Lego

While at first Lego Dimensions appeared to be yet another NFC figure game built to cash in on the success of Activision's Skylanders series, but in the months since it's been revealed to be a game built to cash in on Skylanders' success with some interesting improvements to the formula. With the concept of having to actually build all the figures and vehicles, Lego Dimensions offers enough difference from its competitors at the onset to make it appealing. Factor in the inclusion of just about every license under Lego's belt, and you've got a game that lets you team Scooby-Doo and Batman with Doctor Who, while they try to stop an invasion into Springfield. After months of lead-up, the arrival of the ultimate fan fiction mash-up game is almost here.

Poor Scooby-Doo and Shaggy; those guys can never catch a break when it comes to getting a decent meal. Maybe if they actually got paid for some of the cases Mystery, Inc. helped solve, the refrigerator in their home wouldn't be filled with cobwebs. I mean, honestly, these guys have helped bring the Black Knight, the Indian Witch Doctor, Redbeard's Ghost and the Ghost of Bigfoot to justice, to name a few. You'd think that would at least earn them enough scratch to stock the house with Scooby Snacks or Lunchables or something. Also, why are these guys always so hungry? Fortunately for the hungry heroes, a familiar friend drops some pizza and a mystery box off on Scooby's and Shaggy's doorstep. Unsure of what this glowing blue box means, the duo set to work uncovering the mystery therein. It's almost like these guys treat solving these kinds of quandaries like a job. Once completed, we see that this box was no ordinary box at all, but was actually a Lego Dimensions portal complete with minifigures of Scooby and Shaggy. Cue the theme music, boys.

We already knew Lego Marvel's Avengers would have the biggest roster of any Lego game developed by TT Games to date, but we still don't know the exact character list. During Gamescom this week, TT revealed a few of these new cast members with in-game models for the first time, giving us a better idea of who and what to expect. While your standard Avengers have all but been confirmed (at least as far as the movie roster is concerned), there's a whole lot of Marvel heroes and villains that have yet to have their shot at Lego fame and glory. During San Diego Comic-Con, TT actually teased a few of these characters, including Kamala "Ms. Marvel" Khan and the Jane Foster Thor, but this is the first time we've seen Squirrel Girl and the Young Avengers' Speed. Most importantly, Ms. Marvel's Lego-fied version actually looks like Kamala Khan. After the America Chavez incident, it's good to see TT Games is actually on point with its representation of the character, and fans won't have to cry out in hopes of having Ms. Khan recolored.

Upcoming collectible toy video game Lego Dimensions has already promised a wealth of crossover potential with the likes of Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle starring alongside each other in an adventure that spans (almost) all of Lego's properties. While we've been focused on characters from Back to the Future, Scooby-Doo and Portal joining the fray, we almost forgot about the idea that many of these characters exist in different forms within the Lego Universe already thanks to the Lego Movie. TT Games hasn't forgotten though. In the latest trailer for the developer's new flagship Lego title, we get to see a multitude of familiar faces from all ranges of Lego lines, but it's the chance meeting of DC's Batman and Wyldstyle's former flame, Batman, that gives us the clearest idea of what to expect from the upcoming action game. The lines between realities have been blurred beyond recognition, and now Batman and Batman will have to figure out which Batman is the Batman-est Batman to don the cape and cowl.

Rovio and Lego are teaming up to create a line of block-based playsets based on one of the most successful mobile game franchises of all time.