darkSpyro

I think Activision my have helped to kill the Skylanders franchise. According to newest sales data at vgchartz.com, the Wii version of Swap Force has been by far the best seller, selling roughly the same amount as the PS3 and XBOX360 combined. Yet Activision gave the Wii owners the single most garbage port possible, with game-killing freezes, graphics worse that SSA, tons of missing content, etc. As a lover of Skylanders, I fear that the Wii owners will pass on the next Skylanders as this version was just so bad (and judging from the sales so far, the Wii will probably get the next game as it is basically the financial backbone of the series). It's a shame, really. And before you reply with "people just need to buy a new system", the fact that Wii is the best seller proves that people who own the Wii are sticking with the Wii, and still spending money on it.

Thoughts?

Nintendo is moving all things Wii related to the Wii U.

I've been wondering about that I read somewhere that their sales for Swap Force aren't anywhere near how it was for Giants and that they were claiming it was because of the PS4 and XBOX One. Grown ups are hesitating to buy the new game and are waiting for the new consoles to come out before they invest.

Quote: Bouncepad

Yet Activision gave the Wii owners the single most garbage port possible, with game-killing freezes, graphics worse that SSA, tons of missing content, etc.

Quite an exageration...

You clearly weren't one of the many, many Wii owners who had their system completely bricked and were unable to play at all as the game consistently froze, or who can't complete all the Spark Locks due to a unopenable chest, or who frequently watch their portal master rank fall in half as the game refuses to recognize their figures, or who only get a half-complete Woodburrow level, or....

Yeah, never mind. The Wii version was perfect.

Quote: Winter

I've been wondering about that I read somewhere that their sales for Swap Force aren't anywhere near how it was for Giants

This. I actually find it incredibly strange that it would happen this game, probably the one with the most new stuff, but I can imagine a few factors:

1. Like it or not: Disney Infinity. I imagine that this is the single biggest thing making an impact on the sale. There are now going to be users making the switch, and people who look at them and decide that they want Infinity. It's a combination of getting tired of Skylanders and wanting something new, so they'll move to Infinity. Infinity also came out first, which I think nudged sales their favour a bit, maybe people wanted to try it or something. Say what you want, but the fanbase is already about as active as this forum and I've seen this game everywhere. Come Christmas time, oh boy...
2. Parents sick of buying Skylanders. We've already seen quite a few threads of kids asking how to get their parents to buy the game, eh?
3. People who want the game but can't handle it. I'm talking about loyal fans who hate how they handle the collecting aspect, one of whom I am myself. Say what you want but people don't like that kind of crud just to unlock a character in a video game. It could be fun, but they're starting to put this promo rubbish up all the time, and it wouldn't be fun when we got a new one each month would it? And of course, let's not forget about international buyers. Outside of America, most places have to wait a month to get figures that the US had since right after launch. That also ruins the community online- because nobody cares about discussing Rip Tide with someone who just got him, when they've had him for a month. To them, it's "old news". And of course, we've never had any way to get Royal Double Trouble locally, and the UK never got Series 2 Drobot, and after months we still have no word on the Giantkicks(I hoped they would improve on that... Guess not). Say what you want about them getting Punch Fizz Singles, but at least he isn't unavailable to you. Plain and simple: this system is annoying. Sure, we don't need these toys, but what if we wanna buy 'em all? Do they really need to set up such arbitrary hoops for recolours of old toys and mini characters that do nothing but follow you around? I'd be shocked if anyone finds that kind of stuff fun. Not to mention including LightCore Hex/Polar Whirlwind exclusively (?) as the SF pre order bonus to force you to buy the next game if you want to finish your old collection...! These kind of problems have existed since the first game but instead of working on them they've only gotten worse so far.
4. The Wii version. It sucks. But mostly, it shows that Acti are willing to put out a port THIS CHEAP. People went and said that constant system freezing and glitched items were OKAY and that they should MAKE MONEY off of it. And that's not good for consumers, it sets a very poor precedent. It's not about how the Wii version sucks so much as showing that they didn't care about getting out a decent product for it, and essentially, wanted to make money off of Wii users through it and nothing else. It's a rip off- especially considering that this dumbed down, did-they-even-test-it version of the game costs the same as the other versions. Think about that. WHY did Acti say that such a horribly glitched game was ACCEPTABLE? They just wanted the MONEY from it. CAPS LOCK.

Anyway, if Infinity takes off at Christmas time, honestly I don't think that's a very good sign considering how sales have been so far...

Quote: Arc of Archives

3. People who want the game but can't handle it. I'm talking about loyal fans who hate how they handle the collecting aspect, one of whom I am myself. Say what you want but people don't like that kind of crud just to unlock a character in a video game. It could be fun, but they're starting to put this promo rubbish up all the time, and it wouldn't be fun when we got a new one each month would it? And of course, let's not forget about international buyers. Outside of America, most places have to wait a month to get figures that the US had since right after launch. That also ruins the community online- because nobody cares about discussing Rip Tide with someone who just got him, when they've had him for a month. To them, it's "old news". And of course, we've never had any way to get Royal Double Trouble locally, and the UK never got Series 2 Drobot, and after months we still have no word on the Giantkicks(I hoped they would improve on that... Guess not). Say what you want about them getting Punch Fizz Singles, but at least he isn't unavailable to you. Plain and simple: this system is annoying. Sure, we don't need these toys, but what if we wanna buy 'em all? Do they really need to set up such arbitrary hoops for recolours of old toys and mini characters that do nothing but follow you around? I'd be shocked if anyone finds that kind of stuff fun. Not to mention including LightCore Hex/Polar Whirlwind exclusively (?) as the SF pre order bonus to force you to buy the next game if you want to finish your old collection...! These kind of problems have existed since the first game but instead of working on them they've only gotten worse so far.

Sorry, I have to disagree. People want what they cannot have.

I'm sure activison have meetings about which figures to restrict, every game they have a hard to find figure, almost every wave. Think of Dark Spyro single, Punch single - there is a reason these were not available in the States. Same with sidekicks elsewhere, they use them to sell books, or $100s of dollars worth of figures. Same with variants and alt decos, most of which have one release and are never seen again. Actually the US seem to have a bigger problem with this than Australia (Target still have hundreds of Scarlets here).

I say they do this is to drive demand.

I will agree that it's not much fun, I agree that they go overboard, but as a profit making organisation I think they are free to use such underhanded tactics if they so choose.

On topic; I think the popularity of Skylanders puts it in Fad territory, but you would think activison would try to prevent it - it's like they just gave up and didn't bother.

In saying that I haven't played the Wii version, but I've heard reports . . .

Quote: Bouncepad

You clearly weren't one of the many, many Wii owners who had their system completely bricked and were unable to play at all as the game consistently froze, or who can't complete all the Spark Locks due to a unopenable chest, or who frequently watch their portal master rank fall in half as the game refuses to recognize their figures, or who only get a half-complete Woodburrow level, or....

Yeah, never mind. The Wii version was perfect.

You can actually complete all the Spark Locks and get the Accolade, they are found in the Story levels... the chest in Woodburrow seems to have been put there by mistake. Tell me more about the half-complete Woodburrow? Some content is not missing, it has just been removed so the game can run on Wii. I am aware some people have been experiencing multiple annoying freezes, but did this problem happened to that many people? I haven't heard about the constant freezing for a while now, except some random non-frequent freezes. For those who didn't get the freezes, the game runs fine.

Quote: Arc of Archives

Quote: Winter

I've been wondering about that I read somewhere that their sales for Swap Force aren't anywhere near how it was for Giants

This. I actually find it incredibly strange that it would happen this game, probably the one with the most new stuff, but I can imagine a few factors:

1. Like it or not: Disney Infinity. I imagine that this is the single biggest thing making an impact on the sale. There are now going to be users making the switch, and people who look at them and decide that they want Infinity. It's a combination of getting tired of Skylanders and wanting something new, so they'll move to Infinity. Infinity also came out first, which I think nudged sales their favour a bit, maybe people wanted to try it or something. Say what you want, but the fanbase is already about as active as this forum and I've seen this game everywhere. Come Christmas time, oh boy...


Anyway, if Infinity takes off at Christmas time, honestly I don't think that's a very good sign considering how sales have been so far...

I like it.... I hope Infinity will one day beat Skylanders sales (not gonna happen right now though), which will be soon. No, not because I prefer Disney Infinity over Skylanders, but because Disney has several more fans and franchises than Skylanders will ever have: Mickey Mouse & Friends, Classical Films, Marvel Comics, Pixar Films, and even Star Wars. How in the hell will Skylanders ever compete with all of this in the future, they will one day run out of original ideas where Disney still has a fresh batch of Characters to pick, Disney is like 70 years older and they've been around long enough to take all the good ideas. Skylanders is too young and too late, coming up with weird monsters and stupid puns...


When that day comes, Activision WILL have to step up their game and listen to the (honest, non-biased) fans' ideas to improve if they want to ever stay the king of the 'toys to life' category (particularly my ideas). Skylanders is #1 for now, but in the future it may soon eat itself and bring itself down to its knees.

You have to take into account that both the Xbox One and PS4 are launching this year (very soon) and neither system is backwards compatible to the older systems games. Why would people buy the game...just to rebuy it a month later?

There will be another Skylanders game next year regardless of sales...the real question is what systems will it be on. Sony & Microsoft have no plans on supporting the older systems and the Wii-U will have been out for 2 years at that point. It wouldn't surprise me to only see the New Skylanders game on the 3 newer systems as they work somewhat similar vs. the PS3 Xbox 360 and Wii (especially the PS3 and the Wii is really a modified Gamecube at heart). It will be one of those upgrade of miss out years for Skylanders fans.

Problem is Activision won't 'listen to the fans'. If they did we wouldn't have so many Spryos/Eruptors/Elfs/etc. They'll just let it dry up like they did with the music games, put them all on recall eventually and people will be stuck wondering why they spent so much on this.

I just think its too much in too short of a time.

Lets be honest reposes and alt decos might be fun for collectors but not for parents, for them it's just a money sink.

I think they might fair better if they release a new game every 1.5 year and about 2 figures a month and just keep the old one available. No new powers for yet another version of stealth elf

Quote: keuntje

I just think its too much in too short of a time.

Lets be honest reposes and alt decos might be fun for collectors but not for parents, for them it's just a money sink.

I think they might fair better if they release a new game every 1.5 year and about 2 figures a month and just keep the old one available. No new powers for yet another version of stealth elf

*supports this 100%*

The WII owners may have to get new consoles...

I can't see why this has sold less because it is the best in the series (in my opinion) When it is Christmas the sales should rise. I guess people may not have the money to buy it because of the last two games.

Quote:

You can actually complete all the Spark Locks and get the Accolade, they are found in the Story levels... the chest in Woodburrow seems to have been put there by mistake. Tell me more about the half-complete Woodburrow? Some content is not missing, it has just been removed so the game can run on Wii. I am aware some people have been experiencing multiple annoying freezes, but did this problem happened to that many people? I haven't heard about the constant freezing for a while now, except some random non-frequent freezes. For those who didn't get the freezes, the game runs fine.

Again, I have to assume you are not one of the Wii version owners. Janky graphics, absurd background pop-up, missing content (read through the Darkspyro.net walkthrough as a Wii owner see just how much stuff is omitted), graphical glitches, and your "non-frequent freezes" occur roughly once per play time. Actually pretty frequent. I understand wanting to defend this game. After all, I am a huge Skylanders fan. But when something is poorly done, you just gotta admit it.

That being said, I will most likely purchase the next game (and on the Wii, if it is available). However, my original point was I don't think many people who are casual Wii owners, and who are the financial backbone of Skylanders (all 3 games) will buy another product like this one.

Quote:

I will agree that it's not much fun, I agree that they go overboard, but as a profit making organisation I think they are free to use such underhanded tactics if they so choose.

Right, but people will get fed up with it. And many I know have left from it. I'm not saying Activision can't do it and they'll be able to get away with it while this cow is alive, but more and more people will get fed up with it as they continue. And again, many have. I know I am, it's the biggest contribution that would break the franchise for me. An in game variant that never arrived here, that just makes me totally distrust Activision, because for all I know then they could start doing that with regular figures on the posters too(which they ALREADY did to the UK). I don't trust Activision to release every figure in some way I can reasonably get. I don't trust that, the game that doesn't sell enough to please them, that they'd at least finish getting each toy for it out for the loyal fans who stuck around through thin and thick. I expect them to not care about that. Actually... Did they even have a reason to exempt the UK from "list of countries that get Series 2 Drobot"?

Dude, I suck at business: but instead of using underhanded tactics, if you make your customers happier, they're more likely to stay around, they'll trust you more. Instead, I expect Acti to do things that really suck like making yet another version of whichever character they had slapped over the posters the last year and had a LightCore, Legendary and Core of. I expect them to announce a new game every February and then leave us in the dark until June, every time. I expect them to pump out as much stuff that makes money for them, even though a lot of said stuff ends up being crumb. These are the same reasons people are upset about the Wii port. It shows if Acti is making money they won't give TFB/VV the time to properly fix issues, and will make them create repose after repose of Spyro and Stealth Elf to make money off of. Does anyone like these things? I don't know anyone who does. Just because they're "givens", it doesn't mean we just have to sit back and accept them, not all of these problems really need to exist. And long turn, it will destroy the franchise, it won't hurt Acti long as they get their money oh no, but it's showing that Acti aren't pulling the stops to get as much as they can from Skylanders before killing it off- which is what this thread is about. We're not discussing how people may feel about the franchise set up so much as how that could, in the end, "doom" the franchise and "dry" the cash cow.

KFM summed up how I feel about this:
Quote: Kung Fu Man

Problem is Activision won't 'listen to the fans'. If they did we wouldn't have so many Spryos/Eruptors/Elfs/etc. They'll just let it dry up like they did with the music games, put them all on recall eventually and people will be stuck wondering why they spent so much on this.

They will kill this the same way they did Guitair Hero rather than learning from all the problems they created with that and making something more sustainable, now that won't be fun. Yes, because of that, it's "doomed" if you will. I'm not saying next year... That sounds too soon... I give it about five to seven more years before it dies off. Maybe that's even being too generous. The way things are currently heading I think that somewhere from Skylanders 6-8 the series will end.

I played a Wii version and this was my opinion of it:

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

For those of you who don't know about Japanese/Eastern smilies, this is a table being flipped.

The only problem I have with the Wii version is the stupid dialogue and inability to skip it half the time. I haven't had any other problems the graphics don't really bother me. I would prefer to have one of the other versions, but the only console I would really use for games besides Skylanders is a Wii U, and those are expensive. The main problem is that when a new game comes out, they for the most part stop selling the old ones, so if you didn't get a figure in their first run and it didn't get a respose, you have to give in to the scalpers on eBay. They need to give us more time in between games.

This all seems like scare tactics, fabricated by people who don't really see the bigger picture... in my opinion.

Skylanders isn't in trouble at all. I can promise that. Heck, Kotick made sure to announce a new Skylanders along with Call of Duty in his latest earnings report.

Just because the Wii version is selling as good as the PS3/360 doesn't jack squat, honestly. People need to remember that a lot of Little Timmy's out there asked for a Wii, not a 360/PS3. So, naturally, a game designed as having a Nintendo-IP feel, that was originally exclusive to the Wii, is going to sell best on the Wii.

Look at Vgchartz, if you go based off of them. What's the total number of Wii system sales compared to 360 and PS3? It's a big duh that a Skylanders game would still sell better on a system more people own, botched port or not. Kids can only afford what their parents will buy them, and that's generally one home console per generation.

Skylanders isn't in the slightest bit of trouble.

Quote: GameMaster78

This all seems like scare tactics, fabricated by people who don't really see the bigger picture... in my opinion.

Skylanders isn't in trouble at all. I can promise that. Heck, Kotick made sure to announce a new Skylanders along with Call of Duty in his latest earnings report.

Just because the Wii version is selling as good as the PS3/360 doesn't jack squat, honestly. People need to remember that a lot of Little Timmy's out there asked for a Wii, not a 360/PS3. So, naturally, a game designed as having a Nintendo-IP feel, that was originally exclusive to the Wii, is going to sell best on the Wii.

Look at Vgchartz, if you go based off of them. What's the total number of Wii system sales compared to 360 and PS3? It's a big duh that a Skylanders game would still sell better on a system more people own, botched port or not. Kids can only afford what their parents will buy them, and that's generally one home console per generation.

Skylanders isn't in the slightest bit of trouble.

Exactly. The Wii has more kids games then the Xbox and PS3, so a kids game would naturally sell more on the more kid friendly console

Kotick will milk a cash cow and he knows it. They may be announcing a new property, but they're blaming every other thing for their reduced sales:

http://venturebeat.com/2013/11...-to-activision/

yes the wii versions graphics are bad but i think that when the wii dies (is discontinued) i will invest in a wii u

Oh nononono! Please tell me it won't crash! I don't care for graphics since I still play with my PS1 but if it Freezes i'm going to get so annoyed, and anywayI'd never be allowed a Xbox or PS3 when I still have my Wii :c

It's simply gotten too expensive.

S:SA - out the gate figs are $7.99. Halfway through Activision bumps it to $8.99. 3 packs are $19.99. Adventure packs are $19.99 and provide exclusive new levels.

S:G - Basic figures are now $9.99 w lightcores being $11.99. Giants are $14.99. Game is much shorter. "Series 2" figures exsist as a way to rebuy the same thing again. "Battle packs" are $24.99 and give access to a battle arena. Three packs are $24.99 and include a series 2 figure which you probably already have series 1 version of.

S:SF- Basic figures are $9.99. "Series 3" figures now exsist for the same reason as Series 2. Lightcores are $11.99. Swappers are $14.99. Must buy new starter for new portal @ $74.99.

You literally pay more for less.

Quote: newkill

Quote: Bouncepad

Yet Activision gave the Wii owners the single most garbage port possible, with game-killing freezes, graphics worse that SSA, tons of missing content, etc.

Quite an exageration...

actually not. I got wii of SSA, it was horrible

Activision knows less people are using a Wii right now as the main focus for home consoles is a Wii U. At this rate the next Skylanders game will not even be released on the Wii. So what are people that own a Wii going to do then? Are you willing to buy a Wii U to play Skylanders as that's where the majority of the casual market for Nintendo is? The reason the Wii U is able to play Wii games is so you can play your older games. Not games coming out in 2014 and 2015.

Quote: Bouncepad

I think Activision my have helped to kill the Skylanders franchise. According to newest sales data at vgchartz.com, the Wii version of Swap Force has been by far the best seller, selling roughly the same amount as the PS3 and XBOX360 combined. Yet Activision gave the Wii owners the single most garbage port possible, with game-killing freezes, graphics worse that SSA, tons of missing content, etc. As a lover of Skylanders, I fear that the Wii owners will pass on the next Skylanders as this version was just so bad (and judging from the sales so far, the Wii will probably get the next game as it is basically the financial backbone of the series). It's a shame, really. And before you reply with "people just need to buy a new system", the fact that Wii is the best seller proves that people who own the Wii are sticking with the Wii, and still spending money on it.

Thoughts?

LoL ... no.
A lot of people who are planning to purchase the XBoxOne or PS4 haven't purchased Swap Force yet.
Your analysis is flawed and incomplete until data is compiled at least through December 2013.

There is absolutely zero chance that the Skylanders developers will "dumb down" the next Skylanders game in 2014 in order to accommodate Wii. Game releases going forward will be tailored to the new/next generation consoles, and although Wii still has some life left in it, everyone, including Nintendo, knows it's on borrowed time. Sorry!

^ There is some data on the UK first week sales...extrapolating from that.

Simple Facts:

1. The Wii port of Swap Force is sub-standard given that ~40% of the franchise game owners are on that platform. I get that Wii won't be 100% the same...I'm talking about significant glitches. If they can't make a game that freezes once or three times over a playing session it shouldn't be released.
2. Glitches generally found in other systems that should receive patches but will not. It will hurt them.
3. The "one game a year" makes it untenable for a collector...or even someone who wants the new guys. It will hurt them.

I think it should be Acti's goal to make the product available globally at the same time, but if manufacturing makes that difficult I can also understand that.

They took a great step forward with graphics and the swap innovation, but lack of time/testing and the continued marketing onslaught is creating some weary and angry fans/customers.

Is this franchise "dead"? No. Should Acti get their butt in gear to correct some issues? Yep! Do we have confidence they will? Only if you believe in Santa Claus.

That's pretty much the bottom line.

Some interesting points. There have been 2 good points made:

1 - The PS4 and XB1 still need to come out. Maybe that will help the Skylanders sales. I'm just not sure that people spending 400-500 bucks on a system will then be spending another 80 on the Swap Force starter pack PLUS figures. My feeling is that people buying these systems will want games that really show the power of these systems. I don't think Swap Force is that game. I think at the end of the day the Wii version will be the best seller, and sadly, the worst version. Not a good strategy by Activision.

2 - Figure fatigue. The sheer amount of figures being released is too much. Casual players will only buy a couple regardless of how many are released. I am a collector and I am feeling the pinch due to the absurd amount of figures with just minor changes. Swap Force has by far too many "colour swap" figures that are required to get 100% on the game. I think that's why Activision is getting the next game out so quickly. They know they need to make their money now before people move on.

Interesting conversation.

i buy the ps3 version, and trust me, much better then the wii version *i have giants for the wii*

The biggest problem is still that the game is, indeed, a money pit. Series 1 Trigger Happy, Spyro and Gill Grunt are now worthless figures, and outside of that many are stuck with now worthless abilities or role in the game. New variants are coming out for the *first game*, which will leave many wondering if we'll indeed ever have 'caught them all'. The sheer number of color variants is also a problem, and now they're more blatantly so because almost none have any differences between one another, making owning both a moot point. Even going for a complete set is such a costly endeavor to the sheer number of $15 figures.

Right now, if you want to unlock everything for the game, you only need one of each swapper type (and even then best to get one of each element to not have to whip out a portal for dual gates), and the area unlocking items (Tower of Time, Sheepwreck Island, Fiery Forge, Arkeyan Crossbow). That's kinda where I am other than keeping the undeads and a few figs that work with the older games. Not getting a lot of incentive to go beyond that either.

I've been an ardent supported of Skylanders on this forum since I joined, but for me right now it's looking unlikely I'll even buy wave 3 and beyond for Swap Force. I'm annoyed that I couldn't buy one of each type of swapper on launch, and my collection is now so large that it's nearly impossible for me to actually play every character. I think they should be releasing fewer characters for long term survivability of the series. If they keep releasing 50 new figures per year it's going to over saturate the market and it'll collapse.

Quote: Friendzie

I've been an ardent supported of Skylanders on this forum since I joined, but for me right now it's looking unlikely I'll even buy wave 3 and beyond for Swap Force. I'm annoyed that I couldn't buy one of each type of swapper on launch, and my collection is now so large that it's nearly impossible for me to actually play every character. I think they should be releasing fewer characters for long term survivability of the series. If they keep releasing 50 new figures per year it's going to over saturate the market and it'll collapse.

I agree...there's way too many figures now and TRU having an insane amount of them in stock (with all the Spryos Adventure and Giants) will hurt them...parents will see the figure thing as a gimmick and bail on the franchise (making the decision for their kids and directing them to other more affordable toys and/or video games). Getting close to logging 100 figures on my portal, I'm realizing I don't have the room to even keep the figures much less dedicate a reasonable amount of time to even play them. Maybe it's time to get rid of reposes...

I think the wii version is good enough

Quote:

Right now, if you want to unlock everything for the game, you only need one of each swapper type (and even then best to get one of each element to not have to whip out a portal for dual gates), and the area unlocking items (Tower of Time, Sheepwreck Island, Fiery Forge, Arkeyan Crossbow). That's kinda where I am other than keeping the undeads and a few figs that work with the older games. Not getting a lot of incentive to go beyond that either.

That depends on your definition of "everything". You want all the hats? You need to buy the variant forms of Bumble Blast and Trigger Happy. You want all the portal master stars? You need to buy basically everything. Same with if you want your Skylander to have maxed elemental power. If by "everything" you just mean completing the game, yeah, you only have to spend about $180 bucks on top of the $80 to buy the starter pack, and that is without even considering buying the battle packs (add another $50 for those). When SSA came out and there were 37 TOTAL characters to buy, it was fun and manageable. Now.... welcome to saturation-ville.

Skylanders will not last. Their marketing is not very good in Asia. The waves come in so slow. 3DS version still unavailable. Never had a preorder period. All signs that it is not so popular in Asia.

. It will never have the longevity or reach of pokemon or mario if they keep ignoring other markets.

Quote: SkylandCitizen

Skylanders will not last. Their marketing is not very good in Asia. The waves come in so slow. 3DS version still unavailable. Never had a preorder period. All signs that it is not so popular in Asia.

. It will never have the longevity or reach of pokemon or mario if they keep ignoring other markets.

Skylanders won't last because marketing isn't very good in Asia
Seems legit

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Problem is Activision won't 'listen to the fans'. If they did we wouldn't have so many Spryos/Eruptors/Elfs/etc. They'll just let it dry up like they did with the music games, put them all on recall eventually and people will be stuck wondering why they spent so much on this.

Yes,true there is six spyros which you don't need especially theres two darks! why couldn't we have had vodood back instead of two spyros?

Quote: SkylandCitizen

Skylanders will not last. Their marketing is not very good in Asia. The waves come in so slow. 3DS version still unavailable. Never had a preorder period. All signs that it is not so popular in Asia.

. It will never have the longevity or reach of pokemon or mario if they keep ignoring other markets.

I think there's a general consensus with what and how they release and market these in other countries can improve. It may simply be a priority based on current demand, though.

LoL ... Skylanders is doomed because of their marketing strategies in the far East?

Thank you for that ... I needed a good laugh today.

A video game franchise does not need to reach the level of transcendence or longevity of Mario or Pokemon in order to be considered successful. In the same way that I do not need to break Michael Phelps' world records in order to be considered a successful swimmer.

Let's use this litmus test instead ... when you visited your local Toys R Us (or similar store for overseas) last Holiday shopping season, what franchise occupied the largest display and most prominent display, probably even occupying more than one large display area in the store? Answer?: Skylanders.
What franchise will occupy the largest display area and more than one prominent display area in the store again this Holiday season? Answer?: Skylanders.

It's quite possible that Skylanders has already "peaked" in popularity, but it's also possible that its "peak" has yet to come. Regardless, the level of popularity worldwide, and especially in the USA, is extremely high, and has been continuously for a period of at least 14-15 months now. That track record of success (and profit) has already vastly surpassed initial expectations for the Skylanders concept.

Quote: Winter

I've been wondering about that I read somewhere that their sales for Swap Force aren't anywhere near how it was for Giants

vgchartz.com literally make up their figures. But let's assume that they are even a little right...


Quote: Arc of Archives

1. Like it or not: Disney Infinity.
2. Parents sick of buying Skylanders.
3. People who want the game but can't handle it.

4. People who had a PS3/S360, but are waiting to buy it on Xbox One or PS4.

Quote: LightSpyro13

I like it.... I hope Infinity will one day beat Skylanders sales (not gonna happen right now though), which will be soon.

From professional reviews, to personal reviews, to number of fans and sales... Swap Force has beaten Infinity in every possible way.

Infinity was a worse platformer than Skylanders.
Infinity was a worse level-builder than Little Big Planet (PS3) or Minecraft (x360).
And Infinity's toys (well looking amazing) played identically to each other and functioned as little more than keys.


Quote: LightSpyro13

No, not because I prefer Disney Infinity over Skylanders, but because Disney has several more fans and franchises than Skylanders will ever have: Mickey Mouse & Friends, Classical Films, Marvel Comics, Pixar Films, and even Star Wars. How in the hell will Skylanders ever compete with all of this in the future, they will one day run out of original ideas where Disney still has a fresh batch of Characters to pick, Disney is like 70 years older and they've been around long enough to take all the good ideas.

We get it... you're not a fan of the Skylander's world. That's cool... go play Infinity.
Meanwhile, some of us love the world and like it BECAUSE it's new, not just something from an old movies, cartooned and plopped into the world.

Quote: LightSpyro13

When that day comes, Activision WILL have to step up their game and listen to the (honest, non-biased) fans' ideas to improve if they want to ever stay the king of the 'toys to life' category (particularly my ideas).

Yeah, I'm sure your ideas are the ones they are longing for.
:rolleyes:

Agree with Tel above. ^

LightSpyro13, your analysis is horribly flawed and entirely useless as a method for predicting the future.

Quote: Bouncepad

missing content (read through the Darkspyro.net walkthrough as a Wii owner see just how much stuff is omitted).

Let's be fair though... Wii was underpowered when it came out, and these days my phone is more powerful than a Wii. You can't expect to have everything the more powerful consoles have.

Quote: keuntje

I just think its too much in too short of a time.

Lets be honest reposes and alt decos might be fun for collectors but not for parents, for them it's just a money sink.

I think they might fair better if they release a new game every 1.5 year and about 2 figures a month and just keep the old one available. No new powers for yet another version of stealth elf

I think it's time some fans got used to the idea of just collecting new figures, and not having to have every figure. When I was a kid no one had the whole line of Transformers or He-Man... it's insane that kids today expect the whole line of Skylanders.

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Problem is Activision won't 'listen to the fans'. If they did we wouldn't have so many Spryos/Eruptors/Elfs/etc. They'll just let it dry up like they did with the music games, put them all on recall eventually and people will be stuck wondering why they spent so much on this.

Who do you think the ‘fans’ are?
It’s not use here on the forum – we’re just a bunch of crazy older folks. The fans are the kids who keep buying Erupter and Stealth Elf over and over and over.

They wouldn’t remake those characters if the kids didn’t love them. Can’t blame Activision for remaking figures that keep selling.
In fact – try to think of series 2/3 as figures made only for people who missed the old versions. Those figures aren’t for you/me… they are just for little Johnny who is playing the newest game for the first time.

Quote: Kung Fu Man

The biggest problem is still that the game is, indeed, a money pit. Series 1 Trigger Happy, Spyro and Gill Grunt are now worthless figures

Why exactly are they worthless? I prefer to use my originals to the new imposters.

Quote: SkylandCitizen

Skylanders will not last. Their marketing is not very good in Asia. The waves come in so slow. 3DS version still unavailable. Never had a preorder period. All signs that it is not so popular in Asia.

. It will never have the longevity or reach of pokemon or mario if they keep ignoring other markets.

Ironically, many of the SSA figures are seen as too scary in Japan (which is madness, because I see what they have on their TVs). I suspect that it's part of the reason that Swapforce has a far more cartoony look to it.

Why am i the only one without wii freezes!

Look, we all know that Activision just wants money. Me and my friend were disscussing that. Sklyanders as a whole really dodged a bullet with Infinity being waaaay too much of a acash grab, and no figures that kids would die for (Star Wars and Marvel). They missed out on the opportunity to have Darth Vader and Hulk duke it out in a battle of the ages, for gods sake! Disney may be corrupt by greed, but they are not stupid. With Sylanders 4 Activision needs to step up their game BIG TIME, or else the franchsise is doomed. Disey Infinity x2 or whatver the hell they call the next game will be better, and acti needs to be ready. And let me do a little math for you:

S1 Spyro
+ Legendary Spyro
+ S1 Dark Spyro
+ S2 Spyro
+ Mega Ram Spyro
+ Dark Mega Ram Spyro
__________________
Six Spyros
And that is just Spyro. we have about 6 Stealth Elfs and 7 Eruptos to boot.

They need to interweave lightcores with cores...and stop calling them out separately and having multiple editions of a character in the same release (ie lightcore bumble blast, core bumble blast). Minimize reposes, more content...better playing mechanic to ENHANCE toys to life.

Or, I guess they can flood the market with 100+ characters next release with mediocre game-play with plenty of critical glitches that won't be patched and see what happens. Sounds like a recipe for success for me.

Quote: GhostRoaster

They need to interweave lightcores with cores...a

Oh, god - yes!

Quote: GhostRoaster

Or, I guess they can flood the market with 100+ characters next release with mediocre game-play with plenty of critical glitches that won't be patched and see what happens. Sounds like a recipe for success for me.

They haven't done that yet (Swap Force is hailed as the best Skylanders game yet), so why would they start now?
Quote: hardcoreignitor

Look, we all know that Activision just wants money. Me and my friend were disscussing that. Sklyanders as a whole really dodged a bullet with Infinity being waaaay too much of a acash grab, and no figures that kids would die for (Star Wars and Marvel). They missed out on the opportunity to have Darth Vader and Hulk duke it out in a battle of the ages, for gods sake!

As cool as that would be, that's not the age group they are aiming at. The people they are marketing to are more the Monsters/Toy Story generation.
Quote: hardcoreignitor

And let me do a little math for you:

S1 Spyro
+ Legendary Spyro
+ S1 Dark Spyro
+ S2 Spyro
+ Mega Ram Spyro
+ Dark Mega Ram Spyro

I would buy more Spyros.
Although I agree that we have too many Erupters by half.

Wii version is pretty much dead. The franchise as a whole still has life left in it. Although it would be nice if they found more balance between game play and the amount of figures.