Disney Infinity

[qindarka]

That title card is fun. Sotiris I'm interested to hear what you think about Infinity. I definitely agree that they need to get Star Wars and Marvel in there as soon as possible.

I'd rather they get more representation for WDAS's films first before even thinking about Marvel and Star Wars.

[SWillie!]

That title card is fun. Sotiris I'm interested to hear what you think about Infinity. I definitely agree that they need to get Star Wars and Marvel in there as soon as possible.

I'd rather they get more representation for WDAS's films first before even thinking about Marvel and Star Wars.

Agreed there as well. But I think they will. Mickey, Wreck it Ralph, Rapunzel, and Frozen characters have all been confirmed to be coming later this year (possibly at launch).

[Super Aurora]

It's possible with Star Wars and Marvel, but I have the feeling Disney keep that stuff outside of Disney franchise. Kinda like why you don't see any ESPN or ABC representives in any of these. I could be wrong about this though. At most Star Wars would be in it but Marvel has a fuck ton of many characters that it's hard to put all of em in it.

Also I'm unsure if Marvel fans wants this. They prefer Marvel to be its own thing and outside from the regular Disney franchise.

Again I could be wrong but Marvel has strong fanbase and a fanbase that prefer their own thing.

[Sotiris]

Sotiris I'm interested to hear what you think about Infinity. I definitely agree that they need to get Star Wars and Marvel in there as soon as possible.

Well, I'm not a big gamer so I'm not particularly interested. Regarding the graphics, I think they're descent for their purpose. I don't have any strong feelings either way. John Lasseter said that they were going for a look that resembled vinyl collectibles. I think they have achieved that.

From a business standpoint, the game seems to have a lot of potential. There must have been licencing issues that prevented the inclusion of Marvel or Star Wars characters for the time being. If they want the game to be successful in the long run I believe they need to tap into the bigger and stronger fandoms of Marvel and Star Wars.

To those wondering why there is such a bias in favor of Pixar here, I believe it was iniitally pitched as a Pixar only thing, then later expanded to include everything under the Disney umbrella.

That's true. It was going to be just a Buzz Lightyear game at first.

Before Disney Infinity was "all things Disney," mashing up Disney and Pixar franchise in its marriage of toys and video game software, developer Avalanche Software was thinking smaller. It was developing a Buzz Lightyear game named Star Command; a follow-up to Toy Story 3: The Video Game, building upon that game's Toy Box mode. When John Pleasants joined Disney in 2010 after the Playdom acquisition, he suggested that Avalanche expand its scope beyond Toy Story.

Unsurprisingly, John Lasseter had a big role in the development of the game. Evidently, his involvement in the company extends beyond the animation studios and Imagineering.

In late 2010, Avalanche pitched a toy-based idea to John Lasseter, principal creative adviser of Disney Imagineering, who warmed to the concept. Initially, Avalanche proposed aesthetic interpretations of Disney characters as they might appear alongside Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Some were redesigned as plushies or tiny toy versions of themselves, which Lasseter shot down. Eventually, they settled on a shared aesthetic that unified Disney and Pixar's disparate worlds and characters.

Regarding the inclusion of Marvel and Star Wars characters, it may take a while.

When asked if Disney Infinity may one day star Luke Skywalker or Marvel's The Avengers, Avalanche Software CEO John Blackburn said, "I hope so! As a developer, I so want that. When Disney bought Lucasfilm, I was like, 'Holy crap! This is awesome!' But at this point in time, there's been some discussions about that, there's just been no decisions made."

Source: http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/15/388034 ... ars-marvel

Still to come: Disney Channel, the Disney vault (Mickey Mouse!), Marvel and Lucasfilm. “We’ll go to all those places,” says Pleasants, who insists there is no announcement on those deals pending. “I promise you will see old Disney (characters). And you can imagine if you were to bring Marvel into this thing you have to be very careful about it, it’s a very different animal. It’s not a layup, but we’ll figure it out.”

Source: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682233/dis ... h-infinity

[Lnds500]

Disney Infinity starter pack priced $74.99, Play Sets $34.99

The Disney Infinity starter pack, which will include the game, three figures and their three respective 'Play Sets,' will cost $74.99 when it debuts this June. The three figures bundled with the starter pack are Pirates of the Caribbean's Jack Sparrow, The Incredibles' Mr Incredible, and Sully of Monsters University.

Each of the 20 launch figures has its own associated 'Play Set,' these being gameplay worlds and stories linked to the character and their original habitat. Play Sets will cost $34.99, while Power Disc bundles, which sit underneath character figures and provide in-game buffs, will start at $4.99.

If you want to learn more, check out Mike Schramm's in-depth look at Disney's newly unveiled answer to Skylanders.

Disney reaches into the Toy Box with the new Infinity platform

The signs were all there in the rumors leading up to yesterday's big Disney Infinity reveal in Los Angeles. Disney's been working on a new gaming "platform," designed to bring all of its properties together in one IP spanning across multiple consoles and outlets. But the one note we missed was the most important: this game is connected to a series of real toys that interact with Disney's digital worlds, Skylanders-style.

There are a few important differences, but the similarities between Activision's enormously popular toys-into-games platform and Disney's new Infinity initiative are quite striking. Both are inspired by smaller developers with big ideas: Toys for Bob on the Activision side, and Avalanche Software on Disney's, which developed the "Toy Box" idea in a much smaller form as part of the Toy Story 3 game. Both are big, expandable product lines with lots of options for console (and eventually mobile) titles, and both take retail-friendly physical toys and tie them directly into engagement-friendly video game experiences.

Oh, and both franchises are probably going to make their owners lots and lots of money.
Disney Infinity


To hear Avalanche Software producer John Day tell it, the idea for Infinity was sort of co-inspired by executives and their creative counterparts. Avalanche had previously worked with Pixar and John Lasseter on the video game adaptation of Toy Story 3, and that game contained a freely creative Toy Box mode that players (and critics) responded well to.

"We loved what happened with the Toy Box mode and what we saw people do with it," says Day. "And so we wanted to make a followup game to that, set around another part of the Toy Story universe, around Star Command." At that point, Disney, likely inspired by Activision's success, stepped in with the co-president of Disney Interactive, John Pleasants. "Pleasants came," says Day," and said, 'We love what you're doing, we love the idea, but let's make it bigger.'"

When Disney Infinity arrives this June it will consist of a game bundled with three figures: Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Carribbean, Mr. Incredible of Pixar's The Incredibles, and Sully from Pixar's prequel, Monsters University. Each of those figures will have their own "Play Set," which is a specially designed gameplay setting just for that character. Jack Sparrow, for example, fights around his pirate ship, while Sully pranks Fear Tech with his friend, Mike Wazowski.

Each of these "Play Sets" are self-contained worlds, and only the figurines that come from there have access, so you won't see Mr. Incredible in the Carribbean. Disney made it clear during the presentation that some fans would rather not see universes mashed up, and have chosen to enclose character-specific mechanics, customization, and gameplay in their original realms.


The other side of the game, however, is the "Toy Box" mode, a sandbox area where all of the characters can meet up and go nuts together. In each of the Play Sets, players can earn stars and toys, which can then be brought back to the Toy Box, and even traded between characters. In the Toy Box, Jack Sparrow can make use of the Monsters' rideable pig, or Mr. Incredible can use Sparrow's pirate grenades. Disney's goal is to make anything possible while pushing all of its stories and settings together.

Aside from the figures themselves, Disney's also created "Power Discs" that can sit on the game's little physical "base" interface. Circular discs sit right underneath the character figures and provide character-specific buffs, like flying capes or a bigger jumps. There's also a hexagon-shaped area for one extra disc at a time which will unlock content or add a new toy into the world.
That hexagon-shaped disc is where Avalanche has really dug back into the Disney archives. While the content isn't yet finalized, there were Power discs on display from The Muppets (a rideable Electric Mayhem bus!), Dumbo, and Tron. The disc can also be used to stylize the entire Toy Box world, turning the area you've created into something more fit for a lightcycle than a Cinderella carriage. Discs and characters are hot-swappable, which can lead to some silliness when, for example, another player happens to drive off with your helicopter and you yank the helicopter disc off the base.

Aside from running around the Toy Box, which players can do in two-player co-op split screen or with four online, there are plenty of components to construct, from various pieces of scenery to more practical items like racetracks and hoops. There are also "logic" pieces, such as switches that move platforms, or more complex Rube Goldberg-ian devices. Created worlds will be shareable, and Avalanche plans to moderate uploaded worlds to make it all kid-friendly. Using the Toy Box tool, the team has already recreated the USS Enterprise and Bowser's Castle Mario Kart level.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Disney Infinity and Skylanders is that while Activision is essentially making up its universe as it goes along, Disney obviously has a long history to pull from. John Day says Avalanche has gotten nothing but support from the House of Mouse. "We have a platform where we can develop content. And there's a lot of interest within Disney as a whole, because people see it and they're excited about it. We have total buy-in from Pixar, from Disney Feature, from these other divisions that are really excited to see these things come together," he says.

And, as Day is quick to point out, Infinity does have a style all its own. For John Lasseter and the divisions he oversees, it was important for the game to have its own artistic voice, even though it is borrowing from various properties. The versions of Sully and Sparrow in Infinity are not the same you'd see anywhere else.

Toys for Bob had already made a name for itself in physical toys before Skylanders was created, but Avalanche has no such history. Fortunately, says Day, Disney has the requisite experience making toys for kids. "Underestimate not Disney's ability to create merchandise," he jokes. "We developed these toys in collaboration with Disney Consumer Products, which makes a lot of this merchandise. So we were able to leverage a lot of the strength of that side of the business to create these toys. And it was a lot of fun to see all of that get realized."


After the starter pack with three figures, priced at $74.99, Play Sets will be available for $34.99, with Power Discs available in a pack starting at $4.99. It's not hard to imagine Disney leveraging Infinity on its other ventures as well: Go see Monsters University, get a special exclusive Power Disc. Go visit Disneyland, pick yourself up an exclusive figure. Disney's reps wouldn't confirm any plans like that, but they did smile and nod when asked.

Infinity is starting out on the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, and Disney confirmed that there would be a "mobile" experience to come, though what that entails isn't yet clear. It's "under development, under discussion on the executive level," according to PR. Just like Skylanders, Disney will probably expand the franchise when it's ready, and incorporate the figures on portable platforms when it makes sense (and money) to do so.

Even without those mobile details, Disney Infinity is a fairly grand plan, a big play to leverage some of the world's most loved IP into a video game-powered money machine. Activision proved that a large cross-media franchise like this was possible with Skylanders, and now Disney is trusting Avalanche to do it again, even bigger, with Infinity.

[Disney Duster]

You get to be Davey Jones driving Cinderella's coach! Haha cool!

As everyone else said, needs more of a balance of Pixar and Disney.

...or just all Disney.

[Kraken Guard]

... A shame that it'll most likely be exclusive to PlayStation 3, Wii or whatever crazy game counsels they have now. Would have really liked if it was for the Computer.

It is for the computer. It will be available for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and Mobile devices.

And yeah, the villains would be really awesome.

Really? Well, in that case...!

[PixarFan2006]

This sounded like a great concept, until I read into it more. I really am not wild about the whole idea of Skylanders (collecting the figurines separately and then using them as the basis of the entire game).

[Prince Edward]

Disney mines vault with Infinity gaming platform
Users can tap into Mouse characters for range of games, devices.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118064688/

[Kyle]

This sounded like a great concept, until I read into it more. I really am not wild about the whole idea of Skylanders (collecting the figurines separately and then using them as the basis of the entire game).

Yeah, thats were they loose me. I don't mind the toy thing being an option as a quick way to access certain parts of the game or as upgrades, but they should allow us to unlock everything on our own if we have the skill and patience to do so. Best of both worlds.

I might cave at some point but its not looking like something I'll buy any time soon.

[SWillie!]

This sounded like a great concept, until I read into it more. I really am not wild about the whole idea of Skylanders (collecting the figurines separately and then using them as the basis of the entire game).

Yeah, thats were they loose me. I don't mind the toy thing being an option as a quick way to access certain parts of the game or as upgrades, but they should allow us to unlock everything on our own if we have the skill and patience to do so. Best of both worlds.

I might cave at some point but its not looking like something I'll buy any time soon.

It's interesting to me that the figures are turning so many people off, because that's what makes this so exciting for me. If the figures weren't involved, I wouldn't be NEARLY as interested. I do agree though that there should be an option if you're just into the game side of things. But then that would ruin the chances of them selling as many of these figures as they are undoubtedly going to.

[Kyle]

The bottom line is that your paying nearly 80 bucks for what amounts to only part of a game. The amount of money you could potentially pour into getting the full experience is just ridiculous. There's no way the starter pack alone provides enough gameplay to justify the cost. And even the figures only amount to what looks like happy meal toys in terms of sculpt and articulation. In terms of gameplay they dont provide anything that couldn't have been done with simple toggles and such in game. It just screams cash grab and is why I never bothered with Skylanders.

I was disappointed hackers never found a work around either.

[SWillie!]

See I totally think these figures are MUCH nicer than happy meal toys... I can't even see the comparison here. These are nice vinyl collectibles, not cheap plastic toys.

And of course it's a cash grab, but to me it's an appealing cash grab that I'll be glad to invest in. Sure, it may turn out to be too expensive... But right now I want to give this game all my money.

[disneyboy20022]

I've been thinking of doing a new hobby. At first I considered going back to play Yu-gi-oh but this I think will be a lot better.

[Disney's Divinity]

The bottom line is that your paying nearly 80 bucks for what amounts to only part of a game. The amount of money you could potentially pour into getting the full experience is just ridiculous. There's no way the starter pack alone provides enough gameplay to justify the cost. And even the figures only amount to what looks like happy meal toys in terms of sculpt and articulation.

That is why I--and I hope many others, if they have any brains where it concerns their money--won't be biting. I already wait for games to come down to $20 from their initial $60/50 price tag; and that's assuming this game would even be worth $20.

I'm not at all surprised that Disney would overprice--I just hope it flops as a result.

[SWillie!]

That is why I--and I hope many others, if they have any brains where it concerns their money

I'm not at all surprised that Disney would overprice--I just hope it flops as a result.

That seems a little overly negative in my opinion... Obviously you have every right to not be interested in it, but for those who ARE, that doesn't mean they don't have any brains. That simply means they're willing to spend their own money on something you wouldn't. It seems to have gotten a pretty overwhelmingly positive response from those who attended the event yesterday, and I hardly think all those people are mindless dolts.

Also, they aren't overpriced, as Skylanders list prices are the same as Disney so far, and obviously people are willing to pay the money for Skylanders. Maybe expensive in your eyes, but not overpriced.

[Kyle]

It is over priced, but so is Skylanders. It wont flop though, I'm pretty certain of that much.

Also, isn't CES largely for investors? I'm sure they see the value in this "platform" (lol) because it will sell. But from what I'm seeing from gamers, they share the same issues Disney's Divinity and I have with the concept.

[SWillie!]

It is over priced, but so is Skylanders.

Yeah, that's fair. I certainly wish it wasn't as expensive, but since that seems to be the going rate I certainly don't expect Disney to go lower than that.

Also, isn't CES largely for investors? I'm sure they see the value in this "platform" (lol) because it will sell. But from what I'm seeing from gamers, they share the same issues Disney's Divinity and I have with the concept.

But that's the thing - they aren't targeting "gamers" here, at least not the hardcore gamers. They're targeting families with children, the same way that Skylanders has

[DisneyEra]

It's possible with Star Wars and Marvel, but I have the feeling Disney keep that stuff outside of Disney franchise. Kinda like why you don't see any ESPN or ABC representives in any of these. I could be wrong about this though. At most Star Wars would be in it but Marvel has a fuck ton of many characters that it's hard to put all of em in it.

Also I'm unsure if Marvel fans wants this. They prefer Marvel to be its own thing and outside from the regular Disney franchise.

Again I could be wrong but Marvel has strong fanbase and a fanbase that prefer their own thing.

They can put in "Big Hero 6" characters.

[Lnds500]

<div><div><iframe src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgi ... 48113fb2a6" width="512" height="288" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><b><a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/games/7i1pf ... ty">Disney Infinity</a></b></p></div></div>

where does he get those shirts?