Could Skylanders Be the Future of Our Gaming?
April 12, 2013 by dracs
We all had something which got us into collectible gaming. With Warren and Lloyd this was games such as Hero Quest and other dungeon delving adventures. For myself it started with Pokemon, and the various card games and toys based around it. In the last few years a new one has emerged, a video game with collectible components: Skylanders.
Skylanders is a series of video games published by Activision (and lately Namco Bandai) and represent the latest instalments in the Spyro series which first started back in the days of the Playstation 1. What separates Skylanders from other games is its collectible elements. Players can go out and buy various toy characters from the series, which are then placed upon a "Portal of Power" device, allowing you to play that character in the game.
Despite it being around since 2011 I only properly came across Skylanders this weekend when one of my younger cousins was proudly showing off his collection of weird monster figurines which could be used in the game. I recognised the passion he had for this game, along with the winces of his parents who had to foot the bill, being reminiscent of my own love of Pokemon back in the day.
The game itself I found to be a rather mediocre platformer, but I could see that wasn't really where all the fun lay. What really drew my younger cousin in was collecting all these wondrous minis! Perhaps Skylanders would prove to be the gateway for younger gamers that Pokemon had been for me.
Then I began to think that Skylanders could possibly mean more than this in gaming terms. We have talked before on the site about the idea of tabletop games developing in the future into more of a hybrid of video and miniature gaming. Could Skylanders be this first step? Imagine it, you go out and buy the new unit for your army. You place the miniature upon some form of reader, such as the "portal" for Skylanders, and hey presto your miniatures are coming to life on the screen in front of you. Could this be a possible future our hobby could be heading towards?
Now don't get me wrong, I doubt that our regular tabletop games are in any real danger of disappearing, but it cannot be denied that for many the strategy games based around Warhammer 40K was their first step into the hobby.
Now what if those games came to include the collectible elements of miniatures gaming in a similar way to Skylanders? Whether this would be a good or bad thing for the hobby I will leave you to decide. It is certainly interesting to think that this platformer, aimed at younger people, could represent the first steps in the evolution of miniatures gaming and collectible games as a whole.
What direction do you think gaming is headed in?
I agree with what you say. My son has got loads of skylanders. I think he is more interested in collecting them rather than playing with them. Dont get me wrong, when we buy him one he runs to his room to play with it then the novelty disappears. His skylanders still take pride of place in his room even though he hardly plays with them. On the same note he is always wanting more. Since he has collected skylanders I have since gotten him interested in playing table top games. I did not really know anything of anything for… Read more »
Considering how many Skylanders my two sons have between them I think you are on to something. Because they have varying stats and powers, both of them have their favourites and they have developed a good understanding of synergy between the characters when playing together. It even helped them understand the significance of the stats possessed by the characters in the Marvel Heroscape game and my oldest (8) is constantly moaning how underpowered Spiderman is in that game
Sorry, gotta be a bit geeky on that one… Having played Marvel Heroscape quite a few times… What?
Spirderman’s awesome in that game! I keep rolling 14’s when I play him.
I could certainly see this as a viable way of playing tabletop games virtually. Imagine playing a Warmachine version of this…
The hub thing would be styled like a Warjack maintenance platform (or customised to your faction for added mulah) and then you’d be able to put the miniatures you wanted onto it that would then appear in the game.
Then, like Skylanders they would level up, you could take them to a friends house etc.
BoW Ben
their was a warmachine game in the works at one point havent heard anything about it for a while though… maybe you should take a stab? sounds like you have some great ideas 🙂 but I’m not sure I’d like this direction for the hobby myself as while i enjoy console and pc gaming greatly my biggest attraction to the hobby is sitting down with some mates with some popcorn crisps pop booze etc and having a good laugh round a table… it might disappear if you could do it in a computerised (yes i know it’s not really a… Read more »
Nothing wrong with “computerised” as a word. As for gaming, I agree the social aspect of tabletop gaming is different to that of many if not most video games. The “beer and chips” aspect was still there back in the days of LAN parties but they’ve become less important since the advent of broadband connections. The most obvious difference between video and tabletop games must surely be the tactile nature of the latter. Fancy graphics have their appeal but it’s a very different experience to the physicality of a miniatures game. This is especially true when the art and craft… Read more »
Talking just nuts and bolts I’d have to say both a yes and no. My kids love Skylanders but like most things it doesn’t hold their attention. I agree that this type of game could be a gateway to our hobby. The real question is how would the RFID technology be incorporated into a smart board design and still allow the modeling side of the hobby flourish? Clearly we are talking about the base here. But if you take a close look at the Giant models that light up, base only solutions limit hobbying possibilities. Then there is the cost… Read more »
It just makes me feel very old on out of touch lol
Me too. And I’m 22!
Didn’t they have something like this on the PS2 quite some time ago, it was with cards that where scanned in and then played on the console. It’s not a new idea by any means.
Trying to get something like 40K and all the rules onto a virtaul game….and then you some how scan a model in…don’t get me wrong, it would be great, it just aint gonna happen any time soon…i.e. more then 10 yers time at the least…where it will be affordable by all 🙂
Skylanders isn’t the future of our hobby. It’s something else. It doesn’t really compare to our hobby in any way except the presence of miniatures (which is totally incidental to the gameplay). The minis are not components of the game. They’re packages that contain game components. The actual game component is the RFID chip inside the little buggers. Skylanders is a video game with purchaseable DLC. That DLC just happens to be delivered in the form of cute little plastic packages. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate either. The DLC is still downloaded from the internet. The cute little plastic packages… Read more »
absof#@kinglutley its a cute gimmick for kids, it has nothing to do with table top gaming in any way shape of form and the fad will fade out as they all do. Kids have a short attention span
I’m not sure I entirely agree. Skylanders will likely be a passing trend for sure but it is still putting miniatures used for gaming in the hands of children. I think it is wise to leave the particulars of rules up to a computer since it lowers the barrier of entry for a demographic that wouldn’t have the patience to roll the dice. I see this as a gateway game of another kind that what we’ve seen in the past. It won’t lead directly into any established games but it lets kids know miniatures exist and they are a lot… Read more »
The problem is that Skylanders isn’t a gateway to tabletop games. It’s a gateway to video games. And once kids get into videogames, they’re not going to be nostalgic for the little bits of plastic. They’ll start buying DLC packs through Steam. Our hobby is about the minis, sure. But it’s also about the terrain, the dice, the face-to-face contact with other players. Skylanders isn’t about any of those things. It’s not even about the minis. The minis are just a tool used by Activision to drive up the price of the DLC. If they could find a way to… Read more »
I think a digital table and minis with RFID chips in there bases would be neat especially for Role
Playing Games
A french company is already working on something like that
http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/18/ces-2012-epawn-arena-brings-the-electronic-age-to-board-games/
http://www.trictrac.tv/video-epawn-mais-qu-est-ce-que-c-est
The second video is in french unfortunately but there they show some of the ideas they have been working on
I may be misunderstanding something here but I don’t see any real link to tabletop gaming.
The figures are more to do with collectable toys (Collect them all! batteries not included) than gaming minis imho.
A few Christmases ago I bought a friend’s little girls a plushie that had some electronic key for a game and online stuff. The actual figure seems rather passive once you pop it on the plinth and start playing with the console.