Hasbro, the very well known toy and board game company that aims to "make the world smile", have teamed up with another well known company, game publisher and developer of many successful game series, Ubisoft, to announce a new source of family fun and entertainment: The Hasbro Game Channel.
Ubisoft will be leading the charge in this upcoming release of Hasbro games, and if Thomas Paincon the EMEA Digital Publishing Director at Ubisoft is anything to by, it seems the team are ready to deliver:
With the Hasbro Game Channel, we want to capture all of the excitement and fun of Hasbro’s most popular games and bring new ways to play them. The new console experience will offer a brand new ecosystem with various missions, achievements and rewards.
Mark Blecher, senior vice president of digital gaming and corporate development for Hasbro also had this to add on to the fun to come:
We have worked closely with Ubisoft on the development of the Hasbro Game Channel which will bring family and friends together for a fun and social gaming experience with their favorite brands. The new console games will allow players to connect and play with others, not just in their living rooms, but around the world.
The experience will be delivered in a hub style. Ubisoft aims to make the gaming hub an easy to use social experience in order to keep up with friends' scores and see what they are up to. Playing games will reward players with in-game currency that can be used to buy rewards. What the rewards are exactly is still yet to revealed. The hub will also be convenient for players to use with all games, options, and rewards all situated in one place. Players who are interested in games with Smartglass compatibility will be pleased with the features that can be used through your phone. Smartglass users can keep track of their money, progression and property via their "second-screen". Kinect will also come in use (for Xbox One users) for when players want to take a photo of themselves to capture those special moments, regardless of winning or losing.
Three games will be on offer come release day: MONOPOLY Plus, RISK and TRIVIAL PURSUIT. Live from the Favoritology Institute, the Favoritologists take us for a tour through the three titles and showcase gameplay, customization options, and more:
Each title within the hub already has DLC extras scheduled to release. Monopoly will see the addition of "My Monopoly", a customization tool that allows the player to re-arrange and change the middle of the Monopoly board as they see fit. The more players play then the more 2D and 3D elements that will be unlocked for players to use in their creations. 74 squares can be used to fill with upto 120 elements. "Monopoly Deal" is "a fun, fast take on the classic experience based on the Monopoly Deal card game".
These DLC add-ons will be releasing in September and November 2014, respectively for a price that is still yet to be confirmed. Check out these screens showcasing My Monoploy and Monopoly Plus in action after some brief details on what's included within the classic board game:
MONOPOLY Plus: MONOPOLY Plus brings the world’s favourite family gaming brand to a new level with the original 2D MONOPOLY board as well as colourful and lively animated 3D version that evolves as you progress in the game. MONOPOLY Plus lets player choose their favourite ‘House Rules’ to customise gameplay. Up to six players will be able to enjoy MONOPOLY Plus online or offline.
RISK will see the addition of "Risk Global Domination" a "classic Risk in a new modern warfare context" that's scheduled to release in September. League play will be on offer in the title, as players can square off in four different leagues and compete in six games per league. Players will earn points for winning games which will earn them medals and promote them to the top of the league. Losers will be relegated and lose points.
Risk New World Older goes in the opposite direction with a new take on the original game. New settings means that continents are no more and cities will fight for domination using new strategic rules. This pack is currently scheduled to release "later in the year" for an unspecified price. Here's a brief set of details along with another set of screenshots showcasing the different maps and locations:
RISK: Strategy fans will venture into stimulating modern warfare combat with RISK. Keeping the authenticity of the 2010 rules as the standard, RISK offers a new strategic experience with a familiar map layout optimised with modern armies, 3D tactical battlefields configurable win conditions and rule variants. Online league play will allow player to compete with people from around the world.
Trivial Pursuit tests players knowledge in a fast-paced "TV Show experience". There will be all kinds of unique questions on offer from different categories. The title will feature category banks, exciting rounds, and adjustable round lengths. Game developer, Longtail, have provided additional details on how the seven different rounds will work:
Additional details
There are 7 different rounds, being selected randomly – excepted final round remaining in all games:
• Switchategories --> Round based on multiple choice questions.
- Before each question, a player is selected to choose the category.
- All players answer the question, but the player who chose the category can score 5x the points.
- Each player gets the same number of turns to choose categories.
• Close call --> Round based on ranged multiple choice questions.
- Once an answer is chosen by a player, no other player can select it.
- Players are awarded points based on how close their answer was to the correct answer.
- Whoever scored the lowest on the previous question gets to choose first on the next question.
• Greedy Grab --> Round based on category bank.
- Wrong answers eliminate the player from the question.
- Every subsequent correct answer increases by 100 points.
- Play on a question continues until all correct answers have been selected or all players have chosen a wrong answer.
• Team picks --> Round based on ranged multiple choice questions.
- For each question, players are paired to form temporary alliances.
- Once an answer is chosen by a player, no other player can select it.
- Points are calculated based on how close players’ answers were to the correct answer.
- The team with the most points for a question is awarded those points; the team with the least gets none.
- Whoever scored the lowest on the previous question gets to choose first on the next question.
• Team grab --> Round based on category bank.
- Same as “Team picks” round, but for category bank questions.
- Wrong answers eliminate the player from the question.
- Every subsequent correct answer increases by 100 points.
- Play on a question continues until all correct answers have been selected or all players have chosen a wrong answer.
• Hot seat / rushed round --> Round based on multiple choice questions.
- Each player is individually given a predetermined amount of time (30 secs), scoring points for each correct answer.
- Category switches between each question.
- The player who scores the most points wins.
• Finale --> Round based on 2 answers bank.
- All players are asked a rapid fire set of 8 questions with the same answer bank.
- For each answer bank, wedge penalties increase for not giving a correct answer.
- For each answer bank, the timer ticks faster.
Trivial Pursuit has just one DLC add-on planned with "Trivial Pursuit Live!" that plans to be "a party, ‘Buzz-like’ experience", to come in September. No price has been confirmed yet. Here's another brief set of details and screens to follow:
Trivial Pursuit Live!: Trivia fans can test their wits in this new take on the world’s most well-known trivia game. TRIVIAL PURSUIT Live! transforms the classic experience into a TV show setting with reinvented question formats, customisable game lengths and a variety of game rounds and rules to keep players guessing.
Hasbro Game Channel and the three introductory titles, Monopoly, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit, will be available to download worldwide in Autumn 2014 for the Xbox One. Although the full game is only releasing for the Xbox One, each title will be available to download separately for Xbox 360 users via the XBLA Marketplace for prices that are still yet to be announced.