A number of people have asked recently about the old Legends of Mata Nui computer game from 2001 that never got released, so I thought I would share what info I have on this here:
* The game, as most of you know, was cancelled before release due to its not being up to our quality standards and so not fitting into our marketing plan.
* I know at least one BIONICLE fan spoke to our Legal dept. about getting a copy of the game. My understanding is that Legal's position is that we are not releasing any part of the game to the public, and since we own the copyright, anyone outside LEGO who did have a copy of the game would not be able to share it either. However ...
* I also spoke to the one person I know here who did get a copy in 2001, prior to cancellation. He says all that was available on the LEGO servers at that time were random sound files -- nothing even remotely like a playable game. What this means, I don't know -- it's possible that, since the game was being developed by an outside developer, and not finished yet, we did not have the main files here. If we did, my guess is they were scrapped long ago, but that is just a guess.
Regardless, since it was not something LEGO considered to be high enough quality, for obvious reasons there is no interest in having it see the light of day. And even if we did, I honestly don't know that there would be anything for us to release.
Legends Of Mata Nui
Posted by GregF on
Well, apparently, it was impossible to get past the first level so... I get it.
But on the other hand, we did get a downloadable MNOLG...
There are some people who have the "full" game. At least, as complete as it was when it was canceled. And it isn't impossible to get past the first level, it is just harder than it should be, as I understand it. People with the game disk have been able to get past the first level.
DJ Reidak
Well, we didn't really expect you to release it to the public. And we know Lego has the copyright and can make all the decisions, but if we get it WILL THEY CONSIDER GIVING US PERMISSION, especially since it would boost enthusiasm from Bionicle fans
And to answer the earlier -- based on my conversation with Legal, no, I would say it's highly unlikely anyone else will be allowed to do anything with the game. The statement I heard was pretty unequivocal on that point, so I would say it's a dead issue.
But that was from maybe a year ago. Not sure if that's still happening. Just threw that out there.
From the way you're speaking, it would suggest the LEGO Company wants it's merchandise to be 100% perfect.
But LOMN didn't make it.
What the BZP Community are trying to do, is to take a peek at what might have been.
We want to find out more about what could have happened in '01, and LC appears to be hiding it from us.
I see no reason to do that, UNLESS it had adult content or other inappropriate things.
Not letting us see a 'prehistoric' product, I think, is a bit unusual. The Sonic Team let us see the betas of their games,
So did Naughty Dog with Crash Bandicoot.
Give me a reason why we can't see it, other than achieving perfection...
Not much point in debating this with me, because like I said, I don't work in Legal and don't know all their reasoning for it. I am simply the messenger in this case, and the message seems pretty clear to me. I am conveying it in order to forestall more PMs to me about this issue or more people asking our lawyers about it.
Most Bionicle fans were unhappy about the cancellation of the toyline, and the die-hards are boycotting the new Hero Factory. I just think this would be kind of a "we're sorry, but here's something else to cheer you up" thing.
It's not like we're going to complain about any glitches in the game or the quality(which we would fix if we had it). We understand it wasn't to Lego's standards, but we would want to see it even if it wasn't that good; besides, Bionicle: The Game was sold by Lego, and would you say it was a perfectly satisfactory game? In fact, the consensus on the TLOMN topic is that it would be BETTER than Bionicle: The Game because it looks more open world. Wasn't it not released mostly because of deadline(a problem all the other Saffire games for Bionicle had), I forgot?
Anyway, sorry for any unwanted debate. But we're going to keep asking until we get a solid statement(not through you though
And speaking as a future video game developer, even if a group of fans wanting to finish the game got the game, it would be so obsolete (Not to mention buggy) that it would be better to just start from scratch. There's nothing really to be gained by trying to get LEGO to release this game.
~LT
As for somehow owing you guys something -- I believe doing comics in 2010, keeping the serials going through 2011, and my being here still pretty much all constitutes things LEGO does not need to do for a cancelled line. If you dislike Hero Factory, I can't see how releasing what has accurately been called a 10 year old, bug-ridden, unfinished game is somehow going to make you like it more. While we would love it if you guys were jumping for joy about Hero Factory, we also knew going in that some of the things you loved about BIONICLE were not going to be present in this line. Our assumption was this would remain a fan community for BIONICLE and not become a fan community for HF -- HF will no doubt spawn its own community, just as BIONICLE did in 2001. Frankly, I have actually been pleasantly surprised by the number of people on here saying they will buy HF sets so they can get the new pieces ... that does not sound like a "boycott" of the line to me.
BIONICLE is what it is ... HF is what it is ... people who like to MOC will find things to like in both, no doubt. People who loved an epic, 10-year long, in-depth storyline probably won't find that with HF, as that is not what HF is intended to be. You've certainly got every right to say HF is not your thing, but that does not obligate LEGO to do all sorts of extra things for you to somehow make up for your not liking it.