We test out the latest version of Skylanders on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. You can use last year’s portal or buy a new Starter Pack to jump in for the first time.

Skylanders Superchargers has launched on iOS, with a downloadable app available in the Appstore now and a supporting Starter Pack available for those who are keen to play the game complete with it’s physical toys and portal. This is the second Skylanders game to get mobile support and once again, it’s the full console experience (depending on your device). Owners of the Starter Pack will also get a wireless controller to make the game feel just like a regular console release.

For those of you dipping into the game ahead of or instead of purchasing the starter pack, the whole game can be unlocked with an in-app purchase and digital versions of specific characters are also available to buy. However, you will be limited to touch screen controls unless you also own the tablet edition of Skylanders Trap Team, the characters, portal and controller from which can be used for Superchargers.

This year’s game also include online play, with online competitive racing and online co-op for the main story mode. Both modes are also supported cross device, for those of you that own multiple iOS devices or an Apple TV and iOS device. There’s no Android support this year, which is unfortunate, but if you’re an Apple device owner, you won’t be disappointed with a game that’s great value for families, providing ongoing support for all of the previous games’ physical toys.
New this year is Online Multiplayer and Co-Op for the game. You can’t play local co-op this year though.

We look at the upcoming Miitomo game for iPhone and Android to see what it has to offer Nintendo fans and families.

News from a recent shareholders meeting revealed that Nintendo’s first foray onto smartphones will be a social experience called Miitomo.

The app, which is referred to as “free-to-start” offers players the chance to create a Mii avatar previously only seen on the Wii, Wii U and 3DS systems.

Once players have created their Mii, the app then asks a variety of questions. These are then shared with any registered friends on the system. As ever with Nintendo there is a strong eye on safety here with the discussion highlighting the app’s family-friendly nature to create an experience that is “comfortable and secure.”

Although this may disappoint Nintendo fans hoping for a Mario experience on smartphones, setting out with a more social experience actually makes a lot of sense. This not only connects with a wider audience looking to use technology for social connection rather than pure entertainment, but also broadens Mii adoption in advance of an expected universal Nintendo account.

Here’s our complete guide to Minecraft Story Mode Episode 1 The Order of the Stone. The game will be coming to Xbox, PlayStation, Wii U, iOS, Android, PC and Mac.

1. Genre

Minecraft: Story Mode is an episodic adventure game in five parts.

It tells a story based in the well-known world of Minecraft. As a female or male character called Jesse, players solve puzzles, fight zombies, and talk to other characters to progress the story. Conversations involve choosing from multiple potential responses that each have consequences for the story and relationships in the game. Action is played out with quick-time events.

While Minecraft: Story Mode is visually similar to Minecraft itself, it plays more like other episodic adventure games from the developer, Telltale Games, like The Walking Dead.

2. Story
The story revolves around Jesse and their group of friends, who want to find a group of four adventurers called The Order of the Stone, who have slayed an Ender Dragon, in order to save the world from oblivion. Each member of the Order is the best at what they do, and represents a different kind of Minecraft player: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Grief-er, and Architect.

3. Developer
Developer Telltale Games is known for these episodic adventure games, like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones games. Minecraft: Story Mode is more family-friendly, like their Back to the Future game.

4. Format
Minecraft: Story Mode is available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360, and iOS and Android. It will also be coming to Wii U in the near future. A Vita version is likely but unconfirmed.

Although unconfirmed this is likely to cost around £4/$5 per episode or £20/$25 for the whole season. There will also be a retail season pass disc for consoles that is scheduled to be released on the launch day of episode 1 for £24/$30.

5. Duration and Difficulty
Each episode tells a self-contained story as part of the larger whole of the series, and each is a couple of hours long.

Although the focus is on narrative, some decisions and action moments have time limits that may leave younger players unable to choose a response in time, in which case a “no response” action is triggered.

6. UK Rating
In the UK and Europe, PEGI rates Minecraft: Story Mode as only appropriate for those aged 12 and older for “mild bad language”.
http://www.pegi.info/en/index/global_id/505/?searchString=minecraft+story+mode

The GRA expands on its PEGI rating by explaining that the game has “frequent use of mild language” including words like “ass”, “crap”, and “piss”.
http://gamesratingauthority.org/GRA/

7. Other Ratings
Not yet rated

8. Themes
Although Minecraft itself is aimed at younger players PEGI 7+ the Story Mode adventure looks to engage an older audience with its controversial PEGI 12+ rating. Although the rating is mainly from language in the game, it also includes suspense moments and jump scares that may unsettle younger players. Zombies and spiders attack characters including a helpless friendly pig.

Positively, Minecraft Story Mode engages with themes of friendship, survival and creativity. With professional voice acting and musical score there is considerable substance to the experience.

The developers aimed to combine the feel of The Goonies, Ghostbusters and Pixar films. The resulting adventure is appropriate for a similar aged audience.

9. Why people play:

Minecraft is an incredibly popular game, and different people play it for different reasons. Players who have an emotional attachment to the world of Minecraft will enjoy the opportunity to experience a story based in that world.

I talk to Sean Patton, Senior Producer for Disney Infinity mobile about the release of the Toy Box game on iOS, Android and Kindle Fire. Also about MFI controllers.

(MFi = Made for iOS – Apple Inc.’s MFi Program. The name is a shortened version of the original long-form Made For iPod. The program covers various iDevice connectors including the headphone jack, original dock connector and the newer Lightning connector, as well as AirPlay support.)

We look at the different controls, features and character purchases in the app.

Angry Birds Transformers has been available in iOS and Andoird stores globally for some time now, but up until the last few weeks there’s been no sign of a single female character in the game beyond the original poster used to announce the game’s release. That’s all changed now as both iOS and Android gamers can unlock and use Arcee and Airachnid.

In this latest Let’s Play, we’ll show you some of what Arcee can do, along with leveling up a few of our existing characters to the new level max (15) and purchasing a few new items with which to adorn them. In addition, we check out the new storage silos and training elements to find out how they impact the game.

A close look at the game-play and hands-on feel of Anki Overdrive.

Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9s0sf61wAI
Starter Kit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GwtDmamTHk
Thermo & Nuke Cars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvrdxeJDQ14
Launch Kit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRNqi4mk58I
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuQENHLy11w

Official blurb:
Battle-racing shifts into high gear this fall. Anki – pioneers of entertainment robotics – today announced Anki OVERDRIVE is launching in September 2015 in the U.S., U.K., and Germany. Following the massive success of Anki DRIVE, one of the hottest products of 2014, Anki OVERDRIVE takes the groundbreaking battle-race experience in a new direction with state-of-the-art modular tracks, high-end car designs and new innovations in gameplay. Players can build their own battle-race courses within seconds and pit their real-life robotic supercars against their friends or step up against enemy AI commanders and their crews in the game’s campaign mode. Toy Fair 2015 will be the first chance to get hands-on experience with Anki OVERDRIVE at the Anki booth #3054.

“Anki Drive represented more than a new product launch for us but a key step in a new industry still in its infancy, and an opportunity to make robotics and artificial intelligence accessible in our everyday lives,” said Boris Sofman, Anki founder and CEO. “With Anki OVERDRIVE, we’re able to deliver a new form of play that brings an unprecedented level of customisation, character personality and interaction to life in a physical game, establishing a new category of entertainment at the intersection of videogames, toys and robotics.”

Anki OVERDRIVE is battle-racing at its best where players control physical supercars via handheld mobile devices. Each supercar is upgradable with unique virtual weapons and gadgets, and packs a 50mhz computer and camera that recognizes player-customized courses. The cars are capable of using AI to fully control themselves on the track as they use diverse strategies to fight to the finish.

The game also lets players build their own battlefields for all-out vehicular mayhem. The track pieces easily snap together via magnetic connectors allowing players to create and race on their own customised courses instantly. The modular track pieces use special ink and optics technologies to embed information that the high-tech vehicles scan 500 times per second to understand their position and steer precisely on any track configuration.

At launch, the Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit will include two highly detailed supercars, 10 separate track pieces, a four-car charger, two risers and a tire cleaning kit. An additional two expansion cars and eight expansion track packs will be available for purchase allowing for nearly limitless track construction. Adding one expansion track pack like the Speed Kit or Corner Kit can expand the Starter Kit from eight possible track configurations to more than 20.

Expansions track packs include:
o Launch Kit – Reach for the sky with jumps on the battlefield. Launch ahead, nail the landing, and smoke the competition.
o Collision Kit – Race into a lethal intersection, pick off your opponents as they speed past or take a short cut to chase them down. Watch out for devastating collisions and don’t get caught in the crossfire.
o 180° Kit – Snap this U-turn piece to any track section and open up the battlefield for head-to-head combat. Build open circuit tracks to face down enemies, unlock longer courses and bi-directional racing.
o Speed Kit – Put the hammer down and outrun opponents or take aim and knock out the competition on these long straightaways.
o Corner Kit – Take these turns at top speed. Or blast opponents before they disappear around the bend.
o Rails Kit – Slingshot into straightaways or drive the fight into corners. Guardrails ensure the chaos of battle stays on the tracks.
o Elevation Kit – Take the battle to another level. Open up crazy track possibilities with hills, bridges, underpasses and more.
o Bank Turn Kit – Race around corners at faster speeds and pull some serious G-forces.

The Anki OVERDRIVE Starter Kit retails at $150. The mobile app is free to download and available for both iOS and Android devices. Expansion track packs and accessories vary between US $10.00 – $30.00 per pack. Anki OVERDRIVE is backwards compatible, allowing Anki DRIVE cars to race on the Anki OVERDRIVE modular tracks.