The premiere of James Cameron’s ridiculously anticipated 3D alien epic Avatar is less than three months away, but the action figures are already here. Last week LEE was kind enough to share with us the images of cameron's avatar toys,and admittedly, as we've all seen, the toys themselves are nothing particularly revolutionary. The line includes a strange six legged horse and what I think is the first handicapped action figure in the history of toys so unless you’ve long been clamoring to own something that looked like a smurf on stilts this news would seem redundant to you. However, what these figures lack in appearance they make up for on the inside.
No I'm not preaching the acceptance of some kind of new age philosophy towards toys I'm talking about the smart chips that these figures are packing. What’s really impressive about these toys are that they come with something called an i-TAG augmented reality card which creates a virtual representation on the figure when filmed on a webcam. Confused? I was too, what does that mean any how as the video below illustrates though this is the coolest thing since the kung fu grip.
As you move the card about the digital figure follows suite. And as I watched the video the first thought that came to mind was this: good by table top gaming. Although cool as an action figure I could see this technology replacing such figure based games as warhammer in the future. No more will you have to meticulously paint your little pieces, and you can ditch that shoe box storage container you keep them in too, all you need are these little chips. Soon we'll be hanging out and playing Dejarik just like C-3PO. Just remember Obi-wan's advice and let the wookie win.
