geekosystem

LEGO's just released the summer review results from their CUUSOO website, which is a system where modelers can submit their creations in the hopes that they'll eventually become actual sets. Once a submission manages 10,000 votes from the community, LEGO reviews them and makes a call on whether they move forward with the project. That's how that sweet Minecraft LEGO set came to fruition. One of those in the spotlight this time around was an impressive Back to the Future DeLorean model. You can probably see where this is going. Yes, a Back to the Future LEGO set is really, truly happening.

While there are many official LEGO tie-ins available, Back to the Future sadly isn't one of them. That might be changing, however, now that user m.togami has received 10,000 votes on LEGO's CUUSOO website. With the passing of that important milestone, the possibility of this becoming an official LEGO set moves tantalizingly close to reality. But it's not there yet.

Universal Studios' Jaws ride may be closed and gone forever, but a well-shot, simulated tour of the entire experience -- including the walk through the midway leading up to the ride -- forever lives on thanks to InsideTheMagic's YouTube account. The video tour, and nostalgia, after the break.

Yesterday, The Consumerist talked with the Vice President of Netflix Corporate Communications, Steve Swasey, and asked him if Netflix would ever consider offering video games by mail, as its biggest rival Blockbuster seems to be considering. Swasey answered in the negative:

Video games are a different economic model than movies and TV episodes, on which Netflix concentrates to provide the greatest convenience, selection and value to consumers... Movies are perennial. A great movie from 1972 is still a great movie but who wants to play Madden '95?

So... you're backing up your claim that video games are not perennial by bringing up a franchise that is released yearly? Of course the Madden games aren't perennial! I don't imagine many people have Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972) in their queues, and I'm sure Netflix has a correspondingly low number of discs in stock. We're not asking you to keep a billion copies of Madden '95, just maybe some of Warcraft III, or Smash Bros Brawl, or Ico. Setting aside the poor argument Swasey presents, here's why Netflix should seriously consider getting into video game rental: It is estimated that Netflix will gain 2 million new subscribers from consoles alone in the next year. That's half of their projected subscriber growth for 2010.