I've seen plenty of cool “interactive” toys before (most of which I recall from a few trade shows over the years) mainly geared towards kids that could be connected to PC's for online gaming. Then there were a few oddball Japanese toys I can also recall that could sync to game consoles which failed to take off outside of that country. This year, It looks as if Activision has taken that formerly nascent technology to the next level by blending old and new elements and taking the idea to the Wii (and eventually 3DS) starting this fall. Skylanders – Spyro's Adventure is a unique collaboration between Activision and it's Novato, CA-based studio Toys For Bob that looks to give kids a great reason to collect and hang on to a really cool set of figurines. What's here is being touted as “a wholesale change in the interaction between toys and video games, opening up new possibilities and revenue streams for both industries.” A bold statement, no doubt… but it just may be correct. This has been tried previously in gaming, but I'll surprise you all with that in a feature I'm planning in a few weeks.

Full press release, screens and an event video below the jump – Toy images to come in a separate posting. I'll get some hands-on time at Toy Fair over the next few days and get back to you folks with a report.

Read more »