Video game with backwards-compatible toys

A video game system, comprising:

• a removable medium storing program instructions of a first version of a video game;
• a first physical toy associated with the first version of the video game, the first physical toy comprising first memory, the first memory storing data identifying which version of the video game that the first physical toy is associated with;
• a second physical toy associated with a second version of the video game, the second version of the video game being different than the first version of the video game, the second physical toy comprising second memory, the second memory storing data identifying which version of the video game that the second physical toy is associated with;
• a peripheral configured to read the data stored in the first memory of the first physical toy when the first physical toy is proximal to the peripheral and configured to read the data stored in the second memory of the second physical toy when the second physical toy is proximal to the peripheral;
• a processor configured by the program instructions of the first video game and coupled to the peripheral, the program instructions comprising instructions to:
• receive, by the processor, the data read from the first memory of the first physical toy;
• utilize data read from the first memory of the first physical toy to determine, by the processor, that the first physical toy is associated with the first version of the video game;
• conduct, by the processor, video game gameplay of the first version of the video game involving a representation of a game character associated with the first physical toy, wherein aspects of the video game gameplay are based in part on the determination that the first physical toy is associated with the first version of the video game;
• receive, by the processor, the data read from the second memory of the second physical toy;
• utilize the data read from the second memory of the second physical toy to determine, by the processor, that the second physical toy is not associated with the first version of the video game;
• and
• conduct, by the processor, video game gameplay of the first version of the video game involving a representation of a game character associated with the second physical toy, wherein aspects of gameplay are based in part on the determination that the second physical toy is not associated with the first version of the video game;
• wherein the aspects of gameplay based in part on the determination that the second physical toy is not associated with the first version of the video game include providing a display name, appearance, and attributes for the game character associated with the second physical toy reflecting pre-identified default values.