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Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes review: Super friends
Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is adorable. From the plucky way characters stride toward danger, to the fantastic, real-world figures that power their adventures, it's hard not to be enamored with the sequel. Each time I plop a new figure on the base and a hero emerges from its magical Disney dust (made up of money and acquisitions), I revert back to that little Canadian kid from the early 90s, spellbound by Saturday morning cartoons.
Disney's Castle of Illusion lowers the bridge for Mac this week
It's not a trick, Michael, it's Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, and it's out this week on Mac. The 2013 remake of Disney's classic platformer hits the platform on Thursday, July 24, courtesy of Feral Interactive. It's priced $15 in the US and £10 across the pond. In our four-star review, Danny Cowan deemed Castle of Illusion a "very successful remake." In his words, the new incarnation "captures the original's unique style while expanding on it in a meaningful way, without burdening the experience with unnecessary additions or other concessions to the Disney license. Castle of Illusion is blessed with a magic that transcends licensing, and 20 years after its initial release, it's still a damn fine platformer." [Image: Disney]
Disney Infinity 2.0 out in September, says official webcast
Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is soaring onto shelves in September, according to an official weekly webcast. At the 8:28 mark in the video, Executive Producer John Vignocchi says, "Definitely check out all the Avengers that are going to be part of the 2.0 edition of Disney Infinity out this September." Now, pinches of salt at the ready, because official announcements from earlier in the week only noted a fall window, and nothing more specific than that. Also, when Disney's official fan club let slip of the news a bit early, it noted an August launch, not September - that was all swiftly retracted ahead of the announcement proper. Finally, when we reached out to Disney a UK PR representative reiterated a fall window. If September is accurate, however, it means Disney Infinity 2.0 gets the jump on the new Skylanders, which is due to hit North America on October 5 and Europe on October 10. As for Disney's own magic box that turns plastic into gold, Infinity 2.0 calls on characters from Marvel's huge roster of heroes. The new characters include Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man, and promises of plenty more besides. The new game also brings expanded worlds for the heroes to fly around in, and a deeper Toy Box to sink time into. All the additions and expansions won't prevent returning players from using characters, power discs and Toy Box saves from the original game, because they'll all be compatible with Infinty 2.0. [Thanks, Tim!]
Disney Infinity rustles up Toy Story set, makes new pals
Skylanders rival-to-be Disney Infinity unveiled 'Toy Story in Space' as its sixth play set, along with a whole bunch of new playable characters for the Toy Box mode. The game's play sets include physical figures that grant access to in-game worlds and stories, in this case the Toy Story universe. Buzz Lightyear and Jessie are the packed-in figures, while a Woody figure is available separately. Infinity's Starter Pack, priced $75, includes the game, three play sets, and a figure for each one. Those sets are The Incredibles, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Monsters University, and they come with Mr. Incredible, Jack Sparrow, and Sully figurines. As ever with toys, some play sets are sold separately, and Disney has announced three other additional play sets so far. They are Cars, The Lone Ranger, and the newly confirmed Toy Story in Space, each one adding around six to nine hours of gameplay and priced $35. Unlike the other two, Toy Story in Space won't be available when the game launches for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii, and 3DS later this week - it's scheduled for October. Disney also announced new figures for the Toy Box mode, the game's communal sandbox where collected characters can be brought together for crossover antics. While we'd prefer Wreck-It Ralph to get his own launch play set, the big lug does feature as an additional Toy Box character along with co-star Vanellope. The other newbies are Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey from Fantasia, Tangled's Rapunzel, Phineas and Agent P from Phineas and Ferb, Anna and Elsa from upcoming film Frozen, and finally, maybe the pick of the bunch, The Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack Skellington. The newly announced Toy Box characters will roll out starting October through to next year.
Report: Disney video game division lays off 50 employees
Separate from the closure of Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios, the developers of the Epic Mickey series, 50 more employees reportedly lost their jobs at Disney Interactive yesterday, according to the LA Times. The paper's source is "a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter publicly."Disney Interactive Studios endured huge layoffs across 2011, including the closure of Split/Second developer Black Rock. We've reached out to Disney Interactive Studios for comment on today's report.We learned yesterday Epic Mickey 2 sold 529,000 copies in the US during 2012, with that return on investment certainly sealing the deal on Junction Point's closure. Since then, Epic Mickey creator and Junction Point founder Warren Spector posted a public goodbye to his studio on Facebook, which we've printed in full after the break.Spector was effusive in his farewell to Junction Point, saying he's rarely worked with a "team more dedicated or harder working." While he noted the games "polarized" critics and fans, Spector said he's never been part of anything as deeply touching as his Epic Mickey series.Will the man behind Deus Ex be back? "Let just say, now it's time to move to the next adventure," Spector wrote. "I honestly don't know what that will be yet, so don't ask."
Rumor: Epic Mickey 2 coming to 3DS, along with 'classic' 2D game
Some kind of "presentation" of Epic Mickey 2 will occur next week, according to a tweet from France's Nintendo Magazine. Being a Nintendo magazine, the publication specifically highlights a 3DS version called "Power of Illusion" – a name that recalls classic Mickey games like World of Illusion and Castle of Illusion. The tweet also points to a "classic" 2D game that will be shown during next week's event, but stops short of providing any actual details.A sequel to 2010's Epic Mickey has been rumored for some time, to the extent that box art for the game has even been bandied about by a marketing survey. Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios, the development house behind Epic Mickey, was hit by layoffs last January after the Wii-exclusive title launched, likely due to massive losses in Disney's interactive (read: games) department.Update: Disney Interactive declined to comment, saying it had "no information to share at this time."
Avalanche Software lays off 15 - 20 as Disney continues cuts
Utah-based Avalanche Software, developer of the much-praised Toy Story 3 game adaptation -- and not to be confused with Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios -- let go of 15-20 employees as of September 1. Publisher and parent company Disney Interactive confirmed the layoffs to Gamasutra in a statement: "Avalanche Software has completed a restructuring that resulted in the reduction of a small number of positions." Avalanche Software is the latest studio of Disney's affected in a months-long culling process at the Mouse House's game publishing arm, which has so far seen the closure of Propaganda Games, Black Rock Studios, and the cancelation of a Pirates of the Caribbean game. An unnamed employee affected by the layoffs guessed the current headcount to be around 170 (the company's LinkedIn profile indicates anywhere from 51 to 200 people are employed by the studio), making this month's staff reduction approximately 8 to 11 percent of staff. It's unclear what Avalanche is working on next, and whether this is the end of Disney's bout of "restructuring."
Disney's Interactive Media division reduces losses in Q3
Disney's studio shutdowns may have had at least some of the desired effect: The Disney Interactive Media Group reports that the third quarter has brought decreased losses for the division year-over-year. The group remains the only division in the company operating at a loss, but revenues increased (thanks to Lego Pirates of the Carribbean and Cars 2, according to the studio) and losses decreased to $86 million a year. Disney still blames most of the losses on the acquisition of social developer Playdom last year, but good news is good news. Hopefully this means an end to all of the layoffs around the division.
Report: Disney wants to buy UTV/Ignition for $454M
The Walt Disney Company is allegedly working to fully acquire UTV, parent company of Ignition Entertainment, for $454 million. Develop reports that Disney, which already owns 50.4 percent of UTV, is seeking to fully acquire the company for its Bollywood films and TV shows -- and not for its games. If the deal does happen, Ignition's fate would be in the hands of Disney. Ignition has been troubled for quite some time, altering its business strategy last year and ceasing to develop core games internally. Disney's strategy, on the other hand, has seen the shuttering of its core game studios like Black Rock and Propaganda, and a heavy emphasis on the social space. Disney's acquisition of UTV may have nothing to do with games on the surface, but it'll likely impact Ignition in a dramatic way.
Report: Black Rock's final game was a freemium DOTA-style RTS
"Champions Alliance" was allegedly the title of the last project the soon-to-be shuttered Black Rock Studios was working on, according to a Eurogamer report. The game was allegedly a DOTA-style RTS, starring teenagers flung into an alternate dimension (okay ...). The project was said to be quite far along, with pre-production wrapping and a free-to-play business model set in place before Disney made its decision to close the dev house. "The game was intended to be released quite quickly, in beta anyway, in about six months or so," an anonymous source tells Eurogamer. "The idea was that you had to do PVP and PVE to gain XP to somehow escape." According to the source, "Disney seemed unable to work out what to do with the studio and didn't trust us to do anything other than racing, really." Since Disney is prepared to close the studio now, we wouldn't be surprised if footage of the unannounced project starts popping up in the near future.
OnLive gets Disney Interactive support, universal controller, heading to UK this fall
Black Rock Studios' excellent racers, Pure and Split/Second, are sliding to OnLive, the streaming game service announced today. The duo of arcade racing titles will lead the charge for Disney Interactive titles on the service, with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean up next on the list. And that's not all -- OnLive had a bunch of news to drop just before E3 begins next week. For starters, the service will be officially launching in the UK at some point this fall. As with the company's North American debut, UK residents are encouraged to sign up for early "Founding Members" access -- the official UK site goes live in the coming days. Additionally, OnLive revealed intentions to make its way to a variety of "Intel-based consumer TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes" later this year. The first such devices will begin arriving this fall, and will reportedly stretch beyond the company's currently deal with consumer electronics manufacturer Vizio. Alongside the Intel deal, OnLive plans on launching a "universal wireless controller" that will work with said Intel-based devices. It looks and operates very much like the OnLive MicroConsole controller, and will come with a USB dongle for non-wireless devices. It's said to contain several different radio signals for working with a multitude of devices. You'll be able to brag to your friends all about how you're playing high-end PC games on your Intel-based TV on a wireless controller right from within games, pushing brag clips to Facebook. Which is to say, yes, OnLive is getting Facebook integration as well, starting June 7. Now, you'll excuse us if we take a moment to catch our breath.%Gallery-125195%
Phineas and Ferb to visit the 2nd Dimension on Wii, PS3, DS
A new Phineas and Ferb game is headed to the Wii, PS3 and DS later this summer courtesy of Disney Interactive Studios. Based on the Disney cartoon -- specifically an upcoming original movie -- Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension will feature the TV voice talent of the principal characters, including Phineas and Ferb. The PS3 and Wii versions include ten playable characters and two-player cooperative play. The PS3 version also features PlayStation Move compatibility. All versions of the game also include a secret agent platypus, making this probably the coolest sentence we've ever written.
Disney Interactive lays off 80 more
Disney Interactive has reportedly let another 80 or so employees go, adding to the more than 250 people that were let go earlier this year. Co-presidents James Pitaro and John Pleasants are overseeing the cuts, trying to trim down a division that once had more than 4,000 employees by seven percent or so. Last month, Pleasants, who used to run social game company Playdom, told investors that he wanted to cut the operating costs of the division by 25 percent, and it's likely these layoffs are part of that plan. Officially, Disney called the layoffs "targeted," and said they were "part of setting a strategic direction for future success in digital media." Hopefully this is the last round of exits we'll see from the shrinking House of Interactive Mouse.
Disney Interactive implements mass layoffs; status of Junction Point, Black Rock currently unknown
Beyond Disney Interactive's layoffs today at Junction Point and last week's closure of Propaganda Games, sources tell Joystiq that the division's job cuts go much deeper. We've been informed in this "first round" of layoffs that 250 people have been let go. Numerous attempts to obtain an official statement from Disney have gone unanswered. There is currently no word on the overall status of Split/Second developer Black Rock Studios nor Warren Spector's Junction Point, which recently released Disney Epic Mickey, a title we've been told has not sold as well as expected. Sources also tell us that the fate of Spector could be separate from that of the studio. Massive changes at the division have come at a steady clip ever since Disney bought social game developer Playdom for upwards of $563.2 million. Then there was the double-barreled resignation of longtime boss Graham Hopper and bigwig Steve Wadsworth. It is currently the era of James Pitaro and former Playdom CEO John Pleasants, who are seeking not to repeat the division's $234 million loss this fiscal year. Update: Disney's terse official statement: "As part of setting a strategic direction for future success in the digital media space, the Disney Interactive Media Group today began a restructuring process"
Source: Epic Mickey dev suffering layoffs
Despite a number six debut on December's NPD charts, Epic Mickey apparently can't save Junction Point Studios from post-launch staff cuts. Sources speaking with Joystiq confirm that Disney Interactive issued layoffs at the Warren Spector-helmed studio today, though exact numbers are unknown -- we've contacted Disney for comment, but we imagine those plans for sequels to Epic Mickey aren't looking so solid right now. Following last week's closure of Disney Interactive-owned Propaganda Games, today's layoffs represent further steps back for the publisher in terms of "core" game development endeavors, and, we fear, may not be the last of Disney's cuts. Disney also owns Split/Second developer Black Rock Studios, and most recently acquired social game developer Playdom. Update: Layoffs hit entire Disney Interactive division. [Image credit: Flickr user 'junctionpoint']
Propaganda Games shuttered
Propaganda Games -- developer of 2008's Turok reboot and, most recently, Tron: Evolution -- is officially closed. Parent company and publisher Disney Interactive confirmed the unfortunate news to Joystiq this afternoon, issuing this statement: "Disney Interactive Studios confirms the closure of its Vancouver-based internal game development studio, Propaganda Games. The studio has completed all work associated with its most recent project." Propaganda's Pirates of the Caribbean game was canceled last October, and the studio was reduced in size, with the only apparent goal to complete Tron and its planned post-launch DLC. It's as yet unclear if any more DLC will be released beyond the day-one freebie. [Thanks, Alex]
Longtime Disney games boss Graham Hopper hops off
Graham Hopper, the longtime head of Disney Interactive Studios, won't be sticking around long enough to witness the lasting impact of next week's Epic Mickey, which marks the most important release of his eight-year stint with the games group. Hopper's departure from Disney was announced in a company memo yesterday and follows a dismal fiscal year for the Interactive Media division, whose president resigned two months ago, ushering in the new era of "Jack and Jim." According to the Los Angeles Times, Hopper said in an internal email, "The time has come for me to move on from the company and set my sights on new horizons." Hopper joined Disney in 1991 before being appointed head of the games group in 2002. He was instrumental in the 2007 acquisition of Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios, the developer of Epic Mickey, in addition to Disney Interactive Studios' general foray into non-Disney-brand titles, including Black Rock Studio's Pure and Split/Second racing games. Of course, with Playdom exec John Pleasants now running the show, there are going to be some changes around Disney's games department -- no matter how epic Mickey's adventure proves to be at retail. [Pictured: Hopper (with Epic Mickey ears); original photo credit: Disney Interactive Studios]
Tron app updated with Light Cycles
Disney's Tron movie is coming up quick, and today, the official Tron app (which has been out since Comic-Con, hosting exclusive previews and news from the movie) has added another new feature: Light Cycle battles. Yes, you can download the official app for free, and play a fun little 2D version of the famous Tron Light Cycle battle game right there in the app. The whole thing is pretty simple -- just swipe to change direction, and of course the goal is to leave a light path that will block your opponents' bikes (or you can create a field trap by drawing a rectangle with your Light Cycle). When you add in the tank game that was released a little while back, the app is definitely worth a download. I got to see and play this app at Disney last week during an event there, and then talked to Disney Interactive's Jeff Nuzzi about the app and Disney's future plans for it. Disney already tried this "free app portal" method with Toy Story 3, and that one worked pretty well. Nuzzi said the same thing is happening with this Tron app -- "it's two great games," he told me, "wrapped around a lot of promotional content." Disney's original plan for Toy Story 3 was to include some premium experiences in with the free content, but that didn't work out as planned. "It was really a very complicated app, and I think the fans out there, the early adopters, people that are familiar with Toy Story, knew how to navigate and get through there, but then a lot of first time users and iPod touch users weren't able to connect to Wi-Fi and had trouble downloading the app." In the end, Disney sent the Toy Story 3 app completely free, and that's why this Tron app is a free download as well. Plus, Nuzzi and his company plan to keep updating the app with Tron content and information even after the movie releases. "As the movie goes through the box office and into more of a franchise, we can deliver news about the DVD or upcoming events," Nuzzi said. "It really is a portal for all things Tron and it's meant to live on beyond just the movie." The movie hits theaters on December 17, but you can download the free app with all of its extras right now.
Additional Split/Second DLC revealed; 'Survival at the Rock' out now
Some Split/Second DLC is pulling into the left lane -- wait, we can't do this. It's not fair to you and it's not fair to us. We're better and more capable than pulling these types of shenanigans. Let's put it in park, take a second to collect ourselves and take another lap around the track. ... Okay, now that we've got that out of our system: today, fans of Black Rock Studio's racer can download some additional content with the Survival at the Rock DLC pack. Within you'll find the Minepit Park track and a new game mode called Survival Race -- it's a take on Survival mode where instead of lapping semis beneath the shadow of the looming clock 'o doom, players will be tasked with simply completing a set number of laps. Survival at the Rock is available for download right now on Xbox Live and PSN for 400 MS Points and $4.99, respectively. Throughout the next month, however, Disney will also be dishing out two more DLC packs. On October 19 you can download the Deadline pack, which adds four new vehicles -- the Ryback Coyote Special, Cobretti Centaur, Ryback Javelin and Hanzo Kanobo -- and Deadline mode, a clock-based race mode where players can freeze the timer by picking up items on the track. Finally, on November 2, you can snag the Quarry Onslaught pack, adding the titular Quarry track and a new game mode, Onslaught -- a single player and multiplayer-compatible mode where drivers dodge "waves of missiles from a circling helicopter." This game mode will be compatible across nine different tracks in the game, including Deadline. These packs will join the currently available Elite Vehicle Livery and the High Octane Supercar packs. The Deadline pack will set you back 400 MS Points ($4.99), while Quarry Onslaught will cost a bit more: 800 MS Points ($9.99). Head past the break for a trailer showcasing Survival at the Rock. Heads-up: it in no way involves Sean Connery. Yeah, we were kinda bummed about that too.
Split/Second gets minute on PSP this November
Disney Interactive Studios has sent us a note announcing a November 16 release date for the PlayStation Portable version of Split/Second, the demolition racer that debuted on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in May. The new game will introduce an additional track (for a total of 13) and challenge mode to the explosive proceedings, and offer four-player ad-hoc multiplayer. Hint: Don't worry about burning bridges so much as dropping them on your former friends and opponents. We hope the art of catastrophe evasion translates well to PSP -- you'll note the graphics haven't avoided a significant downgrade -- and that Disney's promise of platform-specific control tweaks holds up. We don't need high-definition to spot the plane coming right at us, do we?
