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Coleco Chameleon retro game console heads to Kickstarter
Coleco's Chameleon console promises a true old-school gaming experience. That means its games will look and feel like the titles you might have played decades ago, and they absolutely won't release wallet-thinning DLCs. They're not computers in a console's body like modern models. Its developer, Retro Video Game Systems, Inc., plans to release new games (in cartridge form, of course) by indie developers and SNES titles ported for the system. But before that happens it still has to raise funds via Kickstarter, beginning on February 26th, 2016.
Simon has evolved into a touch-free memory game
Hasbro reinvented Simon in 2014, using touchscreen displays to replace buttons and turn it into the Simon Swipe. Now, the famous American toymaker is gearing up to release a new version of the game, one that you don't even need to touch to play. Simon Air still throws color sequences at you to remember, but it removes the need for pressing buttons. It senses your hand motions to determine the colors you choose in the sequences you choose them.
Bop It! 2016 is more complicated than you remember
If the return of The X-Files and Full House to TV wasn't enough of an indication that pop culture has a thing for the Clinton years right now, then maybe news that Bop It is coming back will change that. But unlike the model of yore that only demanded you "bop it," "twist it" and "pull it," this one has "sing it" in addition to 21st century tasks including "selfie it" for certain modes. Naturally.
Monopoly money is no more in the new Ultimate Banking edition
Hasbro has released a new edition of Monopoly called Ultimate Banking, that should help keep familial infighting to a minimum. Instead of paper money, which can easily be laundered or stolen when you aren't looking, this new edition uses debit cards. It also does away with the easily-corrupted Banker position, replacing the human with an electronic card reader (aka an ATM).
Barbie's new Dreamhouse goes full IoT with voice commands
Last year, Mattel debuted its WiFi-enabled Hello Barbie to make playtime a bit more interactive. A connected doll needs an internet-friendly home, too. At this year's Toy Fair, the company is showing off just that. The Barbie Hello Dreamhouse gives the brand's namesake her very own smart home that actually connects to the internet and a companion app. That connectivity allows the toy to accept voice commands from kids for tasks ranging from flipping on the lights to operating the elevator. Because of course Barbie has an elevator... duh.
Mattel's new ThingMaker is a $300 3D printer for toys
We've been waiting years for 3D printing to finally be simple enough for mainstream consumers -- and now, it looks like Mattel might be the first company to make that happen. At NYC's Toy Fair this weekend, Mattel unveiled ThingMaker, a revival of its 60's era toy maker using modern 3D printing technology. It'll also do much more than the original model: Instead of just spitting out fairly simple Creepy Crawlers, you can design complex objects like figurines, jewelry and accessories using the ThingMaker Design app, which Mattel developed together with Autodesk. ThingMaker will start shipping this fall for $300, and Mattel also started taking pre-orders today.
Mattel will launch a redesigned VR View-Master this fall
Mattel refreshed the View-Master for virtual reality last year with a version based on Google Cardboard, and this weekend it showed off an updated design at the New York Toy Fair. The View-Master Viewer DLX has better optical lenses, focal adjustment and, most importantly, a headphone connector. Gizmodo got some hands-on time with the device during the show, and also noticed a redesigned smartphone bracket that's ready to deal with more phones no matter what size or shape they are. It will also apparently see a price bump from $30 to $40, but the changes seem worth an extra $10 -- hopefully we'll be able to give its VR / AR capabilities another look before it goes on sale later this year.
The new 'Ghostbusters' is getting its own LEGO set
The Ghostbusters reboot might be a geek's dream in more ways than one. LEGO has offered a peek at a new Ghostbusters set that recreates all the main characters and their gear in glorious detail, including the signature ECTO-1 car and an ECTO-2 motorbike. The new box of plastic bricks doesn't spoil too much of what's coming in the new movie, although there's a Red Daemon character (the new nemesis?) and hints that the assistant, Kevin, gets possessed.
Interactive Barbie is your kids' future BFF
Oh. Em. Gee. Mattel is developing a new talking Barbie, and this time, the company's not programming it with silly canned phrases. Nope, Mattel's working on an actual interactive model called "Hello Barbie" that kids (and adults) can talk to, sort of like Siri and Cortana -- but in doll form with long, luxurious blonde hair. Girl friend's loaded with ToyTalk's PullString technology designed to make two-way conversations happen with animations and toys, so she's capable of natural speech recognition and picks up cues from what you say to formulate a response. She can even remember past convos and, like a good BFF, take note of her owner's preferences to reference in future replies. You will need to push a button so she knows you're talking to her directly, but that's not such a huge inconvenience.
Hasbro wants you to help design a new Monopoly board
In a world where most people chill out with Minecraft and Candy Crush, it's hard to get excited about a board game. Perhaps that's the point however, since Hasbro is hoping that we'll get misty-eyed with nostalgia about the family arguments that ensue from playing Monopoly. The game's 80th birthday is rapidly approaching, and so the company is teaming up with Buzzfeed to ask the denizens of the internet to help design the next version of the game.
What are Mattel and Google doing with View-Master?
With a View-Master topped teaser (which you can see after the break), Google and Mattel invoked one of our favorite childhood memories -- and frequent inspiration for low-budget virtual reality shenanigans. The two are planning an "exclusive announcement and product debut" ahead of the New York Toy Fair next week, but other than the View-Master theme there's little to go on. Mattel's Fisher-Price division tried a View-Master comeback for the digital age in 2012, although all trace of it is gone now. We'll have to wait until next Friday to see for ourselves what they're planning, but we invite your wildest speculation until then. So what are you thinking -- a plastic pair of branded Mattel VR goggles based on the Cardboard project, or maybe a Hot Wheel based on something else Google has been working on? ... href='https://www.wedgies.com/question/54d50a247978490e00000193'>What will Mattel & Google announce next week?
Toy Fair has a little something for everyone; here's how it looks on the inside
To say the least, there's always something peculiar to be found at Toy Fair. Put simply, this place is guaranteed fun. It's like being five years young and stepping into a Toys R Us for the first time ever -- except there's much, much more stuff here. Toy Fair 2014, hosted at the Javits Center in New York City, definitely lived up to the hype. There were more toys to see and play with than you can imagine, some of which are available now, while others are due to hit the market later this year. Naturally, we took a stroll through the show floor and found a few neat things: TOMY's new motion-controlled Battroborg Warriors, MOSS has a kit to help make your robot-building dreams come true and a shoulder-strapped Pikachu that shoots foam discs. Oh, and how could we forget Barbie's pooping canine -- yes, folks, that's a thing. Of course, this is only a small taste of everything Toy Fair has to offer, but the photos and videos after the break should sum up what the experience is like.
Motion-controlled Battroborg Warriors deliver armed robot combat
Last year's Battroborgs were a blast, but not without their quirks. Accuracy was not one of the tiny bot's strong points, and moving or turning was an exercise in frustration. This year, TOMY decided to simplify things a bit, while adding armed combat to the mix. The resulting Battroborg Warriors wield swords and scythes, and ditch the dual-fisted controls for a more streamlined system that uses only a single accelerometer-based remote. Obviously, we had to swing by the company's booth at Toy Fair to try our hand in a one-on-one battle against the reigning champion, Senior Brand Manager Tom Zahorsky.
iPad, iPhone toys represented at Toy Fair 2013
Visiting the annual Toy Fair trade show at New York's Javits Center earlier this month was an exercise in sensory overload. Hundreds of vendors, from tiny single-product companies to former garage startups grown massive to legitimate industry giants, staff booths and pitch passersby with their fun, family-friendly offerings. While technological toys make headlines and grab attention, most of the products seen on display don't use anything more technologically advanced than a few AA batteries or some brightly colored surgical tubing. If you can throw it, build it, paint it, read it or stick it to a wall, it's represented at Toy Fair. Most exhibitors were showing products that won't make it to store shelves until this summer if not later, but the buyers and retailers who need to plan ahead for the busy shopping seasons were happy to have an up-front look. Among the toys with Apple tech tie-ins, quite a few used iOS device cameras to deliver augmented-reality content triggered by the design of the physical product. Ravensburger's line of AR-enabled puzzles can quiz you or plant your pictures in the middle of Times Square, and the Popar Toys books and games with AR features allow your eager reader to take pop-up books to the next level with 3D, animated storytelling matched to each page. Here's a quick video demo of Popar's technology in action. Along with AR, the venerable QRCode showed up in a number of toy and game tie-ins. As Megan posted last week, the upcoming America's Funniest Home Videos game will be powered by QRCode scanning, with video clips embedded in the app for data-plan-free playtime. The US$14.99 Codigo Cube also uses QRCodes on a special die, with each code triggering a different trivia category in the corresponding quiz app. Given the level of frustration usually associated with real-world scanning of QRCodes, I don't know how effective this will be in the games market, but we'll see. It's not shipping until late this spring, but the Verzis four-way family game controller looks intriguing. The flat gamepad-style controller set sits underneath your iPad, giving everyone on the table their individual controls. The real question there will be the number (and quality) of apps that end up supporting the controller; several are planned for release with the gamepad set. Pretty much every manufacturer of remote-controlled toy vehicles has a selection of iOS-linked flyers, drivers or none-of-the-aboves. Model helicopter and car maker FunkyPlanet showed several 'copters compatible with its AppRC Fly iPhone controller (you have to add the $19.99 IR dongle yourself), and there are forthcoming Mini Cooper and Porsche models that work with the AppRC Drive app. Chinese OEM Woddon Toys has a whole line of iCon app-controlled models on the way, including the dramatic iConEyes quadcopter: camera equipped, app-piloted and looking like an angry baby Batmobile with rotors. For pure RC cute, however, you would have to search hard to find anything more adorable than the DeskPets line of teensy RC tanks, cars and battling, maze-walking vehicles. DeskPets's TankBot models are $29.95 each, putting them on the less expensive end of the app/RC spectrum. Honorable cuteness mention gets a split decision, with both the Romo iPhone-powered tank robot and the Sphero rolling, swimming robot ghost ball drawing oohs and ahhs from passersby. Romo's going to have some competition with the Robo Me robot coming this spring. (We covered both Romo and Sphero at CES earlier this year.) The iPhone also found itself playing a tactical role as an augmented-reality gunsight in quite a few toys, most of which won't hit stores until later this year. Tech4Kids upcoming TekRecon rubber-band shooters, due in the fall, use the iPhone as the sight while you try to tag your buddies. Metal Compass's Xappr AR gun bypasses the physical ammo altogether and links with more than 10 iPhone apps for virtual battles; it also works with a handful of Android apps as well. Unfortunately, despite an orange frontpiece the Xappr looks a little bit too realistic for comfort. Here's a quick video of the device. Even if actual iOS games weren't overwhelming the show floor, the consequences of those games were clearly in evidence: scores of licensed products from Cut The Rope and Angry Birds. Cases, games, snacks, accessories and more -- check out the gallery for some examples. I lost count of how many Angry Birds tie-ins I saw across the exhibit space. %Gallery-179871% Honorable mention to our pals at ThinkGeek, holding down a comparatively staid and distinguished booth filled with Minecraft and Star Trek gadgets, and to the impressive breadth of Mac and iPhone-themed items at the Thumbs Up! booth. I definitely want a Padintosh iPad cover. There were a few legitimately inventive ideas on the show floor, which we'll get to in detail in subsequent posts. Tiggly Shapes looks like a very promising iPad toy for preschoolers, and the Apptivators line of iPad toppers definitely garnered some attention. Our former Engadget colleague Joanna Stern, now covering the tech beat for ABC News, found some of the higher-profile iOS tie-ins at the show, including the clever Nerf Cyberhoop basketball hoop/app combo (the app does automatic scoring, listening for the audio of a made basket) and the technologically impressive, deeply creepy Barbie Makeover Mirror. This particular product, which I did not get in to see (Mattel's full-floor solo exhibit space at Toy Fair was by appointment only, and fully booked up when I inquired) uses the iPad's front-facing camera in mirror mode, then allows the player to apply virtual eye shadow, blush and lipstick via a Bluetooth-linked palette of plastic makeup. The applied color then tracks her (or his) facial features. We've got until August to get used to this idea. Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. We'll be sharing a few more of our impressions from Toy Fair over the next few days.
Toy Fair 2013: 'America's Funniest Home Videos' board games includes QR cards to enhance game
America's Funniest Home Videos started when Steve Jobs worked on NeXT computers and Bob Saget, the original host, was best known as Danny Tanner on Full House. It's one of those shows that inevitably you find yourself doing a double-take and going, "That's still airing?" It's not just going strong, but the latest game based on the series debuted at Toy Fair 2013. TDC Games is using the show as its first subject in a line of Scan Games, which has a game board bundled with cards bearing QR codes. Scan the card with an iOS or Android device using a free app that you download after purchasing the game, and content related to the game being played will appear on your screen. In the case of the AFV game, the content is a clip of a home movie featured in the series. You guess what will happen in the video, then select the answer on your iOS device to see the rest of the clip play out and determine how many points you receive. It's not just the cards that have the QR code. There are codes embedded in the board as well, and point bonuses are issued when you scan those spaces. It's a neat mesh of technology and a traditional board game, and it's a game that's good for the entire family to play. The app is designed for an iPhone, so you will have to enlarge it on an iPad to take advantage of the screen. This could lead to video degradation on older iPads. This board game / iOS-compatible version of AFV will be available in fall 2013 for US$19.99. Bonus card packs, which can be played on their own or with the game, will be $9.99. Watch the video below to see the game in action.
Hasbro's Toy Fair 2013 booth tour: Transformers, Furby rockers, Iron Man and more
Oh, the wondrous experience that is Toy Fair. And that particular experience, as you may know, includes anything from NERF hoop games and foam fusillades, to boxing robots and itty-bitty, tinkering novelties. To make things even better, though, Hasbro was kind enough to invite us over to its 2013 showcase in NYC, where the prodigious toy maker was exhibiting some Furby amigos known as Party Rockers, Iron Man's Sonic Blasting figurine and Arc Fx Mission life-sized mask, a Sesame Street play-and-learning system for toddlers, as well as a Transformers Rescue Bots Beam Box which enhances the experience by allowing the toys to mesh into a game that can be played on a TV set. There was also a little Star Wars and Star Trek action, of course -- and the good news is you, too, can see it all, just head past the break to take a look at the vast gallery and a quick video showing off a few of Hasbro's new toys.
NERF Cyberhoop hands-on: foam basketball for the iPad generation
NERF Basketball is an America institution. Bedrooms, dorm rooms and offices across the country are adorned with the tiny hoops -- over doors and garbage cans, even occasionally mounted on a wall. But, the open-cell foam rock is undeniably 20th century. In this age, for better or worse, analog just isn't going to cut it anymore. So, Hasbro went back to that incredibly reliable well it used to modernize Lazer Tag last year, and whipped up an iOS app that talks to a digital playset. The NERF Cyberhoop is a re-imagining of the classic game with some serious electronic chops. Most prominently the ability to "connect" to an iOS device wirelessly using inaudible tones. Hasbro was nice enough to bring the set by our office for a quick sneak peek ahead of next week's Toy Fair and after the break you'll find our full impressions.
Mattel's hoverboard keeps McFly planted on terra firma, away from water
There's no need to worry: your eyes aren't deceiving you, and the year most certainly isn't 2015. Still, that isn't stopping Mattel from teasing the iconic hoverboard at the New York Toy Fair. First made famous by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II, the product became something of Hollywood lore when the movie's director, Robert Zemeckis, insisted the contraption was real. While the claim later proved to be a prank, the desire for a genuine hoverboard has lived on. Now, following in the footsteps of McFly's MAG shoes from Nike, Mattel suggests it'll begin accepting preorders for the hoverboard replica next month. While the toy doesn't actually fly (but rather glides), it's said to emit a whooshing sound so that riders can pretend they're surfing through the air. Should Mattel solicit enough interest, the product will ship by year's end -- otherwise the company will merely scrap the idea and return to churning out Barbies.
Battle Machines hands-on (video)
When Jada invited us up to its private show room at Toy Fair to do "battle" we were a little concerned -- last we checked we'd done nothing to offend the company. Thankfully, it just wanted to challenge us to a duel with its Battle Machines line of RC toys. A couple of years back the company debuted the line with a pair of cars that drive around playing laser tag with each other. Then, last year, things got really interesting Air vs. Land -- an RC chopper and turret that duked it for IR-equipped superiority. This year the company is expanding the line with Battle Quads (laser-wielding ATVs complete with rider) and Battle Heli (essentially one half of the Air vs. Land package, but programmed to perform rotor-powered dog fights). Neither of the new products were quite ready for a test run yet, but we did give the turret and copter combo a try... just for the heck of it. The toys are complete with blaster noises and, when shot down, an internal IC takes over the helicopter and does a little aerial death dance. After about 15 minutes we finally started to get the hang of piloting the aircraft but, by then, the Jada rep had us plummeting from the sky. Both the Battle Heli and the Battle Quads should be hitting shelves in August for $30 and $60, respectively. Check out the video and PR after the break.Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
iCade 8-Bitty hands-on (video)
It's still about two months out, but when the 8-bitty hits shelves it might just become our favorite member of the iCade family. At the moment the Bluetooth gamepad is little more than a hand-made prototype with some AA batteries taped to the underside and a sticker printed on the office InkJet slapped on the front. As a production quality controller, though, it should be the perfect handheld button mashers for those of you with a taste for the retro. The boxy, rectangular 8-bitty may be wireless and the final version will likely sport six buttons -- still, you can't help but be whisked back to your days spent blowing into dusty Contra cartridges and tapping out the Konami code. We gave the early prototype a quick try and the D-pad and red buttons feel just like their '80s inspiration. Unfortunately they're not quite as responsive yet, but we're figuring there's still some kinks to be worked out before it ships this Spring. The 8-bitty should be launching exclusively with ThinkGeek for between $25 and $30. Check out the gallery below and the video after the break.Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
