Hands-on with Angry Birds Star Wars 2 and Hasbro's Telepods
Cached copy of an article from Engadget, 2013-07-19, served from ramine.net so it stays readable if the original goes offline.
Rovio demonstrated its upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars 2 sequel at Comic-Con, highlighting a collaboration with Hasbro on physical "Telepods" figures. The game launches on Android and iOS September 19th, followed by console versions a month later.
The Telepods represent the game's most distinctive feature. Players place figure-mounted plastic stands over an iPad camera, and the tablet recognizes the characters within seconds, unlocking additional playable birds and superpowers. As Rovio's VP of marketing Philip Hickey noted, the Telepod collaboration with Hasbro allowed the company to make even Jar Jar Binks' character interesting.
The title includes more than 30 playable characters total. Beyond the Telepods integration, the game offers players the ability to choose the dark side gameplay option, along with new two-player cooperative and two-to-four-player multiplayer modes. Telepod figures will retail for approximately $20 before the September launch.
By Sarah Silbert.