Batman to LEGO brick consoles everywhere
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Sep 8th 2006 at 2:55PM }
With the release of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy being close enough for us to start using words like "imminent" and "impending," it's hard not to "imagine" the possibilities brought on by the next franchise selected for LEGO-fication. CVG reports that the world's greatest detective has been chosen by Traveller's Tales to star in the next instalment of the lighthearted series. Following in the square footsteps of the Star Wars games, Batman's blocky adventure is sure to be an amusing parody of everything we've come to know about the caped crusader, Gotham City and its noticeably deranged inhabitants. "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"If you'll recall, it was just last month that Jonathan Smith of Traveller's Tales confirmed that more LEGO games were in the works. Congratulations to Joystiq commenter 32_Footsteps for correctly pinning Batman as the next victim of geometric simplification. We'd dole out some sort of prize, but we think having Batman busting blockheads and battling a juxtaposed Joker is reward enough.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
confucious the obnoxious little sh** as told by KilgoreTrout XXLMS @ Sep 8th 2006 3:05PM
lego star wars where/are fun games.. . and i don't even like star wars.. .
i'm gonna love batman being lego-ized(?) .. .
Todd @ Sep 8th 2006 3:06PM
I'm not surprised, though I don't understand why Batman was chosen over Superman. Can you imagine buying a LEGO set to create the huge Daily Planet building with the giant world on top. Not to mention creating the Fortress of Solitude.
Anyways, Marvel beat DC to the punch with LEGO Spiderman.
Grim @ Sep 8th 2006 3:07PM
I don't see anything wrong with a Batman lego game. As long as this game is the same quality as the Lego Star Wars series. I'm guessing this will appear on next-gen consoles. Hopefully they won't screw up and forget to make co-op online enabled like they did with the upcoming Original Trilogy game.
Saint Tardamus @ Sep 8th 2006 3:07PM
Fracking Awesome. The lego games are pure fun. Take the license, boil it down to it's essence, add fun simple gameply, sprinkle with tons of collectibles, and voila...best licensed games around.
Brilliant. Imagine the possibilities!! With no link to any specific movie or arc, they could go anywhere.
Where did you get that wonderful picture?
Wild Homes @ Sep 8th 2006 3:08PM
it'd be great if they could focus on the art style from the new The Batman cartoon, or the nineties B:tAS show, instead of the film property. I'd really love to see a Lego Clayface, and the new-style Joker is pretty great. oh, and I'd like to see this series finally make with the voice-acting, as there's clearly a _ton_ of great potential if you're doing Batman (and any excuse to employ Mark Hamill is like winning.)
note to Traveller's Tales: please go the hot coffee route, and secretly include some Frank Miller material! All-Star Batman & Robin FTW!
cringer8 @ Sep 8th 2006 3:15PM
@ Wild Homes
When you bash the styling of the original Batman movie you are indirectly bashing one of my favorite directors: Tim Burton.
For that, you get a Negative Star in my mind. Those poorly animated cartoons couldn't hold a candle to the original two movies.
Tim @ Sep 8th 2006 3:17PM
About 10 years ago I created an entire Lego Justice League of America including Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. Toy Fare magazine liked it enough to put it in their magazine.
Soon after I made a Lego Darth Vader before Lego ever came out with the Lego Star Wars line.
Jake C. @ Sep 8th 2006 3:18PM
Star Wars was probably the best story they could have possibly chosen for these games. It's just so funny when you're playing. I'm sure they'll think of something with the Batman series too. Lord of the Rings would nice as well.
I wonder if they'll start Lego-fying games, as opposed to just movies - such as a Lego GTA title.
mandarin @ Sep 8th 2006 3:20PM
I got the batman & catwoman lego set. Catwoman gets a motorcycle and a whip while batman rides some ugly missle launching roadster?
Richard Mitchell @ Sep 8th 2006 3:21PM
Where's LEGO Spiderman? I'll take that, please.
Komrade Kayce @ Sep 8th 2006 3:22PM
Yeah, throwing an allusion to Frank Millers' Batman in there would be awsome, but I doubt its gonna happen. The best tribute to his work Ive ever seen done was in one of the eps of New Batman Adventures, called 'Legends of the Dark Knight' where the animated the whole scene of Batman fighting the mutant leader in the mud, using the voice of mister hardcore michael ironside himself as batman.
HOWEVER.
Anyone but Hamill for Joker, and mark my words, heads will roll. I love you Jack Nicholson, but your joker was never 'the' joker in my mind, Mask of the Phantasms Joker (Batman TAS Joker, with the added bonus of actually murdering people) has always had a special place in my heart, and on the poster on my wall.
Yes. Im looking forward to a new batman game, lego or not. :P
Petrie @ Sep 8th 2006 3:23PM
@ Cringer
Tim Burton is a tool. His movies are so hit-and-miss it's pathetic. Besides, anyone who is a fan of Batman as he was meant to be, his comic form, knows how attrocious those movies were, even the first 2.
Besides that point, Burton as a person is a tool. Any Director, who when confronted about stealing the ending he used in Planet of the Apes from a Kevin Smith comic, would make the comment "Do I look like someone who reads comic books", loses all credibility. I certainly hope you've read a comic seeing as you made BATMAN movies; actually, having seen those movies, I guess it's safe to say that no Tim, you haven't read a comic.
KyleRayner @ Sep 8th 2006 3:41PM
"When you bash the styling of the original Batman movie you are indirectly bashing one of my favorite directors: Tim Burton.
For that, you get a Negative Star in my mind. Those poorly animated cartoons couldn't hold a candle to the original two movies."
Actually, Batman TaS is widely regarded as the best represention of the character, and as the best superhero cartoon ever. Not to mention the animation was absolutely stunning for a televised series.
About Tim Burton, Batman TaS drew from the movies heavily in the theme music, the look of the environment (aka vintage yet modern) and the "backstory."
Alkaiser @ Sep 8th 2006 3:27PM
What's really funny is that for some reason, these double licensed games are way better than the single licensed ones.
Star Wars: Episode III? Not so hot.
Lego Star Wars: Episode III? Pretty darn cool.
Maybe the negative licensing effect is multiplicative, then.
Scott @ Sep 8th 2006 3:26PM
Wow...I wonder if they are making Batman Lego videogames in order to sell Batman Lego toys. That's just evil.
J.Goodwin @ Sep 8th 2006 3:29PM
See, this is freaking big news. Why doesn't TT start announcing this stuff at 12.01?
Thryon @ Sep 8th 2006 3:30PM
They have to get Ahnold to do SubZero again.....
I can just hear it now..."Chill Out", "You’re not sending me to da coolah", "Let's kick some ice" and of course, my personal favorite "Ice to see you"
superbagman @ Sep 8th 2006 3:30PM
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that the game will be sans voice acting just like Lego Star Wars...so I wouldn't hold my breath for Mark Hamill.
I like the idea of these Lego games in THEORY, but whenever I play Lego Star Wars I can't stand playing as a non-jedi character because the aiming is kinda weak, so I'm sorta worried about this game.
Mr. offbeat @ Sep 8th 2006 3:34PM
Debby does dalles: Lego style..
Nice :)
Kaiser Soze @ Sep 8th 2006 3:38PM
#2: Hey Todd, I think we got a fanboy here. "Anyways, Marvel beat DC to the punch with LEGO Spiderman." Although it's not the usual Playstation VS Nintendo fanboýism, but it's almost as good as. I love listening to fanboys bitching and moaning at each other, like Starwars VS Startrek, Rock'n'roll VS Electronica, OR..... Marvel VS DC comics. But it's OK. Choosing between Lego Spiderman VS Lego Batman, I will always prefer Batman.
Couldn't it be stupidly hilarious if they made it like the old serials from the 60's? I just love to hate Robin in the old ones (as well as in the new ones "Forever" and "Robin")
Last (it's a long one), I really liked Jose' guess the best back then #7 "How about a Lego Bridges of Madison County? That Meryl Streep is a fox." Lego Clint Eastwood with no clothe on... Nice nightmares guys
Zeichrat @ Sep 8th 2006 3:39PM
Alkaiser, you´re right!
Who would´ve thought that blocky graphics are the hottest stuff in 2006???. Who uses the word "hot" anyway to describe something popular??? ;-).
I haven´t played the Lego SW games, but if so many people are saying they´re great, then they´re...
32_Footsteps @ Sep 8th 2006 3:42PM
Oh yeah, totally nailed it.
Also, Joystiq isn't giving me a prize because as my previous comment made clear, I already have the Batwing set, which comes with The Joker. Since I already have that, how could it get any cooler?
Todd - as for why they chose Batman over Superman, a couple reasons. One, Batman is typically a more popular character, even if Superman is more well known. Two, they had Batman Lego sets well before Superman Lego sets.
MMurdock @ Sep 8th 2006 3:45PM
As long as they have the Prince soundtrack its all good. The sequel should be Lego Purple Rain.
Matt Lite @ Sep 8th 2006 3:51PM
That looks AWESOME. He kinda reminds me of this character Scuba Owl - scubaowl.com
tactics @ Sep 8th 2006 3:57PM
i'm gonna say the same thing i say every time someone talks about lego starwars... okay? these licensed lego franchises are great and all, but if LEGO were smart, they'd sell *just the legos themselves* virtually.
imagine all the lego fun and none of the mess! seriously, through Wii, you could have endless amounts of fun putting together legos, buying (hello microtransactions) expansion packs, putting them all together the way you want to, and best of all, you'd NEVER have to destroy them!
better yet, they could pull an animal crossing, where other people can see your lego worlds/creations for free via the internet. maybe they can help you build via 2-player co-op.
man... the thing i hated (loved) about lego's most when i was a kid was digging through the ENTIRE BUCKET just to find 1 specific piece... having these things searchable/menu-fied would make life so much easier for lego freaks.
COME ON LEGO. DON'T BE DICKS. BE SMART AND MAKE MONEY. VIRTUAL LEGO SETS FOR WII. WAKE THE FUCK UP AND DO IT.
-"superfan" tactics.
Sloppy Seconds @ Sep 8th 2006 4:00PM
I hope they realize that part of the reason that the Lego Star Wars games were/are so successful is because they have some of the best multiplayer a gaymer like myself could ever ask for. I hope there's a similar style of mulitplayer in Lego Batman....otherwise count me out.
Am I the only one who misses the days of great multiplayer, co-op games like Chip and Dale on the NES? For Nintendo to not include co-op multiplayer on New Super Mario Bros. is a complete joke. It would have been perfect! Seems like all multiplayer games suck these days...
White Rose Duelist @ Sep 8th 2006 4:10PM
tactics - it's been a long week, so my sarcasm detecter may be broken, but... are you on crack? Go to a Lego store and stick your hands into the bins and tell me you'd ever want virtual Lego. Although, the digital desginer is a great idea - build a model online, then buy it, and Lego will ship you a box with all the bricks you used.
Even if Superman would beat Batman in a straight up fight (entirely due to Batman being too honorable to use kryptonite), Batman is 6.0221415×10²³ cooler because of all his personality and history and the fact that he does super things without super powers.
cringer8 @ Sep 8th 2006 4:13PM
@ Petrie
1. Planet of the Apes sucked ass, granted. I did not know about any ending being stolen from Kevin Smith's comic. That's news to me. But not reading comic books is somehow a strike against the man? Quite the opposite. No person is free from faults or the ability to produce crap. I understand that.
2. As for the original two Batman movies, they were their own creations *based* on the characters from the comic. I can't stand when people expect direct paper-to-film renditions. For example: I loved the movie The Shining, even though it strayed wildly from the novel (personally, I think Kubrick's movie was better). Movies are meant to be entertaining. I found the movies to be beautifully executed and vastly entertaining. I couldn't care less what was in the comic book. If I want to experience the story from the comic book, I'll read the comic book.
3. I don't think you know "tool" means. Being a tool is like being a fanboy. It's letting someone else's views dictate your own. Being easily manipulated and controlled by an outside force. Perhaps you wanted to call him a "loser" or a "jackass" or a "hack." Any of those would have made more sense.
inajeep @ Sep 8th 2006 4:32PM
Lego Spongebob FTW. My son got it just to look at the characters.
He'll be wanting this too even though he isn't a big fan of the Bat.
The Goblin mask in Spiderman lego set is cooler than the spiderman head.
rockintom99 @ Sep 9th 2006 6:59PM
Ok, what the hell is the purpose of lego games? Its 3d! They can model a damn character. Probably with less polys needed than those stupid rounded lego heads.
And to pick Batman, of all possibilities? This really sucks.
udx @ Sep 8th 2006 4:25PM
While there may not be much of a chance of LEGO Batman having much voice acting, hiring Kevin Conroy(As Batman) and Mark Hamill(As the Joker) would do the game fine in style.
LeFishy @ Sep 8th 2006 4:49PM
Hehe. This news came as I was enjoying the ridiculously hacked together DS version of The Original Trilogy. Its damned good fun though even if it is as glitchy as...well I dunno, Star Wars Galaxies?
The only issue I can see with this is character numbers. I don't know the Bat-verse that well but I can't see it being as varied as Star Wars.
navstar @ Sep 8th 2006 8:08PM
How can Traveller's Tales produce such masterworks like Lego Star Wars, then completely screw up with Monkey Ball Adventures (which is all but broken).
Mr. Fap-Fap @ Sep 8th 2006 5:20PM
It's probably worth noting that, to date, there really hasn't been a good Batman game.
although this shows promise to be the first truly GOOD one.
The consensus on the rest seems to be mediocore to f-cking awful!
That being said, I'm a huge, huge comic geek. Especially when it comes to Batman. And so long as you can play as Nightwing, I'll be happy.
ben @ Sep 8th 2006 5:29PM
awesome
Jake C @ Sep 8th 2006 6:20PM
WRD,
The use of Avogadro's Number (to 8 significant digits no less) is by far the geekiest thing I've seen today. Nice job. :)
Number Zero @ Sep 8th 2006 7:15PM
Batman, the one of the few DC heros I like. SWEET!
Also on the Tim Burton movies. I loved them as a kid but after I learned more about Batman, I did not like them as much. Mostly due to the fact, Batman does not kill people. He was killing people left right and center. Also the Penguin was sophisticated not disturbing. Still decent movies though just nothing compared to the animated series, the comics or the newest movie Batman Begins (closer to the character then the Burton movies).
I never played Lego Star Wars sadly =(.
justchris @ Sep 8th 2006 8:39PM
@White Rose Duelist,
What are you talking about? Batman carries Kryptonite *in his utility belt*. *All the time*. So, in case Superman ever goes batshit insane and starts killing people, he can take him out. Batman has files on how to kill or cripple every single member of the Justice League, just in case. That is why Batman wins every fight, because he comes prepared.
And I agree with Jake C, Avogadro's number for teh win!
LaughingTarget @ Sep 8th 2006 9:03PM
Batman keeps everything in his utility belt. You name it, Batman has it in there. That is exactly why he rules so much.
Nathaniel N. @ Sep 9th 2006 1:19AM
"Yeah, throwing an allusion to Frank Millers' Batman in there would be awsome, but I doubt its gonna happen. The best tribute to his work Ive ever seen done was in one of the eps of New Batman Adventures, called 'Legends of the Dark Knight' where the animated the whole scene of Batman fighting the mutant leader in the mud, using the voice of mister hardcore michael ironside himself as batman."
I'm a huge fucking fan of Bruce Timm's Batman. Though unfortunately for me the DVD boxsets are somehwat rare where I inhabit, and when I do find one I splurge on the racked up price. I wonder though, in the name that is and will ever be holy, what episode was that!?!? I'm a huge fan of the cartoons, but I don't ever remember anyone voicing Bamtan except Kevin Conroy.
Alexander @ Sep 9th 2006 5:30AM
Aside from the horrible alliteration at the end of that article, I like this news.
I need to say that white rose duelist has the best idea ever, though. build a model, buy it online then get all the parts shipped to you from legos would make all of my geeky dreams come true.
Conejo @ Sep 9th 2006 8:07AM
The reason for using Batman in lego form is pretty simple: Lego already has a license with DC for Batman legos.
while LSW was a blast (and LSW2 looks equally fun), further installments will certainly only be made from licenses that Lego has acquired and can extend to games.
Spider-Man is another one of their licenses, as is Harry Potter.
navstar @ Sep 9th 2006 10:52AM
When is Lego TRON coming out?! That would be teh r0xx0rz!
superbagman @ Sep 9th 2006 1:25PM
@ Tactics, White Rose Duelist, and Alexander:
Lego.com already has a virtual creation tool. It's called the Lego Factory, you download the design kit, build whatever you want, upload it to Lego.com and buy it. They send you the pieces and you put it together. The best part is that your design is available for purchase by anyone. I spent all last night working on the Dead Reckoning truck from Land of the Dead and then I bought it. Cool stuff, check it out.
Fungus @ Sep 9th 2006 1:45PM
Nathaniel N: The episode in question is titled "Legends of the Dark Knight". It encompassed three short stories each of which paying homage to particular eras of Batman. The second of which was a direct homage to issue 2 of Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" series. Michael Ironside was perfect in voicing the aged and grizzled Batman. Makes me wish they'd just do all 4 issues.
Jim @ Sep 9th 2006 3:56PM
I don't play Star Wars games that often (all've been boring since X-Wing) but LEGO Star Wars captured my attention for a couple of fun hours.
I'll buy this one too because the Original IV, V, VI are still my favorite SW movies.
"Holy LEGO video game, Batman"! wow, I'm excited!
hisaac @ Sep 17th 2006 9:56PM
I think the Lego Star Wars games are both extremely well done and addicting. I haven't enjoyed playing a video game this much since Banjo-Kazooie. Batman was one of the few cartoons I loved to watch as a kid, and I can't wait for this game to come out.