Star Wars Lego Sets

Saling The World: Metroid: Other M Tops Domestic Charts

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:08:37 +0000

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling the World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide.

This week's charts, with data taken from September 2nd, 2010, find Nintendo's Metroid: other M heading multiplatform software sales in North America, while Capcom's Monster Hunter spinoff MonHun Nikki premieres as the week's top seller in Japan.

Data for "Saling the World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. this results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows:

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Metroid: other M (Nintendo), 2. Gold's Gym Dance Workout (Ubisoft), 3. new Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo), 4. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo), 5. A Boy and his Blob (Majesco).

Japan: 1. Metroid: other M (Nintendo), 2. Wii Party (Nintendo), 3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo), 4. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Nintendo), 5. Dragon Quest Monsters: Battle Road Victory (Square Enix).

UK: 1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo), 2. just Dance (Ubisoft), 3. Dance on Broadway (Ubisoft), 4. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Nintendo), 5. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Bros.)

Nintendo's Metroid: other M debuts atop Wii charts, and is also this week's top seller across all platforms in the United States. Ubisoft's workout title Gold's Gym Dance Workout moves up from fourth to second place in today's results, as new Super Mario Bros. Wii overtakes Super Mario Galaxy 2 for third.

Other M also leads platform sales in its premiere week in Japan, where Wii Party maintains its lead over Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Fit Plus, and Dragon Quest Monsters: Battle Road Victory.

Xbox 360
North America: 1. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision), 2. call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), 3. Madden NFL 11 (EA Sports), 4. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar), 5. Mafia II (2K Games).

Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier Online: Beginner's Package (Capcom), 2. Deathsmiles IIX (Cave), 3. Steins;Gate (5pb), 4. Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom), 5. Strike Witches: Limited Edition (Cyber Front).

UK: 1. call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), 2. Mafia II (2K Games), 3. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar), 4. BioShock 2 (2K Games), 5. Sniper: Ghost Warrior (Mastertronic).

A substantial "Deal of the Day" price drop puts Activision's Guitar Hero 5 at the top spot in North American Xbox 360 software sales. EA's Madden NFL 11 falls to third place, as 2K's Mafia II slips to fifth after a tepid debut last week.

Mafia II makes a stronger showing in the UK, where it rivals Modern Warfare 2 for the top regional sales spot. Capcom's Monster Hunter Frontier Online keeps its lead in Japan, meanwhile, as Cave's Deathsmiles IIX sees increased sales in the wake of a recent price drop.

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision), 2. call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), 3. Madden NFL 11 (EA Sports), 4. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar), 5. God of War III (SCEA).

Japan: 1. A.C.E.: another Century's Episode R (Banpresto), 2. Sengoku Basara 3 (Capcom), 3. Assassin's Creed II: Special Edition (Ubisoft), 4. Demon's Souls (SCEI), 5. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (Konami).

UK: 1. call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), 2. Mafia II (2K Games), 3. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar), 4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (SCEE), 5. God of War III (SCEE).

Guitar Hero 5 also leads domestic PS3 sales as Amazon clears its stock in preparation for the upcoming Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Madden NFL 11 lags behind Modern Warfare 2 at third place, while Red Dead Redemption and God of War III rank in at fourth and fifth.

A.C.E.: another Century's Episode R and Sengoku Basara 3 top Japanese sales for the second week running, as Mafia II and Modern Warfare 2 battle for sales dominance in Europe.

PC
North America: 1. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard), 2. the Sims 3 (EA Games), 3. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft), 4. Reel Deal Slots: Mystery of Cleopatra (Phantom), 5. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard).

Japan: 1. Steins;Gate (Nitro+), 2. Mount & Blade: Warband (Cyber Front), 3. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 7.0 Premium Package (Capcom), 4. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 8.0 Premium Package (Capcom), 5. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 9.0 Premium Package (Capcom).

UK: 1. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard), 2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA Games), 3. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard), 4. the Sims 3: Ambitions (EA Games), 5. the Sims 3 (EA Games).

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty and the Sims 3 retain the top sales positions in the United States this week, as World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King returns to the charts at fifth place.

Multiple editions of Capcom's Monster Hunter Frontier Online continue to occupy Japan's sales rankings, while Mafia II drops out of the UK charts after beating Starcraft II for top honors last week.

Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Activision), 2. new Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 4. Pokemon SoulSilver Version (Nintendo), 5. Puzzler World (Atari).

Japan: 1. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's side 3rd Story (Konami), 2. Eigokoro Kyoushitsu DS (Nintendo), 3. love Plus+ (Konami), 4. fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (Nintendo), 5. SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu - Goddess of Destiny (Square Enix).

UK: 1. new Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 2. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Nintendo), 3. Jam with the Band (Nintendo), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. Toy Story 3 (Disney).

Activision's discounted Guitar Hero: On Tour leads North American DS sales this week, overtaking former chart champions new Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS.

Tokimeki Memorial Girl's side 3rd Story, Eigokoro Kyoushitsu DS, and love Plus+ continue to enjoy brisk sales in Japan, while Dragon Quest IX and Jam with the Band challenge new Super Mario Bros. in the UK.

PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix), 2. Valkyria Chronicles II (Sega), 3. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami), 4. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony Limited Edition (Xseed), 5. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix).

Japan: 1. MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura (Capcom), 2. MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura - Limited Edition (Capcom), 3. Ace Combat X2: Joint Assault (Namco), 4. Hakuouki: Zuisouroku Portable - Limited Edition (Idea Factory), 5. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom).

UK: 1. FIFA 10 (EA Sports), 2. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami), 3. Valkyria Chronicles II (Sega), 4. Gran Turismo (SCEE), 5. Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (LucasArts).

Valkyria Chronicles II is off to a strong sales start in North America this week, ranking among the platform's top sellers alongside big names like Dissidia Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Lunar: Silver Star Harmony.

Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise spinoff MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura tops PSP and all regional multiplatform sales in its debut week, meanwhile, as FIFA 10 recaptures the lead in Europe.

Saling The World: Metroid: Other M Tops Domestic Charts

Saling The World: Metroid: Other M Tops Domestic Charts is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Using HiTechnic sensors with the LEGO Mindstorms software …

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:08:27 +0000

This post will show you how to download and install the HiTechnic Sensor Blocks for use with the LEGO Mindstorms software. It will also give you a brief tutorial on using the sensor blocks as well as how to access the online help from within the LEGO Mindstorms software.

Before you can use a HiTechnic sensor with the LEGO software, you will need to download and install the sensor block that goes along with the sensor that you are using. to do that, first go to the HiTechnic Downloads page and then click on the category Mindstorms NXT-G Programming Blocks.

Here you will find all the Sensor Blocks that are available for NXT-G, which is the LEGO Mindstorms Software programming language. You will typically find one sensor block per sensor but a few sensors have multiple blocks. You will also find the sensor blocks for the LEGO Light, Sound, Touch and Ultrasonic sensors for use with the HiTechnic Sensor Multiplexer.

If you have the LEGO Mindstorms 1.0 software, then you will need to install a patch called Dynamic Block Update in order to import blocks into the LEGO software, this is not needed with 1.1 or 2.0. You can find Dynamic Block Update on this LEGO Education Downloads page.

Block Download and Installation Instructions

These instructions are for Microsoft Windows operating systems. if you have a Mac, the basic process will be the same.

To make it easy to install the blocks into the LEGO software, I recommend that you start of by creating a new folder on the Desktop and call it “NXT-G Blocks”. so start of by right-clicking on the Desktop and then select New > Folder. Enter the name “NXT-G Blocks”.
Now go back to the HiTechnic downloads page and find the file that you want to download. For this example I will download the block for the Acceleration Sensor. Click on Download Now for the sensor block that you are downloading.
The next page you will see will look like this:

On this page you can enter your name and email address so that we can contact you if necessary. this is optional. when you are ready to proceed, click on Proceed to Download.
On the next page, click on the filename of the download. For example, for the Acceleration sensor the filename will be: 245-Acceleration_Sensor.zip. in Windows this will open a dialog asking if you want to Open or Save the file, Select Open.
Now you will want to copy the folder from inside the zip file to the “NXT-G Blocks” folder that you created on the Desktop. Arrange the windows on your screen so that you drag from one file folder window to the other and then drag the folder, in my case “Acceleration Sensor”, from inside the zip file to the “NXT-G Blocks folder”.
Note: You only need to copy the folder, you don’t need to copy the License and ReadMe files. if you want to look at these files then this is a good time to do so. when you have finished this step, you can close the temporary zip file folder.
Now you are ready to import the block into the LEGO Mindstorms Software. start the software then find the Block Import/Export Wizard on the Tools menu. On the Block Import/Export Window, there are several steps you will see below.
Click on Browse and select the “NXT-G Blocks” folder on the Desktop. It should be easy to find.
In the list box you will see all the NXT-G blocks available in the folder, select the ones you are ready to import.
Click on the Import button. Note, at this point there may be some warnings that some files already exist. just click OK on these warnings.

You are done! The new HiTechnic Sensor block is ready to use.

Using the Sensor Blocks

Now that you have the sensor block installed, how do you use it? of course, that depends a lot on the sensor and what your robot is supposed to do. Here I will show you how to make a really simple program to view the sensor value. Something like this will work for nearly all the sensors and is a very useful way to start using a new sensor since it makes it easy to tell what kind of sensor data your robot is getting.

Start of by creating a new program and name it “ViewSensorName“. in my case I will name it “ViewAccel” since I will be making an Acceleration Sensor View program.

Your program will consist on a Loop, so start by placing a Loop in your program.
Inside the loop, put the sensor block for the sensor that you want to view, in my case I will put the Acceleration Sensor block. You will find the HiTechnic sensor blocks on the Advanced Palette.
Next, add Number to Text block right after the sensor block inside the loop.
Add Text block right after that still inside the loop. this block will serve a couple of purposes that I will explain later.
Add a Display block to the loop.
Finally, add a Wait block to be the last block in your loop. Right now your program should look like this:

Now we need to configure all the blocks as well as add wires. I like to work from right to left when I do this so that is what I will do in this tutorial.
Start of by clicking on the Wait block. this block will control how fast our loop is; we want it fast but not too fast. if it is too fast then the number may change so rapidly that it is hard to read. in the configuration panel, change the Control: to Time and then change the Seconds to 0.1. this will make the loop repeat about 10 times per second. The configuration panel should look like this:
Next go to the Display block. Change the Action: to Text. Clear the check-box to Clear the screen (this will make it easier to extend the program to display more stuff). in the Position, change the Line to 1. It should look like this:

Now click on the Text block. this block allows you to concatenate three pieces of text together. we will use it to put a caption together with the number from the sensor as well as to add some spaces to the end. so set the A field to the name of the value. I will use “x:” to represent the X axis of the Acceleration Sensor. then set the C field to a few blank spaces (I used 5 spaces). The spaces are used to clear the screen after the number in case the number gets shorted. if you don’t do this you may see some number that look much larger than they really are. You can skip the B field because that is where the number will go. your configuration panel should look something like this:

Now it is time to add the data wires. Click on the tab at the lower edge of the Text block and the Display block to fully open their data hub.
Add the following wires by dragging the mouse from one data plug to another.

Your program should now look something like this.

Wiring Tips:

If you make a mistake, you can Edit>Undo (Ctrl-Z) to undo your last change.
If you need to remove or replace a wire, you can carefully select the wire by clicking on it and then deleting it with the Delete button. when you do this make sure that no block is also selected.
Sometimes it is easier to wire from right to left, so if you have difficulties making the wire connect in one direction, try to wire it from the other direction.
You can adjust wires by dragging on the edge of a wire and moving it.
Another way to fix wires that don’t look right is to click on the data hub tab on the lower edge of some of the blocks. this will make the LEGO software attempt to automatically adjust the wires that are affected by the data hub opening and closing.
Take your time! The LEGO Software seems to work better if you don’t rush it.

You are done! now download it to your NXT and give it a try.

This program is easy to extend if you want to display more things on the screen. For example, if you want to display the y and z axis of the Acceleration Sensor as well, just copy-paste the Number to Text, Text, and Display blocks and have two more copies of these blocks in your program. Make sure that the new Display blocks output is on different lines on the screen and update the labels for the other two axis. then wire the y and z values from the sensor blocks to the new Number to Text blocks.

Getting more help on the HiTechnic Sensor Blocks

Did you know that there is a help file available for all the LEGO and HiTechnic blocks? to see the help file for a block, hover the mouse over the block in the program until the context help information shows up in the lower right corner of the LEGO Mindstorms screen. then click on “More Help >” to see the full help file. The help file will not only give you more information on the sensor, explain all the inputs and outputs, as well as give additional wiring information.

Tags: Download, Import, NXT-G

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Using HiTechnic sensors with the LEGO Mindstorms software ...

Using HiTechnic sensors with the LEGO Mindstorms software … is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Are they making lego mario kart?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:08:07 +0000

my friend wants to go

Are they making lego mario kart?

Are they making lego mario kart? is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Make-A-Wish kid gets Millennium Falcon fort

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:08:10 +0000

Nine-year-old Christian Bentley of Oklahoma is a major Star Wars fan who’s battling leukemia. He recently had a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation — a big honkin’ Star Wars wish.

Christian got himself a Star Wars clubhouse, and Little Mountain Productions built a topper for his new fort that’s a pretty darn accurate replica of the Millennium Falcon. little Mountain is a professional company that makes stages, sets, special effects, and props for a living.

The Falcon fort is a wooden, intricately painted construction to make it look battle-worn, complete with an acrylic dome on top, a front “door” that lowers like a gang plank, and solar-powered LED lighting inside and out. the whole thing cost about $5,100 to create, and the money was raised by Christian’s elementary school. Make-A-Wish even arranged for costumed Star Wars characters to be on-hand when the fort was unveiled to Christian.

Man, that thing looks awesome. I want one for my kids! wonder if little Mountain would make ‘em to order?

AI Calculated Related Posts

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Hope you like that post!

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Make-A-Wish kid gets Millennium Falcon fort

Make-A-Wish kid gets Millennium Falcon fort is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Review: LEGO Batman | Joystiq

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:08:16 +0000

I won't lie to you: I'm a huge Batman fan. A Bat-freak, you might say. from collecting comics and watching the Animated Series ad infinitum to camping out for tickets to the midnight showing of new Bat-films (barring the Joel Schumacher travesties), if it's Batman, I'll give it a shot.

So great is my Batman fanaticism that I purposely skipped LEGO Indiana Jones: the Original Adventures in order to maintain my anticipation for LEGO Batman. the two properties may seem unrelated, but the truth is, I knew full well that despite all the Batman lore that Traveler's Tales would no doubt cram into a Gotham built brick by LEGO brick, taking in too much of the LEGO action game formula would kill Batman's fun factor quicker than a whiff of the Joker's deadly gas. as I predicted, LEGO Batman is immense fun -- if you can look past the LEGO formula's reoccurring flaws that should have been fixed after the first LEGO Star Wars.

Whether you're obsessed with Batman or you know little more than the name of his alter-ego, you will love LEGO Batman -- as long as you're not tired of the LEGO games. For those unfamiliar with the procedure, LEGO action titles work thus: play through story-based levels while hunting for hidden objects and smashing everything in sight to collect LEGO studs, which serve as currency. Cash in your studs to unlock new characters, vehicles, and game tweaks such as disguises (all characters wear the comedic big nose, mustache, and glasses get-up). After you've finished a level in any LEGO game's Story mode, you unlock its Free Play option, which allows you to re-enter the level as any unlocked character of your choice, all of which have special abilities that might allow you to grab special items that you couldn't reach during your first play-through.

as expected, Traveler's Tales went to great lengths to incorporate the most fan service possible. Batman fans, this game is for you. Classic heroes and villains are available in droves: Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Barbara Gordon's Batgirl, Alfred, Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon, the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Clayface, the Riddler, Man-Bat, Catwoman, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Bane -- even third-tier villain Killer Moth is available, and while you might never desire to step into his moth-infested boots, the fact that he's there at all does count for something.

Gamers more interested in wreaking havoc than saving Gotham's fair citizens won't have to wait long to realize their destructive dremas. After starting a new LEGO Batman file, you'll need to play through at least one entire hero episode (five levels) in order to unlock the villain-oriented missions. After that, you can swap between Arkham Asylum and the Batcave -- each respective group's base of operations -- to complete levels as you see fit.

the story is about what you might expect: all the villains are running rampant, so Batman and Robin swoop and soar about the city, rounding them up and depositing them into Arkham until they inevitably bust out to cause trouble yet again. the story is fairly simplistic, and the LEGO tradition of omitting dialogue sometimes makes it difficult to discern exactly what's going on. Star Wars and Indy fans didn't need dialogue for their games since they each followed their respective films almost perfectly. while the cutscenes in LEGO Batman aren't too difficult to decipher, the story isn't exactly compelling.

still, who cares? the storyline serves its purpose: to cater to Batman fans with inside jokes and nods of appreciation to the character's rich history, and to provide a stage on which to break apart lots of little LEGO characters.

as mentioned, it is the LEGO formula itself that keeps LEGO Batman from achieving greatness. It's not that the games aren't fun, but that the formula simply hasn't evolved since its inception. LEGO Batman is exactly the same as its predecessors; the only difference is that a Batman skin covers Death Star and Lost Ark backdrops. the music, characters, and theme are pure Batman, but the gameplay is pure LEGO, and the repetitive gameplay mechanics have officially worn out their welcome.

I wouldn't mind the death grip Traveler's Tales apparently has on their beloved LEGO procedure if at least some of the engine's annoying flaws -- flaws that have existed since the very first LEGO action game -- would have been fixed. I don't know what it is that make these games different from any other 3D platformer ever made, but it is sometimes impossible to line up a jump from one platform to another.

Puzzles are as arbitrary as ever, with many solutions seeming nonexistent until your character accidentally breaks a trash can to reveal a handle that can magically be screwed into a door. the problem isn't that the puzzles are difficult, because they're not; the flaw is in the execution. Countless instances of smashing anything within range before running around a room for 10 minutes wondering what you've overlooked are too frequent in occurrence. Sometimes there are hints, but most times there are not. that got old in your first LEGO game, Traveler's Tales. Gamers don't want puzzle solutions handed to them, but giving us a push in the right direction wouldn't kill you.

the drop in, drop out co-op system is the lifeblood of this and all LEGO games, but the lack of online play cannot be forgiven. as fun as it is to partner with a friend who happens to be in the same room with you, this is 2008 -- local and online play should be available.

Depending on how you feel toward LEGO games and Batman, LEGO Batman may or may not be the best LEGO game yet. It's the same as all the others, but it's Batman. if you're a fan of one or both properties, get it. but if you're tired of playing the same game over and over, there's really nothing here that will win you over.

Review: LEGO Batman | Joystiq

Review: LEGO Batman | Joystiq is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

I found my old Steel Tec set of the Millenium Falcon but I don’t have the instructions?

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:08:10 +0000

Is there any place that I can download them from? I looked on the website but I didn't find it. My set is pretty old so I don't expect it to be anywhere but any help would be good.
Thank You

I found my old Steel Tec set of the Millenium Falcon but I don't have the instructions?

I found my old Steel Tec set of the Millenium Falcon but I don’t have the instructions? is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

The terrible hallmarks of toy-driven movie-making

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:08:20 +0000

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It's been 30 years since Gary Kurtz and George Lucas split because Lucas wanted toys to dictate the storytelling in Star Wars. Since then, toy-driven movie-making has gone way beyond Lucas' grubbiest dreams. here are the hallmarks of toy-centric storytelling.

And welcome back to Monday hate, where we hate things because it's Monday.

So yeah, George Lucas couldn't even have imagined, 30 years ago, how low movies would eventually sink in their drive to get you to buy some toy tie-ins. he was a naive innocent back then, compared to the huckster he would later become.

And who could have predicted the insane extent of today's synergy between the toy biz and the movie biz? I'm not talking about the very excellent and story-driven Toy Story movies — I'm talking about Cinematic Ouevres that are Noticeably Designed Only for Merchandising. (Or CONDOMs, for short.) You can't even make sense of these films if you only think of them as vehicles for a story, it would be like watching a 3-D movie with only one eye. They only make sense as toy-selling vehicles. And now you have movies based on toys, which used to be the province of Saturday morning cartoons — in development, you've got a Stretch Armstrong movie, a Battleship movie, a Monopoly movie, and many others. but there are also plenty of movies that aren't based on toys, but might as well be.

So here are the hallmarks of a toy-driven movie. Maybe this list can serve as a sort of "spotter's guide" for the avalanche of merchandising-centric films to come.

1) the clutter. In a true toy vehicle, the screen is cluttered with as much crap as possible, because an inch of empty space on screen is a missed opportunity to sell another bit of plastic crap. Composition goes by the wayside, because drawing the eye to just one focus is a sin against commercialism. Thus every movie has to look like a tween's MySpace page circa 2005, with a million flashy jumpy things.

And with 3-D becoming the industry standard in the next few years*, it's only going to get more ridiculous, because (at least in theory) you can cram the screen with more garbage in 3-D because the important stuff will pop out. (Or we'll all get horrible nausea and cerebral hemorrhages.)

Lucas himself provides us with a brilliant example of how to over-stuff the screen with garbage, both in the Star Wars prequels and in the "special editions" of the original trilogy. (DVD Active does a really good job of breaking down the differences between the 1977, 1997 and 2004 versions of Star Wars, with screencaps.) In particular, you can see how Mos Eisley goes from a tiny frontier spaceport to a hive of CG activity including "hilarious" slapstick involving stray Jawas riding on a Ronto and being flung off. (You can buy the "Ronto and Jawa Beast Pack" for a mere $10.)

Here's the money shot comparing the original with the "special" version:

2) the PG-13 rating. Obviously one side effect of skewing your movies towards serving as IP for toy-makers is that you want to make sure they bring in a young enough audience to keep Toys 'R' Us bouncing. so when you see a movie like Terminator Salvation, which introduces 10,000 types of Terminators — many of which are only on screen briefly, you may incidentally wonder why a previously R-rated series has suddenly gone PG-13. (To be fair, though, storytelling is storytelling, and if your story doesn't require oceans of blood, then whatever.)

Do you remember half of these Terminators from the movie? could you tell me what part the T-600, the T-700, the Terminator Resistance Infiltration Prototype and the tank Terminator played in the film? And the water Terminator and the motorcycle Terminator?

3) the random set pieces that showcase extra hardware or uniforms. so this is partly a disease of action movies in general, the set piece that just happens because there hasn't been a cool action sequence in about half an hour and the audience is probably starting to squirm. A lot of action movies very carefully have three big action sequences — one in the first few minutes, one about halfway through, and then the big final mega blow-out. but you can tell when the film-makers designed it partly with toys in mind, if the main characters have to change their costumes or get into a new piece of hardware for it.

Some recent examples of this are the "power suits" that our heroes don in the middle action sequence of G.I. Joe, which are never seen again. And the red "skydiving uniforms" that Kirk and Sulu and Olsen put on for the middle action sequence of Star Trek. (This is in addition to Kirk's cadet uniform and regular uniform.) Apparently there were action figures based on the skydiving scene, but they never came out. here are unpainted versions, plus "Instructor Spock":

4) too many random Z-list characters. You can really see this progression in the X-Men movies, which started out with a manageable number of mutants, and slowly built up the overcrowding until you needed augmented-reality goggles just to make sense of it. the main offenders, of course, are X-3, with the random inclusion of every other fan-favorite mutant for no particular reason, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine which took some awesome characters like Agent Zero and Emma Frost (and, yes, Deadpool) and shoved them through a meat grinder so that a few shreds of their flesh could appear in the film. What's weird is that as far as I can tell, there's no Agent Zero or Emma Frost action figures from this movie, but instead there are X-Men Origins Wolverine toys for characters like Colossus who aren't even in the film. It makes you wonder why people bother.

The absolute height of "too many characters, can't keep track" is, of course, Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen, which had about 3000 different Transformers on screen at any given moment. They've all got names, but I couldn't possibly tell you what they are.

5) You already know the entire "plot" months before the film comes out, because the toys and their packaging gave the whole thing away. This is really the clincher. When there are plot points and crucial reveals in a movie, that even the trailers and copious preview clips avoid giving away — but they're on display months in advance on the toy racks at Walmart, then you know that the toys are driving the boat.

Off the top of my head, the seekrit reveal that there are actual aliens at the end of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was given away ages in advance by various playsets and toys. Ditto for Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen. And I think there are a few other recent movies where big plot twists were given away by "toy spoilers," because the big reveal was something toy-worthy.

This seems like just one reason out of a whole bunch why big blockbluster movies are getting more idiotic — but we're just in the early part of a slippery slope, and toy-driven film-making is going to get more spattered with plastic. Five years from now, you'll look back on the summer of 2010 as a halcyon time when characters still mattered and story still came first. From here on out, the deluge awaits, and Stretch Armstrong will wrap you in his limitless embrace.

* sorry, but it's true. 3-D is going to become more or less required in the next few years — if for no other reason than the fact that it's an experience that watching a movie on your flatscreen at home can't duplicate yet.

Avatar toy pic via JonWesleyHuff on Flickr.

Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliejane@io9.com.

The terrible hallmarks of toy-driven movie-making

The terrible hallmarks of toy-driven movie-making is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Lego star wars the complete saga lego city ?

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:08:16 +0000

Can't complete Lego star wars Lego city on xbox got up to 966,510 out of 100,000. destroyed everything nothing else left.

Lego star wars the complete saga lego city ?

Lego star wars the complete saga lego city ? is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

Tour de France 2010: Stage 18 – live!

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:08:07 +0000

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Tour de France 2010: Stage 18 - live!

Tour de France 2010: Stage 18 – live! is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets

What is a good lego technic design program?

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:08:21 +0000

I have heard of mlCAD which is the one i am using now but it is very bad quality. Is there a program that would let you make things like ones from Lego Instruction books?

What is a good lego technic design program?

What is a good lego technic design program? is a post from: Star Wars Lego Sets