The article begins by examining the way that Lego is pushing into new boundaries, illustrated by the augmented reality toy "Life of George" and and their partnership with Sony developing small robotic toys (manipulated by PlayStation DualShock controllers).
This move certainly shows imagination on the toy-maker's part ... or desperation, depending on how you look at it.
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| The app displays a picture of what to build; the player then constructs the model, which is verified -- visually, using the phone's camera -- by the app, scoring for speed & accuracy. The app, garnering mixed reviews, requires a special mat and is available for iPhone only. |
Background
Let's not forget that Lego was on the brink of extinction in the mid-1990s. Their stuck-in-the-mud attitude had seen competitors like Mega Bloks challenge Lego's brick patent, grabbing market share.
"The company realised its staff of older white men located in remote Billund, Denmark, was culturally distant from its target customer: the world's children."In the end, two major changes in policy saved Lego's business:
— How Thinking 'Inside the Brick' Saved Lego, Wired magazine (Oct 2013)
- Listening to their customers
- Expansion into licensed properties, which they had avoided for too long
- Apple had clearly not learned from their the ill-fated maps fiasco -- which wiped $30 billion from the company's value -- when they released the controversial iOS 7, full of bugs.
- After Vista, you'd think Microsoft would know better. Ladies & gentlemen of the jury, I give you Windows 8 for laptops & desktop PCs....
- Google, well ... let's just say when the new Google Maps goes live on browsers, it may cause some upset.
The future of Lego
Video games are a big part of the modern face of the company. Early efforts like Lego Island (1997) and Lego Racers (1999) sold satisfactorily, but it was the hard work of Tt Games -- harnessed by creative directors Arthur Parsons (who visited UCLan Games Design students last year) and Jimmy McLoughlin -- which raised the video game brand to become a global best-seller.
One headache for Lego is that these video games are not their own product; they are dependent on the build quality -- and the creative impetus -- of another company. This golden egg could easily crack, leaving Lego with a hole in its income. This happened to Disney with Pixar, and their solution was to buy Pixar and swallow its creative team. Purchasing a game developer may be impractical and risky for Lego, who have no business experience in publishing video games.
Lego has had strong success with its venture into board games. These well-designed games have surprised many.
However, at the dawn of the 3D printing age, the plastic brick manufacturer must be worried. Already people are printing their own custom bricks, made from the same ABS plastic that Lego uses. Bulk manufacture keeps prices low, but how long will kids enjoy building something from parts when they can create new structures whole, freed from the limitations of brick shapes? As James May pointed out in his Toy Stories TV programme, Airfix and Meccano are now seen as irrelevant, because children have other toys to distract them -- more interactive and less hard work.
Does Lego have a future in the digital age? Are physical building blocks destined to become tomorrow's nostalgia? Present sales indicate not quite yet. But I believe that the Lego of the next generation may bear little resemblance to the toy we know and love now.