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It's no surprise that Disney shut down its gaming division
No one should have been surprised by Disney's announcement that it was canceling the Disney Infinity series and shutting down its video game business. However, when the news went live, Twitter immediately lit up with shock. My phone buzzed with questions and incredulity from friends. Hell, even I gasped when I read the blog post. The surprise was justified. Disney Infinity was a respectable and adored franchise in the toys-to-life category, and its developer, Avalanche Software, was held in high regard. Infinity entered the fray in 2013, two years after the original toys-to-life series, Skylanders, debuted. Financially, Infinity single-handedly turned around Disney's gaming division, Disney Interactive.
Disney retires a ton of apps to focus on 'more engaging' games
Disney Interactive recently announced it was retiring close to 100 applications, claiming that it wants to focus on building "new and more engaging" games. The Disney branch, which is behind the popular Infinity toys-to-life series, says the decision was difficult to make but needed to be done. Most of the affected Android, iOS and Windows Phone apps were outdated, since they had been based on older films. Among them are Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon, Lone Ranger, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Cars: Numbers & Counting, G-Force: Mooch Fly, Toy Story 3: Operation Camouflage and many more. While some of these titles may still be playable and available for download, Disney Interactive says it won't be supporting or updating them going forward. It also said it's not responsible for getting you your money back for any of these retired apps -- the full list is right here.
'Disney Infinity' finally feels like a complete game
Nothing relies on the power of Disney's brand quite like Disney Infinity. It's the licensed game to end all licensed games, a toys-to-life platformer with all the star power of Spider-Man, Frozen, Tron, Star Wars and a dozen other Disney franchises. It's the game's selling point, but also its greatest weakness: The last two versions of the game relied on its brand-power to make up for how mediocre they were as actual video games. That's not the case anymore. With Disney Infinity 3.0, the company finally got it right. That's not to say that the first games in the series were bad, but compared to Disney Infinity 3.0, they felt a little incomplete. All the same elements are here -- the disparate Playsets that offer franchise-exclusive story-based adventures, the open-world sandbox mode that lets you create your own adventures and the adorable, collectible figures -- but they all seem to have evolved in ways that add up to a more cohesive whole.
Disney Infinity might make its way to Microsoft's HoloLens
It's only natural for an entertainment corporation as massive as The Walt Disney Company, with IP holdings that span the likes of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, to be exploring the potential of virtual reality. It's something John Vignocchi, VP of production at Disney Interactive, the division behind toys-to-life platform Disney Infinity, confirmed when we chatted a few weeks back. But when it comes to Infinity, the future focus seems to be weighted more toward augmented reality. "We've had multiple meetings and discussions with Oculus, multiple meetings and discussions with Sony about Morpheus, multiple meetings and discussions with Microsoft about HoloLens. We're very interested in that space," Vignocchi said. "There's the socialization problem right now with VR, but augmented reality is very exciting."
Disney Infinity challenges Skylanders for toy-based game crown, launches in June
Disney's got a huge stable of iconic characters already immortalized in plastic, but the company's looking to virtualize its lineup with today's announcement of crossplatform game / toy experience Disney Infinity. Like Activision megalith Skylanders, Disney Infinity pairs actual plastic figurines (enabled with NFC or something similar) with game consoles connected to a pad. The pad transmits those characters directly into the game, across any system the game is being played on. Unlike Skylanders, Disney Infinity's pad can apparently add up to three connections at once, allowing for character powerup additions and other in-game bonuses. The first characters available come from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, and Monsters University (we spotted Jack Skellington and other biggies in the reveal trailer as well); Disney promises that users will also be able to create their own universes (virtually) inside the game, beyond just playing in themed environments. 20 characters are said to launch with the game when it arrives this June for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PC, and mobile. Take a look at the announcement trailer just below.
NYT: Disney, YouTube strike new content partnership, will launch kid-friendly channel
Disney is certainly no stranger to YouTube, but the company is looking to strengthen those ties today, with a new video partnership. According to the New York Times, Disney Interactive Media and YouTube have struck a deal that will bring original, kid-friendly content to a new co-branded online channel. Under the agreement, slated to be announced later today, the two parties will devote a combined $10 million to $15 million to video production, in the hopes of helping each other patch up some of their respective holes. From Disney's perspective, the deal could help attract more viewers, while funneling more users to its soon-to-be revamped website, which has seen a marked traffic decline in recent months. YouTube, meanwhile, could use the deal to help boost its reputation among parents, many of whom may have reservations about letting their youngsters loose on a site rife with unwholesome content. It may also signal a move toward those regularly scheduled channels we've been hearing so much about. We're still awaiting official confirmation on this, but we'll update this post as soon as we get it.
Tron achievements bring back memories
Tron is something of a cult classic. Many of us remember the movie as one of the most compelling early instances of computer graphics in a film. Even today, it maintains that retro cool. Whether or not the actual game can stand the test of time remains to be seen. We imagine it will be like most retro XBLA games, which means you already know whether or not you plan on buying it. Still, the achievements revealed by X360A give us a sense of nostalgia. Aside from the Light Cycle acheivement, our favorite is probably the achievement for completing all twelve levels: "User."Yeah, that takes us back.
Joystiq hands-on: Turok
Dinosaurs, as you may have heard, play an important role in Turok. They are big, scary, and seem awfully fond of the taste of human flesh. Lucky for Joseph Turok (worst. last name. evar.), he just happens to be a badass killing machine (probably as a result of the endless childhood teasing about his stupid name). We had a chance to take Turok's brand of dinosaur destruction for a spin at E3, and we jumped at opportunity like a dilophosaur on Newman.
Disney acquires Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios
During its E3 press conference, Disney Interactive Studios announced that they had acquired Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios. Spector took the stage to discuss the news. As Spector told it, he jumped at the chance to work with Disney. According to Spector, his original career choices were either to go into video games (good move Warren) or become an imagineer for Disney, as he was inspired by the works of its founder, Walt Disney. Spector even wrote his masters thesis on cartoons, apparently. Pulling Junction Point into the Disney fold is part of Disney's new game initiative, which involves both leveraging well-known franchises and creating new IP. No doubt, Disney expects a name like Warren Spector (creator of games like Deus Ex) to bolster their credibility as a legitimate publisher.
New-gen Turok releases Feb 5, 2008
Propaganda Games has announced that Turok will debut on February 5, 2008. The announcement was made during Disney Interactive's press conference by Josh Holmes of Propaganda Games. Turok is Propaganda's attempt to reinvigorate the ailing franchise. The game aims to do this by providing players with a variety of gameplay choices and some particularly nasty enemies. Given the absolute glut of first person shooters (and AAA titles in general) being released this holiday season, the decision to release the game in 2008 is probably a wise one.
Yar! Pirates gameplay vids off the port bow!
Pirates and videogames have been friends for a long time. Movies and videogames ... not so much. With the upcoming release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, we are faced with a conundrum. You see, Pirates is a game that is (naturally) filled with pirates. Sounds good, right? However, said game is also based on a film, which typically means bad mojo for any game.With the release of four new clips from the game, our hopes were high. Unfortunately, upon actually watching the new videos, we're thoroughly unimpressed. On the outside everything looks all right. In fact, the character models and animations are top notch. The combat, on the other hand, looks bland at best and awful at worst. It's clear that Disney Interactive Studios is attempting to borrow a few tricks from games like God of War and Prince of Persia, but the results are hardly convincing. From the "one guy at a time" AI to the lack luster swordplay, Pirates doesn't look too promising. There's also a distinct lack of sound. The Pirates movies are very loud and raucous, which isn't evident in these clips at all. Check out the videos after the break.
Pirates trailer: swords, guns, and a kraken
Our friends at Gamertag Radio have posted a new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (the game, not the movie, silly). The game shows off some decent graphics and plenty of swashbuckling action. The trailer displays many different locations from the movie, ranging from Tortuga to the Flying Dutchman and of course the Black Pearl itself. The game features plenty of sword fighting as well as ranged combat. The character models look very nice -- we particularly like the animation of Jack Sparrow's signature walk -- although they're strangely silent. Hopefully, we'll see the original actors reprise their roles in the game as well. Finally, this game has a kraken. There just aren't enough krakens in games these days, really.Check out the video and tell us what you think.
Yarr! Pirates sails to 360
No, we're not referring to the elusive Pimps At Sea Alpha. Disney Interactive Studios announced that they will be releasing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for new generation consoles, including Xbox 360. Players will have their chance at the life of a pirate as Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and of course, Captain Jack Sparrow. Looking to coincide with the film's release, the game is slated for May 22nd, 2007. DIS' President of Marketing, Craig Relyea, promises that the game will feature environments above and beyond those featured in the films as well as multiple endings. So, does this make you want to search for that bottle of rum, or are you going to get a case of scurvy?
Buena Vista Games renamed Disney Interactive Studios
During a shareholder meeting today, Disney senior vice president and general manager Graham Hopper announced that the company's game division, Buena Vista Games, has been renamed to Disney Interactive Studios to better reflect the celebrated brand. More precisely, the re-branding marks a return to BVG's original name, Disney Interactive. The studio will continue to publish both Disney and non-Disney branded titles for all major platforms, including Propaganda Games' forthcoming re-imagining of Turok (pictured).
