Travelers Tales released what I believe is the first trailer for their Lego Lord of the Rings game, and it might have just beaten Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes for my Most Anticipated Game Based on Building Block Toy Versions of a Nerdy Franchise. Kotaku has some details on the game — it sounds like it’s going to be a little more adventure-y and puzzle-y than the more action-y Lego Batman games — complete with quests and side-quests, even. All I know is that if Gandalf doesn’t cast a giant Lego brick for the Balrog to step on, and then fall off the bridge while recoiling in pain, a beautiful opportunity will have been missed.
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.