Call of Duty: Strike Team Available Now!

Call of Duty has become an annual staple for many gamers.  Whether you enjoy playing solo campaign modes, or have all your friends over every Friday night it is without a doubt, one of the biggest titles out there.  Even those who don't usually play games, or wouldn't consider themselves fan of a First Person Shooter can pick the game up and really enjoy it.  I have several friends that have wound up getting their girlfriends involved in the action...Within a grace learning curve time frame, they often emerge as good, or better than their boyfriend who has been playing several years.

That said, one thing Call of Duty has not done is take on the mobile market...That is until now.

Call of Duty: Strike Team hit the market exclusively for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users.  It retails for a modest $6.99 and has been receiving great reviews, particularly for those waiting for Ghosts.  

The Blast Furnace, Activision's new mobile development studio cranked this one out and designed it specifically to cater to the touch screen capable mobile devices.  A key, new feature is the ability to switch, on the fly, between the classic First Person View and a new, tactical top-down Third Person View.

You can see from the screencaps that this is well polished and bodes well for the future.

1st Person View, Heli:

3rd Person View:

3rd Person View:

1st Person View:

I think the key thing here is to remember that Strike Team was designed and intended to be played on mobile devices.  If you are a seasoned veteran of the console experience, keep that in mind.  The goal here is to offer up "on the go" Call of Duty action that can fill in dead time, make commutes more interesting, or keep break time at work cutting edge.

Here is the Strike Team Trailer:

And fear not Android users!  The Blast Furnace should have your version out some time this fall.

You can find more information on the Official Website:

www.callofduty.com/

To download Call of Duty: Strike Team, take this link to the App Store:

www.AppStore.com/CallofDutyStrikeTeam

E3 2013: Power A's Skylander Displays: Box Art, Accessories, Storage Innovations, Controllers, Mobile Device Covers, and More!

My first stop at E3 2013 was the Power A Booth.  I was pretty excited because, as you know, I am a fan of the products.  I still get people asking me where I got my 3DS case and it still looks brand new...it is incredible quality.  Similarly, Power A got on the Skylanders wagon early in the game cranking out some great products to provide custom storage solutions and enhanced gaming with carefully crafted accessories.

This year, they have really upped the ante.  They had some of the most innovative storage/display products I have seen.  It is almost as if someone imagined this concept and then instead of the bean counters saying, "No!" it actually went into production.

For those of you who aren't just content with the cases (upgrades there as well!), they now have flush mount islands that turn your wall into Skylands.  If you were to use some of the wall stickers, or paint a custom mural it would be over the top.  The islands connect with bridges and comfortably hold Giants and Swap Force characters as well as your regular SSA cast.  They are very cool.

If you are more interested in say putting your display on a desk or table of some sorts you can have the full on 3D treatment!  The island display is ridiculously awesome as is Flynn's Ship.  These are products and displays many of us have dreamed of, but never really thought we would see outside of attempting to have one fabricated at our own expense.

Power A has these new storage and display innovations along with some other cool new products.  They have recently gotten into the mobile side of things and have smart phone, iPod, and tablet covers and sleeves ready to go...I saw a few "insiders" sporting the Hot Dog cover at the show...Amazing what a keen eye will show you!

On top of the new product line and innovations the cases and controllers are just as good as ever.

What caught me off guard was their box display.  This is akin to what you might see in your local Game Stop, Toys'R'Us, Target or Walmart.  It featured artwork for Ninja Stealth Elf, Blast Zone, and what should be S3 Chop Chop and S2 Hot Dog.  Inside they had product boxes to highlight the potential display layout.  However, what was a total surprise was getting to see the box art for some of the new Swap Force characters!  It was a very big surprise and was just a taste of what was to come...

It was difficult to get great pictures or video due to the volume of people, lighting, and noise, but I think you will get the gist of things...Power A and Skylanders make a great team with killer products for us, the end users!

I have a separate video to highlight their back section which features even more great products for all platforms and from brands like Nintendo, Mario, Pokemon, Call of Duty, and more!