University of Texas at Austin Partners with Video Game Executives to Create Denius-Sams Gaming Academy

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The University of Texas at Austin has partnered with video game industry leaders Warren Spector and Paul Sams to create the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, the first video game program in the U.S. led and taught by gaming industry executives.

Spector (M.A., Radio-Television-Film ’80) will guide the curriculum and both he and Sams will serve as part-time instructors for the academy, which begins in the fall of 2014. The academy seeks to support economic growth of the gaming industry in Texas and beyond by creating the unique focus of training students to become game development team leaders.

Spector is a 30-year veteran of the video game industry and is known for his work on the “Ultima,” “System Shock,” “Deus Ex” and the “Disney Epic Mickey” game series. He has worked on more than 20 production teams as a designer, director and producer.

Sams is chief operating officer and a 17-year veteran of Blizzard Entertainment where he is responsible for the company’s global business operations. During Sams’ tenure, the company has produced some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game franchises including “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “StarCraft” and “World of Warcraft.” Sams also shares responsibility for the growth of one of the largest online gaming services in the world, the company’s Battle.net. [Read more...]

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Target Corp., WBCP Team Up for Justice League Merchandise

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Batman Snack Cup

Batman Snack Cup

Target Corp. and Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), in partnership with DC Entertainment, have teamed up to introduce a summer collection of exclusive Justice League merchandise. The summer collection was inspired by DC Comics—The New 52 comic book character designs. Featuring the full lineup of DC Comics’ iconic Justice League Super Heroes—Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, and Wonder Woman—the summer collection will launch at all U.S. Target stores and on Target.com beginning May 19.

The summer collection was co-created by the Target and WBCP design teams and features contemporary and nostalgic, vintage-inspired graphics and designs. With more than 50 summer products available exclusively at Target, guests will see the collection come to life in home, stationery, sporting goods, and lawn and garden. Some of the more unexpected items include melamine dinnerware that features a purple and pink-clad Wonder Woman; an apron that transforms the cook into Batman; sand toys that will help beach-goers create Gotham City; and children’s Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash beach towels that double as capes. [Read more...]

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Tomy Sets Guinness World Record for Tallest Toy Train Track

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

TOMY INTERNATIONAL TRAIN

Tomy, the maker of the Chuggington StackTrack Railway System, set a Guinness World Records title for Tallest Toy Train Track on Saturday. The record-setting train track, constructed with Chuggington StackTrack—a durable die-cast railway system that enables kids to build vertical toy train layouts—towered 17 feet 4 inches tall. In order to set the Guinness World Records title for World’s Tallest Toy Train Track, Tomy Master Builder Jason Moreno and his helpers needed to construct a layout utilizing the Chuggington StackTrack die-cast railway track that met or exceeded 9 feet 8 inches in height, and a commercially available Chuggington StackTrack die-cast railway train had to travel from the top of the track all the way down to the bottom. Hundreds of kids and their families watched in anticipation and were delighted as the engine completed its journey down the spiraling StackTrack tower.

Moreno constructed the larger-than-life toy train layout as part of the Grand Centennial Parade of Trains in Vanderbilt Hall in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. The building began at 8:00 a.m. and was completed at 1:00 p.m., in time for the Guinness World Records adjudicator to authenticate the record-setting event and present the certificate to a delighted Tomy crew.

[Read more...]

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The Jim Henson Co. Launches Jim Henson Family TV on YouTube

May 10, 2013 By

the-jim-henson-company-post1On May 9, Jim Henson Family TV, the new paid channel from The Jim Henson Co., launched on YouTube. For the first time, the new channel, featuring ad-free full episodes of hit shows like Sid the Science Kid and Fraggle Rock, will provide hours of family-friendly Henson content for computer, phone, tablet, and TV viewing, all for the introductory price of $2.99/month or $24.99/year.

Launching on the same day, Jim Henson TV para la familia en espanol will debut Henson content in Spanish. Coming soon, subscribers to the English channel can upgrade to include the Spanish channel for an additional fee. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 0-2, 3-5, 5-8, 6-8, 8 and up, 9 and up, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Babies “R” Us Partners with Operation Shower for Second Year

May 9, 2013 By

OSShowerCaliBabies “R” Us announced that it will continue its commitment to honor families of the U.S. armed forces through a collaboration with Operation Shower, an organization that hosts joyful baby showers for military wives as they experience the journey of pregnancy while their husbands are deployed. To kick off the second year of partnership, consisting of shower events and fundraising efforts, the Toys “R” Us Children’s Fund, a public charity affiliated with Toys “R” Us, Inc., has donated $100,000 to Operation Shower.

In the coming year, Babies “R” Us will once again leverage its dedicated microsite at Babiesrus.com/OperationShower as an online information and donation portal, where visitors can learn how to support this program and ensure that military moms-to-be receive basic essentials for their newborns. Since launching this digital destination last year, individuals, organizations, and businesses eager to support Operation Shower have donated items from the charity’s official Babies “R” Us Registry, which allows shoppers to purchase much-needed products for these expectant moms and have them sent directly to Operation Shower for use at events throughout the year. [Read more...]

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Spin Master and NASCAR Teamed Up for Win a Ride to School Sweepstakes

May 9, 2013 By

ClientOn April 26, 
Spin Master Ltd. teamed up with legendary NASCAR driver Carl Edwards to bring the opportunity of a lifetime to Christopher Wooten, the lucky winner of this year’s Win a Ride to School Sweepstakes.

For Spin Master’s sweepstakes, children ages 5 to 17 throughout the U.S. were invited to enter online to win a free ride to school from Carl Edwards in a street-legal 2-seater version of his #99 Fastenal Ford Fusion car. With thousands of entries in the competition, Wooten was selected as the lucky recipient.

“It was definitely the coolest thing I have ever done.,” Wooten said. “I think we got some interesting looks along the way that morning. I was hoping no one was gonna wreck in front of us because we’d go by and they would be looking out the window to our side and not paying any attention to the road. I have never done anything close to what we did today, and it was such an incredible experience.”

Spin Master and NASCAR Team Properties have a multi-year, exclusive licensing agreement where children of all ages have been able to play and race like all of the pros with replica vehicles, play sets, and remote control items.

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COMMENTARY: Construction Toys Shine Bright

May 8, 2013 By

9000One of the most classic toy categories is construction toys. These toys successfully compete in a market full of apps and tablets in their simplest form, without any gadgets or technology. Lego, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoy - they’re all names that kids and parents know and love. But just because construction toys don’t need technology in order to hold their own on the shelves doesn’t mean companies aren’t trying to incorporate it, making construction toys an even more interactive play experience.

One of the most popular trends I’m seeing lately is the addition of LED lights to construction sets, turning creations into a flashy toy that you can display. Some companies have built their entire brand around this concept, such as Lite Brix and Laser Pegs. These building sets allow kids to construct creatures, characters, and vehicles that they can plug in and light up with LED lights. With this sort of creative toy, kids can make their own night lights, room decorations, or just fun creations to show their friends and family. [Read more...]

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Hasbro Releases Kre-O Star Trek Line, Stop Motion Digital Short

May 8, 2013 By

Kreo5

Hasbro, Inc.‘s new Kre-O Star Trek line is now available at retail locations. Hasbro also released a stop motion animated short featuring Kre-O building sets and Kreon figures based on the iconic Star Trek film franchise. Fans can watch the video, with a new stand-alone Star Trek storyline, now on the official Kre-O YouTube channel. The digital short will make its television broadcast premiere May 13 at 7:30 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network.

The Kre-O Star Trek stop motion digital short animation was produced through film director J.J. Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, with special effects for the piece created by Kelvin Optical, one of the visual effects teams also working on the soon-to-be released Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures.

The Kre-O Star Trek line, under license from CBS Consumer Products, is based on the upcoming film Star Trek Into Darkness, in theaters on May 17, and features a variety of intergalactic space vehicles from the movie. Also featured in the line are 18 collectible Kreon figures based on iconic Star Trek characters, to be released throughout this year. The new Kre-O Star Trek line marks the unveiling of Lighttech, a light-up feature within every Kre-O Star Trek building set that allows kids and fans to bring the fantasy world of Star Trek to the next level.

The flagship item of the line, the Kre-O Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise building set allows kids and fans the chance to build an 18-inch long star ship toy with light-up warp engines, a bridge play area and five Kreon Star Trek characters, including favorites such as Captain Kirk and Spock. A total of 11 individual Kre-O Star Trek building sets will be available this year ranging in size from 32 to 432 pieces, including four micro-build ships and one set available exclusively at Toys “R” Us.

The full line of Kre-O Star Trek building sets and Kreon figures available now from Hasbro include the following: U.S.S. Enterprise Building Set, Klingon Bird-of-Prey Building Set, Spock’s Volcano Mission Building Set, Transporter Trouble Building Set, Micro-Build Ships Assortment, Space Dive Building Set, and Kreon Figure Packs. 

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Smart Toys and Games Adds Lights to SmartMax

May 8, 2013 By

SMX_505 Build&Light (pack)[1]

Smart Toys and Games, Inc., producer of the SmartMax magnetic construction system, has introduced 13 new SmartMax sets that will allow children to create structures that light up, vehicles that move on their own, and new items to help create construction masterpieces.

In addition to multiple bars and magnetic balls, the new SmartMax Lighthouse and Build & Light sets each include two LED-lit bars for building houses, towers, and other structures that light up and blink. The accompanying instruction guides will help model construction ideas so children can learn how to create designs of varying shapes and heights.

All SmartMax vehicle sets complement and work with the SmartMax construction sets. The new pull back vehicle sets include Loading Luke the dump truck; Speedy Sam & Stan, two racecars in red and blue; Tommy Train, a train with hopper cars; and Rob & Ringo, a sports car and flatbed truck just waiting to race. An additional vehicle set, Pip & Pete Plane, features Pip a compact car and Pete the yellow plane. All vehicle sets allow children ages 3 and up to build various vehicles. Magnetic bars, wheels, cockpits, propellers, and friendly eyes are just a few parts that can be used to personalize each vehicle.

Tommy Train can stretch up to 35 cm in length and is perfect for transporting loads of magnetic bars or balls included in the packaging, or even small items found around the house. Pip & Pete Plane, Rob & Ringo, and Speedy Sam & Stan are perfect to share with friends because children can easily create two separate vehicles.

New add on component sets come in transparent containers and include: six long bars, eight metal balls, eight medium bars, eight curved bars, six mixed medium and large glow- in-the-dark bars, and four flowers. All SmartMax items can be used with all other SmartMax sets.

The entire 2013 SmartMax product line will be available online here in June.

Filed Under: 3-5, 5-8, 6-8, 8 and up, 9 and up, New Products Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Walt Disney Co. and EA Announce Multi-Year Star Wars Game Agreement

May 7, 2013 By

The Walt Disney Co. and Electronic Arts Inc. announced a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines. Under the agreement, EA will develop and publish new Star Wars titles for a core gaming audience, spanning all interactive platforms and popular game genres, while Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet, and online game categories.

EA Labels President Frank Gibeau says that three of EA’s top studios will be creating games for the Star Wars brand. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining BioWare, which will continue to develop games for the Star Wars franchise. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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