alt Hacker NewsThe announcement video I saw was bizarre.
It spent a bunch of time showing the very classic, simple lego blocks being used to make imaginative things kids make like dinosaurs and trains and planes. It was heartfelt and got me thinking warmly about how Lego has always been this tool for your imagination to become tangible. I spent countless hours with my brother on the basement carpet floor playing Lego. And I've been doing the same with my kids and it's been an enormous facilitator of joy for us.
And then they revealed a brick that shits all over that fundamental concept. A brick that significantly narrows the imagination space by focusing on pre-defined motion behaviours that trigger pre-recorded sound effects from all your favourite intellectual properties.
Does a child exist who thinks, "damn... I wish I didn't have to make all these sounds myself"?!
They're trying to compete with your imagination because your imagination is a factory from which free, unmerchandizable, non-franchise creations emerge.
You're being dramatic. This block doesn't replace building with Lego. Nobody is going to buy the block as a replacement for making blocky dinosaurs and racecars. We know this because Lego already shipped Technic and Mindstorm products that never broke the core value proposition.
Having grown up with Duplo, Lego and Mindstorm, I think this brick is awesome. I can't wait to see what Minecraft Redstone engineers build in real-life.