling masterpieces and blueprints. The site also had modules which were set up on the user's page that gave
8925-573: The plastic cannot be re-used in Lego bricks, it is processed and sold on to industries that can make use of it. Lego, in 2018, set a self-imposed 2030 deadline to find a more eco-friendly alternative to the ABS plastic. Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at several locations around the world. Moulding is done in Billund , Denmark; Nyíregyháza , Hungary; Monterrey , Mexico; and most recently in Jiaxing , China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in
9030-412: The players usually build the playing board out of Lego bricks and then play with Lego-style players. Examples of the games include "Minotaurus", in which players roll dice to move characters within a brick-build labyrinth, "Creationary", in which players must build something which appears on a card, or "Ramses Pyramid", in which players collect gems and climb up a customizable pyramid. Like many board games,
9135-516: The race or how quickly they complete the mission, which can be viewed on the Score Cube at the Information Center. While there is no running story or necessary objective to Lego Island , a special mission will occur if the player has built a police helicopter and delivers a pizza to the Jail as Pepper Roni. Using the fumes from the extremely spicy pizza, the Brickster melts the lock to his cell and escapes in
9240-418: The same position at Western Publishing . In November, Mindscape laid off twelve developed staff as a cost reduction measure. In 1997, Mindscape acquired software company Multimedia Design. In 1997, the final year under Pearson, Mindscape became profitable again, earning $ 2.7 million . One day prior to the release of Lego Island that year, Mindscape fired all of the development team which worked on
9345-408: The subsequent few years. The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of blocks whose lengths measure twice the width, height, and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children. In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets. In 1997, more than five million Lego pieces were swept into the sea when
9450-494: The toy takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK , Spain , Germany , and Japan which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at their respective national markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, split into three stages. The first
9555-562: The user items, or that displayed picture compositions. My Lego network closed in 2015. Before My Lego Network, there were Lego Club Pages, which essentially held the same purpose, although the design lacked complex interaction. Merlin Entertainments operates eight Legoland amusement parks , the original in Billund , Denmark, the second in Windsor , England, the third in Günzburg , Germany,
9660-567: The very well-received Lego Marvel Super Heroes game, featuring New York City as the overworld and including Marvel characters from the Avengers , the Fantastic Four , the X-Men , and more. In 2014, Lego created a game based on The Lego Movie , due to its popularity. Lego Games launched in 2009, was a series of Lego-themed board games designed by Cephas Howard and Reiner Knizia in which
9765-653: The world was in Sydney, Australia, in 1984. Located in the Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre it was not only the first dedicated Lego retail outlet, but it also had displays including many iconic Australian items such as the Holden FJ, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House as well as buildings from Amsterdam, dinosaurs and an English Village. Known as The LEGO Centre, Birkenhead Point, the store closed in
9870-582: The world. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involved extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which was often pushed to its extreme limits. The capabilities of the Mindstorms range have also been harnessed for use in the Iko Creative Prosthetic System, a prosthetic limbs system designed for children. Designs for these Lego prosthetics allow everything from mechanical diggers to laser-firing spaceships to be screwed on to
9975-669: Was Botball , a national U.S. middle - and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. Other Lego robotics competitions include FIRST LEGO League Discover for children ages 4–6, FIRST LEGO League Explore for students ages 6–9 and FIRST Lego League Challenge for students ages 9–16 (age 9–14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico). These programs have offered real-world engineering challenges to participants using LEGO-based robots to complete tasks. In its 2019–2020 season, there were 38,609 FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams and 21,703 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams around
10080-435: Was acquired in 1990 by The Software Toolworks , eyeing Mindscape's Nintendo license. When Toolworks was acquired by Pearson plc in 1994, Mindscape became the primary identity for the development group. Mindscape was then sold to The Learning Company in 1998 and bought out by Jean-Pierre Nordman in 2001, becoming headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt , France. Following the poor performance of its products, Mindscape exited
10185-399: Was available. Jenkins, his wife Kyle Bogertman, and Anderson created a real-world model of the game's island, and the development team invited children to play with the set, observing how these children would interact with the various elements. According to Anderson, girls tended to decorate the island, such as with trees, while boys were more interested in racing elements. Subsequently, more of
10290-595: Was completed on March 13, 1990, and valued at $ 21.2 million . Mindscape had been one of the approximately forty companies licensed to develop for Nintendo video game platforms, which was a major driver of the acquisition. The two companies merged, and Buoy joined Les Crane on Toolworks's board of directors . Following the acquisition, Mindscape became Toolworks's division working exclusively on games for Nintendo platforms, which sharply increased Toolworks's earnings. Subsequently, in March 1994, Pearson plc agreed to acquire Toolworks for $ 462 million , with
10395-439: Was created in 1936. Christiansen created the motto, still used today, to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. By 1951, plastic toys accounted for half of the company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, wrote that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although
10500-878: Was further pushed by the release of The Lego Movie and the reality series Lego Masters . By 2024, nearly 15% of the sets released in the U.S. were aimed for adult builders. Lego pieces of all varieties constitute a universal system. Despite variations in the design and the purposes of individual pieces over the years, each remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made presently, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six bricks of 2 × 4 studs can be combined in 915,103,765 ways. Each piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged, they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that manufacture Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometres . Primary concept and development work for
10605-536: Was hired at Anderson's request. The development team eventually grew to more than 100 people, which allowed for the inclusion of multiple playable characters. As proposed by Melmed, who had a background in psychology, each of these characters would represent a different form of intelligence as described by Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. The game featured full voice acting for all its characters, with cast members including John Morris as Pepper, June Foray as Mama, Ralph Peduto as Papa, David Lander as
10710-469: Was not liquidated by the end of 1986, it was assigned to SFN Partners L.P., a limited partnership company. A new corporation set up by Buoy and SFN's former president and chairman , John Purcell, subsequently acquired Mindscape from SFN Partners on January 16, 1987, for $ 3 million . Buoy retained his positions in the company, while Purcell became its chairman. Around this time, Mindscape had 74 employees. With sales of $ 12 million , Mindscape
10815-586: Was profitable for the first time in the fourth quarter of 1986; it started publishing black numbers by 1987. In early 1987, Mindscape introduced the Thunder Mountain label to produce software at a lower price, with Rambo: First Blood Part II being its first release. In March 1987, Mindscape acquired the software division of Holt, Rinehart and Winston formerly known as CBS Interactive Learning, with all operations transferred to Mindscape's Northbrook, Illinois , headquarters. By June 1988, Mindscape filed with
10920-549: Was released for the Lego City brand. In 2021, an animated series titled Lego Monkie Kid was released to support the Lego brand of the same name. Mindscape (company) Mindscape was a video game developer and publisher . The company was founded by Roger Buoy in October 1983 in Northbrook, Illinois , originally as part of SFN Companies until a management buyout was completed in 1987. Mindscape went public in 1988 and
11025-644: Was surpassed by a 5,922-piece Taj Mahal . A redesigned Millennium Falcon retook the top spot in 2017 with 7,541 pieces. Since then, the Millennium Falcon has been superseded by the Lego Art World Map at 11,695 pieces, the Lego Titanic at 9,090 pieces, and the Lego Architect Colosseum at 9,036 pieces. In 2022, Lego introduced its Eiffel Tower . The set consists of 10,000 parts and reaches
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