Disney Infinity

[Isgrimnur]

And you thought Skylanders was bad.

I give you Disney Infinity, coming in June.

Official Site.

[Bullwinkle]

Who thought Skylanders was bad?

Also, I saw that video in a banner ad yesterday, and I actually watched the whole thing.  It looks kinda kick-ass, honestly.

Hopefully, they can deliver on the pure sandbox that is promised here.

[MonkeyFinger]

I was assuming "bad" as in a money sink... bad for your wallet. 

[Isgrimnur]

^ This.

Skylanders was a new IP, and people were able to ignore it to a certain extend.  Having Disney IP and push behind it, there will be no shielding any impressionable consumer from it. 

[CeeKay]

$74.99 for the starter set, $34.99 for each 'playset', Power Discs will start at $4.99.

here's a look at the game:

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.

[EddieA]

The Toy Box mode was great fun in Toy Story 3, so it should be even better in Infinity.  Their decision to not let you use characters outside their universes is rather baffling, though.

[The Grue]

The Toy Box mode was great fun in Toy Story 3, so it should be even better in Infinity.  Their decision to not let you use characters outside their universes is rather baffling, though.

It basically says right in that article that they found from focus testing that people didn't want that.

[Caine]

Which is kind of annoying.  What, was it too hard to just have the option to plenty through in story mode with the preset characters and still give people the choice to replay with whatever they want?  That's how TT does it with their Lego games and it worked out just fine.  Sure, the sandbox does part of that, but to what extent?

[EngineNo9]

We'll see, they may have wanted the freedom to make drastically different powers for the new sets as they are released and not worry about making them work well with all the old content or break puzzles, etc.  I think I'd prefer that approach with new content being fresh than things getting stale with the same few mechanics, if they are indeed doing that as they say.

[EddieA]

It basically says right in that article that they found from focus testing that people didn't want that.

Who was in their focus group, a bunch of strict Disney traditionalists?   I can't imagine any kid being asked if they want to mash up their favorite Disney characters and answering "No".

[TiLT]

It basically says right in that article that they found from focus testing that people didn't want that.

Who was in their focus group, a bunch of strict Disney traditionalists?   I can't imagine any kid being asked if they want to mash up their favorite Disney characters and answering "No".

I'm sure you'll understand when Buzz Lightyear confronts the Emperor on the second Death Star.

[CeeKay]

I'd love to see Jack Sparrow fight Darth Vader in Oogie Boogie's lair after Ariel is frozen in carbonite.

[Caine]

I'd love to see Jack Sparrow fight Darth Vader in Oogie Boogie's lair after Ariel is frozen in carbonite.

Mermaid Ariel or Ariel-with-legs?

[Isgrimnur]

Wired has a hands-on

[Purge]

I'd love to see Jack Sparrow fight Darth Vader in Oogie Boogie's lair after Ariel is frozen in carbonite.

Mermaid Ariel or Ariel-with-legs?

without legs silly... frozen fish.

[CeeKay]

Wired has a hands-on

not sure how I feel about the Pirates one, but I'm kinda leaning towards wanting to get it.

[EddieA]

Giantbomb has a quick look at the game.  The toy box looks a lot deeper than I thought it would be.

[Bullwinkle]

Giantbomb has a quick look at the game.  The toy box looks a lot deeper than I thought it would be.

If you played the last Toy Story game, it was the same.  The toy box was the meat of the game.  The story missions were a little lackluster.