‘Skylanders’ learns what Amiibo knew all along: Drop the portal

The paradigm for toys-to-life games is well-established: one part kid-friendly video game, one part expensive, collectible figurines -- and a tethered NFC "portal" that ties them together. When Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure introduced this model in 2...

Lightseekers brings your video game into the real world

Action figures can look a little staid next to video games where your character can walk, talk and fire all manner of weaponry. But there's still something special about the tactile experience of holding a cool character in your hand, which is why we...

3D print your own ‘Skylanders’ hero with the Creator app

With Disney Infinity on its way out, it's down to Skylanders and Lego Dimensions to maintain the toys-to-life dream. Skylanders is the oldest of the two and this year, its new gimmick is the ability to create custom "Imaginator" heroes. Which sounds...

Amiibo support is coming to ‘Animal Crossing: New Leaf’

Animal Crossing and Amiibo seem like a match made in heaven: cute characters, and collectable toys. Sadly, the duo's first pairing turned out to be a shallow, dull board game without much replay value. Fans longed for a full Animal Crossing toys-to-l...

It’s no surprise that Disney shut down its gaming division

No one should have been surprised by Disney's announcement that it would cancel the Disney Infinity series and shut down its video game business. However, when the news went live, Twitter immediately lit up with shock. My phone buzzed with questions...

Playdate: Racing into action with ‘Skylanders Superchargers’

If you have an undying love of weird monsters, action-adventure video games, expensive collectible toys and wacky vehicles, you've come to the right place: Tim Seppala and I are about to play Skylanders Superchargers. That's right, the franchise th...