'Skylanders' sequel to include more secrets

There'll be more secret areas and collectible items to discover within the game, as well as a lot more of the toy figurines that can interact with the game -- at least 48 of them.

Skylanders Giants will contain more secrets to discover than its successful 2011 predecessor, its developer has said.

'We never expected it to take off as well as it did. You always hope, but the fact that it struck a chord the way it did surprised all of us,' design producer Mike Graham told Joystiq at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

'All your Skylanders that you've already collected in [2011 title] Spyro's Adventure are compatible, but we're also introducing an entirely new cast of characters. We view the game as a playground for these toys.'

Game Informer also did some digging on the E3 show floor, establishing that Skylanders Giants will offer different difficulty levels to add or remove challenge as desired.

There'll be more secret areas and collectible items to discover within the game, as well as a lot more of the toy figurines that can interact with the game -- at least 48 of them.

Launched in October 2011, the toy figurines that accompany Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure were outselling Star Wars figures by May 2012, according to publisher Activision's internal estimates.

The sequel, Skylanders Giants, is readying for an October 2012 release