AMERICAN FORK — These aren't your childhood Legos.
Lego, the Denmark-based company that is known for its bumpy-block toys, has taken a new line of toys into the virtual world — with the help of a Utah County video game company.
They're called "Bionicles," masked robots with plenty of attitude. The new toys, being released in stores across the country this summer, come in canisters.
Children build the robots and can also merge them to create robo-creatures. The concept of reusability is one that has made Lego one of the largest companies in the world.
But the firm has been taking its toys into the virtual realm.
An American Fork company — called Saffire — has been making video games for the likes of Nintendo and Playstation since 1993. Over the years, the company's 120 programmers have introduced such things as "The Animaniacs" and Tom Clancy novels to the video-game world.
Hal Rushton, president of Saffire, said company leaders jumped at the chance to work with one of the world's largest toy manufacturers when Lego approached them about making a series of video games for the Gameboy Advance and the PC.
"We knew we had to target the whole world," he said.
Rushton added that Lego wanted to put the games out in nine languages. "One of the benefits of Utah County is that there are a lot of people who speak different languages."
The challenge for the team of artists and programmers at Saffire was to take an inanimate toy and build an entire world around it.
"We're in charge of the fun factor," said programmer Jay Ward. "Lego trusted us a lot to know what's good to go into a video game."
The game for the Gameboy Advance is made up of several mini-games, plus an adventure mode. The game for the PC is a virtual reality trip through mountains, jungles and deserts.
"These guys have been really cranking to get this out," Rushton said.
A specially painted Lego truck was brought in for America's Freedom Festival at Provo's Grand Parade to promote the toys and Saffire's video games, said a company official.
Lego has six customized trucks touring the United States as part of the promotion of the new games.
Rushton also said Saffire has been selected as one of a handful of developers to put out the first line of games for Microsoft's Xbox, which is expected to be on store shelves in late fall.
E-MAIL: gfattah@desnews.com