Star Wars and Disney Infinity 3.0

This week we got our first look at Disney Infinity 3.0 and it comes as a surprise to no one that Star Wars features heavily. There will be three Star Wars playsets. The first two have already been announced. Twilight of the Republic, set during the Clone Wars, will feature Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Yoda and Darth Maul. The second, Rise Against the Empire, set during the Rebellion Era, will feature Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Darth Vader. The third set, based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be announced at a later date.

Marvel will also be getting some more representation in DI3. Already announced will be Hulkbuster Iron Man and Ultron, but there will also be an as yet unrevealed playset as well. I am especially curious as to what this one will be as the number of possible choices within the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems limited at this stage. The Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy have already been done. Big Hero Six is possible, but Hiro Hamata and Baymax have already been released as toybox-only figures in DI2. More likely is that they will go with the X-Men. Disney doesn't have movie rights to the property, but other merchandising options shouldn't be a problem.

Still another playset, based on the upcoming animated feature Inside Out is also revealed, as well as new toybox-only figures for Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Olaf (Frozen), Mulan and Sam Flynn and Quorra (Tron: Legacy).

-Rognar-

Skylanders: Trap Team turns the wackiness up to 11

Although my kids and I have been playing a lot of Disney Infinity 2.0 lately, we have been Skylander fans for a lot longer and it was inevitable we would get the new Skylander: Trap Team when it was released. Each iteration of the Skylanders franchise brings with it some new gimmick. The original Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure introduced the "toys-to-life" concept whereby collectible figures with embedded RFID chips could interact directly with a video game. A world of floating islands with a force of defenders known as the Skylanders is being menaced by a diminutive, would-be conqueror known as Kaos. Many races including elves, dragons, trolls and robots inhabit the world and many of the Skylander characters are derived from these races. Next came Skylanders: Giants which introduced a new story involving the indefatigable Kaos, a giant robot voiced by George Takei, and a new group of special extra-large figures. The third installment, Skylanders: Swap Force, introduced a new group of figures that had separable upper and lower halves, each of which had its own RFID and which could be interchangeably attached to mix and match capabilities. Once again, the Skylanders battle Kaos, but this time, his mom shows up.

Finally, in the most recent version of the game, we have the "Trapmasters", a special team of Skylanders who have mastered the power of traptanium. a magical crystalline material that has the power to trap villains and turn them to good. Extra crystal traps are available to allow the player to call up trapped villains as needed to either fight or engage in certain side quests that only the villains can do. Obviously, there are a lot more unique villains in this game than in previous Skylanders games in order to utilize this new game mechanic and some are pretty crazy. The elite villains are a gang called the "Doom Raiders" led by the imperious Golden Queen and included among their ranks are a giant disembodied doll head with a Vally Girl accent, a leather-pants-wearing rock star wolfman and a Cajun chef who is an anthropomorphic chili pepper. Of course, Kaos is also back (this guy has more lives than a cat which has been genetically spliced with a cockroach). When you are carrying a trap, the villain can talk to you through the portal. It's generally quiet enough to ignore, but some of the chatter is quite entertaining. Spend a few minutes carrying Broccoli Guy around and you'll never want to bring anyone else.

After spending a fair bit of time playing both Skylanders and Disney Infinity, I have come to some conclusions. First, I like the two-person split screen play of Disney Infinity better than the single screen two-person play of Skylanders. My oldest daughter is a better and more aggressive player than the younger one and she often finds the tether to the other character very frustrating. Hence, they don't play it together very well. However, in Disney Infinity, my younger daughter can interact with the game environment at her own pace while the older one can charge ahead and do as she pleases. On the other hand, the linear adventures of Skylanders seem to be more playable for my kids. The adventures in the DI playsets are often quite challenging even for me and nearly impossible for my kids, while the worldbuilding opportunities of the toybox mode just don't appeal to anyone in my family. After twenty minutes of putting up buildings and laying down racetracks, we are pretty much bored to death. So overall, I give a slight edge to Skylanders as far as playability is concerned.

But damn, those Disney figures are sweet!

-Rognar-

The power of the Raccoon

It looks like Disney Infinity 2.0 is set to eclipse Skylanders as the leader in the collectible toy/video game market, thanks largely to Marvel. Pre-orders of DI2 starter packs and figures, due for release later this month, are skyrocketing, with Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise being exceptionally popular. Because of this, Disney is already starting to announce future figures most likely to be available next year. The first of these are Yondu from GotG and Falcon from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Here we see the first image of the Yondu figure:

I better go pre-order the GotG starter pack this weekend.

-Rognar-

Disney Infinity 2.0 lineup

With the announcement of the Disney Infinity 2.0 Toy Box Pack, it seems the final lineup of characters for this edition of the game has been revealed. There will only be three playsets and all will be based on Marvel properties, namely The Avengers, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, the six playsets from the original game will not be forward compatible, although the characters from the previous edition will be playable in the DI2 toy box mode. We also have what appears to be the final list of toy-box-only characters for DI2. They are:

Merida (Brave)
Maleficent (Maleficent)
Tinkerbell (Peter Pan)
Stitch (Lilo and Stitch)
Aladdin (Aladdin)
Jasmine (Aladdin)
Hiro (Big Hero 6)
Baymax (Big Hero 6)

It boggles the mind to stop and think about how much more intellectual property Disney still has available for future editions of this game.

-Rognar-

Still more Marvel for Disney Infinity

The newest video announcement for Disney Infinity 2.0 reveals new details on improvements to the toybox mode, but that is not all that is revealed. At one point in the video, we see this:

That appears to be either Power Man (aka Victor Alvarez) or the younger version of Luke Cage from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series. It's hard to decide which of these is more likely. Obviously Luke Cage is better known, but he is usually seen as older with some facial hair. Power Man, on the other hand, is not widely known, but does have a strong connection to Iron Fist, another less well-known character which has already been announced as being in DI2. Either way, what I really want to know is, will this be another playable character in the game? Disney has repeatedly done this, showing brief cameos of not yet announced characters in videos of other aspects of the game. Between the two excellent movie releases this year and all the upcoming stuff for DI2, I am on a serious Marvel high right now....and I'm not even a comic book guy.

-Rognar-

Update: Upon further research, it seems the Luke Cage version from Ultimate Spider-Man is also named Power Man, so it's a safe bet, that is what this character will be called. Since we will have Spider-Man, Nova, Iron Fist and probably Power Man, can White Tiger be far behind?

Further update: Power Man (Luke Cage) and White Tiger (among others) will not be playable at this time.

The Duck is back!

Although it has been suspected for sometime, now it's official: Donald Duck is coming to Disney Infinity 2.0. That brings the current known characters to twenty-five:

The Avengers playset - Thor, Ironman, Black Widow, The Hulk and Hawkeye
The Spider-Man playset - Spider-Man, Venom, Nick Fury, Iron Fist and Nova
The Guardians of the Galaxy playset - Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Gamora
Marvel villains - Green Goblin, Loki and Ronan the Accuser
Toybox only - Merida, Maleficent, Tinkerbell, Stitch, Aladdin, Jasmine, Donald Duck

There is still over five weeks until the release date for DI2. We have been getting, on average, one new release announcement each week for the last month so hopefully there will be more forthcoming. Notably, we haven't heard anything about their plans for the Big Hero 6 franchise. Of course, they might hold that one back until they are closer to the release of the film.

-Rognar-

Aladdin joins Disney Infinity 2.0

The latest announcement from Disney Infinity 2.0 reveals the addition of Aladdin and Jasmine to the list of playable characters, although they will not be part of a playset. While not as awesome as all the Marvel goodies we've seen thus far, this announcement has certainly got my daughters excited. Jasmine will make a nice addition to the "Disney Fightin' Princesses" supers team they're building.

-Rognar-

Disney Infinity 2.0 - Villains!

The latest announcement for Disney Infinity 2.0 introduces the key villains for the three Marvel playsets; Loki, Green Goblin and Ronan the Accuser, and they're playable. This is not a huge surprise as these characters were already known to be in the game from previous videos and playable villains are not unprecedented. Davy Jones and Syndrome were playable in the first edition. Nonetheless, the introduction of three more characters which are playable in all the Marvel playsets is pretty cool.

-Rognar-

More on Disney Infinity 2.0

It seems like every week there is a couple of new announcements of what will be available in the Disney Infinity 2.0 game coming out this fall. So far, we know for certain there will be three playsets based on Marvel properties. They are:

The Avengers - Thor, Ironman, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye
Spider-Man - Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Nova, Venom and Iron Fist
Guardians of the Galaxy - Starlord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and Groot

We also know of several Disney characters that will be available for toybox play; Merida, Maleficent, Tinkerbell and Stitch.

Then there are the rumoured releases based on leaks from vendors. These include Donald Duck and a possible Big Hero 6 playset with at least Hiro Hamada and Baymax coming out to coincide with the release of the film.

So now it's time for speculation. The original Disney Infinity game had six playsets; Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Cars, The Lone Ranger, Monsters University and Toy Story. It seems likely that there will be as many or more in DI2. Since Big Hero 6 looks to be the big Disney animated feature for the fall, with lots of potential characters including female characters, I would guess it is almost certain to be released as a playset. However, that means four Marvel properties will figure prominently in the game. I can't imagine there will be more. I am going to go out on a limb and predict a playset based on one of the princess properties. Right now, I am leaning toward Brave. We already know that Merida is coming. The addition of Queen Elinor in bear form and maybe King Fergus would make a suitable playset. The other possibility would be a Frozen playset. Elsa and Anna have already been released, but a further release of Kristoff and Olaf as a playset is certainly an option (and a license to print money). More announcements coming up this weekend at San Diego Comic Con.

-Rognar-

Disney Infinity at E3

Following up on previous announcements that the starter pack for Disney Infinity 2.0 would feature the Avengers playset with Thor, Black Widow, the Hulk, Ironman and Captain America, Disney revealed at E3 2014 that still more Marvel goodness would be forthcoming. The Spider-Man playset was announced and will include Venom, Nick Fury (?), and lesser known superheroes, Nova and Iron Fist joining Spidey to thwart the machinations of a much bulked-up Green Goblin. They also revealed improvements to the game to attract older players including skill trees and character death. It all looks really good and has the potential to direct my kids away from their Skylanders addiction. If I have one wish, it would be more female characters. My daughters love the battle princesses and the addition of Maleficent, Merida and Black Widow are great, but a few more would be awesome. If anyone from Disney reads this (snicker!), might I suggest a Mulan playset, or since you are already releasing Maleficent, why not Princess Aurora as well.

A further note, one has to wonder how the Guardians of the Galaxy is going to make an appearance in Disney Infinity 2.0. We have already seen Rocket Raccoon and Groot in the Avengers playset trailer a while ago. Nova Corps figures prominently in the upcoming film and the character of Nova (or Nova Prime) is the commander of that organization.

-Rognar-

Skylanders vs. Disney Infinity

I’ve mentioned before that my kids really love the toy line/video game Skylanders. It combines a selection of figures with RFID chips embedded in their bases and a peripheral device for a game console called a “portal” which allows you to play your Skylander figure as a character in the game. It was a clever moneymaking scheme for Activision, so it’s not surprising that there would be imitators. Well, the new kid on the block is none other than the Godzilla of kid’s entertainment itself, Disney. We resisted for awhile, but the figures for the Disney Infinity game are just so good and include such squee-inducing IPs as Frozen, Tangled, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Toy Story and Cars. It was the Frozen figures that broke the seal for us. The Elsa and Anna figures are very nice and my daughters are as obsessed with them as any other little girls in North America. Once started, it could not be stopped and before long we had Buzz Lightyear, Captain Jack Sparrow, Rapunzel and a dozen other figures. Even Mickey Mouse, in his role as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, made it into the collection.

Although Disney Infinity resembles Skylanders insofar as it has the collectible figures and a peripheral similar to the portal, called an infinity base, gameplay is quite different. Skylanders has a series of linear adventures culminating in a final battle against Kaos, the recurring villain in each of the Skylanders games. Disney Infinity does have something similar, but there is a different one for each game world or playset as it is referred to in the game. In order to access the content for each playset, you need a special figure that sits on the infinity base. These playset pieces only come in the starter set or in certain playset packs that include a couple of figures. Important to note, only characters from the playset game world are playable in it. So, Barbossa can be used in the Pirates of the Caribbean playset, but Lightning McQueen cannot.

However, there is a second way to play Disney Infinity. It has what is called “toybox” mode which is an interactive and customizable world in which the player can create the environment. You have a collection of build pieces such as landforms, buildings, vehicles and other items that you can add to your world. New items can acquired during gameplay. For fans of building games like Minecraft, I can see that this might be a real draw to the game. Personally, I find it a bit repetitive, but I haven’t really committed the time to figure out how to use this capability to its fullest. One cool aspect of the toybox, however, is that all characters can play in it. If you want to go multiplayer with characters from different franchises, this is the way to do it.

At this point, I would have to say I still prefer Skylanders over Disney Infinity. The worldbuilding game doesn’t do much for me and the playsets, while fun, require a significant buy-in beyond the initial cost of the game. Having said that, Disney is looking to up their game in the fall. Disney Infinity 2.0 is scheduled for release and will include several improvements to the game. What’s more, they will be mining their Marvel properties heavily for new characters. The Avengers playset will be included in the starter pack along with Thor, Ironman and Black Widow figures, with the remaining Avengers also being released as singles. Add to that, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as Maleficent and Brave characters, and the DI2 is looking to provide tough competition for Skylanders: Trap Team, also due for release later this year.

-Rognar-

Anyone know of a Skylanders RPG?

If you're the parent of kids in the 5-10 year age cohort, chances are you have heard of Skylanders. If you have kids like mine, every conversation you have with them quickly turns to Skylanders. Before they will tell me if they want cereal or waffles for breakfast, I have to decide if I prefer Drobot or Flashwing (Drobot, of course). For the uninitiated, Skylanders is a toy line and a video game all in one. It includes a line of collectible figures, not surprisingly known as the Skylanders, divided up into eight elements: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Life, Undead, Magic and Tech. Within each element are several characters, some are elementals, some are robots, there are also elves, dragons, undead creatures and anthropomorphic animals, and a few that simply defy easy description. The really clever part is that each figure has a radio frequency identification chip embedded in the base. When the figure is placed on a device called a portal, which is available for both Sony Playstation and Xbox, it becomes the character in the game.

The game setting is a world called the Skylands (what can I say, it's a kid's game), where towns and villages float in the air high above some unknown land below. Airships fly from one skyland to another, which are populated by a race of anthropomorphic animals known as the Mabu. There is also a wide variety of bad guys including the lowly (but annoying) Chompies, Drow (rhymes with snow), various troll-like things and Arkeyan robots. The Arkeyans were a race of evil robots than conquered and enslaved the Mabu 10,000 years ago. Although the giant Arkeyan robots were defeated (by the original Skylanders) and locked away in the Lost City of Arkus, many of the lesser Arkeyan robots remained scattered throughout the Skylands. There's a lot of potentially good stuff in there for a role-playing game, but it doesn't get developed much in the third-person shooter game. As my kids are getting close to the age at which they could handle a tabletop game, I'm curious if anyone is aware of any attempt to design a Skylanders tabletop rpg. Given the wide range of abilities displayed by the various characters, I would guess the best system would be some sort of superheroes game. Anyone know of an supers system that elementary school kids could handle?

-Rognar-