Motion-controlled Battroborg Warriors deliver armed robot combat

Last year's Battroborgs were a blast, but not without their quirks. Accuracy was not one of the tiny bot's strong points, and moving or turning was an exercise in frustration. This year, TOMY decided to simplify things a bit, while adding armed combat to the mix. The resulting Battroborg Warriors wield swords and scythes, and ditch the dual-fisted controls for a more streamlined system that uses only a single accelerometer-based remote. Obviously, we had to swing by the company's booth at Toy Fair to try our hand in a one-on-one battle against the reigning champion, Senior Brand Manager Tom Zahorsky.
The first thing we learned is that you're no longer simply trying to make repeated contact with your opponents face. Instead, battles are won by toppling your foe, which is easier said than done thanks to their broader base and lower center of gravity. The improved stability does make it easier to turn your warrior, which is accomplished by flicking the controller in the same direction over and over again. It's the same premise as the previous version, but it's a little less fickle and instead of throwing a full punch, the bot nudges itself gently in one direction or another. Fuller swings with the controller, which is shaped like the hilt of a katana, launches your warrior's attack. Our red cyber samurai took brutal two-handed swings with his blade, turning his whole torso into the blow. While Zahorsky's purple and black ninja wielded dual weapons that he used to pummel us into submission... repeatedly. When a "g-sensor" inside the combatant detects that it's been toppled, it turns a light in the chest from green to red, to indicate its demise (though, that feature wasn't working just yet in the early prototypes we played with).
SOURCE: Engadget