darkSpyro

Introducing the third entry to the Skylanders series: Skylanders: Swap Force. The main new feature that Swap Force brings to the table is the 16 brand new characters that have swappable features.



Each of the sixteen "Swap Force" toys has two parts - the legs and the upper body. The legs control the movement, the upper body decides the attacks. You can take them apart and then mix-and-match the two halves with any of the other Swap Force toys, the game will recognise what you've put together to give you up to 256 different combinations (once you have all 16 of the Swap Force characters).



In terms of new toys, as well as the 16 swappable "Swap Force" characters there are 16 brand new "core" figures, these are new regular Skylanders without the ability to swap parts. There will also be eight LightCore characters and 16 returning "Series 3" characters with new Wow Pows.



Also coming with the game is a brand new, completely redesigned Portal of Power that you will need to get, the old ones will no longer work with Swap Force. But never fear, all of the old characters, both the Orange and Green base varieties, will still be fully functional in Swap Force.



On the developer side of things unlike the last two games Toys for Bob will not be developing Swap Force, instead Vicarious Visions will be taking the mantle (they previously made the 3DS version of Spyro's Adventure, the Wii U version of Giants and all of the iOS games) for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U versions. The previous developer for the 3DS version, n-Space, will be resuming their development role on the 3DS version. And not forgetting the Wii, that's not being abandoned just yet and will be getting a version developed by Beenox.

The Starter Pack will come with two Swap Force characters (it'd not be much fun having only one) as well as a returning character and the brand new Portal of Power. No specific release date has been announced other than "this fall".

For further, more in-depth reading there are plenty of articles popping up all over the web following the press showing of the game, such as Wired, Engadget, Joystiq, Polygon, Giant Bomb, One of Swords, Metro.co.uk.

The folks over at Fusible.com have spotted several newly registered Skylanders domain names. Just registered on Wednesday one of these could possibly be the name of the third game:

Skylanders Kaos Alliance
Skylanders Nano Force
Skylanders Super Force
Skylanders Swap Force

Whatever the name turns out to be we won't have to wait too long to find out as it should hopefully be officially announced during either the Toys R Us New York event mentioned in the news post below (Feb 5) or during Toy Fair 2013 itself (Feb 10-13). But of course that still leaves plenty of time for speculation...

To help heighten the visible interest in Skylanders just before Toy Fair 2013 (and the likely reveal of the next game), Activision and Toys R Us are set to hold an event in Toys R Us Times Square where they will give an "opportunity to receive" a Ninjini figure to the "first fans to line up".


This is all happening next week, on Tuesday the 5th of February at 4PM (make sure to get there earlier). There are also other exclusive savings on offer just in case you don't happen to be lucky enough for the Ninjini.

And, more importantly to those of us who won't be able to make it, the press release says that it'll be "months" before Ninjini will hit retail shelves, so it looks like it's time to get waiting all over again.

Full details of the event are in the press release below:

Quote:

CALLING YOUNG PORTAL MASTERS:
CELEBRATE NEW YORK TOY FAIR WITH SKYLANDERS GIANTS™

TOYS"R"US TIMES SQUARE INVITES KIDS TO BE AMONG THE FIRST IN THE WORLD TO RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY, HOTLY ANTICIPATED SKYLANDERS GIANTS CHARACTER, NINJINI

WHAT: Months before the Skylanders Giants character, Ninjini, hits retail shelves, kids and their families are invited to The World's Greatest Toy Store™ to be among the first in the world to get their hands on the must-have Skylanders Giants character, while supplies last. To celebrate the annual International Toy Fair taking place in New York City this month, Activision Publishing Inc. and Toys"R"Us are partnering to host a special event at Toys"R"Us Times Square, the company's international flagship store. The first fans to line up along Broadway for the event will have an opportunity to receive a complimentary Ninjini figure before it is officially available for purchase in North America.

Consumers can take advantage of one-day exclusive, Toys"R"Us Times Square store offers: $25 off Skylanders Giants Starter Pack; "buy 2, get 1 free" Giant Skylanders figures until store closing.
Also at the event, kids will have the unique opportunity to meet their favorite Skylanders characters, experience the year's most popular game at in-store game kiosks and receive other fun Skylanders Giants giveaways.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 5
Activities and giveaways begin promptly 4pm
Toys"R"Us Times Square will be open during normal business hours (10am - 10pm)
WHERE: 1514 Broadway at 44th Street
New York, NY
(Media must enter through the 44th Street Associate Entrance)

ACTIVITIES: Gaming kiosks, displays and stations
Fun activities, games, giveaways and more!

MEDIA OPPORUNITIES:
• Visuals/interviews with excited kids and fans in line
• Costumed characters, fun activities and live giveaways
• Calendar and event listings as a fun activity for families
• Attend with your kids

Two brand new Giants are now in what is still being classed as Wave 3 of Skylanders: Giants, so in the United States you should soon be able to find Thumpback and Eye-Brawl.


There are also some brand new Triple Packs being released, however they're all Series 2 Skylanders that have already been available in singles. One pack has Eruptor, Stealth Elf, and Terrafin. The other has Prism Break, Lightning Rod, and Drill Sergeant.

The last of the Legendary Skylanders, Legendary LightCore Chill, is also apparently scheduled soon for release at Toys R Us but as of yet has not been spotted.

And finally, as well as the release of Hot Dog in the Battle Pack, for a short time at GameStop you will be able to get the Sidekicks from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (that's Whisper Elf, Terrabite, Gill Runt, and Trigger Snappy), supposedly through a spend $30 promotion but people have reported being able to just buy them outright. Stocks may not last long either way.

Just in time for a last minute dash before Christmas, the release of the third wave of Skylanders: Giants toys is imminent in the United States. Unfortunately it doesn't actually appear to have any brand new characters unless you skipped the first Battle Pack.

What it does have is the LightCore version of Shroomboom, a single pack release of Series 2 Cynder, the regular Series 2 releases of Eruptor and Prism Break (they're not LightCore so they do have their Wow Pows this time), the regular Series 2 Stealth Elf and the debut of a Series 2 Lightning Rod.



And, according to advertisements, January 9th is when the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack with Hot Dog (and Series 2 Zap) is released. In the US it will be a one month exclusive for GameStop before becoming available at other retailers too.

Now that Skylanders: Giants has been released I have begun writing my Skylanders Giants Walkthrough. So far the first five chapters have been covered to help you find all those missing items and collectables.


More will be posted each day so it should be complete very soon.

With about a month to go, the official Skylanders: Giants website has been updated with videos and screenshots all of the brand new characters as well as all of the reposed old characters. You can also find all of the new origin stories to learn a little more about the new additions before deciding which ones to buy in the future.


It also reveals several new versions of some of the characters, like the new Legendary editions of Slam Bam, Ignitor, Jet-Vac, Stealth Elf, Chill, and Bouncer as well as different looking skins for a few more both new and old.

And finally after months of teasing, the last remaining new Skylander characters for Skylanders: Giants have been revealed. Thanks to wescade on JeuxVideo we now have clearer, high resolution images of all the new Giants and Skylanders as well as all of the Series 2 reposes and the LightCores.

For the Giants we have:



And for new the regular sized Skylanders:



You can check out the full sized photos of the poster to see the reposed originals as well as the LightCore poses. Water+Tech, Earth+Magic, Fire+Undead, Life+Air.

In other Giants news, the full list of Xbox 360 Achievements was recently posted so you can get an idea of what you'll be doing in the final game.

For a limited time the iPhone/iPad game Skylanders: Cloud Patrol is completely free. You've only got until the 13th of August so hurry!