When I first heard about Disney Infinity, I thought, “Well, it was only a matter of time before someone else cashed in on the Skylanders model.” Thankfully, someone with the budget to make it good took that concept and ran with it. Disney Infinity promises to be the amalgamation of Disney Universe, Mario Kart, Minecraft, DC Universe Online, and Skylanders, all rolled into one.
This could certainly be a great idea. It gives Disney the power to run story-based content in franchise-themed worlds, all while mixing up characters from the vast variety of their worlds. I relish the thought of taking Mater from the Cars franchise and racing him through the streets of Halloween Town with the likes of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Or even challenging Mr. Incredible to a kart race with Perry the Platypus. The possibilities seem endless.
Add to that my secret mania for collecting trinkets and toys, and the recipe for my financial destruction is complete. I am not going to lie to you. I have spent hundreds of dollars on the Skylanders games. Collecting all the characters has become somewhat of an addiction for me. The satisfaction of obtaining characters before any of my friends makes collecting the small statues even more sweet. So in that respect, Disney Infinity is poised to dethrone Activision’s gem from its revered place on my wish list.
But I have some bad news. According to a source close to us, Disney Infinity has been delayed until the end of this year. Now, before you get all huffy about it, let me tell you why. Their reasoning couldn’t be any more exciting than what I am about to tell you.
I can sum it all up in two words: “Star Wars.” That’s right, with Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., they have decided to push back Infinity so that they can include characters from the Star Wars Franchise into the game as well. So now in addition to my drooling over taking Davey Jones and pitting him against Wreck-It Ralph in a match of destruction, I can take some of my favorite Star Wars Characters and throw them into the mix as well.
At this time, only three Star Wars characters have been confirmed. Disney Infinity will include Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. We have been assured that others will be confirmed in the coming weeks, but that’s all of the info we could squeeze out of our mole at this moment.
Knowing this, I can’t contain my excitement for Disney Infinity—even with the release pushed back, it now promises to be a game of such ridiculous mash-up goodness that my head may literally explode. Couple that with the adrenaline-fueled searches for collectible and rare or hard-to-find character statues and I am going to be one broke fella after this game hits the shelves. Christmas just got a whole lot sweeter for this guy.
| By Travis Huber Contributing Writer Date: April 1, 2013 |