Invizimals

Last updated

Invizimals
Invizimals logo.png
The series logo
Genre(s) Action
Developer(s) Novarama
Magenta Software
Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation Portable
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Vita
iOS
Android
First release Invizimals
  • EU: 13 November 2009
  • NA: 10 October 2010
Latest releaseInvizimals: Battle of the Hunters
  • WW: January 22, 2016

Invizimals is an augmented reality video game franchise developed by Novarama and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series, which originally began in 2009 as a video game on PSP, has since inspired toys, trading cards, comics and an animated television series telling an interconnected transmedia story.

Contents

Games

Invizimals

Invizimals is a PlayStation Portable augmented reality video game developed by Novarama, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It is a collectible creature game, and was bundled with the PSP's camera attachment on launch.

Invizimals: Shadow Zone

Invizimals: Shadow Zone is a PlayStation Portable augmented reality video game developed by Novarama, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It is the sequel to 2009's Invizimals. As such, it is a collectible creature game, and requires the PSP's camera attachment for play. It was released on 12 November 2010, in Europe and on 25 October 2011 in North America. The game also includes a needed trap card to play but can be easily replaced by printing a new one.

Invizimals: The Lost Tribes

Invizimals: The Lost Tribes is a PlayStation Portable augmented reality video game developed by Novarama and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It is the sequel to 2009's Invizimals, and 2010's Invizimals: Shadow Zone. As such, it is a collectible creature game, and requires the PSP's camera attachment for play. It was released in November 2011 in Europe and September 2014 in North America.

Invizimals: The Alliance

Invizimals: The Alliance is an augmented reality video game for the PlayStation Vita. It features cross-play multiplayer interactivity with the PlayStation 3 title Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom. It was released on 30 October 2013 in Europe simultaneously with Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom.

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom

Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom is a video game for the PlayStation 3, and was released on 30 October 2013 in Europe simultaneously with Invizimals: The Alliance.

Animated Series

Invizimals
Genre Action
Comedy
Adventure
Created by Novarama
Written byAlan Keane
Directed byJose Luis Ucha
Country of originSpain
China
Original languagesCastilian
Catalan
English [1]
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26 [1]
Production
Executive producersDani Sanchez-Crespo
Carlos Biern
Pete Smith
ProducersJohn McLaughlin
Claudia Biern Boyd
David Montero
Running time22 minutes
Production companies BRB International
Screen21 Media
Televisión Española
Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals
Sony Computer Entertainment
Digital Sky
Original release
Network Clan
Super3
Release6 December 2013 (2013-12-06) [2]

In September 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that a 26 episode Invizimals computer animated series would be produced by BRB International. [3] The show was created by BRB's Screen21 division and Novarama, who are both based in Barcelona, with writers from North America and animation done in China. [4] It billed itself as the first augmented-reality cartoon TV series, with on-screen scannable markers that would unlock content in Invizimals: The Alliance on PlayStation Vita and the Invizimals: TV Tracker app for iOS and Android devices. [4] [2] [5]

The series launched in Spain on December 6, 2013, with a television movie on Super3 and Clan called Invizimals: The Alliance. [2] A second TV movie, entitled Invizimals: A Tale of Two Dimensions, aired on both channels on December 27 and 31, respectively. [6] The two films were also released on DVD, iTunes and the PlayStation Store. [7] [8] They would later be broken up into 6 twenty-two minute episodes for reruns. The first regular episodes of the series began airing on Super3 on 29 November and 5 December 2014, on Clan. [9] [10] To promote the debut, local pop singer Abraham Mateo produced a song and music video called "Cazado" (Hunted). [11] [12] The final 13 episodes began airing November 2015. [13] [14]

The series had its English television debut in Australia, when the two TV movies premiered during Eleven's Toasted TV block on 15 December and 22 December 2013. [15] Episodes that weren't recuts of the TV movies began on 7 June 2015, with the final batch of 13 starting broadcast on 15 October 2016. [16] The first 13 episodes became available to stream on Netflix in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and various other countries on 1 July 2015, under the name Invizimals: The Alliance Files. [17] [18] Invizimals began airing on Primo TV in the US on 17 January 2017.

In addition to English, Catalan and Spanish, the series has been dubbed into Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian for broadcast on Jeem TV, Megamax, Multimania, Gulli, K2, Star Channel, SIC and other channels around the world. [18] [19]

Merchandising

The franchise has spawned a number of products launched in Europe. In 2010, Spanish toy company Comansi secured the license to produce a series of collectible figurines based on the franchise. [20] That same year, Panini signed on for sticker albums and trading cards in Spain and Portugal, Edibas Collection agreed to produce trading cards and figures in Italy, while Safta produced school supplies for the Iberian market. [21] In 2011, Panini launched a line of sticker albums and cards that featured augmented reality connectivity with Invizimals and Invizimals: Shadow Zone . [22] With sales surpassing 6 million units, the company then licensed the brand for all territories in Europe. [23] Between 2011 and 2016, Panini published a 37 issue Invizimals magazine that featured tips, comics and previews for upcoming games. [24] [25] In 2013, IMC Toys acquired the global master license to produce toys based on the series. [26]

Some of the merchandise has launched with direct video game tie-ins by Novarama and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Panini's Invizimals: Hidden Challenges trading card range launched in early 2013 alongside an app for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android that allowed players to experience augmented reality battles using the cards. [27] Within two weeks, it had surpassed 100,000 downloads in Spain and Portugal. [28] As of September 2013, 10 million Hidden Challenges cards were sold with downloads topping 500,000. [4] This was followed up with a separate app for the New Alliance line in 2014. [29] IMC's toyline features the ability to scan the figurines into the Invizimals: Revolution app. [30] This functionality was also included in a patch for Invizimals: The Alliance. [30]

As of October 2014, Panini has sold 44 million sticker packs and 31 million Invizimals trading cards in Europe. [31]

See also

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<i>Invizimals: The Alliance</i> 2013 video game

Invizimals: The Alliance is an augmented reality role-playing video game developed by Novarama and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Vita. It is the fourth installment in the Invizimals series and the first to not be released for the PlayStation Portable. It features cross-play multiplayer interactivity with the PlayStation 3 title Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom. It was released on October 30, 2013, in Europe simultaneously with Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom. The game was first announced in 2013 alongside Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jimenez, Juan (3 December 2013). "Los invizimals debutarán en televisión el 6 de diciembre". PlayStation Blog . Sony Computer Entertainment . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Dickson, Jeremy (13 September 2012). "Invizimals appear in new enhanced-reality animated series". Kidscreen . Brunico Communications . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Zahed, Ramin (14 September 2013). "Spain's BRB Captures the Monster Hit 'Invizimals'". Animation Magazine . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Sacco, Domninic (13 September 2012). "Sony's Invizimals to become 'first AR cartoon TV series'". Licensing.biz . NewBay Media. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Jimenez, Juan (26 December 2013). "No te pierdas el nuevo especial de la serie Invizimals: Historia de dos dimensiones". PlayStation Blog . Sony Computer Entertainment . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Jimenez, Juan (15 January 2014). "Disfruta de Invizimals ahora también en DVD". PlayStation Blog . Sony Computer Entertainment . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "Invizimals Films Debut on iTunes, PSN". License! Global. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "Estrena mundial de la sèrie "Invizimals" al canal Super3, aquest cap de setmana". Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  9. ↑ Fisher, Daniela (2 December 2014). "Invizimals leaps onto the small screen". Kidscreen . Brunico Communications . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Wolfe, Jennifer (30 September 2014). "BRB Bringing 'Invizimals' to MIPCOM 2014". Animation World Network . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  11. ↑ "Abraham Mateo - Invizimals - Cazado". BRB International . YouTube. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "BRB INTERNACIONAL PREPARING FOR BRAND LICENSING EUROPE 2015". BRB International. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  13. ↑ @brbint (9 November 2015). "#Invizimals comes back to @Clan_tve today! Mon-Fri, at 7:30pm" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ↑ Day, Andrew (17 December 2013). "Invizimals Leap Onto Australian Television". Capsule Computers. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  15. ↑ "Catch up on Invizimals and watch online". TVCatchUpAustralia.com. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  16. ↑ Cadenas, Kerensa. "All the Netflix New Releases Coming in July". Complex Pop Culture.
  17. 1 2 "Invizimals 2013". uNoGS. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  18. ↑ "BRB TO PRESENT THE LATEST FROM INVIZIMALS™ AT MIPCOM 2014". BRB International. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  19. ↑ Borondo, Sara (9 September 2010). "Sony y Comansi presentan la colección de figuras de Invizimals". Vandal. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  20. ↑ "Target signs new licences for PlayStation IPs". Licensing Today Worldwide. November 2010. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  21. ↑ Varela, Ramón (24 January 2011). "Panini lanza una colección de cromos basada en Invizimals". Vandal. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  22. ↑ Getzler, Wendy (November 2010). "PlayStation brands get busy in Europe". Kidscreen . Brunico Communications . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  23. ↑ "Invizimals N.1". Panini. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  24. ↑ "Invizimals N.37". Panini. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  25. ↑ "Sony Names Invizimals Master Toy". License Global. UBM. 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  26. ↑ Cortes, Iker (24 January 2013). "Un nuevo hogar para 'Invizimals'". ABC . Grupo Vocento . Retrieved 14 February 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  27. ↑ Garcia, Enrique (12 February 2013). "La app de Invizimals consigue 100.000 descargas". Meristation. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  28. ↑ Diez, Ivan (28 January 2014). "Hoy llega Invizimals: Nueva Alianza, el segundo juego de cartas interactivas coleccionables de Invizimals". Juegos ADN. El Economista . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  29. 1 2 Jiménez, Juan (1 April 2014). "Llegan las nuevas figuras de Invizimals". PlayStation Blog . Sony Computer Entertainment . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  30. ↑ Loveday, Samantha (2 October 2014). "THE BIG INTERVIEW: David Evans, European Licensing Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe". Licensing.biz . NewBay Media. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
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