darkSpyro

Recently, Activision stated that they'd be interested in doing a subscription model similar to EA if the model is proven. Also recently, we found that the Wii Version of Trap Team comes with a download code for the Wii U version.

Now, i don't suspect this to happen in the near future, but I'm curious what other's thoughts are. With the way the game is now, we're buying a $60 game + figures and the portal for $75 (making the figures and portal cost about $15)
What if in the future, Activision sells a subscription plan to play their games (not only Skylanders) and we'll say for EA's similar $29.99 price range for the year. At retail, instead of buying the game and a new portal, etc every time, they offer simply sell each item separately on launch. So you can pick up whatever characters you want to play as, and whatever accessories you need.

No. There's no way Skylanders will go digital only. To say "you can pay for this game and download it, but you need to go out and get x, y and z before you can begin playing" will confuse people. If people can be confused by the fact that the Wii U is not an accessory for the Wii, new arrivals to the series will be confused as to why you can't just play Skylanders 6 straight on the console.

The closest I could see to this would be ditching discs. So you buy the starter pack with characters/portals and it comes with a download code for the game rather than a physical disc - but you can only access this by buying the starter pack in store.

But to be honest, I couldn't see Activision wanting to do that. They would only do it if they had to. For example, one day Sony say "The Playstation 5 doesn't accept discs, you can only download/stream games" and Activision would have to adapt to that if they wanted to keep one of their most popular franchises going.

"If people can be confused by the fact that the Wii U is not an accessory for the Wii, new arrivals to the series will be confused as to why you can't just play Skylanders 6 straight on the console."

^That. Nintendo learned a painful lesson with their poor choice of console name.

Saying digital only with a toys to life game where the point is to buy more stuff is kinda funny. that being said I'd love to support getting additional CONTENT for the current game via subscription or DLC, since they never seem to have enough.

They would lose the handful of people that don't play online. Yeah, not everyone has internet ready access consoles, especially the range of gamers this game is aimed towards.

Quote: AzureStarline

"If people can be confused by the fact that the Wii U is not an accessory for the Wii, new arrivals to the series will be confused as to why you can't just play Skylanders 6 straight on the console."

^That. Nintendo learned a painful lesson with their poor choice of console name.

Nintendo really messed up here as alot of ppl due truely think the wii u is some wii addon. I tried explaining this just the other day to some family in toyrsus that they cant play mario wii u or wii and they so didnt get it.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Saying digital only with a toys to life game where the point is to buy more stuff is kinda funny. that being said I'd love to support getting additional CONTENT for the current game via subscription or DLC, since they never seem to have enough.

Agreed. I would like to see them sell discs still, but add content and fix bugs...even things like the money cheat from SF. It would be cool as well if they were able to add previously unannounced/unplanned characters during the 'offseason'.

That's a good way to kill a franchise

Of course, they should do like in giants and use the same portal as the last game, (witch would save money), and release a portal owner's pack so you would get the game and at least one of the figures, if not them all, and you wouldn't need to keep buying a new portal every time unless your a newbie or you want all the figures.

I have a feeling that the portal owner's pack didn't work out too well for them. We don't know (I don't know at least) how popular that was or if people just bought the full version anyway. As well, the portal owner's pack was about $15 cheaper right? I doubt the portal cost $15 to make, so all it did was cut into the profits.

If you think about, since new games are going for around $60 now, getting 2 characters and a trap is a discount for the extra $15, without even counting the portal.

Quote: melvimbe

I have a feeling that the portal owner's pack didn't work out too well for them. We don't know (I don't know at least) how popular that was or if people just bought the full version anyway. As well, the portal owner's pack was about $15 cheaper right? I doubt the portal cost $15 to make, so all it did was cut into the profits.

If you think about, since new games are going for around $60 now, getting 2 characters and a trap is a discount for the extra $15, without even counting the portal.

I originally thought this was going to be a hurdle for them, but they've justified the costs of the starter pack with the disc and figures alone. The portal puts it over the top. I do think the Portal Starter pack didn't do enough on the discount side...in my mind it was a marketing test with a stingy discount...it was bound to fail. In my mind, it failed on purpose to justify the market to buy a new portal with every game. Psychology games if you ask me.

I don't know if it failed so much as it was a failed test. Another factor is that it costs to produce another starter for each of the 6 consoles they support. Perhaps they've intentionally picked gimmicks that required a new portal. Perhaps they just don't feel like they can select a gimmick over a year in advance and have it integrated into the current version. However, if they had stuck a vault/trap on the swap force portal, people would wonder what the heck is going on.

I kinda hope the next version doesn't require a portal, just because I'm tired of getting new portals all the time.

Quote: melvimbe

I don't know if it failed so much as it was a failed test. Another factor is that it costs to produce another starter for each of the 6 consoles they support. Perhaps they've intentionally picked gimmicks that required a new portal. Perhaps they just don't feel like they can select a gimmick over a year in advance and have it integrated into the current version. However, if they had stuck a vault/trap on the swap force portal, people would wonder what the heck is going on.

I kinda hope the next version doesn't require a portal, just because I'm tired of getting new portals all the time.

You do know the portals work for all consoles except the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Xbox One because of the encrypting right?

dought it

Quote: WickedRogue

Quote: melvimbe

I don't know if it failed so much as it was a failed test. Another factor is that it costs to produce another starter for each of the 6 consoles they support. Perhaps they've intentionally picked gimmicks that required a new portal. Perhaps they just don't feel like they can select a gimmick over a year in advance and have it integrated into the current version. However, if they had stuck a vault/trap on the swap force portal, people would wonder what the heck is going on.

I kinda hope the next version doesn't require a portal, just because I'm tired of getting new portals all the time.

You do know the portals work for all consoles except the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Xbox One because of the encrypting right?

For a specific version of the game, yes, but that's not the point. However, you can't use the portal you got from Giants with SF, and you can use your SF portal with TT. Chances are, you won't be able to use the TT portal for skylanders 5.

I for one, would welcome a digital edition. As others have pointed out, they keep changing the portal, which makes this difficult. If they actually standardized on it, then there would be no reason not to do this.

If would be much easier for my kids just to pick the game from the menu, and not have to worry about swapping discs or portals.

I just wanted to bring this up again and see if anyone's views have changed lol

Starting today, Disney Infinity is free on the Wii U eshop; you can buy your own base and characters at your leisure.

Quote:

Disney Infinity – For the first time, Disney Infinity is available in the Nintendo eShop – and it’s free to download. Enjoy online multiplayer and more fun ways to play. Use your Wii U GamePad controller to create your own worlds in the Toy Box or activate missions and unlock toys in Play Sets. With Disney Infinity, the possibilities are endless. (A Disney Infinity Figure and Base, sold separately, are required to play the downloadable version of the game.)

So again, could this be a viable option for Skylanders and Activision? Not just solely offering the regular starter pack, but maybe a year after the game comes out, offer it on the eshop for free? That would give them a new audience in my mind who'd download it to try it out, and maybe go looking on craigslist/ebay for a portal and some figures, and then potentially become a new customer for the next game.

Heck if Acti is going to offer stuff for free why would I pay thousands for the game? They are technically going "digital only" with tablet version--did you know that you could download it and play it without needing any portal or characters? Granted it's limited, but that's a huge step for them. Btw, Swap Force 3DS was essentially a "digital" only game once you registered your characters.