Old and young people may be able to communicate with one another after all, that’s if NetDevil’s LEGO MMO can enthral the generations when it finally arrives.
Children are ”immersed in” the online experience of games and communicating, whereas parents ”are not.” The kids can lead their rents ”by the hand and show them” how to be ‘hip’.
”I talk a lot about the visual divide between generations, and I feel it quite acutely between say my mother and my son,” said LEGO Universe man Ryan Seabury, speaking with Eurogamer.
”His grandmother I can’t drag onto email kicking and screaming. I’ve tried three times. But he’s going to grow up with email as just part of his vocabulary - it’s not like a new concept or anything. So how are they going to communicate? How are they going to have a relevant conversation?”
”I look at LEGO as a language, as an idea,” he continued. ”She understands it: she bought it for me when I was a kid. My son likes it, I like it. So even though she may not be playing LEGO Universe, I’ll be playing LEGO Universe, he’ll be playing LEGO Universe and there’s a relevant connection there.”
Having a kid old enough to play with LEGO is exciting says Seabury. ”You have that excuse to go and play with toys again,” he said, and LEGO Universe has a”lot of potential” to strengthen the parent-child bond.
TT Games’ Jonathan Smith agrees with NetDevil: ”Online games and the online communications experience are very accessible and children are ready for that, immersed in that, and parents are not. So this is where the children can actually lead the parents by the hand and show them what to do,” noted Smith, ”and that can be a really powerful experience together.”
Should you be interested in a family-friendly MMO? ”Why shouldn’t they be interested?” fired back Seabury. ”Good games are fun to play, no matter what.”
”There’s a lot of depth that we can offer that will be there. Obviously it’s family-friendly so it’s going to be in a different context to some of the more adult-themed games,” he said.
”But if you like LEGO and if you like playing MMOs or connecting with your friends and playing games then you’re probably going to like LEGO Universe.” Do you agree those odds, videogamer?
LEGO Universe is expected to hit beta and release sometime next year, having already missed both its 2007 and its 2008 launch window.
