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Pokémon GO creator announces Transformers: Heavy Metal, but will it be more than meets the eye?
This could be even more of an explosive mess than the Bay movies
To nobody's surprise, Niantic has yet another augmented reality game in the works. This time around, the studio has partnered with Hasbro and TOMY to create a game where players will battle and interact with familiar characters from the Transformers universe. The game is called Transformers: Heavy Metal, and as you would expect, it will utilize Niantic's Lightship AR platform, much like Pokémon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress Prime.
Monopoly Sudoku is the latest release from Marmalade Game Studio
While Monopoly is in the name, this is a standard sudoku title
Marmalade Game Studio has been releasing digital adaptations of Hasbro board games for a few years now, and already offers several familiar titles, like Clue, Battleship, and Monopoly. Of course, why sit on a lucrative license if you're not going to use it, and so Marmalade has been busy creating offshoots of these classic titles that offer their own unique mechanics in order to expand its catalog, and so the latest release from the company is Monopoly Sudoku, available today for $3.99.
You won't find any blood and gore in this life-sized Deadpool head, but it does pack more than 600 jokes, sound effects, and insults inspired by the devilishly handsome superhero. Hasbro Pulse just listed Deadpool's head for sale, in partnership with Marvel Legends. It'll cost you a pretty penny at $100 but will surely make for an eye-catching collector's item.This is not just a body-less statue — the built-in sensors and motors make it an interactive toy. For example, when placed in a dark room, the toy will blurt out a joke the moment it detects the lights turned on. Likewise, it'll respond when it detects motion moving towards and away from it. It'll even mock your unimpressive physique when you pick it up.
Electronic Arts released an adaption of the classic board game Monopoly for Android back in 2011, but that version was de-listed years ago, presumably due to expiring licenses. A new version of Monopoly for Android and iOS was announced last month, and now you can pre-register for it on the Play Store.
As the final installment of the latest Star Wars saga prepares to blast off into theaters this December, toy manufacturers are ramping up production of must-have items for the holiday season. Today's announcement from Hasbro includes a replica of the D-O Droid from the upcoming Rise of Skywalker film and an interactive lightsaber, both controlled by dedicated smartphone apps.
Way back in February at the 2017 New York Toy Fair, Hasbro introduced a new product in its FurReal line of robotic pet toys. Unlike the others, the Proto Max is part of the Maker sub category, so named because it can be programmed to perform different actions. It's yet another example of a toy maker combining coding with playing in order to tap into the burgeoning STEM market. Why is this of any interest to us? Because the Android companion app has just launched, of course.
As someone who's kind of exhausted by the amount of Star Wars promotional material that's being vomited into our culture at the moment, I have to admit that the remote control BB-8 from Sphero is pretty awesome. Because even toys need sequels now, this year we're getting the original adorable droid in remote control form: R2-D2. Hasbro is planning on releasing a similar toy, complete with all the smartphone connection goodies. Here's the official app for it.
Chromecast is best known for getting video from your phone or tablet onto your television screen. It also streams audio, if you're into that sort of thing. These two things cover most of what people generally do with Google's little streaming stick.
Hasbro has been around for nearly a century, and their products have touched just about all of us at some point in time. Mr. Potato Head is a household name, and G.I. Joes have become synonymous what for boys play with instead of Barbies (though I distinctly remember never playing with either). Some of Hasbro's board games, such as Monopoly, can take more time to complete than modern first-person shooters, and since their acquisition of Wizards of the Coast, the company lays claim to our Pokemon, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering-related memories as well. Now the toy giant is expanding into the mobile game development space by purchasing a 70% stake in Backflip Studios for 2 million.
In a not too surprising move, toy maker Hasbro has sued ASUS, claiming that the Transformer Prime tablet's name infringes trademarks related to Optimus Prime and Transformers children's toys.