This year, Activision's in-house studio Vicarious Visions (known for working on powerhouses like Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk Pro Skater previously) is taking the series in another direction, keeping original Skylanders, the second game's Giants, and adding a new twist in swappable characters.

ENGADGET

Also, software game-developer Activision started selling Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, a game featuring Hawk's pyrotechnics.

FORBES: Later, Skater

Games available starting in October include Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, SpyHunter, Doom II, Duke Nuken: Mobile Mayhem and Neverwinter Nights.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In a head-to-head test with the GameCube, Jon played new versions of a game called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on both machines.

WSJ: New Xbox Gets Raves For Power, Creativity