WebProNews

Tag: Skylanders

  • Marvel Characters Are Coming To Disney Infinity

    Last year, Disney went head to head with Skylanders with Disney Infinity. Like Skylanders, the game requires players to buy physical toys that can then be scanned into the game to complete challenges. So far, the game has only featured characters from Disney’s stable of in-house characters, but it appears the game will soon be getting characters from properties that Disney owns.

    In a new trailer for Disney Infinity, Captain America’s shield all but confirms that Marvel characters will be coming to the game this year. It doesn’t hurt that the trailer was also shared by the official Marvel Entertainment YouTube page. While no solid details were offered, it does appear that characters from the Marvel cinematic universe will be joining the game. In other words, you can assume The Avengers will be in the game. As for other Marvel characters, like Spider-Man, it’s a bit more murky. Disney owns the character, but the film rights belong to Sony and the game rights to Activision. It’s unknown if that will have any effect on getting Spider-Man into the game.

    Besides the inclusion of Marvel characters, the trailer also makes reference to a 2.0 version of Disney Infinity. We don’t know if this means Disney is working on a sequel or just an update that includes Marvel characters. My money is on the latter as Disney may want to focus on just making new content for the first game instead of releasing a new game every year. The 2.0 status could also refer to Disney Infinity coming out on the PS4 and Xbox One. We won’t know until Disney says more about it though.

    As for other Disney properties, like Star Wars, it’s safe to assume that they’ll be showing up in Disney Infinity sooner or later as well. With Star Wars Episode VII now in production, Disney will want to hype the movie all they can with video games, toys and more. With Disney Infinity, they have the perfect opportunity to appeal to fans young and old with a video game and toys in a perfect marriage that Star Wars should have been involved in ages ago.

    Unfortunately, the above teaser doesn’t give us a release date for the Marvel characters or the version 2.0 of Disney Infinity. I’d wager we’ll see it sometime during Summer though.

    Image via Marvel Entertainment/YouTube

  • Nintendo Announces Wii U Skylanders Bundle For The Holidays

    Earlier this week, Nintendo announced a new Wii U bundle for the holidays that included New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U for $300. That’s a pretty good value, but some prospective shoppers may be bummed out that it doesn’t include Nintendo Land. Well, Nintendo has you covered with another Wii U bundle that includes Nintendo Land and what is arguably the biggest kids franchise today in gaming.

    Nintendo announced today that it has partnered with Activision to offer a Wii U Skylanders Swap Force bundle for the holidays. The $299 bundle launches November 15 and includes a white 8GB Wii U Basic system, the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack and a copy of Nintendo Land.

    “There are so many great elements to this Skylanders Swap Force Wii U bundle that we almost couldn’t cram them all into the box,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This amazing deal provides a huge amount of entertainment for kids and their families to play together.”

    So, what does the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack include? With it, you’ll get the game disc, a portal of power that’s used to scan figurines into the game, three figurines – Ninja Stealth Elf, Blast-Zone and Washbuckler – and some other collectible goods.

    Nintendo is obviously targeting families with young children with this latest bundle as Skylanders has become the biggest kids franchise in gaming ever since its inception a few years ago. Kids adore the real toy collection aspect of the franchise, and parents tolerate spending hundreds of dollars on rare, collectable figures.

    Skylanders Swap Force is already available on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii and Nintendo 3DS. It will be available on November 15 for the PS4 and November 22 for the Xbox One.

    [Image: Nintendo/Business Wire]

  • Have Some More Wii U Trailers Before The Console’s Sunday Launch

    The Wii U launches on Sunday. Until then, prospective buyers will have to decide what games they want to get for the new system. Nintendo already shared a smattering of Wii U launch trailers yesterday to inform your decision making, but the console manufacturer is back with a few more trailers.

    Activision may be launching Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 2 on the system, but another title from the publisher is sure to gain more traction on the Wii U thanks to its kids friendly approach. Skylanders Giants, sequel to immensely popular toy collecting/video game hybrid game from last year, will be hitting the Wii U with more toys to collect.

    Much like Activision, Ubisoft is coming into the launch with some hardcore and casual titles. You’ve already gotten a taste for ZombiU, but the publisher will also have the lastest Just Dance title prepared for the console’s launch.

    Nintendo has already shown off a few videos of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, but the publisher still has a bit more to show. Momiji will be joining the Ryu and Ayane in the enhanced port of this year’s Ninja Gaiden 3, and Nintendo has the goods on her gameplay style:

    Other games launching just in time for the Wii U’s launch include Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition, FIFA 13 and Rabbids Land.

    [Image: NoA Twitter]

  • SEGA May Be Planning Sonic Reboot For 2014 [Rumor]

    Sonic the Hedgehog games follow a certain pattern, regardless of being in 2D or 3D. They all feature Sonic and pals entering zones, reaching the end and collecting rings along the way. It’s a tried and true formula that has served the franchise well since Sonic’s introduction on the Genesis in 1991. It seems that formula is no longer good enough if certain rumors turn out to be true.

    Sonic fan site TSSZ spoke to a source close to SEGA that said the company is exploring a Sonic reboot. He’s quick to point out that a reboot isn’t in development right now, but that Sonic Team is only exploring the details of a possible reboot. The team does have an idea that they are currently favoring over all the rest though.

    The source claims that the current reboot in talks has the basic premise of Sonic remaining the same. “Anything and everything else is under review” though which includes established Sonic canon like the supporting cast, including Tails. It would be a reboot as its meant to be – getting rid of everything and starting from scratch.

    The most interesting part of the rumors comes from how the team would handle zones. In previous Sonic games, even in expansive games like Sonic Adventure, the zones were still very linear and had a set of objectives for the player to complete. In the supposed reboot, zones would become open world and non-linear; containing a mess of objectives for Sonic to complete within them.

    The worst part of this reboot idea are the possible plans of monetization through collectible toys and items. The source uses the example of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure where players buy physical toys to scan them into the game. Imagine if you will having to buy toys of Sonic’s friends to unlock them as playable characters in the game.

    I don’t know about anybody else, but I thought Sonic Colors was the reboot Sonic needed. It returned the franchise to what it needed most – a focus on Sonic fighting Robotnik instead of world destroying fire demons and human princesses falling in love with anthropomorphized animals.

    Regardless, this is all rumor and speculation for now. TSSZ’s source even clarifies multiple times that this is all just preliminary discussion at the moment. The earliest we’ll see any movement on a possible Sonic reboot will be be next year.

    Even if these plans come to light and Sonic becomes a former shell of what he once was, we at least have Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 to take our minds off of it. It at least looks to keep Sonic doing what he does best.

    Do you think Sonic needs a reboot? If so, is the right path to take? Let us know in the comments.

  • Diablo III, New Call Of Duty Stars Of Activision’s 2012 Lineup

    Activision Blizzard has big plans for 2012 – Diablo III and a new Call of Duty are the headliners.

    In the company’s quarterly report, Activision Blizzard announced strong numbers in both digital and retail alongside new product releases that should have gamers excited for 2012.

    To appease the avid Blizzard fans, the company let drop in the report that Diablo III is targeting a Q2 launch this year. They report that the current beta and auction house testing is going well, so Diablo III should make its Q2 release window.

    blizzardlineup

    As for Blizzard’s other franchises, the new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is going to be detailed in more depth at a press event on March 19.

    In StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm news, they are adding in new multiplayer units. Blizzard is also going to be taking a “more active” role in the eSports community surrounding the game.

    Finally, Blizzard has multiple unannounced titles set for 2012 with one of them being Blizzard DOTA – a free-to-play online game. There is also the unannounced MMO that we’ve known about for a while.

    As for Call of Duty, as expected there will be a new release this year. The company announced that the series is now the “largest interactive entertainment franchise ever” in the U.S. and Europe.

    With each new Call of Duty release, the number of online players has grown exponentially. In the graph below, it shows the number of online players growing by the millions with each new game. Modern Warfare 3 saw a jump of 20 million online players over Black Ops to reach 40 million active monthly users across all Call of Duty games since the original Modern Warfare.

    callofdutyplayers

    Call of Duty ELITE, the multiplayer service for the game, has reached 7 million users worldwide with 1.5 million of them being paid users. They also announced more DLC than ever before to continue support for Modern Warfare 3. They also announced development of Call of Duty China, a free-to-play microtransaction based game for Asian markets.

    If you were wondering what Bungie was up to after they left the Halo franchise, they are hard at work on their new game for Activision that is set to be revealed at some point this year.

    Lastly, we can’t forget how amazing Spyro Skylanders has done for the company. The video game where players scan in actual toys to unlock new characters was Activision’s largest new IP launch ever. They sold over 20 million toys and it became the number one children’s title in 2011.

    The company took the opportunity to announce Skylanders Giants, new toys that are much larger than the original toys from last year. They will be all new characters with unique in-game powers. Thankfully, the toys will still use the same scanning device called the “Portal of Power” from last year. The toys will be sold in starter packs that come with the “Portal of Power,” expansion packs and stand-alone characters.

    Activision Blizzard is looking to have a great year and gamers, no matter the age or type, should find something to enjoy from the publisher in 2012.