Skylanders: Giants Mock-up
With the success of the first Skylanders game, not to mention the toys and the related hunt-them-down-in-stores sub game, it is inevitable that there will be a followup game. The question is: How soon, and what form will it take?
Although it is still early days since the game launched in October 2011, and we have yet to see the full cohort of figures and adventure packs released ($7.99 on Amazon), there are already a few signs pointing to the next Skylanders iteration.
Firstly, as highlighted by Fusible, a series of new URLs has been registered for various combinations of the terms Skylanders Giants. This suggests that the powers that be are getting their ship in order before any official announcement is made:
- skylandersgiants.dk
- skylandersgiants.it
- skylandersgiants.net
- skylandersgiantsgame.com
- skylandersgiantsgame.net
- theskylandersgiants.com
- theskylandersgiants.net
- skylandersgiants.fr
Secondly, this news coincides with the upcoming New York Toy Fair where the first game was announced. Although I was a little skeptical at first, these suggestions seem credible on a couple of counts. The timing makes sense in terms of announcements and future plans. Also the extension of the Skylanders universe to include Giant versions of the toys would be a intelligent way to offer new figures while not making the original set of toys redundant.
Giant Spyro (image: jinsaotome)
A larger version of the Skylanders toy would enable them to include new playable features: not only articulating them (like these customized figures) without the dangers of tiny parts, but other moveable elements, weapons and accessories. Perhaps they could even have sound effects and LED lights built into them to enhance their carpet playability.
I know my kids would love the idea of larger Skylanders monsters. In fact, they have already been inventing their own versions of out-sized characters with Lego — with varying degrees of success.
This would also make sense in terms of the video game. New game-play opportunities could range from a more strategic bent to levels that not only require certain Skylanders elements but also certain sizes of figures.
Increasing the size of the figure and the base-plate may also enable the developers to store more information for each character. Taking the Skylanders franchise in a more role play direction would be a way to garner more support from core gamers who so far have been a little resistant to the concept.
As with any big success, it is keeping it going after the honeymoon period that is the real trick. While Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure didn’t do everything perfectly — overselling the toys in the game for example — it has been an experience that my family has enjoyed.
Provided Skylanders: Giants (or whatever it is officially called) doesn’t eclipse the important of the figures we have invested in, and doesn’t introduce too many more figures for us to buy, I think it has every chance of success.
We will undoubtedly learn more in the coming months. If this information proves to be accurate it would suggest that we would see a new Skylanders game in October 2012. I’ll be keeping an eye on my Skylanders Amazon search in case anything pops up.
