Review Fix Exclusive: Inside The Topps Skate App

November 1, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Video Games 0

Review Fix chats with Jeremy Strauser, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Apps at The Topps Company who discusses what make the Topps “SKATE” app the most unique hockey app on the iOS and Android market for the 2016-17 NHL season.

Review Fix: What is NHL Skate?

Jeremy Strauser: Topps NHL SKATE is our newest digital card game.  Hockey fans will be able to collect and trade cards from the best players, teams, and events in the NHL, and compete against other fans in fast-paced live action contests where you can swap players in and out of your lineup in real-time during live NHL games.  We are excited to be able to work with the NHL again at Topps – we have a rich history of physical cards, and many hockey fans in the office, so this one is very near and dear to us.

Review Fix: What makes it different from your other trading card apps?

Strauser: Topps NHL SKATE is the first hockey trading card game of its kind with the quality and variety fans have come to expect from Topps Digital Apps.  We have an all new Live Contest scoring system for Hockey that flows instantly from the official NHL scoring service into the app, so that you can change out cards as players are on the ice during games.  NHL SKATE was built on our new TDCT 2.0 technology platform, so the app is faster, more responsive and easier to get into than ever before.  Also NHL SKATE marks the debut of Topps FOCUS video based cards – where digital cards come to life with video footage from NHL.com right on the card.

Review Fix: What was it like to work with Claude Giroux?

Strauser: G is one of the top players in the NHL, and even then he is probably underrated.  He has actually scored more points than any other NHL player during the last 5 seasons which we learned when starting the app.  He was part of Team Canada and is Captain of the Flyers.  We are looking forward to an upcoming day off from the season where we will do an exclusive Topps LiveSig session with him to bring personalized cards to some lucky fans in the app.

Review Fix: How will the game be updated throughout the season?

Strauser: Topps NHL SKATE will release new cards and content daily, so there is always something new to collect.  We have base cards with various gameplay boost levels for contests, plus all sorts of special inserts and limited releases during the season, all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.  We are also launching the Topps NOW series of cards in the app as well, so the biggest moments of the NHL season will be commemorated with card releases the next day that are limited to 24 hours of sales.

Review Fix: Can you explain how players can trade cards with one another?

Strauser: You can trade anytime with anyone in the app.  We give fans tons of ways to search out potential trading partners for particular cards, and fans often post their available/wanted cards in the fan feed – where you can click on a fan and offer them a trade in just a few clicks.  Our trades and trade offers even have star ratings like you see on eBay or Yelp – so your reputation as a trader is known to other fans.

Review Fix: Bottom Line, Why should someone download this app?

Strauser: If you love the NHL and like either collecting or want to play in fast-paced live scoring contests, NHL SKATE is the perfect app.  We think hardcore and casual hockey fans are going to love it.

Review Fix: What makes it different from a rival app the likes of NHL Supercard?

Strauser: 2K does a very nice job with their Supercard series, however we know Topps NHL SKATE is unique in offering the variety, quality and volume of NHL cards that we offer, with the most vibrant and connected trading community, plus the ability to play in live scoring contests along with real NHL games.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13856 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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