Observations: Controller Shake

We upgraded to the WiiU from the Wii in preparation for Swap Force, and in general as the Wii is an older system. One thing we've noticed is the change in opening treasure chests and doors. Without my prompting, my son commented that he misses the Wii remote shake used to open these items in Giants and SSA. I have to agree! It was fun, adding some energy to the game. I really had a smooth and efficient wrist twist and flip to insert and turn the keys to open doors. Come to think of it, I really miss that!! Lol.

Anyway, I understand keeping that feature would likely have been responsible for countless WiiU Gamepads hurling through the air, impacting the skulls of many a younger brother, sister or parent!! Not to mention the cost of replacement Gamepads. However, we have played Swap Force on WiiU with the standard controllers and, sadly, they have removed the feature when using those too-:(

I have an idea...why not give you the option for both ?!? Yeah! 

With the recent announcement of "Skylanders 4" in development, hope springs eternal!!!

Dark Washbuckler arrives via the WiiU Gamepad

Have a Holly Jolly Bumble Blast!

Stopped into GameStop on my way into work this evening and Jolly Bumble Blast was out on the pegs! Technically not out until tomorrow, it was an unexpected surprise! Making it an even better deal was the Free Skylander Coupon I had from doing the GS Skylander Club. One stocking stuffer for my son in the bag!!!

Here's a pic collage I put together and an early Merry Christmas from us!

Swap Force Observations

As we play the game, I am noticing certain differences, both good and bad, in the game play from the previous versions. I wanted to keep a running commentary on them as I notice them because frankly, if I don't write them down fairly quickly, they get lost in the moment. I will try to tag them as "Observations" so they can be searched on the blog under that tag and reviewed as a group.

So anyway: The one I'm noticing at the moment is with Chill, or Blizzard Chill I should say. She looks great, as I think so far all have, in Swap Force. However, I am noticing a difference in the "feel" in the way she knocks the ice blocks around. They used to slide around fairly energetically. Now they are slower...which is too bad but not a major concern. The difference can be explained perhaps that VV (Vicarious Visions) have weighted them as more massive in the computer modeling. As I said, not a major concern but a diminishment to me. More importantly to me is her ice bashing them with her shield to get them moving in the first place. In the past, once she deployed the blocks, she could rapid hit them in sequence pretty quickly to send them off smoothly. Now she gets the first hit and the line moves forward slightly, taking the shield bash offline. She has to advance a step to continue hitting them. For me, this is annoying and takes away from her utility. I wonder if anyone else notices it...? It's too bad because I was just getting the hang of her in Giants.

A second observation is with Flashwing. Her Lightcore figure is brilliant!!!! ( nod to the British there) Upon observation, her proportions have changed: more stubby. Especially the wings . This, I'm sure is an attempt to make her more sturdy to encapsulate the LED and better propagate the light through her body (something they really achieved with her-she ranks up there with Lightcore Prism Break IMO). For sheer interest, if you have a Series 1 Flaswing, put them side by side and compare them. The most obvious difference can be seen in the size of her head....noticeably larger on the Lightcore version. As I stated earlier, the Lightcore is great and I'm on board with the potential reasons for the proportion change... I just hope it's for the Lightcore only and that if she ever gets a Series 3 or Series 2 (non-Lightcore) pose, that they go back to her original proportions. I think she was pretty well perfect in her first iteration.

More rumblings as I notice...I just wanted to get the ball rolling on recording the things we are noticing as we play....Enjoy all!

Here is quick update of the Artisan Earth Island showing a bit of wear and tear and Skylanders. The text is on the picture...

The agony and the ecstasy continues....or should I say, the ecstasy and the agony: the Frito-Lay Fight Rider is a Done Deal!! Woo-Hoo! The Frito-Lay Rattle Shake...D'oh!!
Actually, this apparently happened to a lot of people on the first day. Which they have corrected...BUT....The system they seem to be using confounds the senses...codes on the outside of the packaging (haven't they ever heard of cellphone cameras?!? In 2 minutes a person can photograph every code on a wall full of packages. To boot, if they disabled their "This code has already been used" function...does that mean I can enter the same code everyday? Worse still, they diable the code after several uses by the same user and Don't bother to let you know!?! The jury is still out on this one.....

Addition: As of 11/17, we seem to have won a Rattleshake!!! They emailed a confirmation to us. Which is great and curious. Curious because we did not receive any confirmation yet via email about the Fright Rider we won....hmmm.

Not part of The Lightcore set, this is a shot of the artisan Earth Island we have hanging on our wall. After completion, I took the wall display out into the backyard in full sun and put some Skylanders into position. I created sunken display pads in various places to hold them in place and better conceal their often color mis-matched bases. A bright orange sheet was placed behind the model to act as a "green screen". I was able to remove the orange background fairly easily with editing software and substitute in the sky background. I don't mind doing this at all but I like to explain to you which pictures have been tampered with and which pictures are all "in camera" effects. 

This picture shows a downward looking angle that I like.

Enjoy!

Lol !! Happy Halloween all!
(FYI...The Undead Element symbol is a close up of the Power-A Portal platform)

Happy Halloween!

Here is an un-watermarked version, I will be trying to save un-watermarked versions in the Pica Alblum (click on the slides how gadget in the upper right hand corner). Sometimes the aesthetics are far better and I want people to be able to use them in their own projects!! 

And again...

Happy Halloween!!

For all the Crusher fans...(Only wish I had Granite Crusher!!!...lol)

I wanted to post a cross section of the Lightcore set. As I build the Blog ( and more displays), I want to hear from other players which characters they want to see more of. Perhaps a favorite that is under represented or just doesn't get the Respect!! they think they deserve ( a la Boomer!). Then create some art that does them justice. Let me know who you would like to see.
I have many shots of characters on the Earth island and some others that I would like to clean up and render as sets. Perhaps...by Element, or The Dragons, or Fire and Water. And the Swappers present a whole new can of worms..lol. A BIG can!
Anyway...Enjoy.

What the hay...one more...

Taking a page from the New Star Trek movies (Dated myself there): Lense Flares...Lense Flares....More Lense Flares!!!

And to start it off...Jet Vac the Adventurer....these were some of the first I did and when I looked at them, Jet Vac had the definite feel of Indiana Jones...

The builds continue, as I will be posting more up soon. 

However, I'm starting a new addition to this blog, which was an upshot from all the builds: picture sets of my favorite's:  Activision's SKYLANDERS!

The first set will be "The Lightcore". Based, obviously, on the excellent lightcore figures for the Skylanders Adventures by Activision. These were the first not taken directly on our islands and taken to highlight the creative characters and the excellent work put into making them.

I found myself creating wall displays and taking pictures to document the process. The shots were fun to do and turned out far better than I expected. So...share them with other fans and enthusiasts, I say!

Feel free to copy and use them any way you want..they are there for the enjoyment of all!!!