The Toy Guy's Latest TimeToPlay Video

The Toy Guy, AKA Chris Byrne, recently hit the streets of New York City with Cadaco's EnviroBLOX for an afternoon of fun and play.



To see more videos like this, check out our video page on TimeToPlayMag.com.

The Latest Transformers 2 Trailer

We apologize for the bootleg quality of this trailer. Someone filmed it in a theater and posted to YouTube. Despite that, the quality is pretty good and this trailer makes us even more excited for the movie than anything we have seen so far.

Here you go!

Apple Sells 1,000,000,000th App Store Download

Apple sold its one-billionth App store download on Friday, April 24, 2009. That's extremely impressive considering the app store has only been open for nine months.

The one billionth app was Bump, created by Bump Technologies, and was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT. Connor was the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest and will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro. Not bad considering the app was a free download.

This Week's New Video Games

Here are our picks for the best new games arriving this week.

MLB Dugout Heroes (PC, rated Unknown)
MLB Dugout Heroes is the first fully licensed and online-based PC baseball game that features all Major League Baseball players and stadiums from the past and present. Players can expect a casual baseball gaming experience with cartoonish, 3-D graphics and intuitive mouse controls.

Backyard Baseball '10 (PS2, rated Everyone)
The #1 kids' baseball video game is back for a ninth season and is packed with realistic baseball action and crazy arcade fun. Backyard Baseball 10, features all 32 MLB teams along with a roster of current pros as kids.

Crazy Chicken: Atlantis Quest (DS, rated Everyone)
Crazy Chicken's thirst for adventure and thrill of treasure hunting now takes our feathered hero on a journey under the sea in search of the lost kingdom of Atlantis. Battle monks and guards, get chased by mummies and dodge the octopuses, as you travel through the sunken lost kingdom in your quest to find the legendary treasure.

Johnny Bravo in The Hukka-Mega-Mighty-Ultra-Extreme Date-O-Rama (DS, rated Everyone)
Based on Cartoon Network's animated series, Johnny Bravo. You'll play narcissistic Johnny Bravo in his quest to compete with other guys to get a girl for the big dance. Compete in eight wacky games to impress the chick, including Strike A Pose, Food Fight and Disco Dance-Off!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DS, Wii, PSP, PS2, Rated Teen)
Uncage Wolverine's tragic past and discover how the ultimate weapon was created in this action-adventure fighting game based on the movie. The PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 version of the game, the "Uncaged Edition" is rated Mature.

Transform And Roll Out With The Original Robots

There's no shortage of articles, info and images covering this Summer's new Transformers movie sequel, Revenge Of The Fallen. But today, I've got great news for Transformers fans, who like myself, grew up with the original animated Optimus and Megatron.

A week before the movie's release, the 1980's animated Transformers series will be getting the super duper DVD treatment in Transformers: The Complete First Season 25th Anniversary Edition. The DVD will include extras like commercials for the toys, scripts, concept art and much more.

Look for this DVD in stores on June 16th and the new movie, Revenge Of The Fallen, in theaters on June 24.



posted by Jeff

Celebrate Earth Day With The Jane Goodall Institute

In an effort to raise environmental awareness and help kids become good green citizens, Toys "R" Us has partnered with The Jane Goodall Institute's Roots and Shoots youth program. The program connects young people who share a desire to create a better world through service projects, youth-led campaigns, and an interactive website that provides a list of Earth-friendly activities. To support the Jane Goodall Institute, the Toys "R" Us Children's Fund awarded the Institute with a $10,000 grant.

Additionally, Toys "R" Us and Roots and Shoots developed the following list of Earth-friendly tips. Click anywhere on the list to enlarge in a new window.



To learn more about The Jane Goodall Institute and Roots and Shoots, please visit www.janegoodall.org and www.rootsandshoots.org.

New Animated GI Joe Series, Resolute, Online Now

GI Joe: Resolute is a new animated series following the adventures of the Joe gang as they fight to keep Cobra from taking over the world. While that description could also be used to sum up the original 1980's animated series, the action and imagery in Resolute is much more mature and realistic than the the original. In other words - it's geared more toward die-hard Joe fans rather than little kids.

You can view the first four webisodes of Resolute with additional mini-episodes to follow online now. The whole collection plus the 10 minute conclusion will be shown in it's entirety during its broadcast premiere on Cartoon Network next week.

Head over to AdultSwim.com to view GI Joe: Resolute

This Week's New Video Game Releases

It's a great week for casual gamers with several new mini-game based games due in stores. For the more serious gamers, the new Dynasty Warriors arrives tomorrow.

Here are our picks for the best new games arriving this week;

Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii, rated Everyone)
The fourth game in the Excitebike series, Excitebots: Trick Racing features players racing around the world in vehicles that look like bugs, amphibians or mammals that transform throughout the race.

101-in-1 Explosive Megamix (DS, rating pending)
As the name implies, this is a collection of 101 mini-games in 1 package. The games are varied enough to provide something for everyone.

Burger Island (Wii, rated Everyone)
Fast Food takes on new meaning in this casual gaming experience with 30 recipes and 60 levels of burger-flipping fun!

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, rated Teen)
Hop into your Mobile Suit and enter the Gundam universe in this popular giant-battling-robot-suit game.

I Love Horses (DS, rated Everyone)
Train, play with and care for your horses in 20 mini-games.

Party Pigs Farmyard Games (Wii, rated Everyone)
1 - 4 players compete in wacky versions of classic outdoor games including Soccer, Racing, Hurdles, Diving, Long Jump, High Jump and Swimming.

LeapFrog Leaps into the Present

From our sister blog, the play forum:

By Christopher Byrne (Follow Chris on Twitter)

I was thrilled to find out this week that LeapFrog has unveiled its first game for the iPod Touch and the iPhone that it will sell through the Apple App Store.

Why?

Well, this is where kids are going, and I’ve been saying for a while that the handheld platform wars are over, and the winners are Nintendo and Apple. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of opportunity because the content wars are just heating up, particularly in the educational category where Leap’s only credible competitor is VTECH.

Everyone who knows me—and listens to me go on and on—knows that I love LeapFrog. They’ve done an incredible job and even with their recent business challenges they have never compromised their reputation with consumers. Ask any parent—and I ask hundreds of them all the time—about LeapFrog, and they know it’s synonymous with quality product. And here’s the kicker: They think that even if they don’t have kids who are LeapFrog age. It’s a textbook case of brand building that has, way more often than not, fulfilled on the brand promise.

According to surveys, more and more iPod Touch units are being sold for kids in the 8-11 year old range, and there are pockets of the country where kids have iPhones. Those that don’t own one but who have parents that do love to play on them.

I have consistently been blown away first by Leapster and then Leapster2 for the younger kids, but the handheld game for older kids, Didj hasn’t caught on quite as much. As kids get older, they want what their peers have, and that has meant Nintendo DS—and now the fantastic DSi—and iPods. The important issue with these platforms is to remember that having them is what makes kids part of their peer group. The content is going to change from kid to kid—just like the iPod in the population at large. I promise you the songs on my iPod (musicals, classical, some classic rock) would bore you silly and have you make fun of me, but I’m betting that I don’t want to listen to yours. However, we still have the iPod experience in common and that’s where we identify ourselves within the context of the contemporary culture.

Okay, so I ponied up my $2.99 for Number Rumble and had a blast. The game has three modes-learning, quizzing and random quizzing. It enhances memorization of math problems and testing of what’s been learned. Plus, it uses the cool spinning technology that is part of the whole iPod/iPhone interface. It also uses the built-in accelerometer in the random quiz mode.

But here’s where the real genius in this game comes into play. LeapFrog has now taken one of the most arduous challenges of many third and fourth graders—learning times tables basic equations and so forth—and turned it into a game that is not just fun in itself, but uses the hottest platform out there.

Somehow, learning and drilling the times tables isn’t so tough when it’s on the iPhone, even if it really belongs to mom or dad. Plus, you get all the creativity and educational expertise of LeapFrog for only $2.99. When has that happened before?

LeapFrog says that this is the first of a series of casual style games that it’s launching for this platform. I say, hooray. And I’m predicting that as they continue to grow and expand, time on the iPhone or iPod Touch will have to be negotiated within the family, just as in the early days of the home computer when there was only one in the house—and it used two floppy disks. We didn’t think there would be a time when every member of the family would have their own computer, but we’re moving there very quickly.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t acknowledge that a $50 Leapster 2 or a $169 Nintendo DSI is a far cry from the $200-$300 you’ll spend for an iPhone or the $229 for the basic iPod Touch, but if you have them already, then the LeapFrog programs are a steal.

And then there’s our favorite practice—justification for buying something you already want. “Well, the kids can learn with it…” Face it, you want this thing, and it’s great. It’s not justification to say that LeapFrog just made it better.

Deal Digger: Babies "R" Us Online and In-Store Coupon

From now until May 2, 2009, you can save $5 off any purchase of $25 or more when you shop at babiesRus.com or in stores.

Click here to get the coupon (printer needed) or online coupon code.

This Week's New Video Game Releases

It's a slow week for new game releases. Maybe it's a plot to make sure we are getting our taxes done on time.

Here is a look at our picks for the best new games arriving this week;

Escape the Museum (Wii, rated Everyone)
In Escape the Museum, a devastating earthquake has rocked the foundations of the National Museum of History and players must help Susan Anderson, who was knocked unconscious by falling debris while searching the museum for survivors, escape from the crumbling building to the safety outside.


Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS2, rated Teen)
Guitar Hero: Metallica will focus on the career and songs of Metallica. With 28 Metallica songs and 21 other songs that influenced the band, fans will love playing guitars, drums, and singing vocals alongside Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, and Robert Trujillo.


Tournament Pool (Wii, rated Everyone)
The most popular pool games: Tournament Pool features all the most popular billard games, each with official rules. Choose from 8-ball, 9-ball, Snooker, and more. No matter how you like to play, Tournament Pool has you covered.


Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (PS3, rated Everyone 10+)
An innovative hexagonal puzzle board allows for a wide range of strategic depth as it heeds to gravity according to a player's location in the game universe.

Happy Holidays

From everyone at theToyGuy.com, have an enjoyable and happy Passover or Easter.

Deal Digger: Ultimate Easter Basket Giveaway

Toys "R" Us is giving away a super-stuffed Easter basket in their Ultimate Easter Basket Giveaway.

There are four different baskets, which are not actually baskets but groupings of toys that were too large to fit into a basket. Winners choose from one of these four baskets, each filled with a different theme of toys and valued somewhere between $200 and $260.

The giveaway is open until April 11, so enter now by clicking here.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Decoded

Here is your chance to watch the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, again or for the first time, and learn something new about the Star Wars universe.

Clone Wars Decoded is the entire first season -- 22 episodes of the CG-animated series from George Lucas and Lucasfilm Animation -- with enhanced pop-up facts and insights. The pop-ups will include trivia and background information on the characters and storylines from the series' creators themselves.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Decoded premieres Friday, May 1 at 9 p.m. on Cartoon Network.

This Week's New Video Game Releases

We don't usually talk about Mature rated games here but two new ones in store this week deserve mention. Both are highly entertaining games created for adults only! Please, don't let kids play or watch someone else play games that are designed for adults. There are also several family-friendly and kid-approved games in store this week.

Here is a look at our picks for the best new games coming out this week.


The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, rated Mature)
Vin Diesel is back as Riddick, the criminal hero, and it's up to you to break out of the galaxy's most deadly prison in this 1st person action game.
This game is not suitable for kids!

Dragonball: Evolution (PSP, rated Teen)
In this fighting game players match up against their favorite characters from the upcoming movie and battle for control of the seven sacred Dragon Balls that have the power to grant any wish.

The Godfather II (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
The Godfather II, the action game, goes beyond the film's story by setting players in the world of organized crime in 1960’s Florida, Cuba and New York. Your mission is to build up your family through extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal crime rings and defeating new families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America.
This game is not suitable for kids!

Hannah Montana: The Movie (DS, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, rated Everyone)
Hannah Montana The Movie, join Hannah Montana and live the rock star life while you get to know Miley Stewart and explore the world she left back in Tennessee. Perform as Hannah Montana to raise funds or play as Miley Stewart and explore Crowley Corners. Rock out at 6 different concert venues and perform to 12 Hannah hit-songs.

Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity (DS, Wii, rated Everyone)
In this clever puzzle game, players must master the correct placement of objects in order to solve each puzzle and advance to the next level.

posted by Jeff

How Cool Is This?!

Believe it or not, but that video is not of an actual space shuttle blast off. It's all Legos. 65,000 Lego bricks were used to construct this replica, which was then creatively lit and filmed to simulate an actual launch.

This impressive model is the work of two Japanese guys and Part of the "Nasu Space Center," which appeared as a scene in Nasu Highland Park, a Japanese amusement park.

Robot Cast Of Transformers 2 Revealed

Yesterday's USA Today (I think that's a news paper) featured an early look at this Summer's Transformers movie sequel. The article includes some in-depth info on which Transformers robots will appear in the movie and how they differ from the original 80's animated and toy versions.

You can read the article now by clicking here.

posted by Jeff

My Little Star Wars Ponies

These awesome Star Wars themed My Little Ponies are the creations of artist Mari Kasurinen, who modifies her own My Little Ponies. Other Pony mods in the artist's collection include characters from the movies Batman and Pirates of the Caribbean. You can see more of Kasurinen's work at her Deviant Art page.