Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

I've had a lot of fun recently introducing my kids to one of my favorite video games characters from the '90s, Crash Bandicoot; who was recently added to the Skylanders video game along with his arch-nemesis Dr. Neo Cortex as part of the new Imaginators edition's lineup of Sensei characters as fully-playable toys.  Now I'll be able to replay the zany marsupial's classic video games with my kids as well because Activision is releasing Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy which is a fully-remastered high definition collection of the Crash Bandicoot™, Crash Bandicoot™ 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Crash Bandicoot™ :Warped video games from my youth.  Spin, jump, and wump your way through the epic challenges and adventures that started Crash Bandicoot mania when the updated video game collection is made available for Playstation4 launching globally on June 30, 2017 for $39.99.

Crash Bandicoot® N. Sane Trilogy has brand-new lighting and recreated cinematics in stunning “N. Hanced Fur-K” and PS4 Pro HD.  New animations, visual effects and environmental details let players spin, jump and jet pack their way through the lush—and furriest—Wumpa Island yet!  Here are a few more updates that highlight how these revisions are enhancing the games:
 

Bringing Back the Beat – The new collection features a fully-remastered game soundtrack, packed with all the didgeridoos, xylophones and thumpin’ bass lines fans can handle!
 

Original Story, New Tech – Full analog stick support, a unified save system and unified checkpoint system make it easier than ever to enjoy the classic adventure. Plus, improved bonus levels and time trials everywhere will make this an epic trilogy for the hardest of the ‘Coot core!
 

New Cinematics – All the beloved cinematics in this trilogy are being lovingly re-crafted. In the intro cinematic, Crash Bandicoot’s origin story shows our villains, Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. Nitrus Brio, try to evolve Crash into an evil mutant general, but it doesn’t go quite as planned!

Say What? – Fans of the Crash Bandicoot games may recognize some familiar voice actors appearing in Crash Bandicoot® N. Sane Trilogy, such as Jess Harnell and Lex Lang. 



For those of you who may not be familiar with the original Crash Bandicoot games here is a summary of what you'll be experiencing when playing them in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy:

Crash Bandicoot – Dr. Neo Cortex has a plan to take over the world, and he wants to create genetically engineered animals to do his bidding. To create his minions, Cortex kidnaps as many animals as he can; Crash Bandicoot’s girlfriend just happens to be one of his victims. Take control of Crash as he runs, jumps, and spins through 30 levels of intense action on three different Australian islands. Only you can help Crash save the animals, save his girlfriend and foil Dr. Cortex’s plot.
 

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back – The evil Dr. Neo Cortex is back…out this time to save the world? And he’s asking for help from his arch nemesis, Crash Bandicoot? Is this just a conniving plan to lure Crash into Cortex’s next dastardly experiment? Can Crash win again or will he join Cortex’s mindless zoo? Bigger free-roaming 3-D environments, all-new animations and a whole host of colorful characters – watch as our hero Crash, ice-skates, rodeo-rides a polar bear and jet-packs through zero-gravity in the continuing adventures of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back – This time he ain’t joking!

Crash Bandicoot Warped – Oh yeah…he’s back…AND he’s ready! It’s a Whole New Time-Traveling Adventure! All new-style gameplay action – scuba dive, ride a motorcycle or a baby T-Rex and go free-roaming airborne in a plane! Play as Coco! Gallop along the Great Wall of China on a tiger, go extreme on a jet-ski and other high-flying surprises! Prove your skills with the new Super-charge Body Slam, Super Slide, Double Jump, Death-Tornado Spin and a Laser-Guided Bazooka. All new enemies include a new Big Boss, Uka Uka, N. Tropy, a menacing Dingodile and of course, the return of some favorites like N. Gin and Tiny. More Action. More Fun. More Puzzles and Secret Levels. And you didn’t think it could get any better!

Don't miss out on the looney, wacky, fast paced fun Crash Bandicoot's video game adventures when they become globally available to play on Sony's Playstation4 beginning June 30, 2017.   

I'm Lovin It - Skylanders Toys @ McDonalds

Now through Tuesday, July 5, 2016, Happy Meals at McDonald's restaurants across North America will feature toys inspired by the Skylanders SuperChargers video game.  Six different characters equipped in sky, sea and land vehicles will be available to provide a fun new SuperCharged experience in every Happy Meal.

While these toys can't be incorporated for use with the Skylanders SuperChargers video game itself they can be scanned with the McDonald's app to open up new exclusive games that can be played on a mobile device featuring the characters Gill Grunt, Jet Vac, Nightfall, Roller Brawl, Spitfire and Tarrafin. Each Happy Meal also comes with a character card that can be used to redeem a character on the Skylanders BATTLECAST mobile game. Portal Masters head to McDonalds before these collectible Skylander toys are gone!

For more information about the BATTLECAST mobile game, visit battlecast.com/download

Skylanders Art-to-Life Contest

The newest incarnation of Activision's popular Skylanders® video game series that is arriving on October 16, 2016 in North America will make a lot of players very happy by allowing them to make their dream characters a reality.  Since Spyro's Adventure, the first installment of the Skylander series in 2011, developer Toys For Bob has been inundated with requests to include a feature that would allow players to customize the characters they utilize in the game to provide a more personalized experience.  Now for the first time, players will be able to unleash their imaginations with the freedom to create their own personalized characters in the newest edition of the game, Skylanders Imaginators.



The villains from Skylanders Trap Team are back but with the twist that they are the heroes for this game instead.  King Pen, Tri-Tip and Golden Queen must redeem themselves by saving the world of Skyland from an evil threat plus serve as Senseis in training a new generation of Portal Masters on how to make their Skylander characters heroes.  As in past editions of the Skylanders series, Portal Masters (what players are called) can utilize toy figures of these three characters to bring them to life within the game.  Skylanders Imaginators will also support all 300+ toys from previous games!

Additionally, players can purchase Creation Crystals which can be placed upon game portals instead of toys to incorporate characters into the game.  One unique personalized character, called an Imaginator, can be created and stored on each Creation Crystal to be utilized within the game.  Creation Crystals will let players imaginations go wild in shaping the appearance, powers, abilities, names, catchphrases, musical themes and a variety of other attributes for these personalized Imaginator characters.

Skylanders Imaginators also introduces Skylanders Senseis who help train Creation Crystal characters by offering a range of benefits including unlocking super-cool Imaginator weapons, bestowing secret techniques and providing access to special areas of the game.  There are a total of 31 Sensies, who will be available as traditional Skylander toy figures, including the three fan-favorite villains mentioned above that have been reformed and now fight for good.

To celebrate players now being able to bring their imagination to life with personalized characters in Skylanders games, Activision is hosting a special contest. The SKYLANDERS ART-TO-LIFE contest allows fans to submit drawings of their own Skylander creations for a chance to have their design incorporated as a supporting character in the story that will be played out within Skylanders Imaginators when the game launches in October.  To participate, simply draw an original imagined character and submit it via Instagram or Twitter with the dedicated hashtag #SkylandersArtContest or email your entry directly to SkylandersCommunity@Activision.com between June 1 and June 17, 2016.

A panel of judges from Toys For Bob will determine the winner based upon originality, creativity, and ability to integrate the character into the game. The winner will also receive a Skylander Imaginators Starter Kit so they can enjoy seeing their character within the game. Must be 13 years old to enter. One entry per person allowed. Visit www.skylanders.com/SkylandersArtContest for complete rules.

Skylanders Imaginators will be available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Wii U.  The Starter Pack for the game will include two new Skylander figure toys, a Creation Crystal, a toy-to-life game portal, and the full video game. For more information, visit skylanders.com

Saturday is SKYLANDERS DAY at Game Stop Stores

If your kids enjoy playing Activision's Skylanders video games as much as mine do or your family is interested in trying out these toy-to-life games for the first time you are going to want to swing by a Game Stop store on Saturday, January 9.  There will be some great deals and savings to be had as Activision brings in the new year with a bang kicking off 2016 with an exclusive "Skylanders Day" at Game Stop.

This Saturday, January 9th participating Game Stop locations across the United States will allow Portal Masters to take advantage of some amazing Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) deals on Skylander products.  Pickup the recently released Skylanders SuperChargers starter pack for only $39.99 (or the Dark Edition for $59.99) and received an additional Skylanders starter pack from a previous edition of the gaming franchise (Skylanders Swap Force, Skylanders Trap Team or Skylanders Giants) for FREE! Also Skylanders SuperChargers characters and vehicles are BOGO during this special event.



Skylanders SuperChargers is also releasing a new character, Birthday Bash Big Bubble Pop Fizz to celebrate the video game franchise's 5th birthday in 2016.  Keep an eye out as this figure who sets a record for having the longest Skylander character name is just beginning to appear on store shelves.

It is customary tradition at the Skylanders Academy for all of the Skylanders to gather around and sing the birthday song to the guest of honor. For fun, any Skylanders that arrives late must sing the birthday song solo in front of the entire Academy. But rather than seeing this as an embarrassment, Pop Fizz continues to see this as an opportunity to show off his new Big Bubble party instruments, and so he arrives late every time.

SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS race onto store shelves TODAY!

Skylanders® fans with a need for speed should look no further -- a brand new version of the popular video game franchise arrived at stored today that provides online multiplayer and racing gameplay for the first time. Available at major North American retailers nationwide beginning Sunday, September 20, 2015,  Skylanders SuperChargers takes kids on a wild ride as they drive the mountainous terrains, dive the deep sea environments and fly the big blue skies of Skylands like never before with amazingly detailed vehicles, many of which feature moving parts that will play in the real world and come to life in the game via the Portal of Power®. While this is a new addition the franchise that needs the purchase of a Starter Pack parents will be pleased to know that Skylanders SuperChargers is forward compatible with all 300+ unique toys from all previous games – Skylanders® SWAP Force^™, Skylanders® Giants, Skylanders® Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders® Trap Team. 

Developed by Vicarious Visions, Skylanders SuperChargers expands upon the franchise’s signature gameplay to introduce vehicles-to-life -- an entirely new way for fans to experience the magic of Skylands. The trailblazing innovation of Skylanders SuperChargers is realized when players take the helm of powerful, tricked-out land, sea and sky vehicles that are playable in both the physical and digital worlds in a high octane action-adventure videogame. Skylanders SuperChargers offers a rich story-driven gameplay experience filled with vehicle-based and on-foot adventures, combat, puzzles, mini games, activities and platforming, set within a variety of all-new compelling environments. The game features a brand-new class of heroes that is distinct with fresh moves, powerful attacks and all-new weapons.  SuperChargers also have special in-game abilities that help Portal Masters fight Kaos.  Twenty new SuperChargers character toys and 20 new vehicle toys will be available.  Right out of the box, the game also features an all-new Racing Mode that blends high-octane, supercharged racing with combat, accentuated by power-ups, boosts, hazards and more.

 

Players can also purchase Racing Action Packs that unlock additional content. A total of three Racing Action Packs, one for each terrain, will be available for $34.99 MSRP and each will include three special toys -- a SuperCharger, vehicle and villain trophy which unlocks two exclusive racing tracks for the game. The first of the three packs, the Skylanders SuperChargers Sea Racing Action Pack, will be available at launch.

 “Remember when you were a kid and pretended that your toy cars came to life, zooming around your living room on the most epic racetracks of your imagination?” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing in a press release provided to A Geek Daddy. “Well, we are about to bring that fantasy one step closer to life with Skylanders SuperChargers. We are reimagining toys-to-life by bringing race cars to life, along with helicopters, motorcycles, jet planes and submarines, as you race through Skylands and compete against other players for the first time. Our fans are going to love playing this game. I know I do.”

To celebrate the arrival of Skylanders SuperChargers and the addition of racing to the franchise, Skylanders became the official partner of racing champion Max Chilton for the season finale of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. Chilton, a 24-year-old former Formula 1 driver and fan of the Skylanders franchise, blazed the tracks of Laguna Seca in a Skylanders-themed race car on September 12-13. “SuperCharged” Chilton shattered Tony Kaanan's 1997 track record in the qualifying race, broke the race lap record set by Helio Castroneves in 1996 and ended the season on the Indy Lights podium for Carlin. Skylanders also “SuperCharged” Enea Bastianini from the Gresini Racing Team to take the win at the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini GP in Italy, his first career victory in the Moto 3 World Championship.  Bastianini will take to the track again in his Skylanders SuperChargers-branded race suit at the Aragon Grand Prix in Spain on September 25-27. 

Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Pack will include two new Skylanders characters, a first-of-its-kind Skylanders vehicle, a newly designed Portal of Power® and the full AAA game. Skylanders SuperChargers will be available for the PlayStation^® 3 and PlayStation^® 4 computer entertainment systems, Xbox 360^™ and Xbox One^™ video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, and Nintendo’s Wii U^™ system for $74.99 MSRP.  As a bonus for Nintendo purchasers, that console's game packs some extra star power as it includes two of Nintendo’s iconic characters reimagined as Skylanders -- Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and Hammer Slam Bowser -- available exclusively in Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Packs for the Wii U system, and in
Skylanders® SuperChargers Racing Starter Packs for the Wii system and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.

Skylanders SuperChargers Dark Edition Starter Packs also will be available in North America on September 20 for $99.99 MSRP. All Dark Edition Starter Packs will include Dark Spitfire, Dark Hot Streak and the highly sought after Kaos Trophy which is the only way to unlock special gameplay content, plus a two-sided ultimate collector poster. The Dark versions of the Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and his vehicle, Barrel Blaster, will be available in the Wii U Dark Edition Starter Pack; Dark Hammer Slam Bowser and his vehicle, Dark Clown Cruiser, will be available in the Wii Dark Edition Starter Pack.

Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, a complementary racing experience, will be available on September 20 for Nintendo’s Wii™ system for $74.99 MSRP and the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system for $64.99 MSRP. The addition of Donkey Kong and Bowser as guest stars in the new game, along with their specially created vehicles, will be available exclusively in Skylanders SuperChargers and Skylanders SuperChargers Racing Starter Packs for the Nintendo platforms. The SuperCharged characters not only work in Skylanders SuperChargers, but will also work with select amiibo-compatible Nintendo games with a simple twist of the character’s base. 

Fans of the Skylanders franchise can also choose to purchase the Digital Portal Owner’s Pack, available on September 21 for $49.99 MSRP for connected consoles, and use the Portal of Power they already own to play Skylanders SuperChargers. The download of the Digital Portal Owner’s Pack provides a great way for returning players to enjoy Skylanders SuperChargers on the platform of their choice. On October 25, the full Skylanders SuperChargers game will also be available on select iOS devices including iPad®, and for the first time ever iPhone® and iPod touch®.  Skylanders SuperChargers will also be available on Apple TV® this fall.

SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS brings Racing & Online Multiplayer to the video game franchise

For the first time in Skylanders history, Activision will bring the online multiplayer experience to the popular kids video game franchise.   The company announced at GamesCom 2015 that its upcoming Skylanders SuperChargers game will allow fans to play the game with friends and family across the globe via online multiplayer on their favorite gaming console.  Skylanders Superchargers will be available on September 20 in North America and September 25 in Europe for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's WiiU. 

Skylanders SuperChargers expands upon the franchise's signature gameplay to introduce a brand-new pattern of play.  For the first time ever, players can explore and navigate the mountainous terrains, deep sea environments and big blue skies of Skylands by going behind the wheel of tricked-out land, sea, and sky vehicles - bringing them from the physical world into the digital world in a high octane action-adventure video game.  Skylanders SuperChargers offers a diverse and dynamic story-driven gameplay experience, filled with vehicle-based and on-foot adventures featuring combat, puzzles, mini games, and activities -- all set within a variety of new compelling environments.  The new game has 20 land, sea, and sky vehicles that can be played with digitally and physically.  There is also a new class of heroes -- 20 SuperCharger toys that feature all new powerful attacks, moves, upgrades and personalities.  Plus here's some great news for long time players and the parents who have paid out money over the years to buy figures for these video games - in addition to all of the new features and figures being added the new game also supports all 300+ Skylander toys from previous games.

The upcoming Skylanders SuperChargers game will feature an all-new Racing Mode, playable in Land, Sea and Sky environments, features supercharged racing combat, layering in even more depth and excitement to the game’s online multiplayer component.  The high-octane mode is further amplified with all-new time trials, which include three-lap races that take friendly competition up a notch as players battle for the best time score on the leaderboard.  All Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Packs will come loaded with six dynamic race tracks – two each for Land, Sea and Sky. With hidden routes, power-ups, and diverse locations, Racing Mode offers completely new ways to enjoy the game. Whether played in offline split-screen or online multiplayer, gamers can choose the best route to finish a race, trying to avoid attacks along the way as they navigate through dynamic environments. Voice-chat is available with friends for an added layer of excitement. 

Skylanders SuperChargers delivers these great play features too:

• Single player Adventure Mode
• Online & local co-operative Adventure Mode
• Local 2-player head-to-head racing in split screen
• Online competitive racing with up to 4 players

Fan who really enjou the racing experience can augment it with another racing combat game available for the Wii system and Nintendo 3DS hand-held system called Skylanders SuperChargers Racing.  All-new tracks, augmented with power-ups, boosts, hazards and more, offer up to 50 different and exciting gameplay experiences. On Nintendo 3DS, gamers can go head-to-head with competitive multiplayer via local play or online with up to four players. Iconic Nintendo character Bowser™ and his Sky vehicle, Clown Cruiser are available in the Skylanders SuperChargers Racing Starter Packs for Wii and Nintendo 3DS and can also be played on the Wii U™ system.   The Supercharged character not only works in Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, but also as amiibo in compatible Nintendo games, so players can store their saved data in both modes with a simple twist of the figure’s base. 

Skylanders SuperChargers looks to be a great addition for any kid's holiday gift list though I have a feeling it will be hard to keep it under wraps between its September release date and December because its has such darn cool features and upgrades to it.  For more information and details, visit Skylanders.com