NY Toy Fair 2011: More Views from Afar

So I'm still not at NY Toy Fair this year, but my in-box continues to overflow with material from publishers who are at the show, so I thought I'd post another round-up column of what we're all missing by me not freezing my heinie off on the streets of Manhattan.

• Winning Moves has a new version of Pass the Pigs that packs more pig in the box than ever before: Pass the Pigs: Pig Party Edition includes four pairs of pigs, along with target cards that players try to match in order to score points. Soon we'll all have pig-loaded shotguns that blast tiny plastic projectiles across the table, with you trying to arrange the pigs artfully in an opponent's chest. Looking forward to it.

• Winning Moves is also releasing a new version of Big Boggle with a new "double letter" cube that is supposed to allow for longer words and therefore higher scores. And WM has a new version of The Game of LIFE, which is subtitled It's A Dog's Life Edition. Everything is dog-themed, and you can customize a game token by uploading a picture of your dog. What career choices are open to dogs in this game? I'm almost curious enough to look at the box and find out. Almost.

• Zobmondo!! Entertainment will demo Party Gras, a game likely built around a name. Players start with equal numbers of beads around their necks and two challenge cards. Find someone – or coerce someone into – doing or matching what's written on your card (ask me to lower my voice, or spot someone texting), and you get to take 1-2 of their beads. I'd lay money on "Lift up your shirt" not being among the challenges.

• Dutch publisher Identity Games is showing the Living Board Game, a combination game board/electronic gadget with a sleeve for an iPad and hook-ups that allow the iPad to monitor game play and interact with what's happening on the board.

As an example of how the device works, Identity transmogrified its WildLife DVD board game into an iPad app that interfaces with the game board. LaptopMag.com has a video from Toy Fair demoing the system and a bizarre comment on why the system might be appealing: It "achieves that nice blend between gaming on the iPad and gaming with friends or family. Games will be for 2-4 players, and everyone will have to gather around the iPad instead of going off into isolation." Wha? Can't I just game with friends or family not in isolation anyway? (HT: Erwin Broens)

• Hasbro featured one of the loudest and most annoying games of this or any Toy Fair with Battleship Live:

The demo is almost a parody of a marketing pitch, with the presenter coming across more like someone interviewing for a job for which she's not really qualified but which she needs in order not to lose her Subaru Impreza due to missed payments.

• Monopoly is also being "enlivened" through the use of an all-seeing tower that tells you what to do, and The New York Times covered Monopoly Live in an article on Feb. 15, 2011. An excerpt:

Quote:

Hasbro is aiming at luring 8- to 12-year-olds back to these board games. Its executives say this age group, accustomed to video games, wants a fast-paced game that requires using their hands. To move forward on the new Monopoly board, players cover their game piece with their hands, and the tower announces how many spaces the player can move. Players also hold their hands over decals to buy or sell properties, insert "bank cards" into slots to check their accounts, and send a plastic car moving around a track to win money or other advantages (only when the tower instructs them to, of course).

Hey, Hasbro executives, have you heard of Jungle Speed? Fast Food? Le Passe-Trappe? Lots of fast-paced games out there that fit the bill without inviting Big Brother to the table. (HT: Dale Yu)

• Another title coming from Hasbro – but pulled from Toy Fair demoes according to a note from a PR rep – is Battleship Galaxies.

• Discovery Bay Games has – well, let me copy the marketing text so you can read it for yourself:

Quote:

Discovery Bay Games has secured worldwide rights for the digital version of Saturday Night Live – The Game through an ongoing partnership with Broadway Video Enterprises. This will allow Discovery Bay Games to create multi-activity tablet games, which will be launched in conjunction with a new tablet game accessory in fall 2011.

Text like this is unfortunately what Toy Fair is all about, at least in New York. The game is nothing more than product, one of "SIX MAJOR LICENSING DEALS" Discovery Bay Games is highlighting at the show, licensing deals meant to translate into widgets that move into customers' hands like magic, without regard to artistry – or even novelty – in terms of what the game does. Another example:

Quote:

Discovery Bay Games has partnered with Highlights for Children to bring this beloved brand to life in a new way. The Highlights' product line will include three physical games and three digital tablet games, which will work in conjunction with new or existing tablet game accessories.

"So you retailers all remember Highlights, right? Goofus and Gallant? The terrible jokes? Mom sure remembers it, which makes this game the perfect gift to suggest when she comes in looking for something for little Sue's birthday party. The magazine's cross-promotion hits in Q3 and Q4 with bonus codes for use in blah blah blah."