LEGO Universe — colorful plastic's answer to World of Warcraft — is the brainchild of Colorado-based NetDevil

Seabury knows that his development team's challenge is every bit as daunting as the one the minifigs face against the forces of chaos and destruction in LEGO Universe — and unlike their LEGO creations, NetDevil may not be able to put itself back together if it all blows up. "After Auto Assault," he says, "we said we'd rather go out of business than ship a bad product again."

But in the meantime, things are looking very, very good in the next room, where Braxton discovers an intricate LEGO mask that he can use on his minifig. "That mask is awesome!" he says. "I want that mask!" His exclamation has all the passion and desire that kids use against their parents to make sure they get exactly what they want from the toy store.

See more photos on the slideshow page.

Spencer and Braxton Jones test-drive LEGO Universe in the NetDevil studio.

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More About

• Duane Hess
• World of WarCraft
• Ryan Seabury
• Virtual Worlds
• Video Games

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The NetDevil team members glance at each other and smile.

"Yes."