RedQuark

Well, I can't believe I actually have something BIONICLE to blog about. I was readying Chapter 2 of Journey's End when my jaw just about hit the floor. It was the phrase "Core War" that did it to me. Most of you may not know or remember that one of my claims to fame is as "Father" of rec.games.corewar, a newsgroup devoted to a game for computer programmers known as "Core War". My name even appears in an issue of Scientific American because of it. (Newsgroups are the predecessor of Internet forums such as this one.) My biography on another BIONICLE site used to mention Core War. It is remotely possible that Greg Farshtey read it at one time and it wormed its way into his subconscious. That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it. Here's a link to the history of Core War: http://corewar.co.uk/history.htm I was Editor of The Core War Newsletter for most of those eighteen issues, by the way.

Hi Bink! I'm a little late to the party, but here are my two cents worth. •What do you think of all the licenses LEGO has announced this year? The more licenses that strengthen the brand, the better. Where LEGO might get into trouble is if they license too many 2nd (or 3rd, or nth) tier properties that dilute, rather than enhance, the brand. •Do you strongly agree or disagree with any in particular? If so, why? LEGO has a good formula in the video game space, but the more titles they release using that formula, the more they are going to get pounded by the video game press. Harry Potter might get a pass, but maybe not. •Do you think LEGO has too many partners its licensing from? Absolutely not, and here is why. Toys "R" Us, for example, almost always creates a space for licensed merchandise. There is no more room in the LEGO aisle(s) at TRU, but they love to stock those licensed merchandise shelves with LEGO products. Licensing not only buys more shelf space, but it also puts the product right up front where everybody will see it. Not everybody wanders into the LEGO aisle(s) of a TRU, Target, or WalMart every time they go shopping at those stores. •If you disagree with a particular license, is it because you're not familiar with it, or because you think it will not make a good LEGO set? Let me answer that with an example. When I first saw the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" sets from LEGO, I had never seen the TV show. I knew the title, but that was about it. ("Ben 10" falls into the same territory.) I personally consider most of the LEGO "Avatar" sets ugly (the look/style of "Avatar" was/is ill-suited to a LEGO license IMHO), and I don't think we ever bought one in our family. But somehow the LEGO sets piqued our curiosity, and we eventually purchased and watched the entire "Avatar" series on DVD. That licensing deal worked out really well for Nickelodeon; not so good for LEGO.

Hey, look at me! I'm blogging! I thought that I would check out the blogs to see what they are like. The calendar is nice. Let's check out the "Spoiler Tag": Removed. Please don't abuse the spoiler tag. - Kohaku I'm not certain how anyone will stumble across this blog, but if you have, well then I apologize. Sorry. Perhaps I will have something more worth reading next time.