The first colored testshot of War for Cybertron Optimus Prime. Note the missing cockpit section that should be covering some of the interior bits.
Most of us are eagerly awaiting the new trailer for the upcoming Transformers video game, “War for Cyberton”, promised to come this Tuesday. The trailer is supposedly going to showcase Megatron in action. With gameplay promised to be based around Gears of War, all signs are pointing toward the first serious contender for a great Transformers video game. A few leaked photos are even showing promise for a tie-in toyline. Let’s take a second to talk about the game, the toyline, and what this could mean for the future of Transformers.
I typically attribute the success of Transformers to the popularity of the 80’s cartoon that held a prime time after-school and weekend slot on major networks. This mainstream exposure tapped right into the psyche of an entire generation of impressionable youth, seeding the future success of the brand today.
With the recent end of Animated and the ongoing movie efforts, Transformers has once again tapped into popular culture in a new way that make the future implications difficult to predict. Transformers is definitely a culture phenomenon at this point, but how should Hasbro keep the ball rolling? Apparently Hasbro has taken a cue from one of it’s biggest roadblocks and competitors and decided to move their franchises directly into video games. It has often been mentioned by Hasbro execs that Transformers is one of the last toylines that young boys will be interested in before they make the big switch over to video games. With video game consoles and media sales at an all-time high, making a quality Transformers-centric game seems to be an incredibly progressive move from the company.
Now with leaked photos of toys bearing a close resemblance to the Optimus Prime character featured in the trailer, it appears that Hasbro is planning to take this new game “all the way” and release a coinciding toyline. Considering that Hasbro plans to make this the new pre-Earth Generation 1 canon story, all signs point to another must-have toyline.
Video games are essentially the new generation’s movies and the stories told within games may have an even greater lasting power than the long-gone cartoons of the 80’s. As we await Tuesday’s new trailer, let’s hope we can get some more glances at these highly anticipated toys.