Live Blog at the SDCC Hasbro Star Wars Panel

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

We’re at the Hasbro Star Wars panel at the San Diego Comic Con. We’ll be reporting the latest in Galactic Heroes news. The panel is under way!

There will be a fall figure mail-in program for a vintage rocket-firing Boba Fett figure to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.

Okay, they just brought out the AT-AT. This is the full size one, not the Galactic Heroes one. Still looks awesome.

Expect the new line of Galactic Heroes figures in September. The new line of GH figures are mostly redesigns of existing characters. But who cares, it’s a new Emperor and Darth Maul!

And here’s the GH AT-AT, due in stores in August. That’s just right around the corner!

They demoed the new General Grievous lightsaber. It has removable blades and rotates. It’s not a powered rotate, it’s manual via a twist of the wrist, but it does a cool buzzing sound when it spins like Grievous’ guards.

Nice! A Star Wars AT-AT Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive in vintage packaging. This will be released in October.

Target is getting vintage packaging Snowspeeder and Tie Fighter releases later this year.

Mighty Muggs are back! Target is getting exclusive 3-pack releases of “mini” Mighty Muggs! Get these starting in October.

And it’s over. They are saving more announcements for Celebration V in September.

UPDATE: At the Q&A after the panel, it was announced the full size Mighty Muggs will no longer be in production for retailers. They will continue to exist for exclusives, like the Iron Man and Transformers SDCC exclusive Mighty Muggs this year, but there will be no more full size Mighty Muggs from the Star Wars line. The mini line is a test run, and if they sell well, Hasbro will consider bringing more out in the future.

A Three Year-Old PC Gamer?!?

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

Now this is our kind of kid! Check out this YouTube video of a three year-old playing (well, we might add) Mirror’s Edge on the PC. Yes, we said the PC. Not some dumbed-down controller setup on a kiddie game. We’re impressed with his ability to handle a mouse and keyboard setup as well as any grown-up!

Good job, dad!

V.Tech Announces V.Reader Animated E-Book For Children

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

No doubt about it – wherever you are in the US, summer is definitely here. Temperatures are hitting triple-digits, the school year is coming to a close; and, let us guess, you’re trying to find out how to continue to fill your child’s schedule with constructive activities rather than TV time.

V.Tech has just the thing to cure the dreaded “summer brain drain”. The company has announced a new product, the V.Reader, aimed at early readers ages 3-7, to keep kids practicing their reading over the long, hot summer months. Stories are brought to life with sound, music and voices from some of the most popular TV and film franchises, such as Dora The Explorer, Toy Story and Shrek. Multiple modes will allow young readers to follow along with the story and interact with reading games, to help with letters, phonics and even a second language. A story dictionary is also available for new word discovery.

An online bookstore will provide a portal to free titles, themes and avatars kids can then use to customize their e-books. Downloadable content will be available by tethering the V.Reader to a PC or Mac, and feedback will also be transferred from the device to a parent’s registered account to show how their child is progressing on the various games and activities.

The V.Reader will be released in Target stores on June 21, and with other retailers later this summer for $59.99. It will come in two colors, blue and pink, both of which are available for pre-order now at Amazon.com. There will be 11 software titles at launch, at $19.99 each.

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Dated for July

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

First unveiled during Cartoon Network’s 2010 upfront, the network has announced the newest Scooby-Doo series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, will premiere on July 12 at 7 PM ET/PT.

The Scooby Gang will take up shop in the spooky town of Crystal Cove, where they’ll encounter their share of ghosts, ghouls, and grumpy old men in monster costumes plotting revenge. Here’s the show description from the press release:

In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, the curious gang investigates every circumstance with a questioning mindset. Ghosts and monsters may exist, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and the gang will stop at nothing to learn the truth of Crystal Cove. Plus, the drama won’t be limited to paranormal activities — the gang will be portrayed as real teens with real problems, dealing with situations that arise in their families and personal relationships within the group.

Produced by the same folks who have been involved with series such as Batman: Brave and the Bold, Teen Titans and Ben 10, this series has some great animation pedigree behind it. We’re always looking for some spooky-yet-kid-friendly programming, especially during the Halloween season, and it’s exciting to know Warner Bros. Animation is putting so much quality behind it. We can’t wait.

Read the full press release here.

Column: Why We Like 3-D Gaming

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

As expected, the news coming out of this year’s E3 is dominated by 3-D gaming – the glasses-wearing, TV-replacing kind of 3-D, that is. Which makes the cost of being an early adopter a mightily expensive one. Fortunately, video game companies are helping us ease the burden of buying all this new hardware with some forward planning and creative design.

But is it all worth it? Do we need 3-D that bad?

The answer, in our opinion, is “yes”.

As parents, let’s think back to the first time we took our kids to a 3-D movie. It could have been one of the recent theatrical blockbusters, it could have been Mickey’s Philharmagic or Muppet*Vision 3-D at Walt Disney World. Think about that experience. It probably went something like, the kids kept removing their glasses to a comparison between what was real and what their eyes were tricking them into believing what was happening, and the subsequent and ongoing struggle as a parent to have them keep their glasses on.

But then once they did, something magical happened. They started to interact with what was going on in the movie. They would reach out and grab something that seemed to appear dangling in the space before them. Or duck out of the way when something was thrown at them. But they started to give in to the illusion and embrace the experience of being immersed into another world.

And then two things happened. One, their experience was stunted by a lack of reciprocation with the movie. Two, the experience ended all too quickly, and you couldn’t resist your children’s begging and pleading enough to avoid getting back in line for the umpteenth time. Hey, we’re parents – it’s hard for us to say “no”!

So what if there was a way to better that experience, by prolonging the journey and improving the interaction component? Well, that is exactly what 3-D gaming will do.

It is truly a revolution, in the same way 3-D graphics were in the ’90s. It will further bring us into the experience, to truly surround us with a world that is fantastical and wonderful, with challenges we never even dreamed were possible. Critics think 3-D gaming isn’t necessary, that it won’t bring any benefit. But we disagree, if only for the explanation we just gave.

But what will this do for our children? This is where we see the biggest benefit.

3-D will be improved exponentially when partnered with the right tools, and we see those as the Playstation Move and Nintendo 3DS. With the Playstation Move, children won’t just reach out into an empty mirage, but rather an interactive environment that feels as real as any they’ve ever experienced. They can take books off of a shelf and learn a new magic spell, or peek around a bush to spy on an unsuspecting subject. When that item floats in front of their eyes, they’ll be able to grab it and manipulate it. They won’t be fumbling to take their glasses off, because those are the portal to the world in which they are immersed.

It is also important for developers to think of 3-D as more than just an added range of perspective. They need to start designing worlds which live and breathe, and place us in situations where intuition, not repetition, get us out of the tightest jam. And it will be this intuitive gameplay which will remove all barriers to video gaming. Kids won’t have to memorize the latest button combination to execute a certain move; they’ll be able to perform that move just as they would in real life, and have it reproduced exactly as intended.

The 3DS is just as important. It might not have the same level of immersion as the Playstation Move, or the sans-3-D motion capture of the Microsoft Kinect, but it will provide the same opportunity to reinvent video game playing as intuitive rather than repetitive. By manipulating assets within an environment possessing real depth, rather than on a flat plane with a perception of depth which requires suspension of disbelief, players can partake in activities as they would in real life. The stylus, as it had revolutionized gaming back in 2004, will continue to capture realistic and fluid player movements and controls in a way that button presses cannot.

Giving in to such immersion, the argument of whether violent actions in video games beget violent tendencies in real life is invigorated. As we saw with “Avatar depression” in individuals who lost themselves in James Cameron’s fictional world of Pandora, there could be the potential where reality takes on an entirely new meaning for some. However, there are many factors which all need to be addressed as 3-D gaming is propagated to the masses – and, interestingly, all exist for today’s video games. Stability of the individual’s mental state needs to be weighed first and foremost. Parents need to take responsibility for what games their children play. And video game publishers need to take responsibility for the content they peddle to children. Admittedly, we anticipate these three factors to exist going forward in a somewhat amplified state until the shock of introducing 3-D into such interactive entertainment settles into society.

We like the idea of 3-D gaming for our children, and we feel the benefits far outweigh the negatives. It will break down typical barriers and introduce kids to gaming earlier, and hopefully spawn new types of gameplay which teach logical solutions to realistic challenges.

So yes, we do need 3-D.

MDIAG!’s E3 Coverage – Reach For The Tweets

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, begins this week in Los Angeles. It’s an annual tradition for those who are not priviledged members of the press to huddle around their laptops, monitors and iPods in a quest to scarf up the latest announcements and megaton deals from the video game industry. It’s also a time where office productivity in IT departments and technology companies drops big time, we imagine.

We here at MDIAG! are neither priviledged members of the press – not yet, anyway – nor can we afford to have our bosses catch us huddled around our laptops syphoning our employers’ internet bandwidth to watch the big press releases when we have to catch up with those TPS reports. So we just wanted to alert our readers we’ll be covering the show a little differently.

While the Daily Dadgest is on hiatus, and as we try to keep up with the unstoppable landslide of E3 news, your best bet would be to follow MDIAG! on Twitter or subscribe to our bookmark feed on Delicious, as we’ll be tweeting and linking on show happenings throughout the week.

Now, let the show begin!

This Is Really Happening – Dora and SpongeBob Snuggies

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

Were you driven to purchase your own Snuggie after those terrifically awful commercials? Well now your kids will look marginally cooler than you while raising the roof and doing the cabbage patch in their very own Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants-branded Snuggie.

We admit, if we didn’t have to worry about peer pressure or blackmail, and could choose a color other than neon blue or pink, we’d probably lounge around MDIAG! HQ in one of these. The fact that our kids can, while sporting their favorite licensed characters, makes us pretty darn jealous.

There’s nothing else we have to add with this story, other than a reminder this is My Dad Is A Geek!, not My Dad Is A Dork.

Read the full press release here, which also includes announcements of Dora and SpongeBob-licensed Bendaroos and Touch N’ Brush hands-free toothpaste dispensers, but we didn’t mention them because they aren’t as easy to make fun of.

Hasbro Toy Shop’s BOGO Going On Now!

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

In our opinion, there’s no better toy company than Hasbro. There’s never a trip to our favorite store without checking out the Marvel and Star Wars aisles in search of that elusive Super Hero Squad or Galactic Heroes pack, or (R.I.P.) the latest Mighty Muggs releases. How could you not love the company that releases such beloved toys for our todders?

Well, now there’s more to love. From now until June 20, you can double-up on your kids’ favorites from their geek-worthy collections with HasbroToyShop.com‘s Buy One, Get One Free deal. The terms:

Not all toys qualify for the sale, only those in the ‘BOGO Event‘ category
Free toy is the same or lesser value, up to a $39.99 value
Limit three free items per order

Not only are your favorite brands – Marvel, Star Wars, G.I. Joe – among the items eligible for the sale, but there’s My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop items for the princess in your family as well. Heck, pick up a Milton Bradley board game for your next family night!

So what are you waiting for? Start shopping!

HasbroToyShop.com’s BOGO Event

Celebrate SANRIO’s 50th Birthday Starting This Summer

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

It would be hard to say SANRIO didn’t have some influence on MDIAG! It’s a given that any self-proclaimed geek with a love of all things Japanese would have, at some point in their lives, “experimented” in the world of Hello Kitty (we’re not admitting a thing…). So it only tickles us in the least when our kids find their own fascination with the cutesy, bizarre world of the pink feline and her friends.

Therefore, if we must, it is our duty as parents to bring happiness and joy to our…kids’…lives by celebrating SANRIO’s 50th anniversary starting this summer with in-store events, co-branded collections and limited edition products. This will also be the first time, outside of SANRIO’s Harmonyland and Puroland theme parks in Japan, where SANRIO families such as Hello Kitty, Sugarbunnies and retro characters including Little Twin Stars, Tuxedosam, and Patty & Jimmy will appear together on merchandising for the months-long event.

For the unabashed fan, they can keep abreast of the latest in limited-edition product offerings and surprise interactive get-togethers and other special anniversary events and contests online via the SANRIO website, Twitter and Facebook. That’s a little more than we may be willing to go through, but we’ve been through worse for our kids…

For full details, read the full press release here.

Leapster Does What iDon’t – FLASH

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Jeremy Rutz

Tired of letting your child play with some of the kids apps on your iPhone, only to find out they’ve prank-called everyone in your contacts list? Well, time to take it back, because you’ll soon be able to give them something more age-appropriate in return. LeapFrog today has announced their newest “educational gaming handheld” device, the Leapster Explorer.

On paper, this is an impressive piece of educational tech. First and foremost, it has a high-res finger-touch screen that’s a must-have for kids being raised in a world of iPads and Nintendo DSs. Second, it supports both Flash and 3D graphics, which says to us it will be relatively easy to develop for and support. And third, it’s online, which not only allows kids to play the types of games against their friends they should be playing, it also introduces the ability to download Leaplet Learning Apps for new games and functionality.

The Leapster Explorer also integrates games with LeapWorld, an achievement system which provides LeapWorld tokens for youngins to spend on in-game perks. It will also email parents of recent accomplishments, areas which may need further development and suggest new games and apps based on their playtime. Can this thing babysit, too?

It will be available in stores starting July 15 for a MSRP of $69.99, but can be pre-ordered today via Amazon.com which includes a free Leaplet download.

Read the full press release here.