Hasbro, RealD Bringing 3D Glasses to Toys
With the awareness of 3D increasing, the technology is edging its way into toys, but in a smaller and less sophisticated manner than it arrived in CE, industry executives said Monday at the International Toy Fair in New York.
Hasbro worked with RealD in developing Transformers Cine-Mask 3D that combines Bumblebee and Optimus Prime masks with passive 3D glasses that will sell for $9.99 when they hit retail shelves May 16. The glasses are shipping in advance of Paramount Pictures’ July 1 release of the Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D movie, but are compatible with any film featuring RealD technology, RealD said. “3D is a buzzword with kids since many of them have seen several 3D movies so it makes sense for the technology to find its way into toys,” a Hasbro spokeswoman said.
3D technology pervaded many digital cameras and camcorders shown at Toy Fair. Sakar took the wraps off a Vivitar F128 14.1-megapixel 3D camera ($199) that features a 2.7-inch LCD, 4x zoom lens and can deliver 720p video. The 3D technology is largely limited to the editing software packaged with the camera, which relies on separately sold SD cards for storage and has about 64 MB of internal memory, a spokesman said. The Vivitar 790HD 3D camcorder ($249) also could record 720p and sports a two-inch LCD, 4x zoom and HDMI connector.
Hasbro is expanding its four-year development partnership with Electronics Arts to increase the presence of its board games on social networking sites. EA initially released Scrabble on Facebook in 2008 and its acquisition of social network game developer Playfish is bearing fruit for the partnership. Playfish-developed Monopoly is being released on Facebook this week after a 10-day beta test, and other games are in the works, said Richard Cleveland, head of marketing for digital media and gaming at Hasbro. The Monopoly game is free on Facebook, with some charges for micro-transactions. Scrabble, Monopoly and other Hasbro games also have been released on Apple’s iPad and iPhone priced at $2.99-$4.99, he said. “It would make sense that we would continue to look at the social networking platform and it’s obviously a growing business and we have other brands that probably could fit just as well as” Monopoly and Scrabble, Cleveland said. Hasbro isn’t planning any major changes for its Littlest Pet Shop online game that’s available through EA’s Pogo.com site or Movie Game Night, which has been released on Xbox Live and other platforms, Cleveland said.
Hasbro also will release Battleship and Monopoly Live board games ($50 each) based around an IR camera housed in a 10-inch “tower” that cloaks the boards with infrared light to track the movements of sensor-equipped pieces. The camera, placed at the center of the board, keeps track of money spent in Monopoly and the movements of ships in Battleships. In Monopoly, dice are “rolled” when a hand is placed over a playing piece to block out the light, resulting in a “tumbling” sound. In Battleship, players still use coordinates to sink opponents’ ships, but with some new features. Spy planes can fly around a track and “snoop” on an opponent’s ships.
Hasbro also is cashing in on the Sesame Street license it secured last year. Hasbro last year replaced Mattel, which had a 15-year run with Tickle Me Elmo and related products. Hasbro introduced an 18-inch “Let’s Rock Elmo” animatronic interactive toy ($69) that’s pre-programmed with six songs and is packaged with a drum set, microphone and tambourine. There are additional accessories including an Elmo guitar ($19.99), Cookie Monster keyboard ($14.99) and Grover microphone ($14.99) that has two additional songs. Hasbro also has a range of other animatronic Sesame Street characters in development for the fall, including Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Ernie.