- So tomorrow is Force Friday
which is the day that Disney shows off
all the crazy new Star Wars stuff they've been working on.
Disney invited us to this
random unmarked building here to
check out some of it a little bit early
so let's go!
We got to check out five upcoming
Star Wars products that are gonna be
announced at tomorrow's Force Friday event.
Each one with some sort of tech twist to it.
First up was Lenovo's Jedi Challenges.
It's an augmented reality game running on
the company's new AR headset, Mirage.
I strapped on the headset,
pushed a button on my lightsaber to fire it up, and bam!
I was dueling with Kylo Ren.
A faint line indicates that your opponent
is about to strike next and you've gotta rush to
orient your lightsaber to block him.
As you progress,
the incoming flurries are gonna get faster
and more complicated so the game's gonna get harder.
Block a few attacks and it's time to swing, and yeah, yeah.
I know my lightsaber stance could use some work.
It was one of the better
augmented reality experiences I've ever had
and one that I really wanted to spend more time with.
Once seen through the headset,
the lightsaber beam really seems to come out of the hilt
at that lightsaber controller.
It's awesome!
(laughing)
It's awesome!
Jedi Challenges also comes with a playable version
of that Holochess board game you might remember
seeing on the Millennium Falcon back in the New Hope
along with an all new realtime strategy battle game.
The kit includes the Mirage AR headset,
the tap-two smartphone as its brain,
a tracking beacon that tells the headset
where the floor is,
and a super slick replica of the lightsaber
handed down from Anakin to Luke and now to Rey.
It'll cost 200 bucks when it goes on sale in November
which seems a bit steep for what is arguably
a few really cool mini-games
but hopefully Lenovo will build more on top of this
AR platform to make it more worthwhile.
Meanwhile, consumer drone maker, Propel,
is re-releasing the X-Wing.
The TIE fighter and Speeder Bike drones,
they released last year.
They'll all be in the higher numbers this time around
to make them a (chuckles) little bit easier to find.
These things have built-in lasers
for drone-to-drone combat with support
for up to 24 pilots flying in the air at once.
They've also built an all new app
with a practice mode to let you fly a virtual simulation
of your drone between real-world sessions.
For all the tinkery types out there,
the $99 littleBits Droid Inventor Kit
let's you build your own droid,
be it an R2 unit or something completely new.
It's gonna come with a bunch of motors,
a bunch of sensors, droid parts, stickers,
and an app with step-by-step videos
to help your budding engineers build a bot
from the ground up.
Hasbro is working on an accessory
they call the Force Link Band.
You strap it onto your wrist,
pick up a Force Link and a little action figure,
and it'll detect which one you're holding
and make sounds accordingly.
Rebels are going to shout lines of encouragement,
space ships will zoom by,
and Chewbacca will let out its signature roar
(electronic Chewbacca roaring)
But isn't trying to do Chewie's roar
pretty much the best part of playing Star Wars?
(Greg imitating Chewbacca roar)
Nope, still can't do it.
And last but by no means least is the new stuff from Sphero.
They've got two new toys in the works this time.
First up is the legend, it's R2D2.
Sphero always takes their toys to a whole new level.
This R2 unit is no exception.
(laughing)
Like the one in the movies,
this R2 is on two legs while it's just standing around
but when it comes time to roll,
a third leg is gonna pop out of its body from nowhere.
It's a small detail but it makes it one of the most
accurate remotely controlled R2s ever sold.
It's damned cool to see in person.
Spoiler alert!
The next toy we saw is based on a character
that hasn't really been shown yet outside of leaks.
With that said, it's one that's probably going to be
everywhere leading up to this next movie's release.
You're probably not going to be able to avoid it.
But as someone who wore headphones while online
for Force Awakens just to avoid the spoilers,
if you wanna pause the video here,
I'll understand.
This is BB-9E.
He's the First Order's answer to BB-8.
Think BB-8 just more dark and menacing.
This toy is pretty similar to the BB-8 toy
that Sphero built for Force Awakens
with a cool new trick.
The detachable head here pulls power
through the magic of wireless induction
allowing it to light up without any wires
or dedicated batteries.
It's gonna pull its power right from that main unit
as soon as you've snapped it in place.
Both R2 and BB-9E can be programmed
to roll around your house.
They come with pre-programmed animated actions
and as crazy as it seems can watch the movies with you
and react to things on the screen.
The good bots are gonna bleep and bloop with happiness
when the Rebels take down an AT-AT.
BB-9E is gonna roll around in excitement
when Luke gets his hand chopped off.
(electronic screaming)
He gets... (lightsaber zapping)
Sphero's R2D2 is gonna cost about 180 bucks when it ships.
BB-9E will cost about 150 bucks.
There you go.
That's a little sneak peak at all the stuff we saw
leading into Force Friday ahead of the last Jedi.
This has been Greg Kumparak.
Thank you for tuning in. (lively music)