Here's a blog entry near and dear to the hearts of many BZP members...

Mistika Game Status Update

The game, originally scheduled for release July 1, is now finally in QA (Quality Assurance). There's only one person in the entire organization of LEGO who can take it further, and he's travelling right now, so we need to wait until he can get to it. The game will be live no later than September 1st, hopefully sooner.

We were planning on having two separate sets of levels, but it looks like we'll just do all of them at once, since we were going to update it on September 1 anyway.

Standalone Mistika Game

I do have a downloadable, standalone .exe (PC only) that I wanted to put online for download, but for various non-technical reasons, that plan has not been approved. So we'll need to wait for the regular online version. (I know, it stinks like a three-week-dead Rahi. You need to know I fought the good fight and made myself unpopular. But I still lost.)

2009 Game

Obviously, we plan on continuing games into 2009. We're in the planning stages right now; a brief has been written, a technology selected, and we're about to dive into it.

Of course, I can't say much about it. But if it works out like I plan, this will be a quantum leap forward in game play experience, not just for BIONICLE.com, but for LEGO.com as a whole. Of all the things I've worked on in the last year, this is the one of the two things I'm most excited about being part of. (The other is how 2008 will play out online.) Even though I won't be in this job when the game launches, I will have a big part of driving it.

Before you ask, No, I can't provide details, since we're still working them out. The only hint is: it won't be Flash based. But it will still be an online game (and hopefully a downloadable version too).

In other news...

• My stolen bike was found, all parts intact. I'm happy.
• Last Wednesday was my one-year anniversary at LEGO. As is the custom in Denmark, I brought in cake for my co-workers to celebrate.
• Some of the first parts for 2009 sets are coming out of the molds. I have a pile on my desk. You guys are gonna like some of 'em, I think.
• Saw a couple of design sketches for 2010. Nifty.
• I'm starting to look around for what to do after my contract ends in December. Hopefully there'll be a place for me in LEGO somewhere. It's a good company to work for.
• I'll be in London for a couple of days next week for a movie media summit. Maybe I'll even get a peek at some early footage. (I've already seen animation tests, but this would be the Real Thing.)
• Out of 16 total BIONICLE web sites, 13 are done and released. No, Spanish won't be among them - sorry.
• Saw the nearly-finished CGI for most of the rest of the year. Looking good. Just need to make sure I get the next one in time for the countdown...