Kids among first to play Skylanders SWAP Force at SWAPtoberfest event in Times Square

To celebrate the upcoming launch of Skylanders SWAP Force, Activision threw a "SWAPtoberfest" event in Times Square for kids and families.

On October SWAPtober 10th, kids who visited Times Square were able to play Skylanders SWAP Force, as well as take part in SWAP Force-themed activities like photos with Skylanders costumed characters and a chance to win the SWAP Force starter pack. The event was hosted by James Marsden (Anchorman 2, 30 Rock, Enchanted, X-Men) and the emcee was Zach Gordon (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Pete's Christmas).

In Skylander SWAP Force, there are more than 30 new collectible Skylanders — 16 new SWAP Force characters,16 core Skylanders characters and eight new LightCore characters. Players can also use any of the 100+ Skylanders from Spyro's Adventure and Giants. The new SWAP Force characters have interchangeable tops and bottoms, where you can combine a top from one character with the bottom of another to create your personalized blend of abilities and powers. New abilities, such as flying, climbing and teleporting, will be used, as well.

Skylanders SWAP Force will be available this Sunday, October 13, for the Wii, Wii U, 3DS, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It will also be releasing for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com