Xtractaurs is a line of toys by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

. Introduced in 2009, the brand is a fusion of regular

action figures An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mar ...

with an online game. It involves taking a

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

(both well-known and lesser-known dinosaurs) and extracting " DNA" samples from the dinosaur and analyzing it on your computer, similar in a way to the book and film Jurassic Park. If you own multiple dinosaurs and have extracted samples from all of them, you can create a genetically engineered hybrid on the computer to battle the "Megavores", ancient reawakened dinosaurs that share qualities with your dinosaur. Each dinosaur you purchase has a special ability, and combining them makes a fierce fighting animal (your first dinosaur, ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

'', has the Chomp ability). This encourages the fusion of certain samples even more. As of 2012, the https://www.xtractaurs.com site has been taken down, and no usable site has been implemented for the toy series. As a result, there is no use for the toy sets other than display.

Reception

Xtractaurs have been reviewed by ''

WIRED magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

'' and ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...

''. The toys have also been the subject of an academic study published in the '' Journal of Early Childhood Literacy''.

Gameplay

To play the game, you must first purchase the Starter Kit, containing a DNA extractor gun, a Tyrannosaurus rex, and the Xtractaurs installation CD. You first must insert the CD into your computer to install the Xtractaurs software. Once installed, you can open the software, create an account (You must have

Broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

connection to play online), and can plug in your DNA extractor gun with a cable on the handle of the gun, which ends in a male

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

plug. You are now ready for extraction. Your T. rex has a female TRS port, much like the one in an iPod or iPhone, in its thigh (as all dinosaurs under the brand do on a part of their body), and is compatible with a male TRS plug on the barrel of the extractor gun. When you plug the two, a display will appear on your screen showing a DNA strand. This means that electronics in the dinosaur are sending signals through the gun, through the cable, and into your computer. When done, an online version of your dinosaur pops up onto your screen. From there, you can play online games with your dinosaur, and begin your Xtractaurs adventure.

Dinosaur species

;Tyrannosaurs *

– Ultrabite * Daspletosaurus – Megastomp *

Gorgosaurus ''Gorgosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian), between about 76.6 and 75.1 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Ca ...

– Terroar *

Tarbosaurus ''Tarbosaurus'' ( ; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that flourished in Asia about 70 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period, considered to contain a single known species, ''Tarbosaurus ba ...

– Lacerator * Nanotyrannus – Quickfire ;Raptors * ''

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the p ...

'' – Snaptor * ''

Deinonychus ''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million y ...

'' – Strykem *

Utahraptor ''Utahraptor'' (meaning "Utah's thief") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It was a heavy-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It contains a single species, ''Utah ...

– Riptile *

Dromaeosaurus ''Dromaeosaurus'' (, "running lizard") is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (middle late Campanian and Maastrichtian), sometime between 80 and 69 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada and the ...

– Slashclaw ;Stegosaurs *

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fou ...

– Whipslash *

Dacentrurus ''Dacentrurus'' (meaning "tail full of points"), originally known as ''Omosaurus'', is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (154 - 140 mya) of Europe. Its type species, ''Omosaurus armatus'', was named in 18 ...

– Thornback * Yingshanosaurus – Twinstrike *

Tuojiangosaurus ''Tuojiangosaurus'' (meaning "Tuo River lizard") is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China. Description ''Tuojiangosauru ...

– Spineblade (this figure was never released) ;Pterosaurs * Pteranodon – Wingstorm * Criorhynchus – Beakbash * Tapejara – Dreadhead * Quetzalcoatlus – Wingsurge ;Ceratopsids *

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

– Pindown * Styracosaurus – Battlespike *

Pentaceratops ''Pentaceratops'' ("five-horned face") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. Fossils of this animal were first discovered in 1921, but the genus was named in 1923 when its ty ...

– Trance *

Einiosaurus ''Einiosaurus'' is a genus of herbivorous centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of northwestern Montana. The name means 'buffalo lizard', in a combination of Blackfeet Indian ''eini'' and Latinized Ancie ...

– Armorus

References

External links

Official Xtractaurs website

List of Xtractaurs Toys
{{Mattel Mattel Fictional dinosaurs Toy animals Defunct games