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Skylanders: Swap-Force announced! (Fall 2013): New dev, new 2-part figures,...

fernoca

Member
(If old/posted, lock. Thanks to zulux21 for posting it at the Giants OT)

WCG352G.png


Trailer

General info, pictures and screenshots at:
-GiantBomb (1)
-Polygon (1, 2)

Summary:
-Interchangable/2-parts figures.
-Compatible with all previous figurines
-New/redesigned portal
-Skylanders can jump now, and they each have their own way of jumping
-Developed by Vicarious Visions
-New/HD engine made by them for Wii U/360/PS3.
-Wii version developed by Beenox
-3DS version developed by n-Space
-Toys for Bob is still involved, but working on "other things"

Figures:
-16 Swap-Force figures (for 256 possible combinations)
-16 new Skylanders
-16 "fan-favorites" (figures from previous games, redesigned and in new poses)
-8 new ligthcores
-Swap Forces figures are around the same size of the Giants

Starter Pack:
-Game
-Portal
-Two Swap Force figures
-One regular Skylander
-Stickers, cards and poster
(No MSRP yet, though Giants costed $74.99 compared to $69.99 of the first game)


UvsyfFv.jpg


A few screenshots:

(More at the links posted earlier)
 
New dev is interesting. I wonder if Skylanders is adopting a CoD style dev approach from now on or if Toys for Bob is just gearing up for next gen.
 

wildfire

Banned
Well I've been hesitant to get this but now that it seems like it will be a mix of Gauntlet gameplay and 3D platforming I'm interested.
 

Mistouze

user-friendly man-cashews
Didn't they just release the second game in the series? Activision trying to make that bubble burst before Disney comes in?
 
Didn't they just release the second game in the series? Activision trying to make that bubble burst before Disney comes in?
Last game was in October. Its a simple yearly franchise now.

Anywayz: Should be caught up with the series by the time this launches, so HYPE! New figures looks really cool and the swapping mechanic sounds really awesome.
 
D

Diggeh

Unconfirmed Member
I feel terrible for Beenox, having to make this.

Wish they were making a new super hero game instead. Ah well.

C'mon Matt. You know you want to do a Two Best Friends Play Skylanders. That'd be pretty hype. :)

Swap Force is a very fresh idea. I'm enamored with the Skylanders series, and having it built in HD from the ground up, along with a JUMP BUTTON, is an instant win.

Time will tell how Disney Infinity will perform, but I'm definitely moving Infinity to a summer game rather than a Christmas one.
 

fernoca

Member
The graphics look really, really good :O

Why is that?
The original game was developed as a Wii game, then ported to other platforms. The sequel, Gianst was built on that same engine. This one is built from the ground up using "HD assets" and a new engine on the 360/PS3/Wii U.

Should be noted that Vicarious Visions ported Giants to Wii U last year, and also managed to have the game running at 1080p (360/PS3 verisons were ported by Toys for Bob and were 720p). Not expecting the same this time, but at least they know their stuff.
 
I was in GAME yesterday and a mum and her son were holding up the line at the register with these damned things, lol.
He left with two little toy models and it cost her like 20 quid. Acti knows where the money is.
 

Haunted

Member
Countdown seems like a pretty cool design.


I wonder who of the Skylanders is the first to get popular enough for his own spinoff.
 

fernoca

Member
Here's some of the 16 new Skylanders so far. It appears as if some of the 16 will not be swappable (8 swappable/8 regular?)
The way the information is worded at the moment, is as if there will be 16 Swap Forces and 16 new/regular Skylanders (and 16 old/new poses).

Seems Countdown and Mystery are regular Skylanders, while Magna, Wash are Swaps; can also be seen by comparing the size in Countdown's-figure pic. (Swap Forces also seem to have the little gold crest on the base)
 

Sandfox

Member
It looks like they found a really nice gimmick to encourage sales.

Also, I'm guessing Wii U is the lead platform since they decided to make a new HD engine for this game. Vicarious Visions also made the Wii U version of Giants which I'm guessing was them gainng experience for this one.
 
D

Diggeh

Unconfirmed Member
GeekDad to the rescue!

This is a new game from a new developer with a new portal peripheral and 42 new figures. (!!!!)

Skylanders Swap Force introduces innovations this year that create different ways to play with the physical toys as well as new ways to play in-game. The 16 Swap Force characters have interchangeable torsos and legs that can be snapped together to create your own custom Skylanders. If you owned all the figures that would be 256 combinations.

Here are the headlines about Skylanders Swap Force:

  • 16 Swap Force Skylanders including Magna-Charge (Tech), Wash-Buckler (Water) and Blast-Zone (Fire).
    [*]16 new core Skylanders including Rollerbrawl (Undead) and Countdown (Fire).
    [*]16 Series 3 Returning Skylanders including Eruptor and Stealth Elf.
    [*]8 new Lightcore Skylanders.
    [*]8 new Swap Force areas, equivalent of Elemental Zones but with more varied play. (ADVENTURE PACKS?)
    [*]1 new Portal.

The bad news in that list is the requirement to buy a new portal. I asked Guha Bala, Studio Lead for Skylanders Swap Force, why we couldn’t use our existing portals for Swap Force.
“Our commitment is that every time we release there’s a new level of magic in both the toys and the game so we need to upgrade the portal which will support all the new and old toys.”

I was also a little surprised that, despite the introduction of jumping, there is still only two player local co-operative play — particularly when Disney Infinity has four player online. Bala explained his thinking here.
“The co-op play is local which reflects our demographic. What we find is that this is about children playing with each other rather than anonymous people online. This is very much a living room experience.”

This is certainly a good point. And with the Swap Force mechanic giving the physical toys a semi-articulated feel the possibilities for off-console play are much greater too. You can even attach two leg parts together to create your own comical Skylanders Swap Force mutants — although they won’t be recognized by the game.

RIP Wallet
The Great Skylanders Funding War
2011-2013
 
The new characters seem to have lost most of their charm, not much personality going on there, at least from my perspective.
 
New portal? It's definitely nice that they're improving the game, but at the same time, that is still really annoying and definitely means I'll have to put this off, especially with how much else they'll is I'll be wanting this year and how tight my funds will likely be.

Something else that's disappointing is sticking with only 2-player local co-op. I mean, I can kind of understand their reasoning for not having online co-op. But if they were going to redesign the portal anyway, couldn't they have at least added support for 4-player local co-op? I mean, I have no use for it personally, but this seems to be the perfect kind of game to have the whole family able to play at once or to let a kid play with several of their friends at once, instead of just one. Seems their really limiting it's potential by keeping it to just 2-players and like I said, though I have no use for that myself, all the same, this just seems to be a type of game that screams to be expanded to four players and it really is a shame they're not using this opportunity with the new portal to add that aspect to the series.

Also, on a personal note, I have to say: I feel sorry for the people who work in retail and will have to try and sell this game (which will probably end up including myself again). Not that these are bad games or anything--far from it. It's just that it's pure hell trying to explain everything that you actually need to know about these games to parents who don't know the first thing about the series who were just trying to get a nice Christmas gift for their kids (who I also have a lot of sympathy for--there's a lot to know about this series and Activision isn't exactly making it easy to just jump in without any worries. Granted, this time you will just be able to buy the Starter Pack of the newest game and be completely fine for the time being, but if you're actually trying to be a good parent and learn a bit about the game you're buying your kids, it's easy to get swamped and just feel overwhelmed trying to keep track of everything, especially if you're not a NeoGAF poster and don't know much about games and such period).

Having had to handle it myself last year, it was bad enough with just Giants and trying to explain the difference between the Spyro's Adventure and Giants, the difference between the Starter and Portal Owner's Pack for Giants, that the Portal from Spyro's Adventure works for Giants, what was actually different about the Giant figurines, that all the old figurines from Spyro's Adventure work on Giants, but that the new figurines don't work with SA, what the deal with Series 2 figures was, and what the deal with the Lightcore figures was (especially since some of them were SA characters and some of them were from Giants). And of course, the basic idea behind the games themselves and stuff like he idea behind the 8 different elements and such. Just a lot of info for parents who were just trying to get something really nice for their kids for Christmas to keep track of, who knew nothing about what this "Skylanders" thing even was and had no clue there was so much to it and so it's easy for them to be lost in it all and just end up confused trying to digest it all at once.

Now, adding on this third game, on top of still having to explain a lot of that old stuff for any of it to really make sense at all, you have to explain how the old figures work with the new game again, but the old portal doesn't and so you have no choice but getting a Starter Pack for this game, the idea behind the Swap-Force figures and which games the Series 3 and new Lightcore figures will work with? That... doesn't exactly sound like my idea of a good time at all. Again, any retail workers who have to deal with this and any parents trying to get into this for the first time despite not knowing much about the series (again, it's not really that hard to or anything, but it's still easy to get overwhelmed by everything, especially if you don't know where to look for the important info): you have my sympathies and best of luck to you. xD

Anyway, shifting gears again, the game definitely looks better and the concept between the Swap Force figures themselves is interesting. Probably not going to get this entry myself like I said due to financial reasons, but definitely going to keep tabs on this though. I do worry though that unless they have a TV series or something ready to go by the time this one launches, that this will be the point that the series starts declining/going down hill already due to a combination of existing customers just feeling fleeced by having to buy a new portal again and the series getting a bit too confusing and just overwhelming-feeling to invite in new customers. Kind of really hope I'm wrong about that, as it would be a shame to see the series start dying already, but is something I fear could easily happen here from what has been revealed bout this, if Activision isn't extremely careful about how they handle this at least.
 

Brinbe

Member
Have a few relatives that are really into this (both kids and adults!) and it's always reasonably fun to play. Should be a better entry than Giants at the very least.
 
Visuals look much better, and the Wii U version should be interesting (Gamepad + NFC).

why do people always think the wii u gamepad NFC can be used for skylanders? IT CAN NOT ;) you'll need a portal for that, because data is always interchaning between the skylander and the portal, if you would use the NFC in the gamepad you'd have to use a wiimote to play ;)
 
reposting from the other thread:

I actually liked this swap concept, it would be fun to build and play with my 5 years old boy. But I really dislike that we are getting 16 new reposed characters (and in less extend also 8 new lightcores). It feels a cheap way to fill the roster, and turn the completeness of a collection a big expend. I understand that the old figures should be available for new gamers, but it could the the same old pose.

Due to a strong relation with the Disney brand (childhood memories) I really feel inclined to collect Infinity figures (yeah, the current roster does not appeal to me as much, but I hope for more classical characters in the near future).

Since I have all Spyro's Adventure basic/legendary figures and I am completing the same set for Giants (including all reposed and lightcore) it will be nice to continue the collection with Swap Force. However the reposed figures is a point against it. At least Activision should care to set the price right for the figures/sets, Giants was way too expensive in relation to Spyro's Adventure.

[Edited]
16 swap-force skylanders
16 new skylanders
16 reposed skylanders
8 lightcore skylanders

56 figures in the new game. Pretty expensive, specially if they continue to bundle new characters with old reposed in triple packs.
 
reposting from the other thread:

I actually liked this swap concept, it would be fun to build and play with my 5 years old boy. But I really dislike that we are getting 16 new reposed characters (and in less extend also 8 new lightcores). It feels a cheap way to fill the roster, and turn the completeness of a collection a big expend. I understand that the old figures should be available for new gamers, but it could the the same old pose.

[Edited]
16 swap-force skylanders
16 new skylanders
16 reposed skylanders
8 lightcore skylanders

56 figures in the new game. Pretty expensive, specially if they continue to bundle new characters with old reposed in triple packs.

Don't collect them all? I restricted my son to only new characters with Giants unless they were a variant in game, like the LightCore's or Legendaries. Basic Series 2 figures were left on the shelf.
 
Don't collect them all? I restricted my son to only new characters with Giants unless they were a variant in game, like the LightCore's or Legendaries. Basic Series 2 figures were left on the shelf.

Yeah, that would be an idea, unless Activision continues to bundle new with old caracters. Triple packs are always the cheap way to get all figures, but in Giants you cannot get 3packs of only new figures.
 
Yeah, that would be an idea, unless Activision continues to bundle new with old caracters. Triple packs are always the cheap way to get all figures, but in Giants you cannot get 3packs of only new figures.

Yeah, I wasn't pleased with that tactic, but I stuck to my guns and bought only single packs. I'm being a bit more canny about where I shop now though, always trying to find the best deals and if you don't buy asap, shops often put deals on the last Wave when a new one is about to hit.
 
Random Giants question - Do you need one giant of each element or just one character of each element to see all the content?

Swap Force looks interesting (jumping is always a welcomed addition to games). I might grab Giants for the Wii U since I've been meaning to jump on the skylanders train for awhile. You can basically get through the game with one of each element right?
 
Is there a luckier third party than Activision?

They've harvested and drained Guitar Hero (dragging down a whole sub-genre of games with it), then publish arguably the best-selling FPS of all time, now they've got this hit on their hands. What the hell...
 
Reminds me of these things you used to get with chocolate & ice cream; a little animal toy that had interchangeable parts. The concept was very amusing... and this honestly sounds thoroughly interesting translated to a video game. Certainly better than Giants' "Just make them bigger" thing.
 

Mit-

Member
I get that it's a yearly franchise but why would they announce this 4 months after Giants, and especially in such detail? It's going to confuse the masses and get kids excited for something coming much later than they expect.
 
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