We reviewed the $150 Xbox 360 manufactured from Lego-like Mega bricks

Have I discussed lately that I’ve the perfect job on the planet? This week, I spent three and a half hours constructing an Xbox 360 out of Mega Bloks, the Lego-like bricks produced by Mattel.

In September, we brought you word that Goal would solely promote a brick-built $150 Xbox 360 reproduction, full with a gamepad, inner Easter eggs, and a “copy” of Halo 3.

Now, forward of an October eighth debut, I’ve constructed the factor, snapped some hasty photographs, and shot a bit primary video:

It’s a slick set that completely captures the essence of the console — even when it won’t stay as much as The Lego Group’s exacting requirements with regards to construct high quality.

Mattel begins you off with an appetizer — the Xbox 360 Wi-fi Gamepad — and it completely illustrates what your entire construct is like.

Professionals: Mattel nails the general profile, turns the enduring information button, joysticks, and (horrible) D-pad into perfect-match customized elements, and lights it up with a button-battery powered gentle brick that glows for eight seconds after you faucet the information button.

The joysticks have comfortable, versatile rubber stems that allow you to transfer them round, too. Each half with letters is printed — in contrast to many Lego units, there’s not a single sticker in your entire field.

I additionally love that the controller “doesn’t have energy” if you take away its battery as a result of that’s the place the sunshine brick is put in! Every set off and bumper is printed, the sync button is printed, the charge-and-play port is printed, and there’s even a printed headset jack on the bottom.

Cons: The printing high quality is fairly hit-and-miss. The letters don’t line up completely for the legends above the “Again” and “Begin” buttons. The “X” and “Y” aren’t centered on their corresponding face buttons. Some items, just like the D-pad and the triggers, are flimsily hooked up by a single stud beneath — my D-pad has fallen off 4 occasions already after I’ve bumped it.

I don’t envy the designer who needed to seize the Xbox 360’s delicate curves in brick kind, and I’m a bit in awe. So lots of them are spot on.

However there are additionally loads of locations Mattel’s blocks don’t line up with each other — typically as a result of the bricks aren’t formed for function and typically resulting from imperfections on the meeting line. An additional little bit of plastic right here, a misprint there; my Xbox energy button‘s etched energy emblem is oh so barely rotated incorrect.

Mattel covers the Xbox 360 in so, so very many white tiles, and after I squint, it seems to be nice! With them open, I see a great deal of gaps as a result of the tiles had been inconceivable to all line up.

It’d be fairly an effort even when they had been all printed appropriately, partly as a result of the inconsistent clutch energy of Mega Bloks’ studs makes it laborious to seat all of them flush. But in addition, lots of my “air vent holes” had been barely misprinted, with the black dots too excessive or too low in comparison with each other.

The again of the console is arguably probably the most devoted half — I actually love the straightforward execution of the recessed ports — however nonetheless, a bunch of mismatched black dots for the vent holes. They’re so shut; I actually surprise why they didn’t comply with by way of!

Right here’s the place issues get actually neat — when you carry off the detachable laborious drive and press a inexperienced button, it’ll pop open a panel so you’ll be able to peek inside.

I’ll let the photographs inform the story:

In order that’s all fantastic… however all the biggest parts are surprisingly annoying to put on the “motherboard,” and admittedly, I’m nonetheless figuring a few of them out.

I’ve moved across the Xbox button and the disc drive spindle a number of occasions, fastidiously consulting the instruction guide, however they merely don’t line up fairly the best way it exhibits within the footage.

The sport disc doesn’t at all times wish to keep in by itself; typically, the drive of pushing down the spindle doesn’t set off the Cortana gentle; and each time I open the console to play with it, some piece inevitably lifts off the motherboard and requires reseating, which isn’t an immediate repair as a result of the motherboard floats in the course of the console (not in contrast to an actual motherboard), and you’ll’t merely press down on it.

Mattel did have me erect a collection of momentary orange “placeholder” bricks on the again of the motherboard that you would theoretically press towards — however weirdly, the construct by no means had me press towards them throughout development and informed me to take away them earlier than including the outside panels.

As if to make up for a few of the different slipshod printing, Mattel features a really glorious one: an unimaginable case in your miniature Halo 3 disc, with full cowl artwork printed on massive translucent emerald inexperienced panels. (By no means thoughts that the Xbox 360’s precise {cases} had been a brighter inexperienced; I by no means actually preferred the official shade.)

The field seems to be nice, too — frankly, you would confuse it for an official Xbox 360 field when you didn’t look intently.

It comes with an enormous disclaimer due to that:

The ultimate contact is one I didn’t anticipate, one which Mattel saves for the final bag of bricks:

Mattel’s $150 Mega Xbox 360 ought to arrive at Target on October eighth. I additionally shot a timelapse construct video which we’ll be modifying collectively quickly, if you wish to see what the construct course of is like.

Images by Sean Hollister / The Verge