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The best 9 video game toys at New York Toy Fair 2018
Video games and toys used to live in separate worlds. But now an overflowing box of playthings can being used to unlock characters and content in the games children play. But with the 'toys-to-life' genre seemingly on the rocks, where do toys and video games go next?
We got a glimpse of this future at this year’s New York Toy Fair and here we pick our nine favourite digitally enahnced toys.
Marvel Hero Vision AR Game
This is an Augmented Reality game you play by placing a smartphone in a special Iron Man helmet. The player then sees various Marvel Avengers enemies and missiles coming at them to defend by using their hand to trigger attacks and shields.
It offers around seven hours of gameplay that can be further varied by placing the AR markers in different physical locations. The game also chunks the experience into short levels to enable youngster to have regular breaks.
The best thing about it is that it is as much fun to watch someone playing as it is to wear the mask. Also you can remove the AR holster to use the Iron Man mask for normal dress up play as well.
Jurassic World Appified Toys
With the new Jurassic World movie in the offing, there were a lot of Jurassic World toys. Mattel’ range stood out for both quality and interactive features. Beyond the impressive sound and articulation of the Thrash 'N Throw Tyrannosaurus Rex was a line of scale matched dinosaurs and film characters.
Each of these dino’s had a collect em’ all feature that enables youngsters to scan them into a Jurassic World app via an code on the foot. Once in the app children can learn about the creatures habits, habitat and explore a range of 3D rendered versions with different light sources.
Boxer AI Robot Games
This is an AI robot from the team that brought us the Zoomer range of interactive pet care games. Here though the balance, touch and sensor technology is miniaturised into a small cube-shaped robot.
He can follow your hand if you hold it in front of him and can balance on his two back wheels. New for Boxer are the game cards that he can scan by rolling over them with his underside sensor.
Each cars unlocks different challenges and games ranging from Slingshot, Game of Luck, Fortune Teller and Football. All the time playing these modes his dot-matrix face emotes are range of moods and emotions.
VTech PJ Masks Learning Headquarters
This was an unexpected gem at Toy Fair. While being aimed at the super young audience of the PJ Masks show the game side of this toy offered a wonderfully retro experience that worked perfectly.
The dot matrix display looked like it have been pulled from a 90’s Gameboy, which the games themselves offered a range of classic challenges from Pipe Mania to Outrun alongside more educational letter matching.
Hot Wheels Rocket League
Moving in the opposite direction, from video games to toys we have the Hot Wheels Rocket League set. This is a remote controlled version of the video game in physical form. As you’d expect from Mattel the attention to detail is excellent and matches the cars and arena from the game perfectly.
You control the cars with an app on your phone but the arena itself has some clever goal-line technology to keep a track of each goal. It can also distinguish between the ball crossing the line and the cars.
Nintendo Labo
Nintendo were at Toy Fair showing off Labo in a meeting room. As you’ve likely seen the game combines physical cardboard toy making with the interactive smarts of the Switch. It’s a clever combinations that harks back to the roots of Nintendo as a toy company.
Parents will like that it adds a physical crafting element to the games that their children play while kids will simply love the different new ways to use the Switch that it creates. I’m looking forward to seeing how well it works in the home. As with previous gaming innovations, Wonderbook and Kinect spring to mind, getting it out of the lab (if you’ll excuse the pun) and into the living room is a crucial step.
Hotwheels Augmoto
Again from Hot Wheels, but this time an original game, is Augmoto. This augmented reality game is controlled via an app but played in the real world on a special Hot Wheels tracks.
Its attraction is super fast racing. The cars take seconds to charge and use this in the risk-reward mechanic of the game. Each player must manage pit stops to ensure they don’t run out of charge.
You can also collect special loop moves that let you trigger special attacks with the smartphone. The other player must then complete a simple mini-game on their device before they can get back in the race.
All the time you can look around the track with your tablet or smartphone to see an AR representation of the action as it unfolds. It’s fast and furious and is a surprising amount of fun.
Mega Construx Halo and Call of Duty
One game cross over at New York Toy Fair that lacked an interactive element was the Mega Construx toys for Halo and Call of Duty. While there is a disconnect between the age of the toy market for these and the ratings of the related games, older fans of the popular titles will enjoy collecting them I’m sure.
This year we have new figures, vehicles and armour for the Call of Duty WWII characters as well as updates for Halo figures.
Furreal Ultimate Co-Pilot Chewie
While this adorable interactive Chewbacca toy isn’t marketed as a game there are plenty of interactive tricks gleaned from video games being put to use here. He comes from the makers of the popular Furreal pet toys. As such he will evolve as you play with him to reveal the impressive 100 different sound and motion combinations.
There’s also playful characterisation going on here. Through a variety of sound, motion and touch sensors Chewie creates a strong sense of personality. This strays from the uppity gruff on-screen wookiee we know and love but fits well with the youngster who will be playing with the toy.