I’ve been down and out during these past few days (okay, more than that I guess) due to a very worrisome case of cough and colds. And imagine my surprise when I finally got back to check things out on what LEGO has been building lately. Lo and behold – here’s something that will have every LEGO Nintendo fan jumping from their seats. Because as it turns out, we can all expect the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System (71374) to arrive sometime in August and it’s a long time coming of great things to come from an official LEGO-Nintendo partnership.
This info came from Chinese gaming blog site VJ Gamer, where box art images of the set also appeared on their site. Since the author of the site did not make it clear where he got the images of the boxed set, I’m playing on the safe side here on not showing the set’s images since it is most likely to be under embargo. However, I guess its fair game for me to give my thoughts on this very, very beautiful set.
From the get-go, the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System (71374) clearly has the older, and Nintendo-nostalgic LEGO community in mind. The box art design also sports the new 18+ design, hinting on the fact that is intended for AFOLs. The set comes in at 2,646 pieces that allow you to build a 1:1 brick-built NES console with controller. It also comes with a similarly scaled game cartridge of the very first Super Mario video game for the NES. And to top off the iconic video game experience, there’s also a classic, brick-built CRT television to hook up the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment console.
By now, we are all familiar with how LEGO pays careful attention to details, and this LEGO NES is loaded with those little touches that make LEGO sets like this more endearing. As it seems, this set will come with a collection of uniquely molded Super Mario characters never before seen even in the new LEGO Super Mario sets. The LEGO NES will feature a collection of new, irregularly shaped tile pieces that take inspiration from the game’s classic 8-bit format. We have Mario himself, a Goomba, a Super Mushroom, a Red Shell, a Super Star, and a Mystery (?) Block. Beyond aesthetics, the LEGO NES also has several play features that allow you to have the 8-bit LEGO Mario ‘move’ on the TV screen using a lever mounted on the side. Plus, placing the newer LEGO Super Mario figure (from the LEGO Super Mario Starter Course 71360) on top of the brick-built TV set will most likely activate new voice features from the figure itself.
Lastly according to VJ Gamer, the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System (71374) will be available starting August 1 and will retail for 229.99 Euro. Given that the official reveal will most likely happen in two weeks’ time, we can surely expect LEGO’s official reveal anytime soon.
So what do you think of this latest LEGO set? Are you excited about this as much as we are? Fire away with your comments below.
Special thanks to Lukas from Stone Wars for the heads up.
