'Skylanders Giants' unveiled by Activision

Last year’s successful “Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure” is set to get a sequel this fall with an all-new story and perhaps more importantly, all-new playable characters.

In case you aren’t familiar with the franchise, Skylanders is an action game that merges the worlds of toys and video games. Players collect figurines, which they can then bring to life in the game using a special portal. Players level-up their characters as they progress in the game which they can later take to a friend's house to join their adventure.

Here’s what’s new for the sequel:

 -- Going big: Skylanders Giants introduces eight new highly collectible figures that are twice the size of the main skylanders cast in both physical and virtual form. Their in-game powers and abilities reflect their colossal scale.

-- Bright lights: A set of new characters that feature new lighting technology integrated into the toys, allowing the figure to light up when near or on the Portal of Power. These characters have additional in-game powers as well. Batteries are not required.

-- Brand new skylanders: Eight new regular sized skylanders, each with their own unique powers, abilities, and personality, join the adventure alongside the Giants.

-- Backwards compatibility: Every character from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is 100% compatible with Skylanders Giant. The characters will even carry over thier own, leveled-up stats and customizations from the original games

--  Bigger worlds: Gamers will see new arenas and more gameplay options. Skylanders Giants also features closer integration with Skylanders Spyro’s Universe the large online world that allows gamers everywhere to expand their Skylanders experience.

The game is set to hit stores sometime in the Fall 2012 for the Nintendo Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Check out the trailer above to get a glimpse of the upcoming game.