darkSpyro

Same here, but I won't even bother using that money to get the new game. Chances are other games will be coming out around the same time that will strike my fancy.

Quote: CAV

Quote: kappapopm

Quote: CAV

^They won't keep consumers interest up if the gameplay remains the same as last time. It'll just be a rehash.

did you see the 'tree rex gameplay video' ???.....

Yes, and what is your point?

OOHHHHH HE CAN MOVE AN ISLAND, AND HIT THE GROUND TO OPEN AN AREA.

That's like me getting hyped for the new CoD because it has new guns in it.

I get excited when there are new guns in a game. What's wrong with that

Seriously CAV I don't know what you expect. Yes the Skylanders will be on floating islands again. Yes they will be bashing enemies again. Yes Kaos will be back again. If something is an overall success why would they change up the formula too much. If it ain't broke don't fix (or in this case change) it. It was just announced yesterday and already you're complaining about how it's just a rehash and a milking of the franchise. I have one burning question...how do you know? Have you played it? Also what do you expect it to magically evolve to? When I play, let's say Diablo, I don't expect it's sequels to change over to a FPS or a RTS game. I want a slightly better version of the game I've already played and loved. Chances are that if you didn't like Skylanders then Giants probably won't do it for you either. Either way I just don't know what you'd expect....

Quote: Tigorus

Seriously CAV I don't know what you expect. Yes the Skylanders will be on floating islands again. Yes they will be bashing enemies again. Yes Kaos will be back again. If something is an overall success why would they change up the formula too much. If it ain't broke don't fix (or in this case change) it. It was just announced yesterday and already you're complaining about how it's just a rehash and a milking of the franchise. I have one burning question...how do you know? Have you played it? Also what do you expect it to magically evolve to? When I play, let's say Diablo, I don't expect it's sequels to change over to a FPS or a RTS game. I want a slightly better version of the game I've already played and loved. Chances are that if you didn't like Skylanders then Giants probably won't do it for you either. Either way I just don't know what you'd expect....

The problem is, Skylanders is far from perfect. Beg to differ? Show me a good, 10/10 review for the game. Though you won't find that.

I predict that this game will get lower reviews than the first one, and I predict that people here will like it less. Why?
Because the gameplay is just the same. They are not changing anything. Which means, people won't be "wowed".

The original Skylanders was only successful because it had the "wow" factor of the toys. That, and people were happy to see Spyro in another game.

But because neither of those things are new anymore, this game won't be as successful unless they try new things. It's the same game all over again, and it's far too early for people to get a nostalgia trip, so they need to actually expand on what they've got if the game is going to be well received.

Hopefully, they will announce some nice new features. But I somehow doubt they will.

Quote: sonicbrawler182

Quote: Tigorus

Seriously CAV I don't know what you expect. Yes the Skylanders will be on floating islands again. Yes they will be bashing enemies again. Yes Kaos will be back again. If something is an overall success why would they change up the formula too much. If it ain't broke don't fix (or in this case change) it. It was just announced yesterday and already you're complaining about how it's just a rehash and a milking of the franchise. I have one burning question...how do you know? Have you played it? Also what do you expect it to magically evolve to? When I play, let's say Diablo, I don't expect it's sequels to change over to a FPS or a RTS game. I want a slightly better version of the game I've already played and loved. Chances are that if you didn't like Skylanders then Giants probably won't do it for you either. Either way I just don't know what you'd expect....

The problem is, Skylanders is far from perfect. Beg to differ? Show me a good, 10/10 review for the game. Though you won't find that.

I predict that this game will get lower reviews than the first one, and I predict that people here will like it less. Why?
Because the gameplay is just the same. They are not changing anything. Which means, people won't be "wowed".

The original Skylanders was only successful because it had the "wow" factor of the toys. That, and people were happy to see Spyro in another game.

But because neither of those things are new anymore, this game won't be as successful unless they try new things. It's the same game all over again, and it's far too early for people to get a nostalgia trip, so they need to actually expand on what they've got if the game is going to be well received.

Hopefully, they will announce some nice new features. But I somehow doubt they will.

First, I never claimed Skylanders was perfect. It did receive overall positive reviews from critics. The game is selling itself as fun and different not perfect. I also think you're underestimating the collector aspect of this game. Collecting is not just for adults. I believe this game has the "Pokemon" syndrome as far as the overall desirable nature of the figures goes. Personally I don't really want them to change to much of the core gameplay. Features I would like to see them add are Online play (both co-op and pvp), difficulty settings, and possibly camera controls. I hope they don't add a jump because that's this games strongest sell point to younger kids in that they don't have to worry about falling off the world and getting frustrated. I do agree that some new features are needed to keep this from seeming like a cash grab but I don't think the core gameplay should change all that much. I'm sure a lot of features will be revealed the week of Toy Fair...let's just wait and see what they have planned.

You said "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". That implies a perfect product. Skylanders has a lot of issues that should be addressed, or fixed.

I think you are over-estimating the collector's aspect. Kids need money to buy the toys. If they don't have the money, they will ask parents. There are a lot of parents who won't oblige to supplying their kids with Skylanders.

I never said they should change the core gameplay. I said they should expand on it. But online play and difficulty settings isn't enough.

If you want an example of what I mean, I will use the Classic Sonic games as an example, as they are a perfect example of what I mean:

Sonic 1: Introduced momentum based gameplay to the world. Your only actions were jump and roll, and Sonic was the only character. There were also "Special Stage" mini-games. There were also a couple of power-ups.
Sonic 2: Introduced the Spin Dash ability, Tails, and Super Sonic. The Special Stages were completely changed, and the inclusion of Tails allowed for co-op and VS multiplayer. The physics were also altered.
Sonic CD: Introduced CD quality music, the Super Peel-Out ability, and a mechanic that lets you travel through time mid-level. Special Stages were again totally new, and the physics were again altered.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Introduced Knuckles, elemental power-ups, Tails was now able to fly by the players command, characters had individual stats, and Hyper forms were introuduced (as well as a Super form for Tails). And again, Special stages were totally different, and physics were altered. They also introduced the "Bonus Stage" mini-game.

That's the sort of thing Skylanders should be doing. Those four games kept the same core ganmeplay, but added new twists to it.

The "If it ain't broke don't fix it" doesn't imply that something is perfect. It simply gives the impression that everything is running well and good so don't mess with it. Let's say you have a car and that car is running well. Would you wake up one day and say "I'm going to give my car a complete overhaul and give it a brand new engine"? No, you might simply give it an oil change, tune up, new tires or maybe a car wash. That was what I was stating as well as the original intent of the actual phrase.

The Sonic example doesn't really fit. You're talking about a game that is based around the game play of 1-3 characters (don't know the playable roster from Sonic CD). Skylanders has different game play mechanics for 32 different characters. A more applicable comparison would have been say Pokemon. They have added several additional feature that have enhanced the game (mainly in the multiplayer aspect) but the core game is almost the same as it was in Red and Blue almost 20 years ago....Yet it is still considered a successful and beloved franchise that most would say is great but not perfect. We don't know what new things regular sized Skylanders will be able to do but the Giants seem like an entirely different way to play the game and access new areas. I personally think online play will increase playability to a point that it might reach Pokemon status in a few years.

I'm a little worried myself that this is far too early. However, I won't judge it until it is released, of course.


And a little OT, but Pokemon release new characters every 3-5 years. It's a little different to Skylanders releasing new characters in 6 months. All other games are just spin offs, rather than direct sequels. They do take their sweet, sweet time creating those new ideas.
Not that this sequel will suck or anything, just saying that comparing Pokemon to Skylanders at such an early stage is no better than comparing Sonic with Skylanders, really.

To me, it implies perfection. An oil change/new tyres/etc is a "fix" for an "imperfection" in a car, which means it is not running well and good until you "fix what is broken", so you are not helping me change my view of the statement. The phrase doesn't apply to Skylanders.

The Sonic example does fit. The characters in Classic Sonic games do bring new mechanics to the games, more so than they do in Skylanders. They just have less characters. The characters in Skylanders don't have different mechanics, just different attacks and stats. You are not forced to change up your strategy in Skylanders, as the combat is shallow. In Classic Sonic games, changing your character meant you needed to change your strategy for getting to the goal.

Fun fact: If something isn't broken, that means it's near-perfect/IS perfect. Skylanders is far from that. It's good, but it has room for improvement.

Quote: joseph235

I get excited when there are new guns in a game. What's wrong with that

The problem is that the core gameplay remains the same. Sure, in the case of CoD, that's somewhat good (because I like CoD). But at the same time, it's unfair to only change a handful of things, and then slap a full price sticker on it.

Quote: Tigorus

Seriously CAV I don't know what you expect. Yes the Skylanders will be on floating islands again. Yes they will be bashing enemies again. Yes Kaos will be back again. If something is an overall success why would they change up the formula too much. If it ain't broke don't fix (or in this case change) it.

I expect improvement. I've said this several times in these topics.

I don't want the formula to completely change. I just want to see certain things get fixed, and more things get added. I'd like to see online. I'd like to see improvements made in the Battle Mode. A longer story mode. A harder difficulty for those whom want it (i.e. Easy Mode, Normal mode, etc.). And a few other things that can be fixed.

Quote:

I have one burning question...how do you know? Have you played it? Also what do you expect it to magically evolve to?

I remember when I would use this argument to defend the original Skylanders. But there's a reason why I did it, and why it falls flat here.

With the original Skylanders, we didn't know what to expect. It was a completely new IP. Nobody had ever played it before, or anything of the sort. We had to wait in order to play it and find out.

BUT.

Here, with the small bits of gameplay footage we've been given, it looks exactly the same as before. SURE, the game can change without me knowing. I've mentioned this before. And I'll be first to admit my mistakes if it does. But from what I've seen, it doesn't look any different than the Skylanders game that hit shelves a mere few months ago.

Also, I can bring up history. Many other franchises would have an installment the year after the previous, and it would barely change from the previous installment. Want examples? Sure:

Guitar Hero
CoD
Mario (Galaxy 2 in 2010; 3D Land in 2011)
Halo
Rabbids
Assassin's Creed

May I continue?

Sure, I don't know for sure. But history is giving me good reason to believe that the game won't change much. I can be wrong. But at the moment, I'm not given any reason to think otherwise.

The thing is lol, guitar hero got milked so many times activision pulled the plug on those games and now no one can get there hands on those games no longer not new games at least.

This skylanders looks the same no new levels from other pics of levels when it first came out just bigger characters. I see that activision is gonna do the same with skylanders that it did with its own guitar hero games, milk it, hope little kids buy their games then pull the plug when it no longer sells.

One thing I am jealous of the mario franchise, even tho they milk his franchise, but they do it in a way where it's fun and hasnt really changed from his core gameplay or style of gaming same concepts but revamped to modern days standards, also he has the right people backing him up. While Spyro hasn't Oh well hope there's a real spyro game soon on the horizon.

Quote: S240sx24

The thing is lol, guitar hero got milked so many times activision pulled the plug on those games and now no one can get there hands on those games any longer...

...I see that activision is gonna do the same with skylanders that it did with its own guitar hero games, milk it, hope little kids buy their games then pull the plug when it no longer sells.

^ This is an extremely valid point.

Well it sounds like you both feel like Skylanders is broken because you are interpreting the literal terminology of the phrase and applying an all or nothing aspect to it so there for it must be broken if it's not perfect (you must have a depressing view of the world then). You guys also have to realize that we are trying to argue over the finer points of a kids game that a few of us adults are addicted to. Most to none of our needs/wants don't apply to the target audience for this game. Again this was all just announced yesterday and I think all this doom and gloom is a little early. I also think this franchise has similarities to Pokemon in regards to the collector aspect as well as needing to leveling your creatures. However instead of catching them you purchase them...although that's not to say that scalpers aren't filling the Team Rocket villain role. The bottom line is we both want improvements to the game...for the most part the same ones. I hope they are in there I really do. I'm just not quite sure if it's appropriate to call this game a clone/cash cow just yet. That's all I'm saying.

I think Skylanders is "imperfect". I certainly don't think it's wise to leave it as is. I didn't say it was terrible. It looks like a 6/10 - 7/10 kind of game to me. And to go deeper into the analogy, not a completely banged up car, but it's not perfect. It runs fairly well, but still has a lot of things that could be fixed up.

Your "target audience" comment would be a good point - IF the target audience were the only people who buy the game. This is another point that was valid enough with the first game, as it was a new IP. But, it can be observed that there are more adult Skylanders fans than kid fans on this site alone. It's probably the same elsewhere, as all over the net, it's adults giving it praise.

Quote: sonicbrawler182

I think Skylanders is "imperfect". I certainly don't think it's wise to leave it as is. I didn't say it was terrible. It looks like a 6/10 - 7/10 kind of game to me. And to go deeper into the analogy, not a completely banged up car, but it's not perfect. It runs fairly well, but still has a lot of things that could be fixed up.

Your "target audience" comment would be a good point - IF the target audience were the only people who buy the game. This is another point that was valid enough with the first game, as it was a new IP. But, it can be observed that there are more adult Skylanders fans than kid fans on this site alone. It's probably the same elsewhere, as all over the net, it's adults giving it praise.

Woahhhhhhhhhhh....back the truck up a sec. You actually think that an adult audience makes up more than 10-15% of the purchasing market for this game???? Even Toys for Bob's CEO claims that's it's mostly kids that are making these figs fly off the shelf. I'd say scalpers are a higher percentage (for now anyway) than dedicated adult collectors. Also last I checked kids don't usually give internet reviews. The adult reviews gaming products over the entire gaming spectrum and report accordingly. The vocal minority is just that, a minority. This is still a kids game and mostly kids are buying it.

Actually, I wasn't really thinking of gloom and doom. I'm just expressing what I see, and what I expect. Sorry if it appears gloom to you.

I don't think it's broken. I liked Skylanders. I thought it was decent. And I think this is going to be decent too, but only because it doesn't look like it will change. And sure, a decent game is good, but it's not something I would buy twice.

Also, there is a bit of a difference between Pokemon and Skylanders. I will say that Pokemon is just as guilty as CoD and Skylanders and such for not changing that much, and the main games are years apart from each other, so why they don't change much is beyond me. But in Pokemon, all of the characters are there. I don't have to pay more money to get the other Pokemon in the game.

And agreed with Brawler about his last comment. I'm taking the "target audience" argument less and less seriously by the day since adults are the ones that are singing the majority of its praises. Not kids.

EDIT: Sure, kids are the ones mostly buying it. But are they the ones mostly praising it? Are they the ones investing hundreds of dollars in it? Are they the ones buying duplicate figures? No. The adults are.

You guys really expect to see 7-12 year olds submitting game reviews??? Wow I'm sure those will be comprehensive. Again I'm with you as far as wanting improvements (already mentioned) to this game. I think the first game might have gotten a few 10's if it had difficulty setting as well as online play.

A fresh point to bring up here is the first game was based on the limitations of the Wii and simply ported appropriately (3DS being exception). The CEO stated in that audio only interview that they are actually making console specific versions of the game for Giants. Now online play is HUGE for the PS3 and Xbox market. It seems that online play is almost a given if taken in that context alone. They could cram additional options for the more capable systems than they could before since it's being engineered with each consoles specific needs and strengths in mind.

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=47295 is the link to the thread with the interview.

No, but good guess. People expected kids of that age to join this site. To see adults instead joining in and some of them actually acting like 7-12 year olds, whining about negative opinions and accusing people of being trolls for that reason was really a shock to the people that were already here.

Quote: CAV

No, but good guess. People expected kids of that age to join this site. To see adults instead joining in and some of them actually acting like 7-12 year olds, whining about negative opinions and accusing people of being trolls for that reason was really a shock to the people that were already here.

lol that's the internet man. Some people think a forum account is a license to be an ass. People get way to bent out of shape here and they need to just remember that if you don;t feed the trolls they will go away. Frankly I prefer adult conversations like the one we are having here...stay away trolls.

Quote: Tigorus

You guys really expect to see 7-12 year olds submitting game reviews??? Wow I'm sure those will be comprehensive. Again I'm with you as far as wanting improvements (already mentioned) to this game. I think the first game might have gotten a few 10's if it had difficulty setting as well as online play.

A fresh point to bring up here is the first game was based on the limitations of the Wii and simply ported appropriately (3DS being exception). The CEO stated in that audio only interview that they are actually making console specific versions of the game for Giants. Now online play is HUGE for the PS3 and Xbox market. It seems that online play is almost a given if taken in that context alone. They could cram additional options for the more capable systems than they could before since it's being engineered with each consoles specific needs and strengths in mind.

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=47295 is the link to the thread with the interview.

and one thing you forgot... this new game is using the same game engine as the first one. so this new skylanders game will have the same limitation of the wii yet again... so no online gameplay.

Quote: kappapopm

Quote: Tigorus

You guys really expect to see 7-12 year olds submitting game reviews??? Wow I'm sure those will be comprehensive. Again I'm with you as far as wanting improvements (already mentioned) to this game. I think the first game might have gotten a few 10's if it had difficulty setting as well as online play.

A fresh point to bring up here is the first game was based on the limitations of the Wii and simply ported appropriately (3DS being exception). The CEO stated in that audio only interview that they are actually making console specific versions of the game for Giants. Now online play is HUGE for the PS3 and Xbox market. It seems that online play is almost a given if taken in that context alone. They could cram additional options for the more capable systems than they could before since it's being engineered with each consoles specific needs and strengths in mind.

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=47295 is the link to the thread with the interview.

and one thing you forgot... this new game is using the same game engine as the first one. so this new skylanders game will have the same limitation of the wii yet again... so no online gameplay.

Uhm you can play online with the wii. ôo

Quote: Tigorus

Seriously CAV I don't know what you expect. Yes the Skylanders will be on floating islands again. Yes they will be bashing enemies again. Yes Kaos will be back again. If something is an overall success why would they change up the formula too much. If it ain't broke don't fix (or in this case change) it. It was just announced yesterday and already you're complaining about how it's just a rehash and a milking of the franchise. I have one burning question...how do you know? Have you played it? Also what do you expect it to magically evolve to? When I play, let's say Diablo, I don't expect it's sequels to change over to a FPS or a RTS game. I want a slightly better version of the game I've already played and loved. Chances are that if you didn't like Skylanders then Giants probably won't do it for you either. Either way I just don't know what you'd expect....

True. I think some of us are judging this game too early. Like what I said earlier anyone has a choice. They can (1) buy the figures only, (2) buy the game only, (3) buy the game and figures or (4) not spend any money at all. Activision at this point does not really care about the

At the end of the day, there will be fans, players and collectors that will spend money on this sequel and all of the figures that will be released. Why you might ask? Because we want to, because we can afford it, because it is part of hobby and because that part of the fun (collecting and hunting the figures). It does not really matter what the reason is but as long as people will buy into the franchise then Activision can keep it coming. Remember this is all whole new territory for Activision and this is one of the best video game/toy franchise that I have encountered. Although not everyone will share my opinions or point of view but Im sure a good chunk of the fanbase do.

Quote: kappapopm

Quote: Tigorus

You guys really expect to see 7-12 year olds submitting game reviews??? Wow I'm sure those will be comprehensive. Again I'm with you as far as wanting improvements (already mentioned) to this game. I think the first game might have gotten a few 10's if it had difficulty setting as well as online play.

A fresh point to bring up here is the first game was based on the limitations of the Wii and simply ported appropriately (3DS being exception). The CEO stated in that audio only interview that they are actually making console specific versions of the game for Giants. Now online play is HUGE for the PS3 and Xbox market. It seems that online play is almost a given if taken in that context alone. They could cram additional options for the more capable systems than they could before since it's being engineered with each consoles specific needs and strengths in mind.

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=47295 is the link to the thread with the interview.

and one thing you forgot... this new game is using the same game engine as the first one. so this new skylanders game will have the same limitation of the wii yet again... so no online gameplay.

Do I really need to go into to detail on how many games have used the Unreal engine as I'm pretty sure they weren't all the same. Plus a games design engine has little to do with it's online aspect. I promise you that Skylanders could do online. It's simply a matter of if the programers want it in there.

I LOVE LAMP!


.........sorry this thread needed something positive........

Back to the analogies, how about we compare to something closer to home like Diablo (where you also go around purging the land of evil doers, collecting gold and leveling skills).

Each incarnation of that has included a lot more functionality and innovation than this.

A highlight, though, will be we will finally be able to spend the gold we collected on fully leveled up chars.

at least give it a chance i mean seriously you are automaticly saying bad things aboout it but how do you people know that you arent wrong about it

It is basically going to be very similar to the first game but with Giants and a few extras....I do not see anything wrong with that!!!!!!

Quote: JAP28

It is basically going to be very similar to the first game but with Giants and a few extras....I do not see anything wrong with that!!!!!!

yes this time around you will need to buy 7 giants(last game you got 3 and had to buy 5) if you are going to access all areas of the game. the price of these will also be more than the normal sized skylanders(doubled price???)... the extras we dont know for sure yet what will be, but 4 adventures packs there will be for sure. we can only hope these will be included with some of the giants, so we done need to buy more. the other 8 extra normal sized skylanders hopefully will not be necessary at all to buy...

Yes I see what you are saying.... probably if we want to get a 100% or access everything we may need to buy 7 more Giants!
That could be around $140.00 if they are $19.99 ....Yah pretty expensive!

By the looks of the demo they were playing .....it seemed that you really did not need the giants, the normal Skylanders could find a different way or path to get around.
At least that's what I thought the guy was saying???

he more or less said the skylanders normal sized can go one way and the giants can go another way... its the same as first game where you need special figurines to get to specific parts of the game, but this time not so obvious and straight in your face, with 'you need to buy a new figurine to enter here' tactic. that is how i interpreted it...

I kind of doubt that you will need all 8 Giants to complete the game. It really depends on how the elemental gates will work this time around. If a normal Skylander can open the gate and then switch to say Tree Rex then you don't need all eight. I personally will pursue all 8 but I doubt all 8 will be NEEDED to complete the game. Frankly I'm surprised we haven't seen more Giants yet. Hopefully they have everything made public by E3 since the game releases 4 months after that.

Quote: Tigorus

I kind of doubt that you will need all 8 Giants to complete the game. It really depends on how the elemental gates will work this time around. If a normal Skylander can open the gate and then switch to say Tree Rex then you don't need all eight. I personally will pursue all 8 but I doubt all 8 will be NEEDED to complete the game. Frankly I'm surprised we haven't seen more Giants yet. Hopefully they have everything made public by E3 since the game releases 4 months after that.

you dont need any of the giants to complete the game... but if you dont use them your only playing half of the game... the same goes for the first game. but this time around it will cost more if you want the full game you get 1 giant with the game and the 7 you need to buy cost more...

I would imagine that you could complete the game (pve wise) with a single Giant to reach all of the "Giant Only" areas.

They released it earlyier because it is aimed at a younger audiance. Younger kids are impaitiant.
(Stupid computer doesn't have spell check!)