Skylanders continues to aim for world domination with a new mobile card game called Skylanders BattleCast. It won’t be out till 2016, but you can test it out on September 20 on iOS, Android, or Amazon devices. We don’t know much about it yet except that it might take some leaves from Hearthstone’s book—which could be a good thing. Unlike Hearthstone, however, BattleCast will have physical as well as digital versions of its playing cards. This could be a recipe for me lighting my wallet on fire. Check out this week’s The Issue to hear Courtney and me discuss it in depth.
Disney unveiled a TON of new Toy Box features for Disney Infinity last week at D23. It looks like they’re really focusing on community by making it easier to find community levels and play with other people. They’re also adding some sim elements. You’ll be able to plant crops and feed your townsfolk to boost their stats. Then they can go into battle for you. All in all it seems like Disney wants to give the Toy Box experience a little more depth and encourage interactivity. Good moves.
Also confirmed is a world based on Big Hero 6 for Kingdom Hearts 3. Get ready to cry.
Final Fantasy VII was just released on iOS. It costs $19.99 and it has the option to disable random encounters, which means if turn-based fighting isn’t your style, you can just enjoy the story. Hopefully this will tide us over until the HD remake of FFVII that may even come within my lifetime.
Last week the American Psychological Association released a report that connects video games and aggression. This is a bit of a backslide for them since it contradicts previous findings of theirs. A group of researchers protested the methods that the APA task force used to come to this conclusion. You can read Keezy Young’s in-depth analysis of it here:
Project EVO is an educational video game that is trying to be the first game certified by the FDA. This means that Project EVO could be prescribed by doctors as a treatment for things like ADHD. But to get there, they need to jump over a lot of hurdles. Read more about that story here.
