Lego has a long history in the video games sector between licensed titles that feature digital brick versions of iconic movie characters and physical sets like the new Mario Kart one. But after decades of third-party studios making games with the Lego name on them, the company is taking more of a hands-on approach. "We can definitely say as long as we're under the Lego brand we can cover experiences for kids of all ages, digital or physical, Lego CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times. To that end, an in-house game development division "is something we're building up." Per the publication, Lego plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into tripling its number of software developers to more than 1,800. "We have made quite a few investments in the future -- I'd almost rather overinvest.

Dust off your pickaxe because Mojang Studios and Merlin Entertainments are building a new series of theme park style attractions called "Adventures Made Real" that will bring the world of Minecraft to life. Merlin Entertainments will create two permanent Minecraft theme park locations including one in the US and another in the UK with a plan to open them between 2026 and 20277. The new Minecraft parks will have interactive attractions from the top-selling video game, along with all the usual experiences like rides, gift shops and restaurants and plans to "expand these experiences to other destinations globally," according to Merlin's statement. Of course, the parks will also involve some level of digital perks. It's not clear what they'll involve specifically, but Merlin claims the parks will include "touchpoints that will allow guests to unlock exclusive in-game content to continue their gaming journey."

Traditionally, visitors to Kyoto in October come for momijigari, the turning of the autumn leaves in the city's picturesque parks. This autumn, however, there is a new draw: a Nintendo museum. The new attraction, which opens on Wednesday, is best described as a chapel of video game nostalgia. Upstairs, Nintendo's many video game consoles, from 1983's Famicom through 1996's Nintendo 64 to 2017's Switch, are displayed reverently alongside their most famous games. On the back wall, visitors can also peer at toys, playing cards and other artefacts from the Japanese company's pre-video-game history, stretching back to its founding as a hanafuda playing card manufacturer in 1889.

Last month the games company Take-Two Interactive announced it would reduce its global staff by 5%, laying off 580 people to reduce costs. It was one of many such announcements in 2024, but this case is especially egregious because Take-Two ownsRockstar Games, which publishes Grand Theft Auto, AKA the most successful game in the history of the world, and is definitely not short of profits. Last week, Bloomberg () reported on internal documentation showing the likely victims of these cuts: studios Intercept Games in Seattle and Roll7 in London are set to close. Both are part of Private Division, the giant publisher's indie game label. I spent some time with Intercept's Kerbal Space Program 2 last year, when they were gearing up to launch.

I've always written about the intersection of games and real life – that's where the interesting stories are often found – but rarely do I get the opportunity to do so quite so literally as I have this week. Yesterday I visited the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, where the world of Mario has been reconstructed in the real world. You walk through a green warp pipe and, when you come out the other side, through Princess Peach's castle, you emerge into a primary-coloured, crowded Mario-scape, all green grass, yellow blocks and brown brick, with critters moving back and forth across banks of question-mark blocks and the yawning maw of Bowser's Castle across the way. I've been dying to see this Nintendo theme park since it opened, but I wasn't prepared for how impactful it would be to walk into a physical manifestation of my eight-year-old self's dreams. Super Mario World is constructed in such a way that you can't see the outside world when you're in there, helping you to disappear into the fantasy.

VR technology has come a long way from the early Virtuality systems that inhabited our local malls in the '80s and '90s, with modern headsets offering 4K resolution, Dolby Atmos surround sound, and motion-sensing controllers. "If you want to feel these big sensations, you've got to have the infrastructure first," University of Chicago PhD student, Romain Nith, told Engadget. "You've got to go to theme parks, ride roller coasters, or you need bungie cords pulling you from the ceiling." And while the sensations are really like what they're simulating (because you're really being thrown around), "you can't have that in your living room." The JumpMod Haptic Backpack prototype, on the other hand, can effectively fool its user's sense of proprioception to make jumping in VR feel much more lifelike with a device the size of, well, a backpack.

I'm about to take a bite from a slice of Key lime pie at the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium when a host named Jacques stops by. He looks at my plate and tells me it's a good thing the desserts weren't made to his specifications. If it had been up to him, my pie would be filled with mini metal keys. That's because Jacques is a robot. Or, rather, an actor playing a robot in a costume made of random clamps, clasps and metal hands, with leather overalls in various shades of cocoa and a bowler cap.

Whether it's using QR codes to pull up menus at restaurants or ordering groceries for pickup or delivery online, people have gotten used to navigating the world at their own pace and in their own space during the pandemic. Now they're expecting the same types of experiences at theme parks, according to a newly released survey by Oracle and Merlin Entertainments, which operates various theme parks and attractions across the globe, including Legoland parks and Madame Tussauds. "COVID impacted how people interact," said Simon de Montfort Walker, General Manager of Oracle Food and Beverage. Oracle's point of sale software is used at concession and retail operations across Merlin theme parks and other major businesses like Marriott and Outback Steakhouse. Disney World holidays:Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party being replaced with new Very Merriest event "We've all spent a lot less time waiting in lines," he said.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the so-called normal people are often nonessential. We get in the way, we muck things up, we need help, we get turned to dust and in the case of last year's "WandaVision," we mortals exist mostly to be playthings for those with powers. Disney California Adventure's Avengers Campus aims to flip the script. Superheroes, they're just like us, the land argues. They get captured, they need our help, they make mistakes and sometimes they just have to do dreary, daily work.

This morning I walked through a new land at Disney California Adventure -- the first proper space dedicated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in one of Disney's North American parks -- and what I remember most is a moment of silence, a collective pause clearly dedicated to the late Chadwick Boseman, the star of "Black Panther." Avengers Campus, opening Friday in Anaheim, boasts a new interactive ride and a glossy, silver airship. But what truly contrasts the land with others in the Disney parks is its devotion to theater, its embrace of the present and its lack of fear of the so-called "real world." Here, you may not mind standing in lines for food or rides -- or maybe you'll mind a little less -- because you might catch the royal female guards from the world of "Black Panther." When the battle spear-equipped warriors known as the Dora Milaje make an entrance, it's safe to say audiences will stop and pay attention.