Skylanders has had a strong relationship with Nintendo platforms from the word go. In many ways its success was in part from capitalising from the high Wii install base in its target demographic. With both Giants and Swap Force selling well on Wii, Wii U and 3DS, all eyes were on Activision for the game’s next iteration.
Amongst all the hoopla and hijinks of the New York announcement for Skylanders Trap Team, it was good to see Nintendo still getting some care and attention from Activision. The new game will not only support Xbox One/360, PlayStation 3/4 but also the Wii, Wii U and 3DS.
More than that though, Toys for Bob themselves are looking after the Wii game — something quite unexpected as Beenox handled Swap Force on Wii last year. While there may still need to be compromises with the Wii iteration of Trap Team having it covered in house must surely help.
Jeff Poffenbarger, Executive Producer for Skylanders Trap Team underlined his enthusiasm for the original Wii. "Actually, we’re doing the Wii version," he told us at the New York event. "I believe it’s still a very viable platform and is very important for us. We're just showing it on the PS4 because it looks good on a big screen. On all the platforms the quality of experience is about the same. A PS4 or Xbox One is going to run a little bit faster than the Wii but we want the experience to be the same across all platforms."
Beyond news of supported platforms details on Trap Team came thick and fast. The game will again follow Kaos in his quest to rule over Skylands. This time he has discovered the location of the legendary Cloudcracker Prison — a fortress built entirely out of the magical substance Traptanium and home to Skylands’ most nefarious baddies.
As is described in the press release, "in an attempt to build his own army of foes, Kaos blows up the prison, releasing the most wanted villains and blasting shards of Traptanium to Earth in the form of Traps." This is where the player comes in, and titular novelty of the new game. Portal Masters are tasked with recapturing all of the escaped villains using powerful Traptanium Traps and defeat Kaos before it’s too late.
Skylanders Trap Team comes with a new portal (yes, another one) that lets you "trap" villains and then play as them in the game in the battle for good. When the translucent Trap token is placed directly into the Traptanium Portal, enemies are magically transported into them.
The new portal has a ring of "magical energy" and a built-in speaker so that players hear the unique voices of the villains as they travel from the game into the real world Trap, and vice versa. The Trap lights up in sync with the villain speaking, adding even more magic to the experience.
Once trapped, you can then use the villains in the game as a playable character. This offers the new choice of switching between a Skylander hero and a villain at any time. A kind of "tag team" experience — Skylanders Double Dash, anyone?
Each Trap is associated with an Element, and can only capture villains who match. Defeat a water villain and you need a water Trap in Portal to capture them. The starter pack comes with a Water and Life Trap, but additional Traps need to be collected and offer another line of Skylanders at retail.
As we are now used to, Trap Team also offers a new band of Skylanders. Firstly there are the Trap Masters that are armed with oversized crystal weapons as well as new Core Skylanders and reposed fan favourites. A total of 50 new figures will complete the Trap Team, although there's currently no word on any illuminated "Light Core" Skylanders.
Gameplay itself is more familiar and still only two player. There's no mention of online, but it shouldn't be ruled out just yet. Happily all the existing Skylanders — all 175 of them — are supported in the new game.
Behind all this though is another story about how Nintendo fans have taken Skylanders to heart. As much as the new novelty and ingenuity we saw at the launch event it was this continued support for the full range of Nintendo platforms that most impressed us — particularly when other titles (the Lego games for instance) are moving on from the Wii.
With the Wii version getting Toys for Bob’s full attention it could be the last great game for Nintendo’s popular console; it seems unlikely that Disney Infinity will offer the same love to the aging system. It’s also good to see the Wii U development being grouped with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Are you looking forward to the next Skylanders outing, and will you be getting it on Wii, Wii U or 3DS? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.
Comments 40
AWESOME!!!!
I have never played Skylanders but am interested.
Who's behind the 3DS version? I'm betting on Vicarious (who also did the original on 3DS). N-Space (Giants and SF 3DS) confirmed a while back that they had no more Nintendo work on their plate.
Hm...If Disney Infinity 2.0 turns out really bad, I might buy this....
I wonder if Skylanders 2015 and 2015's Just Dance will get a Wii version
Andy, they finally let you out from the UK event yesterday? I was worried about you Kidding aside, I hope any 24 hour long NDA they made you sign didn't include your kids, they looked bum when they found out they couldn't go.
As for the game, I was really looking forward to tanks, cars, boats and planes so this will need time to sink in. I don't like having to get yet another portal - we already have 4 - and this idea of "capturing" bad guys seems wrong. And the crystals seem a bit Disney Infinity. And I'm having flashbacks to when Jak and Daxter added guns in Jak 2 and completely ruined the game for me. Jak and Daxter is my favorite game ever, but I didn't much care for 2 and 3. And the first set of characters shown seems a step backwards from Giants and Swappable characters.
Edit: Wait, were you at TRU in NYC today? This sounded like it:
"he told us at the New York event."
So much to take in at once, need to go concentrate. As always, thanks for all the coverage Andy.
OK - one last question - the title says "3DS" but the guy in the video refused to confirm or deny 3DS, so where are you getting 3DS from? You also mention it in the article so I'm guessing you heard about it somewhere from someone, yes?
Trap Force: Now starring transgender characters!
Will they stop making games for Wii already? We need to focus only on Wii U and 3DS.
@Melkac You win the internet.
Sorry to post again, didn't realize there were 2 videos.
I like the 40 math deduction - light and dark for Aeon and Kaos seem like such obvious elements to add I had to ask my kids if they were already in there. And definelty start box placeholder art, it doesn't even have a clear plastic spot to showoff the characters.
I'm still not happy, we already have 42 characters, maybe Nintendo wlll unveil their Pokemon toy collecting game (NFC in Gamepad needs some love) at E3 and we can move on to that.
If Majong ever makes a Minecraft portal we're all doomed.
Let's move on from the Wii, please. -_-
can you use old skylander toys for this or only new ones? i dont own any but im curious how this works.
I loved Spyro's Adventure, collected all of the Giants in Giants, and enjoyed collecting the remodelled core characters in Swap Force. For Trap Team, I honestly don't think I'll be buying any figures (with the exception of remodelled Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt).
These "Trap Keys" look like they'll cost no more than £3 each. It looks like you'll be able to switch between Skylander to Villain with the press of a button. I have over 40 figures. With 40 villains to collect and put on keys, I would be saving myself a bit of money. There is no real gimmick to buying the Trap Masters.
Something that has confused me though is when a 'good' villain kills an enemy, where does the experience go? The villains can't be upgraded or leveled, so who gets the experience?
@faint Figures from Spyro's Adventure, Giants and Swap Force are all compatible with Trap Team.
Huh... This trap element reminds me of Pokemon. As much as I despise this idea because it would drain my wallet, imagine buying Pokeballs and using the via NFC to capture them and... Well, I've said enough. Horrible idea though, but I at least like this trap idea in theory...
Still Wii support?? Come on. I can expect the Disney Infinity on the Wii, can't I now? I still support the game, but the Wii again? Seriously?
I do not understand why they don't make a Pokemon game like this. It would sell millions!
These guys amazingly keep finding ways to make this money draining machine seem fresh and entertaining...
@Portal_King Probably whatever trap master you are using most likely, as I'd guess you must have one of those to be able to trap and switch into a villian
@JaredJ Thats what I want to know. What are the people doing who made Pokepark 1 and 2? Its been years since 2 came out, they should have been working on a toy game. Hope they werent wasting their time on Pokemon Rumble U, what a big step backwards that was. Im guessing Gamefreak is busy working on W and Z for 3DS.
The only disappointing thing is that you can only capture the villains. It would be cool if they were figures too, their designs are sick!
@Melkac
What makes you say that?
Watched the video and it looks awesome! I am surprised they are changing the portal so soon, but no problem. I want to hear if it's compatible with all other games and figures, as the others have. It looks to be good with the figures, but you never know. Nonetheless, I am glad to see they stay innovative every year. I've been a fan of Skylanders since the first game and will continue to buy as long as it stays fun.
Sweet!
@FalconPunch Internet talk. Look it up.
Lol 0:59 avoids saying Wii U as a slower experience
the Wii U bundle I just bought today came with the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack......needless to say it will be getting traded in ASAP!!
Wow, Wii's had a loooong run. It will also probably outsell the Wii U version which is sad. Hope they market the Wii U version well enough. It's still kinda big game.
Ef. The WiiU for me
On the Wii? Anyway, it should be called Skylanders: Tag Team instead!
Another year, another portal of power to buy. What do I do with my old ones?
I wish I got into Skylanders back when it began...now its impossible to collect all of them (incl the first skylanders) Swap Force made the series very interesting.
@AyeHaley I felt the same way when I started getting into Skylanders, but looking back, there's not that many old characters I find interesting. And even so, I'm not aiming to collect them all, just the ones I like. And most of the original characters keep re-releasing with new, better looking, figures with improved powers and abilities, so I'd rather get those.
great, another skylander game for my dad to buy my son. my son has all three of them but only really started collecting the toys with the swap force one.
I'm sick of this. A new Skylanders game is released every year except with one new twist and different playable characters. That's all. These games are nothing but cheap cash-ins, and that's what people fail to realize.
Plus, why are they developing a Wii version? Can we not just let the Wii die? (I mean that in a good way, the Wii was an awesome console.)
So basically they've found a new gimmick to get kids to beg their parents buy even MORE stuff...
"Don't you have all the new Skylanders Jimmy?"
"No mom! I need my trapp crystals too! How else am I going to capture Chaos!?"
and watch these trap crystals come in random paks of doubles. Kids are going to end up with 5 versions of the same crystals.
It's really marketing genius but disgusting in its obvious practice to milk even more money outside of the regular skylanders paks. I mean the whole Swap force was inventive in gameplay AND a way to get kids to buy more paks, but this....this just seems a bit lazier, and much too obvious
I can't wait to see this bubble burst, but hey if Nintendo can get people to buy new Pokemon why can't Activision do it with Skylanders (although Pokemon seems more fleshed out, i.e. way more different types, evolutions, mega evolutions, new features outside of battling, etc.)
@brewsky Not as long as there's $$$ to be made. (With a multi-platform kids game like this series, they'd probably support GameCube if they could.)
So its not really a "Nuts and bolts" clone?
@GoldMetalSonic Beenox, who I've heard are supposed to be "working closely with Toys For Bob" on it(although I can't find the source for that). The same people responsible for the Wii version of SWAP Force, which many considered to be the most buggy version of the game, and who will be porting Trap Team to the Wii U, XOne and PS4. http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Skylanders-Trap-Team-Revealed-Details-Screenshots-Characters-Release-Date-and-More/14038 This makes me kind of worried because I haven't enjoyed any of the 3DS 'landers games much since Spyro's Adventure, and Beenox might not be able to give proper attention to it if they're working on porting the main version...
But as for the console version... HYPE! I just trust TFB to make the game closer to the way I'd prefer it and I actually really like the way they've made this gimmick,
This the first Skylanders expansion game that takes away the individual 2-player element from gameplay. The whole new concept is trapping and playing villains. So why are both players stuck playing the same villain. If two players play different trap masters wouldn't they each want to play their own trapped villains? The portal only comes with one trap slot. It looks like a major oversight by Activision, and one that will keep me from buying this expansion. I bought each expansion before this one because each player is able to play with his own giant or his own swapforce character. Its just backwards to take that individuality away from players. I can only imagine the arguments between players, fighting over which trap they get to share! Just like the ability to jump was withheld until the 2nd expansion, Activision will likely release a new portal in next year's expansion that will include two trap slots, which they will tout as a selling point, just like the ability to jump was. I'll just sit this one out and wait for the "complete" portal to be released next year. It just goes to show what limits the almighty dollar is able to produce, that the creative mind alone does not.
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