We are all just players in the LEGO Universe

To those who would say it is LEGO's Universe and we're just living in it -- I'd say not quite yet, give it about a year.

Besides the release of my book in that time period, there's also going to be the unveiling of the Massive Multiplayer Online game -- LEGO Universe. And that means details and screen captures keep rolling out on what the minifig-as-avatar world will look like.

The blog Destructoid compares the game to Zelda with regard to mission characteristics and the "life essence," of your minifig. One of the most interesting suggestions is that the game will be linked to the Design byME service, allowing you to have physical representations of the thing you build in the virtual universe.

It's a smart business strategy, kind of the brick equivalent of Webkinz. And like James May's LEGO house it moves us a step closer to having a LEGO-based world offline.