Yooka-Laylee Toybox Demo

Yesterday, Playtonic Games has released the playable toybox demo of Yooka-Laylee for those who backed the game's kickstarter. The backer-exclusive demo is played through the Steam on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

"The Toybox has been created from scratch for our backers and is not a traditional ‘demo’. In particular, the environments you see in the final version of Yooka-Laylee will be far more vast and detailed than the intentionally-simple playground you’ll be able to jump around in this week. There are also far more moves, animations and general polish included in the main game."

Skylands Academy Forum Update

With the Skylanders Academy television series in the light, and on its way to its debut on Netflix this Fall, the Skylands Academy Forum is itching for more active members who are major fans of Skylanders. Portal Masters can also talk about the upcoming Skylanders: Imaginators game and what has been revealed so far.

http://skylandsacademy.com/index.php

Skylanders Academy TV series coming to Netflix

The Skylanders television series first mentioned back in November 2015 is finally revealed by Activision. Its network will be on Netflix and will air around the same time as the release of Skylanders: Imaginators. I am personally excited that Spyro will finally have a lead role AND be in an animated tv series at last. :D

The animation company responsible for the beautiful screenshots below of the show itself is TeamTO, the same French animation studio who did other international projects.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced that "Skylanders Academy," the first production by Activision Blizzard Studios-its newly-created television and film studio-will premiere in Fall 2016 on Netflix, the world's leading internet television network.

"Over the last five years, millions of families around the world have welcomed Skylanders characters into their homes. Now, they'll be able to watch their favorite characters come to life on Netflix," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "We couldn't have found a better home for 'Skylanders Academy' and look forward to sharing our extraordinary characters with Netflix audiences around the world."

The series follows the heroic adventures of the Skylanders team, a group of heroes with unique elemental skills and personalities who travel the vast Skylands universe, protecting it from evil-doers and showing the next wave of Academy cadets how to do things the "Skylander way." Created by Toys For Bob, the $3 billion Skylanders franchise has sold through more than 250 million toys since pioneering the toys-to-life category in 2011, and earlier this month Activision revealed Skylanders Imaginators, the latest innovation in the franchise.

"'Skylanders Academy' gives us the opportunity to approach narrative storytelling with the same level of quality and excellence that millions of Skylanders fans have come to expect from the game," said Activision Blizzard Studios Co-President Stacey Sher. "We're inspired by our fans' excitement for these characters and have worked hard to bring these characters to life with stories our fans will love."

Activision Blizzard launched its studio last year to create original content based on the company's intellectual property, and "Skylanders Academy" is the first production by Sher and studio Co-President Nick van Dyk. The two-season Netflix partnership is another important step in Activision Blizzard's strategy of enhancing its franchises and broadening their appeal.

Produced under the supervision of showrunner Eric Rogers ("Futurama"), "Skylanders Academy" features the voices of Justin Long ("Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Ask Me Anything") as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale ("Phineas and Ferb," "High School Musical") as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks ("Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul") as Eruptor and Norm MacDonald ("Saturday Night Live") as Glumshanks. Additional voice talent includes The Diamond Minecart, Susan Sarandon, Daniel Wu, Parker Posey, James Hetfield, Catherine O'Hara, Bobcat Goldthwait, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jonny Rees, Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz.

Sher and van Dyk are joined by Sander Schwartz, the Emmy award-winning producer of animated hits including "The Batman," "The Aquabats! Super Show!" and "Justice League: The New Frontier," as the show's executive producers. "Skylanders Academy" is animated by the internationally acclaimed TeamTO studio in France.

"Activision Blizzard Studios' enviable mission is to work with our extraordinary portfolio of franchise intellectual property and bring it to broader audiences on new platforms," said van Dyk. "We're excited to reach this strategic partnership and for the future of 'Skylanders Academy.'"

Imaginators at E3 2016

I was able to once again go to E3 this year to play some Skylanders: Imaginators. Here are the results, and some press gameplay.

Skylanders: Imaginators + E3 2016

The game of Skylanders: Imaginators was officially revealed today on June 1st. :) Along with the reveal, came a legion of new characters and a new gimmick that features creating our very own Skylanders in the form of Imaginators.

Portal Masters can unleash their imaginatons like never before when Skylanders Imaginators launches on October 16 in North America! Skylandes Imaginators gives kids the power to create Skylanders and bring them to life for the first time in an all-new adventure with a compelling storyline, puzzles, battles, and a new lineup of heroes and villains.

Since the inception of Skylanders, kids around the world have imagined their own Skylanders characters. Towys for Bob, the orignators of Skylanders and pioneers of Toys-to-Life, is back as the lead development team. Skylanders Imaginators will offer fans more choices than ever before with infinite possibilities to create. Now fans can create their own Skylanders with endless combinations of powers, abilities, catchphrases, and much more that deliver hours of replayable fun.

The story of Skylanders Imaginators takes place long ago when the Ancients used a mysterious power known as Mind Magic to create everything in Skylands. With it, they conjured into existence anything that they could imagine. However, they soon learned that in the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous, and so they sealed it away so that it could never be misused. After discovering this ancient secrete, Kaos has unleashed the power of Mind Magic into Skylands once again - and he is using it to create an unstoppable army of Doomlanders, the likes of which have never been seen! Now it's up to Portal Masters to create Skylanders Imaginators from their own imagination to stop Kaos and his evil Doomlanders before it is too late. And to help train them, Eon is sending the greatest mystic warriors of all time - the Senseis!

Skylanders Imaginators supports the 300+ character toys from all previous Skylanders games - including *insert name of each game here* - that kids can enjoy in the real world and in the virtual game world. As plays add new Skylanders to their collection, they expand their in game experiences.

• Create your own Skylander - For the first time, their imaginations to life and create their own Skylanders, called Skylanders Imaginators. With endless creation options of powers, abilities, catchphrases, appearance and much more, kids can build their very own creations out of their imaginations, or use the randomize feature to allow the game to choose parts for them.
  
  
• Creation Crystal - Skylanders Imaginators introduces a new toy type - a Creation Crystal. This vessel allows players to create and transport their unique Skylanders to consoles at anytime, anywhere! Creation Crystals are elementally aligned. Portal Masters can create one character per Creation Crystal.
  
  
• Meet the Senseis - The Skylanders franchise continues to offer engaging characters that kids love to discover as they play the game. Skylanders Imaginators will introduce new guest stars to Skylanders called Senseis to fans. Senseis include 20 new characters and 11 former villains. Each Sensei is a master of one of 10 powerful Battle Classes (e.g. Knight, Sorcerer, Brawler, and more).
  - Being the master of these Battle Classes, only Senseis have the ability to unleash Sky Chi - the ultimate Battle Class super move. Sensei Skylanders have a master-to-apprentice relationship with newly created Imaginator Skylanders. This is supported in-game through the Sensei unlocking of unique Imaginator weapons, the increase of Imaginator level caps, providing access to special areas in the game, as well as the unlocking of new Secret Techniques for Imaginators of the same class.
  
  
• New Storyline and Gameplay - Skylanders Imaginators features an all-new adventure-filled, comedic and charming story with fun new characters, as well as returning franchise favorites. The game delivers a diverse and dynamic story-driven gameplay experience, focused on the magic of sparking imagination, inspiration, and excitement of kids as they create their own superheroes - all set within a variety of compelling new environments. Additionally, Skylanders Imaginators will support local co-op multiplayer. Players can place two Creation Crystals or two toys or a combination of the Crystals and toys on the Portal of Power to maximize the fun!
  
  
• Returning Core Characters - Skylanders Imaginators also will feature fan-favorite characters who make an appearance in both the storyline of the game - and the upcoming Skylanders Academy television series!

In addition, Crash Bandicoot has been confirmed at E3 2016 to be in Skylanders: Imaginators, and the announcement of remasters of the first three Crash Bandicoot games will be on the PS4.

A wormhole has opened in Skylands and the great Aku Aku appears! He has come to announce the once-in-two-decades Synchronization Celebration--a time when all of the worlds align perfectly. All the inhabitants of Wumpa Island are having a party and they want to invite the Skylanders. But with Kaos on a quest to take over Skylands using his army of Doomlanders, the Skylanders must focus on stopping his evil plans. Never one to shy away from danger, the legendary marsupial Crash Bandicoot leaps through the wormhole to join the Skylanders in the ultimate battle against Kaos!

Skylands Academy Leaks + Fan Forum

Leaked logo of Skylanders Academy featured on Eric Rogers' Twitter page

Skylanders Academy Lead Writer, Eric Rogers, has recently started leaking some details on the upcoming animated Skylanders series that is set to air Fall 2016. From his twitter page, Rogers has been replying to eager fans without spoiling too much, this includes:

• 10-13 episodes are planned for Season 1
• The show is canon with original content, but with no direct tie-ins to sequels
• No network or program for the show has been selected yet
• Skylanders Academy will be a mixture of Gravity Falls and Futurama
• Certain characters, such as Cynder and Flynn, won't be shown until Season 2
•  Half hour episodes 

In honor of the upcoming Skylanders Academy, I created a forum for Skylanders fans aka Portal Masters: Skylands Academy.

Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition

Moon Studios recently released the Definitive Edition of Ori and the Blind Forest, in which fans can play new optional difficulty settings, Behind the Scenes, Theater, and Concept Art, two new areas and abilities. The Xbox One version of the game has just been released, while the Steam and PC additions are still under the works.

"We wanted to make the Definitive Edition a celebration of sorts for our players and fans, and welcome them into the journey that we went through from the beginning to the end of the development process. All of these things make Ori very special."

Activision and Autism Speaks + Power Blue Skylanders

Activision today has revealed their partnership with Autism Speaks in the form of the Power Blue Skylanders.

To support the millions of families affected by autism, Skylanders®, the beloved kids videogame franchise, and Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to autism science and advocacy, invite fans to "Light it up Blue" with one-of-a-kind toys. Through this creative collaboration for April's Autism Awareness Month, Skylanders and Autism Speaks are raising awareness for an important cause -- and in true Skylanders fashion, are having fun while doing it.

"Autism affects one in every 42 boys and one in 68 children in the U.S. We're proud to work with Skylanders, an iconic franchise that's known for bringing joy and magic to kids and families," said Peter Morton, vice president of Corporate Development at Autism Speaks. "This year's Light it up Blue campaign for World Autism Awareness Day marks our first alliance with a videogame and toy, and we couldn't be more excited."

The new series of Skylanders SuperChargers toys are blue and white to reflect Autism Speaks' official colors. The "Power Blue" Skylanders SuperChargers feature Splat and Trigger Happy, as well as their SuperCharged vehicles Splatter Splasher and Gold Rusher -- all of which appear in-game as their special colors. The toys are on store shelves now at participating retailers in the U.S. and Europe and will be available starting April 1 in Canada.

"When my son was diagnosed with autism, I felt very alone. From my first Autism Speaks Walk, I felt the power of community, and this partnership with Skylanders will bring awareness and belonging to kids and families in a unique way," said Matt Asner, director of Corporate Development, Autism Speaks.

"Since the debut of the franchise, we've heard from parents that Skylanders plays a special role in the lives of their kids on the autism spectrum," says Josh Taub, senior vice president of Skylanders Product Management, Activision. "The entire Skylanders team was deeply committed and proud to bring these special toys to life. If they can put a smile on a child's face, then we know we've done our job right."

In addition to creating the Power Blue Skylanders SuperChargers and bringing them to life in game, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is launching employee education and employee-donation matching programs in connection with Autism Awareness Month. Additionally, in recognition of World Autism Awareness Day, employees will have the opportunity to participate in the Autism Speaks Walk on April 2 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Activision is also making donations to non-profits that are making a difference in the autism community.

In addition to my support on autism awareness, I created a gamplay video on the Power Blue Skylanders and their respective vehicles.

20th Pokemon Anniversary + ???

I've been a Pokemon fan for years, since Pokemon Red/Blue. Playthrough every single new game on my Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, Nintendo DS, and 3DS, including few of the Stadium games on consoles. Happy 20th anniversary, Pokemon!

Pokemon Red/Blue/Green - 1996

Pokemon Silver/Gold - 1999

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - 2002

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl - 2006

Pokemon Black/White - 2010

Pokemon X/Y - 2013

And in 2016... 

Pokemon Sun/Moon

 

The Silent Problem of darkSpyro.net

DarkSpyro.net. A big Skylanders/Spyro the Dragon website that is steadily growing by the day.

While the forum does have some neat information on Skylanders and old Spyro the Dragon games, what members don't know is that there is more than just fancy walkthrough pages and galleries. There is the communication and the enjoyment fans gain by talking with others about the Skylanders and Spyro games. Or it can be about topics related to silliness and standard real world discussions.  There is also the forum moderation. It can help make your time on the forum fun, or it can make your time there difficult.

The current 2016 darkSpyro Main Page

Most of you may know me from the forums, and I have been around since 2008. Back then, the darkSpyro forums was just about Spyro games, solely operated by dark52.

Besides posting walkthroughs, managing  and creating news posts on the Spyro games, dark52 was mostly on top of rule-breakers and trolls and would ban them from the forums as soon as they ignore their first few warnings. Sometimes though, trolls would come on when the admin was asleep, and it would take hours later until he would come online to clean up the mess. But other than that, darkSpyro was a pleasant place to talk and chat with other Spyro fans.

Until the time came when dark52 decided to follow Skylanders and made the site a part Spyro part Skylanders division. As time went on, more and more members joined due to the audience of Skylanders, and it became too much for the admin.

Some of us suggested to dark that he should appoint moderators so he wouldn't feel so overwhelmed. But dark refused to accept help and believed that he could handle the forum on his own like he always had.

Big mistake.

At one point, a troll posted inappropriate images on the forum that lasted for 6 hours until dark52 finally woke up and deleted them all. I can't even imagine how many kids late at night or in the morning were possibly scarred by those pictures all because of dark's stubbornness. Even after all of that, he was still convinced that he didn't need any moderators. Completely ignorant to the fact that he doesn't do anything when something obviously bad is happening. Can you believe it??

Sometime after the horrible incident, the admin allowed trolls to get away with harassing users. They broke the forum rules on multiple occassions, drove away older members, and the trolls even had the nerve to start speaking on the admin's behalf just to belittle others. In a nutshell, dark52 basically just sat back and watched the rule breaking scenario all happen. And this lasted about... a few years and it could've lasted a LOT longer.

I was one of the main victims of the trolling, and I can tell you, it was the worst experience I've ever endured on any forum. Imagine being harassed and trolled on for months, being the target of an upcoming war started by a troll who was in the process of tricking an entire forum section of children to be against you. And the admin knowing fully well what's going on but refused to do anything about it. All just to update forum news and making posts about Skylanders. Like the concerns of his userbase don't matter to him at all.

It can drive you extremely fustrated, crazy even. Honestly it drove me insane that I wondered WHY I was still on that forum.

After some time during all of the chaos, dark52 FINALLY gave in and went on to appoint moderators after 8 long years of solo moderation. At least he admitted that he neglected his duties. Although he never did apologize to the users, including myself, who were harassed constantly by the trolls thanks to him. But even with mods, dark didn't do much moderation himself sometime afterwards, besides removing the occasional spambot or inappropriate picture troll.

Nowadays, there is a 10% chance you will get a private message response from the admin, regardless of your question, request or in need of intervention. The other 90% is him updating the forum polls, getting news on Skylanders, and making the site look prettier. He rarely communicates with the forum members and his fellow moderators, keeping most rule changes and decisions to himself until he feels like revealing them at the last minute. You will very likely see him talk about Skylanders, than forum issues that aren't worth his time to talk about.

In addition, dark has shown some severe signs of neglecting his admin duties. Such as causing an harassment war to nearly happen, allowing a kid to post his private information more than three times (and we're talking about family names, home address, email that kind of private information that should be kept your self), and allowing scenarios to escalate out of porportion until he feels like dealing with it.

If you have a logical issue about dark52 and his way of moderation, he will simply disregard your topic subject at hand altogether and will respond to an-off topic comment on popup ads instead.
As a longtime member of the forum, I would not recommend darkSpyro.net unless you are used to a user who doesn't take his job as admin and site owner very seriously. You might become stressed or unwanted, a victim of trolling caused by returning rule-breakers and egomaniacs. All of this happening to you, with dark52 not doing anything about it. And normally he would leave the moderators to do most of the work for him.

An admin should learn from his or her mistakes. But dark52 is one admin who apparently never learn from his. And even if dark changes his ways now or after this video is made, chances are he will go right back to being a recluse and sit quietly while watching rule-breakers run amok until he FEELS like stepping in.

2007 Layout of darkSpyro.net

I've been on darkSpyro for ages, and it's hard to leave a place where I grew up going to after a day's work. But with the way things are on the forum, and the admin STILL showing no signs of improvement on his moderation, I may as well just move on.

So I ask you, viewers. Would you want to join a nice looking forum like darkSpyro.net, but with a reclusive and ignorant admin like dark52? I wouldn't. But in the end it's your choice. You may like the forum just because of how fancy it looks or it's the only popular place to see new Spyro or Skylanders info. But remember that in the end, it is run by a user, a user whose actions can either make your time on darkSpyro fun or outright miserable and unenjoyable.

Thanks for tuning in, everyone, see you next time.

Video version

Wave 4 Singles (Spitfire, Hot Streak, Astroblast, BB Roller Brawl, Tomb Buggy...)

Skylanders: SuperChargers Wave 4 singles are appearing in Toys R Us stores. This wave includes single pack versions of Spitfire, Hot Streak, Sun Runner, Astroblast, regular Bone Bash Roller Brawl and her Tomb Buggy.

 

I also have done videos on the following SuperCharger Skylanders along with their vehicles.

FNAF World First Look

Not a fan of Five Nights of Freddy's, but I have been following the lore and characters and I had to try out the seemingly friendly RPG, FNAF World.

So far the game is basic and bland, with the battle system being fast-paced. Enemies can automatically attack your party, forcing you to spam attacks in order to attack first before your opponent(s) make their next move. The story immediately starts out that there was something wrong with the world of Animatronics with no buildup to the plot.

Scott Cawthorn's first try on a RPG themed game came out with several errors however, one of them being the loss of certain intended features. There were even a few reports of seizures noted when the bright flashing of the attacks within the battle system lights up the screen. This caused Scott to realize that he has indeed rushed his latest FNAF title and resolves to fix it. He is currently working on updates on the game, which I hope the brightness of the attacks being one of them.

Skylanders Kid Cuisine

Activision and ConAgra Food have teamed up to bring a new Skylanders food merchandise into stores from now to April 15th!

Skylanders Kid Cuisine Limited Edition with Spyro and Dreamcatcher Mac & Cheese

Activision Publishing, Inc. and ConAgra Foods' Kid Cuisine have teamed up to bring even more fun to frozen-food grocery aisles. Available now through April 15, kids everywhere in North America can enjoy a variety of Kid Cuisine meals inspired by Skylanders®, the pioneers of the toys-to-life category, giving fans all the more reason to play with their food. The promotional meals will be available at all participating major grocery stores and supermarkets across the country, as well as Walmart and Target.

The Skylanders-inspired Kid Cuisine meals will infuse the magic that the blockbuster franchise is known for with this novel partnership. Fans will enjoy meals featuring their favorite characters such as Stealth Elf and Kaos shaped chicken nuggets with gem-shaped cookies, and Spyro and Dream Catcher-shaped macaroni with pudding that changes color while you eat! Fans will be able to get their hands (and mouths) on nine different Skylanders-themed Kid Cuisine meals:

• Cheese Pizza
• Beef Patty
• Mac & Cheese
• Fish Sticks
• Mini Corn Dogs
• Fun Nuggets
• Popcorn Chicken
• Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza
• Spaghetti

What's more, fans will get an extra treat inside each Skylanders Kid Cuisine meal box; a free Stealth Elf Skylanders Battlecast card. Skylanders Battlecast brings cards to life in a new free-to-play mobile adventure, set within the Skylanders universe. The game offers everything from collectability to strategic card combat, online PvP and an exciting single-player campaign, appealing to both Skylanders fans and classic card battle enthusiasts. Skylanders Battlecast lets players create a team of their favorite heroes and build the ultimate deck for battle. Portal Masters won't want to miss out on this opportunity to continue to build their ultimate deck of cards on their quest to become a legendary Battlecaster in anticipation of the game's official launch in 2016.

Skylanders Kid Cuisine Limited Edition with Stealth Elf and Kaos Chicken Nuggets

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year, my friends! Let there be another year of updates, videos and exciting screenshots of games I've been following and watching! :D

A Merry Christmas message from Spyro the Dragon by Fico Ossio