Another year, another clutch of block-busting LEGO adventures, the latest returning to the Marvel universe in a follow-up to 2013’s LEGO Marvel Super Heroes. Rather than spinning its own brick-laden yarn, however, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers retreads the storylines of both of Joss Whedon’s Avengers movies — making liberal use of the films’ dialogue in the process. As you might expect, the focus is on keeping things lighthearted and digestible, but there’s no shortage of content here, with Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger and Iron Man 3 all slotted in as part of the game’s extended universe. With a supporting cast that numbers into the hundreds, pretty much everyone you can think of gets a turn this time around. The game’s semi-open world provides a playground for trying out the characters’ new abilities, such as the Hulk’s devastating new hyper jumps — which allow him to leap high and land on top of enemies, ouch — or Iron Man’s natty Hulkbuster Armor, as seen in Age Of Ultron.
Newcomers also add some interesting quirks, such as Fin Fang Foom’s penchant for growing to enormous sizes and crushing enemies underfoot. There’s a noticeable emphasis on bigger, more fantastic heroes this time, and the gameplay’s all the better for it. Double-team moves spice up the button-mashing combat, with heroes working together in unique ways to create devastating combos. Want to have Hulk use Iron Man as a human-sized baton, or have Thor electrify Captain America’s shield to give enemies a shocking surprise? These combo cocktails are a high point in scuffles but also a source of irritation. Finicky positioning means they don’t always connect, and it’s tough to stay in the right place with hordes of enemies swarming all over you. With its menu of situational puzzles and smashing/rebuilding brick-based architecture, the game sticks faithfully to the tried-and-tested LEGO playbook, but that’s hardly a surprise given the franchise’s popularity. Besides, there’s so much content here that it’s hard to find too much fault with cleaving to a winning formula, especially with the glut of new characters and abilities on offer.
If you’ve not warmed to the LEGO series’ charms then LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is unlikely to change that, but for stalwart block-heads or those looking for some Avengers-themed comfort food, this is a pleasing mix of action, humour and chunky, colourful bricks.We are busy updating our site for you and will be back shortlyOur team Our contacts Log in with your credentials I remember my detailsHello LEGO Serious Players. I have run fewer LEGO Serious Play meetups this year for a very good reason. I’ve been writing a book called "Serious Work: How to Facilitate Meetings and Workshops using the LEGO Serious Play Method” which I’m glad to tell you is complete! So I’m happy to invite you to come to the launch party kindly hosted by Manifesto Digital who also feature as one of the five case studies in the book. Many people who join this meetup group want to understand how LEGO Serious Play works. This 248 page full colour book sets out how to plan outcome oriented meetings, how to give participants LEGO Serious Play skills and shows LEGO Serious Play in five applications.
It was co-authored by eleven LEGO Serious Play Facilitators from Europe, North America and Asia. The evening kicks off at 18:30, and at 19:00 Sean will give a short ‘TED talk’ on the Mighty Power of the Humble Brick and share key insights from the book. So join us for a drink and a snack on Tuesday the 29th of November. We’ll have space for about 50 LEGO Serious Players, but will have a waitlist in case anyone can’t come at the last minute. We'll have a limited stock of books on sale at the launch, or if you are keen to know more or can't come you can preview SERIOUSWORK at www.Serious.Global where you can also buy a digital copyYOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsBusiness Walk around the original Legoland in the tiny Danish town of Billund, and it is easy to believe one is in a child's idea of heaven.Miniature replicas of Copenhagen's waterfront and the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's spaceship in "Star Wars," compete with all manner of rides to keep Lego's target group, boys ages 5 to 9, happy.
This Legoland draws about 1.5 million visitors a year, all attracted by the seemingly simple idea of interlocking tiny plastic bricks. Little wonder that the family-owned company is the world's most profitable toy maker and the second-largest by sales. But just 10 years ago Lego was on its knees.Its decline and resurrection form the narrative of the book "Brick by Brick: How Lego Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry." It was written by David Robertson with Bill Breen and published by Crown Books.Robertson is a former Lego professor of innovation and technology management at Switzerland's Institute for Management Development, but now at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The raw material he deals with is every bit as durable and gripping as Lego bricks.In the 1980s and early 1990s, the company enjoyed fantastic growth as it introduced new themes, such as castles and space, as well as figures with facial features. Its first licensed product — "Star Wars" in 1999 — seemed the crowning glory.
But some of its top managers feared the brick was no longer chic. Children seemed keener to play video games or take up fads such as Tamagotchi, the hand-held digital pet.Robertson tells the resulting roller-coaster tale mainly from the angle of innovation. In 1998, panicking as the company experienced its first loss since being founded in the 1930s, the Kristiansen family owners turned to Poul Plougmann, formerly an executive at Bang & Olufsen, the television and hi-fi maker.The thesis of the book is that Plougmann adopted all the main tenets of the innovation playbook — such as hiring diverse and creative people and fostering open innovation — but executed many of them wrongly. Lego not only started too many projects, but also seemed to lose confidence in its core concept of building toys, embracing an easier-to-construct series around a character called Jack Stone.The result was a company that was losing money and bleeding cash, fast. Joergen Vig Knudstorp, a former management consultant at McKinsey & Co. who was asked for a diagnosis, told directors, "We are on a burning platform."
The problem was not lack of innovation, but lack of profitable innovation.Knudstorp became chief executive and set about — in Robertson's telling — doing innovation correctly. Jack Stone was dropped, and a fire engine, part of the Lego City line, was reintroduced — as was the Duplo brand for toddlers. Lego staunched the losses, and sales grew fast: its compound annual growth rate in recent years has exceeded 20%.Robertson tries to tease out the differences in approach between the two CEOs, but parts of the tale read very similarly: innovations and product lines failed under both men. He is mostly successful, but some of the explanations turn on distinctions that are not always easy to grasp.Another problem is that Lego is saved largely by two lines from Plougmann's time: Bionicle and Star Wars.And a big part of the turnaround seems to have had little to do with innovation: Lego lacked basic financial controls and churned out too many different parts.A simpler Lego, where each line had to make a profit, turned out to be much healthier than an opaque business with insufficient control over what was developed and at what cost.