While shoveling infinite amounts of snow I had a Tweet from Philip notifying me that Ninjini would be hitting shelves at most Toys'R'Us stores tomorrow!
I just finished supper and refreshed my inbox to finally see the "Hot Toy Alert" check it out:
Several folks have already gotten their Ninjinis from Toys'R'Us. This technically shouldn't happen, but it is what some stores do for known, or regular customers.
There have been confirmed reports of stores having either A: No Clue about It, B: as few as 8, and C: As many as 30-40.
The Shipping Crate for Ninjini includes the following: 2 Ninjini, 2 Thumpback, 1 Eye-Brawl, and 1 Crusher.
So, if your store tells you that have X crates, simply multiply that by 2 and you'll know how many Ninjinis they should have on hand...
If you recall from my Weekly Update, my local TRU had FINALLY stocked the new Giants...With the release expected nation wide, I would think they have likely been sitting on Ninjini for awhile. Scarlet Ninjini is also in the mix, but we still have no confirmation on when she will be released, or where...
What is really disturbing though is the PR stunt by Toys'R'Us at times square in new york city where they made sure to stress that the Ninjini figures they were giving out would not be available in stores for MONTHS. That is pretty sad in all honesty. It was a cool promotion for the handful of people that could show up in the early morning of a workday in one area, but stretching the truth like that was tasteless...
I say it all the time, but DO NOT BUY SKYLANDERS FROM ebay! Unless you are paying less than retail, never do it...It fuels the people that clear shelves and make a living scalping things...
As for me and Ninjini...I am not sure. I have just learned to be disappointed by anything that TRU sends out a "hot toy alert" for because they always seem to stretch things out (kind of like times square). I have yet to hit the store on release day for any Skylanders related merchandise when they haven't been cleaned out and upon inquiring I find from employees they had very limited quantities.
I honestly might just wait for GameStop or Amazon.
Toys'R'Us is great when they have sales, but the rest of the time they just handle promotions poorly and tend to over hype things.
If you do hit up your store tomorrow I would suggest you have them price match, although with Ninjini not out anywhere else, I'm not sure they will do it...There is no reason to charge an extra $1 over everyone else in the retail world.
As usual, if I venture out and land her I will post up...
That said, they still seem to have the Buy One Get One 40% Off, so you could at least take advantage of that one...it kind of offsets the $1 extra price point.
I've yet to hear of anyone confirming this, BUT there is also a small chance they will have other Wave 4 Skylanders like S2 Spyro, S2 Wrecking Ball, and maybe even L-LC Chill. If we don't see Chill with this grouping, I think we will see her before Easter, kind of like Dragon's Peak last year.
Well...good luck! Hopefully there is the stock to match the hype this time. I wouldn't be shocked if a lot of the stock isn't held back until Sunday...the day AFTER the 40% Off Sale will end, lol.
Well, I just wrapped up Chapters 12 and 13 on the Skylanders Giants Hard File and am seriously considering just recording mass upgrades on the Newlanders and Giants, BUT that is another story....what you care about at 6 AM is simple...
Molten Hot Dog is now up for order on Walmart.com for "Site-to-Store" or "Home Delivery."
As you know, I mentioned in the Weekly Update, that MHD was already on the west coast and making his way east...
I checked both Thursday and Friday night and we still had nothing.
If you want to avoid the rush, or potential scalper sprees, you can order from the comfort of home...
I still stand firm that this will be east to come by, but some people sleep better with peace of mind...
It is a little late, but I figure I just as well get the Weekly Update cranked out...
Skylanders Hunting
Well, we will get started with Skylanders Hunting. Why?
Here is why...very soon we should see Molten Hot Dog, Legendary LightCore Chill, and even Wave 4...As of right now, nothing it set in stone, but we should know more very soon.
Molten Hot Dog
I can say that Molten Hot Dog IS HERE though. Wednesday he started showing up in California Walmarts. As of writing this (3 AM 2/22/13) I've tracked him via ebay all the way to eastern Arizona...It is just a matter of time for him to show up across the US. I still, adamantly predict that he will be just as easy to obtain as all Walmart Exclusives...So, just be patient and buy him for $9.99.
Legendary Light Core Chill
Is still in Canada at TRU...I've yet to hear word of her crossing the border just yet.
Wave 4: Spyro, Wrecking Ball, and Ninjini
Are still overseas...we should know more on them soon. With employees seizing virtually all variants and "hot" figures, once the boxes filter in there will be ebay listings. I haven't skimmed things close enough to monitor whether or not our friends across the pond are seeing the remaining LightCore as well...Stay tuned for updates!
That said, I am happy to report a few firsts tonight. Every store I went in (and I hit them all minus best buy) had traces of a recent stock of Wave 3. Target and Walmart also had evidence that Wave 1 had been somewhat restocked...most notably, Terrafin. Nonetheless, here are the highlights:
Target:
Toys'R'Us:
Walmart:
So, what did you see?
Target had traces of a W1 restock...Plus, this is the first time in forever I have seen any Giants at this store. No Hot Head, EB, or TB, BUT they did have pretty much all of W3 minus Prism Break.
Toys'R'Us: Holy cow (haven't said that in a decade or so, lol). This was the first time I have seen Eye Brawl and Thumpback in mass quantities...I'd say there were 13 Eye-Brawls and 14 Thumpbacks. They had quite a few Hot Heads and few W3 remnants, most notably Cynder.
Walmart: Man do I regret even entering that place. My only motivation was of course, Molten Hot Dog. Everyhwere I went tonight was dead...we had rain, sleet, and snow over night and it was freaking cold all day. Naturally, that means some people are pre-destined to wander aimlessly through the aisles of Walmart. It has to be the most crowded I've had to deal with since the holiday season...Granted, I rarely set foot in the place, but geez...this almost makes me want to forego Molten Hot Dog. This was also about the smallest selection I've seen at this particular store. They did have some W3 singles as well as Hot Head and Thumpback, but no Eye-Brawl. This particular store didn't have any sign of a special display either. If not for the picture it would have been wasted time. Other big highlight was 2 Lightning Rod singles.
GameStop: Although not pictured, they did have the best stock, albeit in the smallest quantities, of Wave 3.
Just for the record, the Triple Packs I first reported back in January (5 & 6)...I have NEVER seen them anywhere since. I'm sure they are shipping, but they must be going FAST.
As of starting this blog post, Part 83 went LIVE on YouTube. The uploads tonight were 81-83 which cover Intros, Stats, Upgrades, and Heroics for Cynder, Stealth Elf, and Eruptor respectively.
If you take the above link you can see what Parts 84 and beyond will be...I'll continue that trend to encourage people to actually use the link!
I will tell you this: Parts 89-91 will cover Chapter 16 and the final battle with Kaos...I only used Newlanders.
Part 92 just does random stuff like check accolades, but the real draw will be showcasing Hatterson...who has become a popular point of discussion here lately. Currently it is the last video to be edited and ready to upload.
Part 93-94 will feature Giants ONLY taking on Kaos.
Parts 95-100 will highlight the Adventure Packs...And yes, I do think it is cool we finished on Part 100 :D
The plan now is to continue working on my "Hard File" to help the Legendaries level up etc.
The next round of recordings will likely be upgrades and/or more intros if I land W4 characters etc. Following the upgrades I will try to 3 Star each Chapter by getting the Time Goals taken care of!
After the upgrades and Time Goals, I will begin Nightmare Mode. I am unsure if I will 3 Star Nightmare Mode, or just do a quick playthrough to move on to another title. The Nightmare Mode poll has a day left to vote, but it is overwhelmingly in favor of me recording Nightmare Mode...I wasn't sure if people would want to see it...clearly it is still of interest.
Man, this has turned out to be pretty popular yet again! As of writing this, most polls were getting close to 100 Votes! I think we have some killer matches in this one, and a few are within 10 votes...Boomer and Sprocket continue to remain 50/50.
I will likely stretch this one into Round 2 etc, but I also plan to launch some new Poll Battles, complete with supporting vids...so stay tuned.
If you've got ideas, feel free to post up!
Blog Poll Archive
Speaking of Polls, earlier this week I created the Blog Poll Archive to make an easy way to track and revisit your favorite polls...I added it to the "1ofWiisdom Specials" on the Right Hand Side of the Blog...Here is the direct link: http://www.1ofwiisdom.blogspot.com/2013/02/blog-poll-archive.html
Skylanders Trading Cards
This one had become a hot topic the last few days...namely, "Why don't you open any more Skylander Cards?" Well, the answer was simple...I couldn't find any! Note that past tense in that previous sentence. After posting to both Twitter and Google + about it, guess what I found at Target tonight? Yep...Skylander cards! Granted, someone had stashed the Jumbo Packs behind Garbage Pail kids, but I took the time to salvage them...You should see 2 new "opening" vids either this weekend, or early next week.
Movie Review: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
Yep...expect one. If you follow on Twitter, you likely saw me mention I watched my first movie in forever last night...Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva...I will do a combo unboxing and review of the movie...I'll keep it fairly basic...stay tuned! It should be up over the weekend or early next week as well.
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure 3DS UPDATE
If you recall, I was working hot and heavy on this one up until getting on a Layton kick...Last night, after the Layton movie, I picked it back up...
For the first time ever, I pulled one of my 2 "Starters" and put someone else on...That was really my hold up...I have rescued 4 of the 5 seekers and just have a little left in the last area, but was really hurting from all the missed "Elemental Challenges" since I had ONLY used Dark Spyro and Ignitor the ENTIRE TIME. Well, I am happy to say Warnado entered the picture and cleaned house on the Air Element stuff...I got the Portal out and will be working towards wrapping it up and checking out the Adventure Packs.
And just for the record, I have still yet to play Sklanders Giants 3DS, lol. One SSA is taken care of, I will plug it on the 3DS and go to town.
Currently Playing
Wii: Skylanders Giants
Wii: Wii Fit Plus
Wii U: Darksiders II (although it has been 2 + weeks)
Wii U: Madden 2013: My Nephew has been enjoying us playing on the same team
3DS: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
3DS: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
3DS: Mario Tennis (Nephew got back into it...I'm working towards 20+ Street Pass Matches)
3DS: Find Mii II (Still vs Dark Lord for 3rd Time)
Currently Listening
Auto Audio (In the Car/Truck): Gary Allan "Set You Free" and "Get Off On the Pain"
Home Audio (At Home): Anna Nalick's 2 AM and Audioslave's "Audioslave"
--Actually, the track right now is "Shadow on the Sun," a track I really like...especially the intro.
Conclusion
Well, it is now really late...but hey, I got the Weekly Blog Update done on time...just like old times!
I hope to edit Parts 93-100 this weekend and have them ready to upload...I will also be uploading Parts 94-86 and beyond etc.
If I get the time you should see new Skylanders Giants Card Opening vids as well as the Professor Layton movie review.
Don't forget you can still vote for how you'd like me to record upgrades AND of course, the Castaways vs Newlanders polls are going strong if you've yet to vote.
Hope everyone is ready for the weekend! Good luck Giant hunting and if you come across any finds, let me know! I will keep monitoring for Molten Hot Dog and check the ads for L-LC Chill etc. Anything I find out, I'll post up...
I'm off to Skylands...if my mattress is Skylands anyway...
Blog Poll #42 is pretty cool. It is a structured elemental battle between the Series 1 Castaways and the Newlanders in Skylanders Giants.
What I want to know is simply which of the dueling, same element Skylanders do you like the best.
Here is how they stack up:
ELEMENT-CASTAWAY-NEWLANDER
Air: Warnado vs Jet-Vac
Earth: Dino-Rang vs Flashwing
Fire: Sunburn vs Hot Dog
Life: Camo vs Shroomboom
Magic: Voodood vs Pop Fizz
Tech: Boomer vs Sprocket
Undead: Ghost Roaster vs Fright Rider
Water: Wham-Shell vs Chill
I think this poll is truly going to be epic!! There are some great matchups listed above! And it is the ultimate showdown...old vs new, the forgotten vs the new kid, a true clash of titans! This will pit what is "hot and trendy" vs a few fan favorites from the first game. I can't wait to see the results!
Just so we are clear, here are the definitions as referenced in this poll:
Castaway: One of the Eight Original Skylanders who was not brought back with a Series 2 repose for Skylanders Giants.
Newlander: One of the Eight Band New, regular size Skylanders introduced in Skylanders Giants.
You can vote ONCE in EACH poll. That means if you are all about the newlanders you can vote for each of them. The polls are located (as always) on the RH Side of the Blog, just below the Twitter Feed.
Cast your vote, spread the word, and help your favorite Skylander prevail in battle...If there is enough interest in this line-up, I will continue it on to a Round 2 etc by some means yet to be determined!
Feel free to comment with who you voted for and why...
Let the Battle begin!!!
Round 1 Results:
Round 2 Matches:
Round 2 Results:
Round 3 Matches:
Round 3 Results:
Round 4 Matches:
Round 4 Results:
Round 5 Matches
Round 5 Results
Round 6 Matches:
Round 6 Results
Round 4 & 5 Tie Updates:
Round 7 Matches
Round 7 Results
Round 8 Matches
Round 8 Results
Sudden Death Results
With Camo defeating Pop Fizz 30-19, we now have conclusive results and standings for the main run of Castaways vs Newlanders! Here are the final results:
Castaways
1. Camo (8-0)
2. Ghost Roaster (7-1)
3. Wham-Shell (7-1)
4. Sunburn (6-2)
5. Dino-Rang (5-3)
6. Boomer (5-3)
7. Warnado (5-3)
8. Voodood (3-5)
Newlanders
1. Hot Dog (6-2)
2. Pop Fizz (5-3)
3. Fright Rider (3-5)
4. Jet-Vac (1-7)
5. Flashwing (1-7)
6. Shroomboom (1-7)
7. Sprocket (1-7)
8. Chill (0-8)
The plan is to now enter into a Castaways vs Castaways and Newlanders vs Newlanders "second half of the season" if you will...Essentially each Skylander has 7 more matches to improve their mark. Camo could finish 15-0 (8-0) (7-0) while Chill could finish 0-15 (0-8)(0-7). It should be a lot of fun with some epic showdowns and what should be very competitive matches...Stay tuned for the next round!
Blog Poll #41 asks, "How to Record Skylanders Giants Upgrades?"
Basically that is the best "short" way of asking, how would you prefer to see me record the Skylanders Giants upgrades?
-By Element (Giant, Newlander, S2 of the same element)
-By Groupings
--Series 2
--Newlanders
--Giants
-Just Randomly
To expand on that so you fully understand what I'm trying to convey...I plan to start recording upgrades pretty soon. I will make each character a stand alone video, but I am wondering how you would like to see them ordered.
Do you want to see all the Giants done back-to-back? Or, would you prefer to see an element done in order (Giant, Newlander, Series 2) etc.
I can also just do it randomly...although in all honestly I will follow some structure.
This isn't a big deal, and I may tweak it regardless of how people vote...but I was curious of your opinions and of course, if anyone had any cool ideas...If so, post them here as a response to the blog!
Blog Poll #40 asked, "Who Will Win Super Bowl XLVII, the 'Bro Bow?'"
I apologize for not getting this one up any earlier, but I was very busy and honestly it slipped my mind being a good thing to ask everyone...I posted it on other sites/forums I frequent, but lost a few days before realizing it would be good to ask here...
Anyway, it was super close...just like the game...but by a margin of 2 votes, readers picked the 49ers over the Ravens.
49ers 12 Votes, 54%
Ravens: 10 Votes, 45%
It would have been cool to see if that ratio maintained itself over a longer time span...Next year I'll get it up earlier...I'll do the same for the NBA Finals, World Series, and maybe a few other sporting events.
Personally I wanted the 49ers to win. I will note that I am a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan and it is hard to pull for San Fransisco because of that, BUT I also play fantasy and really like a lot of the players on SF...plus I liked Harbaugh when he QBd for the Colts.
Frank Gore has been a fantasy staple for me as has Patrick Willis, who grew up a Cowboys fan. Crabtree made "the catch" against Texas back a few year ago and it is nice to see him coming along in the offense.
While I did have Ray Rice this year, I am just not big on the Ravens. I've always liked Boldin...Torrey Smith was a great story this year, and I enjoyed Jacoby Jones while he played for Houston, but overall it was no contest...I wanted SF to dominate them.
Oh well...win some, loose some...it was memorable (blackout, ha!) and turned out to be pretty close.
Thanks to everyone who was on in the time window to vote...again, I'll get the polls up SOONER next time!
Blog Poll #39 asked, "Which Battle Pack Do You Like Better?"
Obviously the issue here is that we had to wait on Scorpion Striker to release...
That likely impacted the overall votes as what is fresh/new tends to influence the average person...I am still not sure that the results would have been much different if they were both released at the same time. While I really like Chop Chop, I just feel like Chop Chop + Shroomboom will have a tough time with Zap + Hot Dog as those later characters tend to resonate better with most fans. That said, here are the results:
All in all we had over 200 votes, which is great for a short termed poll.
Hot Dog emerged #1, but yet again I have to question if his recent release didn't sway folks in that direction...I may poll this one again later on towards summer and see if answers change.
That said, I'm not surprised that he was a top vote getter given how well he will connect with most players. I was surprised to see Pop Fizz perform so well, I had him more mid-low pack in my expectations...I assume he must have hit home with many players. 3-6 was VERY TIGHT with only 8 votes separating #3 Jet-Vac from #6 Shroomboom. I honestly thought Chill would have performed a bit better, but I was wrong.
The thing I am LEAST surprised about is Sprocket. She was the least anticipated and it looks like she will likely remain a bottom dweller in most circles.
I have yet to upgrade anyone at this point so a lot can change...I will make a post and two vids regarding my overall rankings of these 8 Newlanders and how I rate them aesthetically. For a teaser, I will tell you that unless Sprocket's upgrade are hilarious, deal a ton of damage, and are easy to implement she will be the 8th slot in my overall list as well...
Stay tuned for more on this topic and thanks to all who voted!
Blog Poll #37 asked, "Kaos Battle Dilemna?" Which was of course expanded upon as whether you would prefer to see me take on Kaos with "Stock" or "Upgraded" Skylanders. Here are the results:
As you can see, the consensus was to use upgraded Skylanders by a 50-16 (+34) margin.
However, I opted to do the opposite...but I am doing both! Allow me to explain...
My thoughts were since we began on the Easy File, it made sense to make it as tough as possible against Kaos...The logic is that the more Skylanders we loose, the more we get to use in the battle. Well, that is what I wound up doing.
The other, and more significant, reason is that going box-stock will allow me to upload the "upgrades" in a better structured set-up.
So, for those of you reading...I will be taking on Kaos with "box-stock" Newlanders in roughly Part 90-91 and then with the "box-stock" Giants around Part 93-94.
And, for everyone that wanted to see upgraded Skylanders take on the lord of darkness, fear not...I will do just that in the Nightmare Mode Playthough!
I will be taking care of that tonight, hopefully as I will update you on the Skylanders Giants Playthrough, recap some polls, launch some new polls, and of course make sure you've seen the two posts on Skylanders Swap Force (one with basic info, and another with the character roster).
So, how do you like Molten Hot Dog? The best news here is that this is a Walmart Exclusive. While I am not a big fan of the chain (mainly bc they are always packed), it is a great thing because they are about the only chain that does a good job of keeping their variants on the shelf. With that in mind, I do not think it will be tough to land Molten Hot Dog.
The other big perk to this set up is that unlike many had speculated (myself included) we will NOT have to buy a Scorpion Striker Battle Pack at Walmart to land Molten Hot Dog. Presumably they should start having them after the GameStop window closes and simultaneously have the Molten Hot Dog Single Pack for those looking to add him to their collection, or for those who simply don't care for the battle pack and magic items etc.
This could change when I see him in person, but right now, I have to give my personal preference award to regular old Hot Dog...he just looks better in flame red...the yellow looks like he rolled around in mustard. Nonetheless, I look forward to adding him to my collection to have both upgrade paths active at the same time!
Similarly, if you are a Molten Hot Dog fanatic, I spotted this on Amazon a few nights ago:
It will retail for $5.99, but shows to not ship until May. The earlier Quiz Quest Books have not impressed me, but this might be worth looking into...Here is the link
Before we get too far away from Molten Hot Dog, I want to bring up the good chance that we see Jade Flashwing, Polar Whirlwind, and Scarlet Ninjini show up as other store exclusives....The most likely outlets being Target, GameStop, and yet again Walmart. These are known, in-game variants AND distinct from others like Stone Zook, Sparkle Sprocket, etc.
I had long ago speculated we might have Triple Pack #9 be Molten Hot Dog, Jade Flashwing, and Polar Whirlwind...I guess that isn't as likely now, but it would have still been a nice gesture to fans from Activision IF it came with acknowledgment PRIOR to all the others being released in single pack form.
Other Pending Characters
Before we get too wrapped up on an in-game variant, what about the "yet to be released" Skylanders? Great question! At this point no one really knows when Wave 4 will hit. I would hope that we would see (finally) S2 Spyro, S2 Wrecking Ball, and S2 Drobot along with perhaps another LightCore release (Pop Fizz, Hex, etc). We still need TRU to drop L-Chill. I have to wonder if she won't be treated much like L-Trigger Happy.
Ninjini was given away at TRU in Times Square (yes I know, I don't live in New York either...and if I did I would be at work on a Tuesday). There are all sort of ways to question what they did, why the did it, what they were thinking (if they were thinking), and how it doesn't cater more to scalpers than core fans, and in particular children (how many 8 year olds get to hop in their Civic or hail a taxi and stand outside of TRU in Times Square for 4 hours in the cold while missing Math, History, and Science class? But I digress...).
Apparently, despite completely botching almost every BIG Skylanders event locally with 2-5 of each "new" and "highly demanded" figure, TRU and Activision stepped up with a LOT of Ninjini figures...most of which are now on ebay for 10x retail.
Again though, regardless of how stupid the timing was, it was a decent gesture and a nice way to kick off the announcement of Skylanders Swap Force and more importantly, their presence at the Toy Fair.
Metallic Blue Chop Chop 2013 Toy Fair Exclusive
And by the way, this year's Toy Fair Exclusive is a wicked-cool looking Chop Chop that I am dubbing "Metallic Blue." If Activision wants to send one my way, I will gladly accept it and introduce it! These are hard to find and will likely wind up going on ebay for crazy prices. The Toy Fair is kind of an "insider" trade show, so unless you are in the business you kind of don't get access to it. It would be nice if a few of them were kicked around to the core fan base, but oh well. They really did a nice job on this one imo:
Please note that I usually like to give credit for "non-stock" or readily available photos, but this came from the first link of images...an ebay sale. Where there are a TON more of these things...it makes you wonder if anyone that got one actually appreciates them and keeps them for their own collection, kids, or even just display at their store. I'd give $10 for one, but not $150+
Skylanders Swap Force
I covered this one in great detail on Tuesday night. I have what I believe to be as much info as possible including a post with general info and my personal thoughts as well as a stand alone post on the character roster. You can find both of them here:
I was just on Amazon checking around on some things and if you have not gotten Thumpback or Eye Brawl, it looks like you can order both right now as they will be in stock on February 11th. Also of note is that GameStop has had them very regularly now (online). You should be able to land them much easier now than just a few weeks ago. That said, I've still never seen them in stores aside from when I got them.
Also in-stock right now on Amazon and GameStop is Light Core Shroomboom! I saw him for the first time in person tonight at Target. It looked like they had just gotten a shipment of LC Shroomboom and Jet-Vac, as well as the others with their new "I Light Up" stickers.
Tough to Find Early Releases
There was still no signs of popular characters like: Slam Bam, Terrafin, Fright Rider, Chill etc. I was checking for Cassie and Flameslinger is among those missing in action as of late.
My local Target FINALLY had Giants again (still no Granite Crusher...I truly think I got the last two they had and have had on launch day). It was of course Swarm, Bouncer, and Crusher.
The only S2 from Wave 3 that seems to be easy to find is Cynder...that is kind of to be expected with most people getting the Starter Pack instead of the Portal Owner's Pack.
The most common in my area remains Sprocket...she is like the Boomer of Giants it seems...just doesn't sell that well. Stump Smash was around and a very small number of single Pop Fizz characters were present....I would almost swear that the blue is darker than the one I got in a Triple Pack, kind of like what we saw with Stump Smash last time. At another local store the most common is Drill Sergeant, which oddly enough, is never present at Target...go figure.
Skylanders Giants Playthrough
Well, I had planned to upload videos tonight, that isn't happening...these videos have been ready for a LONG TIME. I think where we left off I am ready to upload Chapter 13 "The Oracle." As you may have guessed, this one will consist of several parts.
Past that I have up through Chapter 15 edited and ready to go...
Following those chapters will be the Intro and Heroics on Thumpback and Eye Brawl etc.
The big news of the night in regards to the playthrough is what happened last night. Finally, ALL of the GIANTS and NEWLANDERS are ready to battle Kaos! They are still 100% box stock in terms of upgrades, BUT I have them done with all of the Speed and "tough" (ie Drobot, Double Trouble, and Zap) Heroic Challenges.
The next time I record it will probably be the final chapter and battle vs Kaos.
That said, after wrapping up the key heroics last night, I went thru Chapter 8 in my "Hard" file. I got some key things done...First off, the part with the fiery furnace allows you go go in and back out over-and-over, which allows Hot Dog to complete his top tier quest of chasing birds away.
Speaking of birds, I replayed the level 2 additional times to get Jet-Vac's top tier quest taken care of with all three figures (Jet-Vac, Legendary Jet-Vac, and LC Jet-Vac).
The other cool offering here is the ability to let Fire Element Skylanders take out evil water minions...I accomplished that with every orange based Fire Element Skylander I have...
All-in-all a very productive night!
I plan to eventually make a new blog post covering quests and offering tips etc. Stay tuned for that.
Currently Playing
Wii: Skylanders Giants
Wii: Wii Fit Plus
Wii U: Darksiders II
3DS: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (although I'm debating going straight to the Miracle Mask)
3DS: Find Mii II (almost done for the 3rd time...currently battling the Ultimate Ghost)
Currently Listening
Auto Audio (In the Car): Gary Allan "Set You Free"
Home Audio (At the House): Theory of a Deadman, Sixpence None the Richer, Gary Allan
About to Play
Chapter 9 "Kaos' Castle" on the Hard File of Giants (Wii)...then off to bed!
Conclusion
It got way later than I had intended for it to get before wring this, but I suppose that is how things go for me...
That said, as soon as I get some free time I'll start the next batch of vids (Ch 13, 14, and 15) uploading. I also hope to record the final battle vs Kaos very soon. The plan is to do it multiple times (ie box-stock Newlanders, box-stock Giants, castaways (because I like so many of them), and then repeating with upgraded Newlanders and upgraded Giants). And fear not, I havent forgotten about the Adventure Packs...it is just so nice to do things numerically in-order I am going to take them on AFTER Kaos.
I will have new polls up this weekend!
Well, I hope everyone has had good luck landing Thumpback and Eye Brawl. Similarly, if you haven't already checked out my blog posts on Skylanders Swap Force, please do so! I am off to Kaos' Castle!
TBA, Most Likely mid-October 2013
*Update June 7th, 2013...Release Date Confirmed: Sunday, October 13th, 2013
Platforms and Developers
Nintendo Wii U: Vicarious Visions (Previously Developed Spyro's Adventure 3DS)
Nintendo Wii: Beenox
Nintendo 3DS: n-Space (Previously developed Giants 3DS)
Microsoft XBOX: Vicarious Visions
Sony Playstation 3: Vicarious Visions
*Odd note that Toys for Bob was not tasked with developing the console versions any longer...That said, I have read they are still very closely involved...whatever that may mean.
*Update 5/2013: Toys for Bob is developing a NEW Skylanders game...Apparently Activison wants to keep them on the developmental lead, while tasking other studios with creating the spin-offs etc. They will apparently alternate, giving each entry 2 years to develop.
Purchasing Options
Starter Pack
It looks like everyone will have to go with a Stater Pack this time around since Swap Force will require a brand new Portal of Power. That said, I've always felt the Starter Packs provided a better value. Hopefully the portals (console anyway) will be wired...I have really enjoyed not expending the extra batteries on the portal.
The better news is that each Starter Pack will contain: the new Portal of Power, a "returning" Skylander, and 2 New Swap Force Skylanders. As of now we expect this to be Wash Buckler, Blast Zone, and S3 Stealth Elf (complete with her even stealthier ninja attire!). [Thanks to Nigel for the mention].
Starter Packs: $74.99
Swap Force Skylander: $14.99
Core Skylander: $9.99
Background Story
Every 100 years a magical volcano in Cloudbreak Islands erupts and replenishes the magic in Skylands. The Swap Force Skylanders were caught in an eruption and acquired their magical, swapping abilities. As expected, Kaos comes into play and plans to use the volcano to spread Darkness over all of Skylands.
Backwards Compatibility
Before we go into too much detail on the "new," let's talk about the old. Before you start sweating bullets and cussing how much you spent to acquire all those orange based Giants figures, fear not...EVERYTHING you currently own will work in Swap Force!
So Giants (Thumpback), LightCore Skylanders (LC Jet-Vac), Newlanders (Fright Rider), Series 2 Reposes (Terrafin), and even your trusty, old Series 1 Slam Bam will all work! Furthermore, Swap Force will support Sidekicks, all the Magic Items, and the 4 original Adventure Packs to boot.
However, your brand new characters WILL NOT work in Giants or Spyro's Adventure.
Swap Force Chracters
This is where things get interesting...
We will see 16 NEW Swap Force Skylanders, 16 NEW Core Characters (ie brand new, but not Swap Force), 16 Series 3 Skylanders (previously released), and 8 NEW LightCore Characters. The "Series 3" Skylanders are said to have yet another new power...just like the Wow-Pow they offered up in Giants.
Oddly enough, there was no mention of new Giants...They have either abandoned the concept, or will include them among the 16 NEW Core Characters that will likely be elaborated on later.
So, to do the math that means you are looking at at least 56 Skylanders to "complete" your Swap Force collection. I am sure there will be Legendaries, spin-offs (Punch Pop Fizz etc), and your chase variants as well.
What is Swap Force?
Glad you asked. Swap Force Skylanders are taking things to a new level. Unlike the super-sized, super-powered Giants, Swap Force Skylanders are regular sized, but consist of two halves (don't worry, you get both with the purchase). You basically have a waist up piece coupled with a waist down piece.
Weird, right? Yes, until you realize that the game will recognize Figure A's Legs with Figure B's top half. What this basically means is you can create your own character. If you love the speed and lower half of one character, and the eye lasers from another...just combine them!
I'd say the options are limitless, but basic math tells us there will be a potential 256 different combinations once you have collected all 16 Swap Force Skylanders :o Let's just hope we only have to do Heroic Challenges for the main character!
Supposedly the halves are held together by magnets, which means we won't have an awkward or cumbersome joints etc to contend with and break.
The top half will dictate the power (ie punch, gun, magic wand etc), while the bottom half will dictate movement (ie speed, swimming, climbing, burrowing, etc).
This all adds up to some very diverse game play options.
Base Color
The Base Color for Swap Force characters seems to be a sky blue color.
Game Changes
As you might expect with such a drastic departure from Toys for Bob at the helm, Swap Force is going to add a new element by way of jumping. For those of you 3DS Portal Masters out there you probably remember Vicarious Visions' SSA allowed you to jump...well, we will now be seeing that incorporated into Skylanders Swap Force.
Similarly, it has been said that we will have the ability to climb, burrow, fly and teleport etc. I believe this might come to play by the bottom half of the Swap Force Skylander, but it could be more widespread. The game will feature special Swap Force Zones similar to "elemental gates" but with more diversity.
The other big, and non-controversial move, is the fact this game is being built from the ground up with HD graphics. It is said that everything pops and even old Eruptor looks pretty good.
Conclusion
It looks like we have what should be another solid game on hand. The HD graphics and new engine will be a plus and the introduction of 32 NEW Characters is exciting. I will pick up the 3DS version and most likely the Wii U version...however, if there is any big deviation in the story line etc I might spring for the Wii version. At this point in time we just have to wait and see how it pans out.
My Thoughts Jumping vs Battle Mode?!
This may upset some people, but I feel like I have a right to say this...particularly since I have been there since Day 1 (literally, I was at TRU on the launch day of Skylanders Spyro's Adventure to get my Starter Pack and free Darklight Crypt)...
Who said we wanted to be able to jump? Every press release and repost on the new game cited jumping as the "#1 FAN REQUEST." Really? I beg to differ.
While initially you think it is odd you can't "jump" in the game, the bounce pads suffice just fine.
Similarly, if you really want to talk about "#1 FAN REQUEST" it would be for ONLINE BATTLES.
I think having cranked out around 200 videos dedicated to Skylanders gameplay and fielding comments on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Google + the last 2 years I have a good feel for what people would like to see.
Sadly, I have read that Activision views this as a "living room game" for "younger kids" and uses that as their justification for no online battle mode.
I would very much like to see the online battle mode, but what I would much rather see...and this is something I have said since the beginning and distinctly remember typing roughly one year ago, is that we need to have SINGLE PLAYER BATTLE MODE.
They just said themselves that this is not going to be online because it is more of an at home game...so where is the single player option for battle mode. Do you realize how many kids out there don't have friends that can play with them, don't have parents who will play with them, and just have to go at game time alone? In order to complete the Quests in Giants and get the Gold Top Hat I will have to turn on my 2nd Wiimote and decimate a Skylander 10 times in a row...and then repeat for another 50+ characters. Where the heck is the fun in that? Just add in a single player option for battle mode...the computer player can be weak, insanely strong, or have adjustable difficulty levels but it needs to be included!!
Too Many Characters
Let me say, the 256 Combos offered by the 16 Swap Force Skyanders is cool. But isn't that a bit extreme? Will we really have the time to try out every combination? I think the Swap Force is a great concept, and one that is more of a long term achiever than the overpowered Giants, but perhaps just 8 Swap Force Characters would have been a good starting point.
Similarly, where I really get burned out is on the 16 Series 3 Characters. I would be cool with a return of the 8 castaways from Giants (Dino-Rang, Camo, Warnado etc) to get them up to snuff with the Series 2 reposes, but now with 16 on tap we know that there will at least be 8 Skylanders with a Series 3 pose. I get that some people may have not gotten into the first two games, but since Swap Force is backwards compatible, why not just continue to produce the older figures?
56+ Characters at $9.99+ a pop is a bit extreme. I can only presume tha Swap Force Skylanders will cost more than that.
I really think a better approach would have been 24 or 32 in this break down:
24 New Characters: 8 Swap Force, 8 New Skylanders, 8 Series 2 Castaways with Wow-Pow
32 New Characters: 8 Swap Force, 8 New Skylanders, 8 Series 2 Castaways, and 8 LightCore
I also have to say it here...The LightCore is a nice concept, but they should be more powerful than the Series 2 and Series 3 releases. Have them light up, have the LightCore effect, AND be equipped with the Wow-Pows etc. Right now, in Giants, there really is no point in having the LightCore Characters unless you are a fan of the character when the regular version is more powerful and offers more options for gameplay.
More Core GamePlay
Another thing that I think would be way more requested than jumping is a longer story mode. I get that we have Soul Gems in each chapter, but I don't know anyone that would have complained about Giants having 6 more chapters without Soul Gems.
The Quests and Heroic Challenges add a lot of game play, but once you are taking your 4th or 5th Skylander thru all the Heroics (again) it kind of gets old and repetitive. I mean, just think how much time it would take to get all the orange based Skylanders thru each Heroic Challenge. Now we are going to have 56+ to do it again?
I would rather have 30 Chapters over 15 with the additional Quests/Heroics.
Availability
This one always resonates. Activision said they were going to do a better job meeting demand. The only time that has been the case was at launch. Even before Christmas, when Wave 2 dropped soon after launch it was a total pain to get the figures. I deal with the diehard fans most of the time and most are still trying to get Eye Brawl and Thumpback.
The other problem is the time frame...It has been 4 months since Giants and we still don't have the last Giant, or several of the S2 characters. The waves are nice, but not when they consist of a handful of figures that will get bought up by scalpers.
I said it last year, and I will say it again...The easiest way to circumvent this is to allow pre-orders. Activision really needs to consider this...I don't know of any retailer that wouldn't set it up...GameStop, Walmart, and Toys'R'Us would all love to take our money early. And the thing is, most of us would pay $9.99 a week in advance if we know we don't have to blow 3 weeks of free time and gas going to and from stores.
My Final Thoughts
I still think this game will be worth picking up and playing. There really needs to be a single player battle mode, AND they really need to consider the online option for older players...to ignore an entire market segment because you target "kids in the living room" as your target audience isn't the smartest thought to pop into someone's brain.
I know it is easy for Activision to want to release 100 figures per game and make all that money right now. But I really think they risk blowing a great thing. I don't see them implementing the pre-order system I just spoke of, or really doing their part to issue a new wave in such a great quantity that scalpers can't get more than retail on e-bay...
But why would you release 56 new figures NOW when you could scale back and divide that up over the span of 2 titles. Parents wouldn't take such a hit, it would be easier for everyone to obtain the figures as they would be easier to maintain production runs, and everyone else won't have as great of a chance on getting burned out by chasing regular figures for weeks, or dealing with stores holding back variants and people with no life clearing out shelves to hock on ebay.
I would much rather have 5 more years of great Skylanders games and slowly acquire another 100 figures than get 2 games, 120 new figures, and a lot of repetitive gaming.
I think Guitar Hero should serve as a lesson in this regard. Did it really pay off to shovel it down people's throat with rushed games and over saturation, or would it have been more profitable to continue to develop the games, improve them, and still have the franchise selling today?
I will always err towards Quality over Quantity...
Stay tuned for more information on the game and characters as it becomes available...
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