Disney announces 'Infinity' game for consoles, Apple's iOS

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Disney on Tuesday announced the next generation of its interactive offerings: Disney Infinity, a gaming initiative that pairs popular Disney properties with both structured and open gameplay elements, coming to Apple's iOS platform.

Infinity


Disney Infinity, developed by Avalanche Studios in close collaboration with both Disney Interactive and executives from Pixar, will initially be available across the major home and portable gaming consoles and in an online form. Disney Infinity, announced at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, will also be coming to mobile platforms.

The company has confirmed to AppleInsider that Infinity will be available on Apple's iOS, though no specifics were given.

The game will consist of both a software component and a hardware component, with players able to introduce new characters and unlock new environments by plugging figurines into a base unit.

Disney Interactive Co-President John Pleasants introduced the game, demonstrating the gameplay possibilities available with characters from three Disney and Pixar properties: Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Pleasants said these three properties would be available at launch, along with more than 20 toys.

Infinity


The main thrust of the game is to allow players to control an array of Disney and Pixar characters both within their own "Play Set" multiplayer universes and within a wider "Toy Box" multiplayer universe, which will borrow elements from across Disney properties.

Speaking after Pleasants was John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar. He compared the idea of Infinity to the notion of bringing additional toys out of a toy box for a grand play session as a child.

The figurines ? which are necessary in order to unlock specific gameplay elements ? will be available in individual packs, but the game will initially come with a "starter set," which will include figurines from the three properties demonstrated on Tuesday.

From the promotional video shown, it appears that Disney Infinity will be limited at least initially to Disney and Pixar properties ? Tron, The Incredibles, Pirates, Aladdin, Snow White, and so forth ? and will not bring in properties from Marvel Comics or LucasArts, both of which are owned by Disney.

Infinity


The promotional video for the game lists June 2013 as a launch window, with logos for the major home and portable consoles displayed beneath. Besides Pleasants' early mention of availability for mobile platforms, Disney's presentation made no other mention of when the offering might appear on iOS and Android devices.

Disney's console-first approach to Disney Infinity represents something of a shift for the company. Late 2011 saw the entertainment giant betting on iOS in particular and mobile gaming in general as a means of returning to profitability after Disney Interactive lost $86 million in Q2 2011. That shift saw Disney focusing on titles such as "Where's My Water?" and its follow-up "Where's My Perry?" which have seen considerable success on both iOS and Android platforms.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17


    I want Pixar free of Disney before it's totally ruined.

  • Reply 2 of 17
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    Looks like a disney version of Skylander. What could go wrong?
  • Reply 3 of 17
    So, someday I'll be able to fight Darth Vader against Captain Jack Sparrow. That would be epic. /sarcasm
  • Reply 4 of 17
    Let's all hope a movie about doing battle in the cosmos is in there somewheres ....
  • Reply 5 of 17
    I want Pixar free of Disney before it's totally ruined.

    To be honest it is mostly free. I mean the head of Pixar is running all of Disney's animation now and has creative control. If you want to blame anybody for Pixar blame Lasseter. I personally think Pixar is fine as long as they don't make cars based movies. Brave while not one of their best was solidly middle of the pack and after Monster's U they have three original stories lined up (a dinosaur movie, a trip inside the mind, and a Día de los Muertos one) Pixar is far from being ruined
  • Reply 6 of 17


    Originally Posted by johnnyb0731 View Post

    To be honest it is mostly free. I mean the head of Pixar is running all of Disney's animation now and has creative control.


     


    And yet they're making sequels and prequels. Standard Disney fare to milk characters. They're making a Finding Nemo 2, for heaven's sake. That's just depressing.


     


    Cars 2 would have been much better had the original characters not been in it. 

  • Reply 7 of 17
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    And yet they're making sequels and prequels. Standard Disney fare to milk characters. They're making a Finding Nemo 2, for heaven's sake. That's just depressing.

    Cars 2 would have been much better had the original characters not been in it. 
    They've had 3 sequels. One blew (Cars 2). The other two (Toy story 2 and toy story 3) being very good. One of which was force-made by Disney (TS2). The other- Toy Story 3 is arguably the best movie they've ever done. It's my favorite.

    My point is- sequels can be great- Pixar has proved it. It just takes good direction.
  • Reply 8 of 17


    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post

    One of which was force-made by Disney (TS2).


     


    Was it… Interesting. 






    My point is- sequels can be great- Pixar has proved it. It just takes good direction.





    True. Though I reserve my shark-jumping comments for Toy Story 4.

  • Reply 9 of 17
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    A game called Black Hole.  Disney is good at creating black hole's.

  • Reply 10 of 17
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Was it… Interesting. 

    Ya- it actually is an interesting story. If memory serves correctly- Disney was the producer of Toy Story because Pixar needed help getting its first feature film launched- I think the deal was for 3 movies- the 2nd was bugs life. Disney wanted toy story 2 to be direct to video and not count toward their three film deal, but Pixar refused and they fought over it, and Pixar finally won out to have creative control and backing for a full length film.

    The whole Pixar story is absolutely amazing. One of the best out there. I mean- Jobs almost sold it to Microsoft at one point before toy story and at the last minute backed out. Fascinating. And like johnnyb said- Lassiter is running it all, so Disney and Pixar are both under his hand.
  • Reply 11 of 17


    Disney can't possibly ruin Star Wars after the state George Lucas left it in.

  • Reply 12 of 17


    My son did some testing on this game (actually a whole bunch of games rolled into one). It's pretty slick!


    I have a bunch of friends working on it as well, so I might be biased a little bit.

     

  • Reply 13 of 17
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    andysol wrote: »
    Ya- it actually is an interesting story. If memory serves correctly- Disney was the producer of Toy Story because Pixar needed help getting its first feature film launched- I think the deal was for 3 movies- the 2nd was bugs life. Disney wanted toy story 2 to be direct to video and not count toward their three film deal, but Pixar refused and they fought over it, and Pixar finally won out to have creative control and backing for a full length film.

    The whole Pixar story is absolutely amazing. One of the best out there. I mean- Jobs almost sold it to Microsoft at one point before toy story and at the last minute backed out. Fascinating. And like johnnyb said- Lassiter is running it all, so Disney and Pixar are both under his hand.

    It was a 5 movie deal and sequels didn't count. I don't know about producing but they definitely used Disney for distribution.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    It was a 5 movie deal and sequels didn't count. I don't know about producing but they definitely used Disney for distribution.

    I was going off memory from a documentary I watched. Just read up a little. Apparently it was originally a three movie deal that got extended to five early on. And you were right- Disney only handled distribution and marketing
  • Reply 15 of 17
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post





    They've had 3 sequels. One blew (Cars 2). The other two (Toy story 2 and toy story 3) being very good. One of which was force-made by Disney (TS2). The other- Toy Story 3 is arguably the best movie they've ever done. It's my favorite.



    My point is- sequels can be great- Pixar has proved it. It just takes good direction.


     


    I've always wanted to see an Incredibles 2.


     


    My kids really like Cars 2.  It's not their favorite but when movie time comes it's often mentioned.  I think because it's like #4 on the list for both my son and daughter while the individual #1-#3 choices are disliked by the other.


     


    Even if Pixar falls there are other great animation studios.  I like Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2 and How to Train Your Dragon as much or more than any of the recent Pixar movies.  Monsters v Aliens was fun.  Dreamworks Animation is doing quite well.


     


    I liked Surfs Up from Sony and REALLY liked Despicable Me from Illumination.  Fox has the Ice Age series which was good.


     


    So lots of solid animation titles from a variety of studios including Disney Animation.  Tangled was great and I liked Wreck it Ralph.

  • Reply 16 of 17


    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post

    Disney wanted toy story 2 to be direct to video…


     


    See SEE. There. That's what I'm talking about.






    And like johnnyb said- Lassiter is running it all, so Disney and Pixar are both under his hand.



     


    He needs to change some more corporate policy, then….





    Originally Posted by nht View Post

    I've always wanted to see an Incredibles 2.


     


    Now THAT has some potential! Heck, I see two of them; one while they're still a family of superheroes, working the family dynamic, and another when the kids have grown up and are about to move out, but one of them flirts with supervillainness.





    Dreamworks Animation is doing quite well.



     


    You know how that got started, right? Spurned competitor deciding to take on Pixar specifically.


     


    Every-fricking-where Steve Jobs went, there was a company there to steal what he was doing… 


     


    "But…"



    YES, it's not stealing in this case; you get my point.

  • Reply 17 of 17


    Re. tylerk36... A game called Black Hole.  Disney is good at creating black hole's.


     


    I remember there was a Disney film called 'The Black Hole' in the late 70's, it was a space movie. One could be based around that. image

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