riverhippo wrote:

What doesn't seem clear is why you would need a pirate ship toy to play it in the game.

This is my first complaint, really.

I mean, are we allowed to collect coins in the game?   Or do we have to buy the coinpurse toy first?  If the toy is inclusive, or it comes with a character, than I suppose that would be alright.

We don't know for sure what the pirate ship is or what it does, so you really should hold off on the complaining. I was just guessing that maybe buying the toy gives you the ship in water levels, but it could do something completely differerent.

At any rate, I really doubt the ship toy is anything important. Remember, you can play through the whole game with just the Spyro toy.  Plus, from what I could tell of that one gameplay video we've seen, the "elemental gates" just give you treasure and a hat, so presumably all bonus content is just extra shiny stuff for the kids.

It's not unlikely the ship toy just lets you sail around in the water for fun (which would be optional, since anyone buying the game will get Gill Grunt for swimming). Another theory is that the ship unlocks a bonus level onboard a pirate ship.

Just so long as we don't get some situation like, "Oh ho ho you must run down the the store to buy a lazer beam sword, it's the only way to play past level 8 and the only weapon that can kill Kaos!" extra toys sounds fine by me.

Here's some pictures that seem to support the "optional boat level" idea.

Sounds like another "Activision-is-gonna-merchandise-everything-in-game-in-order-to-maximise-revenue", I don't think you'll have to invest in a pirate ship toy in order to complete the game, but maybe it might unlock new levels or objects in game. Maybe the game is multiple choice/multiple endings etc. It's not like other companies haven't used this tactic before, just look at team fortress 2 for example, if you buy another game by valve you unlock stuff in the game like new hats, so Activision might be employing that sort of tactic.

Maybe Kaos is a pirate or Johnny Depp stars as a cameo?

What doesn't seem clear is why you would need a pirate ship toy to play it in the game.

This is my first complaint, really.

I mean, are we allowed to collect coins in the game?   Or do we have to buy the coinpurse toy first?  If the toy is inclusive, or it comes with a character, than I suppose that would be alright.

We don't know for sure what the pirate ship is or what it does, so you really should hold off on the complaining. I was just guessing that maybe buying the toy gives you the ship in water levels, but it could do something completely differerent.

At any rate, I really doubt the ship toy is anything important. Remember, you can play through the whole game with just the Spyro toy.  Plus, from what I could tell of that one gameplay video we've seen, the "elemental gates" just give you treasure and a hat, so presumably all bonus content is just extra shiny stuff for the kids.

It's not unlikely the ship toy just lets you sail around in the water for fun (which would be optional, since anyone buying the game will get Gill Grunt for swimming). Another theory is that the ship unlocks a bonus level onboard a pirate ship.

Just so long as we don't get some situation like, "Oh ho ho you must run down the the store to buy a lazer beam sword, it's the only way to play past level 8 and the only weapon that can kill Kaos!" extra toys sounds fine by me.

Here's some pictures that seem to support the "optional boat level" idea.

now, don't get me wrong with all my angry posts. as much as i loathe this thing, i want the optimists to be happy/satisfied with the game that they've been excited about for so long now. but i abhor the idea that those very people who are actually siding with this thing are going to have to spend that much money on it. it's $70 alone without all these special characters, or pirate ships or whatever.

This is my first complaint, really.

I mean, are we allowed to collect coins in the game?   Or do we have to buy the coinpurse toy first?  If the toy is inclusive, or it comes with a character, than I suppose that would be alright.

There was a pirate ship shown in the reveal trailer of Skylanders too.

It could be that using a ship toy gives you a boat to sail on in water levels. That would be cool (only useful in water levels, though).

More information behind Skylanders.