is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
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CES 2026 live: all the news, announcements, and innovations from the show floor and beyond
When The Lego Group announced that its biggest innovation since 1978 would be a tiny proprietary computer brick, the reactions were divided. I heard from people concerned this was the death of imagination from a company that’s all about imagination — and from people who thought it sounded pretty cool!
Personally, I walked in skeptical. My kids loved Lego’s previous computer bricks, the Lego Mario toys, but don’t play with them for long because they’re predictable and fiddly to use! But I walked out with a grin on my face. These Smart Bricks are far smarter and more imaginative than I expected.
This isn’t like Lego Mario where scanning a barcode largely triggers a series of sound effects on cue. The new NFC smart tiles are effectively programs that tell the Smart Brick what kind of vehicle or character it now represents. Then, it starts reacting and interacting with other smart parts nearby.
Now, I just wonder if Lego will take full advantage of its own creation.
For example, the most attention-grabbing thing you can do with Lego’s flagship set is have a lightsaber battle. Two Smart Bricks, two smart minifigs, smack them into each other and hear lightsabers hum and clash while Vader occasionally breathes ominously into his mask.
The second most attention-grabbing thing you can do is sit Emperor Palpatine upon his throne and hear The Imperial March play.
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