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Official GBAtemp Review

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T-T-T-Three for one! Today you'll see an unboxing, tutorial, and review of the MaxLander
The MaxLander is a nifty device that allows you to backup and restore any and all Skylanders characters.

In classic Ericzander fashion, my review was done in a video format, this time with a complementary written review.  The following video is a three-for-one (unboxing, tutorial, and review) and will go over everything that you need to know about the MaxLander.  

I honestly recommend that those who are really interested in the product watch the whole video but for those who do want to skip around, the unboxing starts at the 0:00 mark, the tutorial starts at the 2:24 mark, and the review starts at the 6:59 mark.


MaxLander Unboxing, Tutorial, and Review

Written Review

The written review that follows is taken verbatim from the video review, so if you truly want to know every detail about the MaxLander I suggest watching that for more detailed information.  The written review is meant as a text reference to the review in the video that starts around the 6:59 mark:

The MaxLander is an all-around great device.  It’s fairly simple to use and is a great value when compared to how much money you would have otherwise spent on all of your Skylanders.  If you have children who tend to break their toys easily, you can be rest assured that they won’t lose all of their progress simply because of a broken toy.

Many people collect the toys because they like the look of them.  Obviously, the MaxLander will never be able to give you the same satisfaction as you would have playing with the actual toys and it may even take the magic out of the Skylanders world.      

But for those who just want to play the game and don’t want to spend the time searching for rare figures to be bought by scalpers, this is a great deal.  As I showed you in this video, the process is really straight forward and I really like that. 

The thing that bothers people the most about the MaxLander is the 99 write limit.  That bothered me as well and I was fully ready to berate them for it.  However, they announced the other day that their next version of the MaxLander software will completely remove the 99 write limit and that we will be able to back up an unlimited amount of Skylanders.  That is certainly a step in the right direction for them. 

For example, once the Sky3DS removed their game limit on their cards, people flocked to the device and they’re most likely making much more money now than they would have if they kept the controversial limit.  There is no doubt in my mind that the MaxLander will follow that path. 

In addition to removing the 99 write limit, the new update to MaxLander will start support for the new Skylanders Superchargers toys.  With that addition, the MaxLander will officially work for every Skylanders toy out there. 

There have been rumors going around the web as to whether or not the MaxLander will support Amiibos and/or Disney Infinity characters in the near future.  Since nobody seemed to have a clear answer, I was able to get in touch with Maxiam of the MaxLander team to get an official response on the matter. 

After being translated to proper English Maxiam says, “Maxlander only supports Skylanders so far, there are no plans for an update to make it compatible with amiibo and infinity in the near future.” 

That is unfortunate news for many people who are fans of Skylanders, Amiibo, and Infinity, but I believe there may be hardware differences between the three that are complex for the team to overcome.  That being said, Maxiam did say “ *near* future” so it may well be a possibility someday.  For now it seems that people will have to buy the Amiiqo for their Amiibo needs and MaxLander for their Skylander needs.  

MaxLander official support site: http://www.maxlander.com

MaxLander official retailer site: http://www.maxlander.net

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Full support for all Skylanders
  • Cost effective in the long run
  • Removal of the 99 write limit
  • Relatively fast and safe shipping
What We Didn't Like ...
  • The upfront cost may turn some people off
  • The lack of support for Amiibo or Infinity
  • The old 99 write limit hurt public relations
  • No physical manual describing what to do
9
out of 10

Overall

It's really hard to put an overall score here because it depends on the person using the tool. People who want to backup their Skylanders would consider it a 10 because it does just that without any fuss. People who want to back up their Amiibos would consider it a 0 because it won't work for them. The device does exactly what it promotes on there, and then some. The only thing stopping me from making this a 10 is the upfront cost and the lack of a physical manual. I highly recommend it.
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breaktemp
Awesome review, but out of curiosity...how does one obtain a review copy of things ?

* you are welcome to PM me *
 
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