Are you familiar with Skylanders? If you’re not, here’s a primer: Skylanders is a combination toy and video game franchise, in which real-life plastic toys interact with a special “portal” for gaming consoles and become living, breathing in-game characters. Players can use any character for which they have the toy. Skylanders is, essentially, a machine engineered to harvest money from helpless parents. It’s also a pretty cool game.

At this week’s Toy Fair, Activision reportedly has plans to announce a few new figures in the Skylanders line-up. There are eight new special figures, all of which are “giant-sized” and feature special abilities. Some of them even light up when near the game portal. There will also be eight new regular Skylanders launched at the same time as the giants.

Skylanders has been a sales juggernaut, generating more money than any other new children’s IP last year. Now that Activision smells blood, you can bet more figures will be on the way at steady intervals.

Have you played Skylanders? What did you think?

[Game Informer]

The world of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is less generic than it seems.
Image courtesy Electronic Arts

If you’ve seen the incredibly dull marketing campaign for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which makes the upcoming role-playing game look like just another generic Tolkien clone, you probably aren’t that excited. But this Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC game, to be released Tuesday, is an addictive good time.

I’ve spent about 10 hours immersed in this fantasy RPG created by a squadron of proven talents: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind game designer Ken Rolston, writer R.A. Salvatore and artist Todd MacFarlane, all with the backing of former MLB pitcher and gaming entrepreneur Curt Schilling. I’ve had nothing but good times hacking and hunting my way through its monsters and dungeons. Sort of like a cross between Fable and World of Warcraft, Amalur’s world is a delicious mixture of vibrant reds, greens and blues. The art team knocked it out of the park, crafting a large variety of landscapes that feel both unique and harmonious: alluring, mystical elf havens or industrious, worn-out villages.

Uniting this world is a widespread belief that its people’s fates cannot be changed. In Amalur, each person believes he has an immutable destiny, one that defines how, and how long, he will live. Until you come along.

But of course, your character is the anomaly, somebody who can change both his own fate and the destinies of the people he interacts with. So, naturally, it’s up to you to save the world.

It’s a fun world to save, mostly thanks to a flashy but simple combat system that owes more to action games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta than it does to games in its own genre. You can use several types of weapons, like hammers, bows and an extensive and satisfying set of chakram to unleash combination attacks on your foes. There’s also magic, ranged attacks and a host of other special abilities.

Further enhancing this system is the fact that you can customize your character’s skills without getting too pigeonholed in one specific archetype. There are three different skill trees — Finesse, Might and Sorcery — and you can mix and match between them to create any sort of hybrid character that you can imagine. Skill trainers across the world allow you to easily reset these skill trees, in case you screw up or change your mind.

Though there is a lot to love about the world, it’s hard to stay attached to any of the people in it. Amalur’s user interface is designed much like a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, liberally sprinkling yellow exclamation points and markers all over your mini-map in order to show you where to quest next. It’s easy to ignore the people and their plights in favor of endless side quests.

Like any good RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is adept at digging its claws into that part of your brain that just loves accomplishing things. It can be exceptionally soothing to sit on your couch for a few hours and just bang out quests. If you need a taskmaster in your life, this just might do the trick.

Sony has officially confirmed that PlayStation Network accounts are going bye-bye, and will be replaced with Sony Entertainment Network accounts. If you’re a current PSN user, don’t worry – this process will happen automatically and you won’t have to do much more than sign a new EULA.

The change comes as Sony attempts to merge its various entertainment offerings into one platform. The company noted that the transition will help Sony with improving its functionality and making its various services easier for consumers to access.

The company also mentioned that the change makes it easier to establish a network that provides movies, games, music and “more,” whatever that may be.

Your login information will remain unchanged. New accounts come with software updates for the Vita and PS3 on February 8.

What do you think of the new Sony Entertainment accounts?

[Digital Spy]

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The new trademarked name is ‘Xperia Sola’, and so far no details have emerged. Common sense tells me that details won’t emerge for a while, either, as name trademarking is usually one of the earliest steps in the stages of development.

The name was trademarked January 30^th, and some people suspect it may be the new name for the upcoming Xperia S, although that’s too close to release to see title change now. I haven’t actually seen, used or played with an Xperia device yet, but something about them doesn’t appeal to me.

I’d be delighted if I had one, but getting to the stage of owning one seems just too far away across a mountain of niche phone/PlayStation hybrid worlds. I must be out of the loop though as there are indeed a good few Xperia handsets and devices out there…

Some have even suggested that the Sola could be a solar-powered device.

What do you think this Xperia Sola is, and what do you want it to be?

You asked, and we deliver (if belatedly): Here’s the full video of our “Retrogame Roadshow” panel at Penny Arcade Expo 2011 in Seattle.

Playing to a live crowd of PAX attendees, our group of classic gaming experts asked audience members to come on stage with their gaming treasures of days gone by. The panel, in a manner reminiscent of Antiques Roadshow or Pawn Stars, talks about the item — what it is, why it’s rare (or not!) and how much it’s worth.

During this panel, we had an amazing array of rare and interesting games and memorabilia that you may not have known existed. There’s a portable Japanese game machine that pre-dates the Game Boy, a sealed copy of the rarest Sega Saturn title and a remarkable home game console made by Capcom.

We’ll be doing Retrogame Roadshow again at PAX East in Boston, during the weekend of April 6-8. Be there and bring your best stuff!

Special thanks to J Eckert and Nick Hutchins for putting this video together.

Disgaea is one of the most popular RPG series both here and overseas is getting a Vita release.  But it’s a remake of the third title in the series, originally released on the PS3, from 4 years ago.

Announced back in August of last year the game will actually be a pretty good iteration and will introduce new people to the series. The game’s touch screen controls and integrated improvements over the original will bring old fans back to the series.

Improvements include a whole new ability to look at character pictures, four brand-new scenarios and two characters not featured in the original game. The game will also have all the DLC included into the game itself. I have to say in terms of turn-based RPG’s Disgaea seems to by-pass my usual antagonistic approach to the much-beloved Japanese past-time and just gets you to fall in love with these characters, even at the most melancholic.

The fourth title in the series subtitled, A Promise Unforgotten will be released next month and will probably be helped by the third one being released on the Sony handheld. The game will be a Vita launch title and out this month.

Vehicular-combat game Twisted Metal is just one of the things on creator David Jaffe’s mind in this week’s podcast. Image courtesy Sony Computer Entertainment

David Jaffe, the outspoken and razor-sharp game creator who brought us God of War and Twisted Metal, joins the cast of this week’s Game|Life podcast.

After discussing his recent reboot of the car-combat series, to be released Feb. 14 for PlayStation 3, we delve into all sorts of topics, from online passes (Twisted Metal has one, over Jaffe’s objection) to used games to Jaffe’s plans for the future. Wired magazine senior editors Chris Baker and Peter Rubin join me as we quiz Jaffe for a good hour-plus.

The Game|Life podcast is posted every Friday, is available on iTunes and is embedded below. It can also be downloaded directly (.mp3).

GameLife Reboot:
Episode 016

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Tell me about it, lady. Image: Square Enix

by Garret Martin, Ars Technica

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place three years after Final Fantasy XIII. Vanille, Fang, Snow and Lightning are gone; either dead, encased in crystal or disappeared to unknown adventures. Serah Farron, Lightning’s sister and Snow’s fiancée, hides her pain while teaching the children of New Bodhum and helping her friends in NORA. Images of Lightning engaged in an epic battle haunt her dreams, but she knows her sister is gone forever.

What happened to Final Fantasy? The elaborate narrative and groundbreaking graphics of Final Fantasy VII turned the franchise from a significant cult favorite into a mainstream blockbuster in 1997. Since then, though, almost every Final Fantasy has struggled to find the correct balance between game and story, with CGI cut-scenes and anime clichés taking up as much time as the gameplay.

Final Fantasy XIII might have been the natural endpoint of that style. It sacrificed level design to story, with a long series of shotgun hallways dressed up with fancy backgrounds that give the illusion of depth and space. By foisting an unusual linearity upon a series marked by exploration, and by including one of the most obnoxious videogame characters of all time, XIII remains the most divisive entry in the series.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 feels less like a standalone sequel than a concerted effort to bring back fans disappointed by the last game. Somewhere within the bowels of Square Enix, there’s a memo that details every major criticism of XIII. The sequel addresses enough of those points to make it feel different from FFXIII, but without making the game as a whole all that much better.

Sidequests make a triumphant return this time around, so rejoice if you love helping lazy people perform the simplest tasks. And you can walk around various towns full of talkative strangers who say little of interest. More importantly, though, the ability to roam throughout the time stream and revisit previous levels opens up the world a bit, recreating that classic sense of Final Fantasy adventure even without a standard world map.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place 10 years after Final Fantasy XIII. Serah and her mysterious, sword-wielding partner Noel Kreiss reconnect with an old friend who’s also been impacted by Lightning’s absence. Together, they reminisce and investigate a weird piece of technology destined to play a key role in the fate of the world.

The world of XIII-2 is more expansive than that of its predecessor, but the goals are as focused. You travel throughout time, fixing paradoxes that pop up throughout the world of Gran Pulse at various times after the fall of Cocoon, in an effort to set the one true timeline right again. You won’t stumble into surprising situations or ever be at a loss of where to go, but this time the game gently nudges you in the right direction instead of forcing you down a straight line.

The gameplay progresses in the finest Final Fantasy tradition, the story spurred on by those chattering non-player characters and dramatic set-piece battles with elaborately designed bosses. Instead of the large parties of old, though, you’re basically restricted to two main characters, with a rotating cast of captured monsters filling out your three-person squad. This story has more settings, but a smaller cast than the one that came before it.

Despite the more open-ended structure and millennium-hopping plot, XIII-2 somehow manages to feel less epic than its predecessor. The small party and asinine side-quests make the game’s world-ending threat feel less threatening, and the story is a Möbius strip of nonsensical time travel claptrap and absurd characters that, like many Final Fantasies before it, often seems like an unintentional parody of anime.

Proper Paradigm selection is key to success in battle, against giant Cactuars or anything else. Image: Square Enix

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place 100 years after Final Fantasy XIII. Society has collapsed and humans now eke out an existence via hunting and primitive agriculture. Serah and Noel help as best they can, but it’s a hard life on the steppes and monsters are a constant threat.

XIII‘s combat system, the best thing to happen to this series since 1997, returns this time around with only minor changes. Once again, characters earn Crystogen points in each battle and put them toward unlocking and leveling up various combat roles. Commandos deal the most damage, Synergists buff your team’s offensive skills, Saboteurs undermine opponents with poison and other spells, Sentinels soak up damage and Medics heal the party.

Ravagers might play the most important role, as their quick, constant attacks can be combined with the skills of a Commando to fill up an enemy’s “stagger meter.” Even the strongest foe breaks down when staggered, as their reactions are slowed and every hit inflicts far more damage than usual.

The dominant strategy in most battles is to stagger your enemies as quickly as possible and then pour on the pain with a frontline of Commandos. Still, figuring out the best way to stagger each new boss or monster type adds a bit of the type of strategy that is often missing from more straightforward RPG battles.

Once again you can juggle these various character roles and permutations through the Paradigm system, which lets you preset six combinations for your party and easily switch between them during a fight with the press of a button. Different permutations come in handy for different situations; a three-Sentinel lineup might be useful when facing foes with an incredibly strong spell or special move, while a Synthesist/Saboteur/Sentinel troika can provide a quick edge at the start of battle. Juggling these different lineups forces you to be active and attentive during battle, and remains a welcome change of pace from the patient, polite turn-based combat of old.

XIII-2‘s improvements on its predecessor shouldn’t be understated. The fact that the eternally aggravating Vanille is spoken of more than seen, for instance, makes a huge difference. But overall it’s not as big of an improvement as it could be. The emphasis on extravagantly rendered cut-scenes and pedantic dialogue that describes every plot point in exhausting detail still feels old, especially when compared to recent RPGs like Dark Souls and Skyrim that let players unravel the story at their own pace. And while the superfluous, BioWare-style dialogue trees do represent a change, it’s one that amounts to a pointless diversion.

As more games tentatively embrace subtlety, the “show and tell and tell and tell” mentality of Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes off as an outdated throwback to a bygone era. It’s less a new videogame from 2012 than a curio dug up in a time capsule.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place 700 years after Final Fantasy XIII. Lightning is fighting an outrageously powerful purple-haired villain who looks like a member of Tokio Hotel. It’s the end of time but also the start of Noel’s journey. He leaps into a time gate, floating back to New Bodhum where he first meets Serah, triggering Final Fantasy XIII-2?s complicated time-hopping plot. The only time the gate can’t travel to? Whenever Final Fantasy last mattered.

The good:

• World is a little more open than that of Final Fantasy XIII
• Combat system is more engaging than many turn-based RPGs.
• Less Vanille than the last game!

The bad:

• Dialogue is pedantic and overly expository.
• Story is a confusing, time-traveling mess.
• Small parties restricted to just three characters.
• Whole structure feels dated and less gripping than many modern RPGs.

The ugly:

• Time-traveling storekeeper Chocolina, an inexplicable cross between Saturday Night Live’s Target Lady, Kids in the Hall’s Chicken Lady and an Italian pornstar-turned-politician.

The verdict: Skip (unless you love all things Final Fantasy)

Naughty Dog and Sony have put out a behind-the-scenes video of the motion capture process that went into making the game; more specifically, it goes behind-the-scenes of the trailer, often playing early forms of the trailer next to the actors in their tight-fitting motion capture suits. It’s a pretty cool look into how these games that use mo-cap are made and what these often-under appreciated actors do.

If you’ve been living under a rock, The Last of Us is a PS3-exclusive game that’s a bit I Am Legend, but instead of infected vampire-things we have a fungus that previously only took over the minds of ants that has mutated and turned people into zombies with big growths on their heads. The two main protagonists, Joel and Ellie, have this Nathan Drake and Ellen Page thing going on visually. With two main characters, I’m hoping for extensive co-op action.

There’s no release date set in stone yet, but The Last of Us is supposed to be out late this year or early next year.

Here’s the mo-cap vid:

And the finished product:

Deep Silver and Piranha Bytes are giving those who pre-order Risen 2: Dark Water a $10 (800 MSP) pack of DLC for free. It’s called “Treasure Isle” and it apparently picks up on a story left hanging in the the first Risen game. You’ll be tracking down Captain Steelbeard’s hidden treasure with the help of the good captain’s daughter Patty and his ship’s cook, Harlok. It’s Harlok that discovers the location of the hidden booty and recruits you to help him track it down.

It will all be story-driven, of course, and full of new environments, puzzles, and an exclusive legendary item for this DLC that will offer a permanent stat boost.

Risen 2: Dark Waters is out on April 24th in North America and on the 27th in Europe.

The trailer for Risen 2 is below.