Post by SaHD Gamer on Jan 29, 2014 1:52:35 GMT -5
Disney Infinity
Since it's Disney month on the X-pound*, I figured I would choose a topic that was something I've been ranting about for awhile. Strangely, it also ties into last month's rant. What could it be? Well, read the title, but failing that: Disney Infinity!
Am I going to rant about how blatantly it copied Skylanders? No.
Am I going to rant about the massive amount of on-disc DLC the game has? No... but maybe I should
Am I going to rant about the sheer cost of 1 game? No.
So what then?
Simple. The game is failing to do what it should to be a must buy for all Disney fans.
How?
Well, it has no balance. Most of the figures and sets released are for "recent Disney" and they have no real representation of "classic Disney". And that's a problem.
When they're not grabbing back their licenses from comic book and video game companies so they can do fuck all with them, Disney still makes animated movies. Or buys a company that does (Pixar). I understand why they are focusing on more current or upcoming films, but they are doing so with no regard to people that would buy the game.
Let's look at the sets so far. The starter set had 1 popular (Pirates), 1 current (Monsters Inc had a movie coming out soon after) and 1 cool (Incredibles). That was a good thing to do. It doesn't quite reach far back enough for classic, but it's a good representation of what people might want. The separate sets released soon after were Cars and the Lone Ranger. Cars, ok, yeah, it was popular, so that I can let slide. But Lone Ranger? Kids don't want to see that movie (acutally no one wanted to see that movie). Adults wouldn't really care either, so a huge fail there. Yes, it was made in an attempt to push the movie (or push the game if the movie happened to be huge), but it was a mistake.
The next (and maybe last until DI2) was Toy Story. Ok, that is a good choice. Not really "classic" Disney, but getting there. Strangely, the set had Jessie and Buzz. The hell? It should have had Buzz and Woody, but then nobody would purchase Jessie. So, just put Jessie and Woody in the set? Makes sense and it would still work because everyone would purchase Buzz.
No real classic stuff here, which is a wasted opportunity. Parents would see the classic stuff and would be more likely to purchase it and maybe even play it with their kids. As a parent, I know that I like to spread the things I enjoy to my kids (my 4 year old can identify Transformers symbols, yay!), and I can't be that different from other parents (no snickering). Yes, there will be many that buy it for their kids to shut them up, but what if you had some of the older stuff? Like a Beauty and the Beast set? I'm sure some parents would buy it without the kid bothering them if it was things they recognized.
"What about the Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey?" you might ask.
Yeah, they came close there. Add in Jack Skellington and you have around the eras I'm thinking of. Granted, I don't like either of those movies, but it's a glimmer of hope. Except that you can ONLY use them in the "Toy Box" mode, which didn't take off like they wanted. Nobody talks about this mode since the game released, which leads me to believe it's nowhere near as huge as Little Big Planet's level creator was. So you can't do much with them, or any of the other figures that don't have a playset with them. Another huge flaw in their product. They could be saving them for the next game, but that just creates more problems.
Overall, I don't think they planned it out very well. If they had a good mix of popular, new and older movies and TV shows, I think the game would have done better. I know many people that would already own the game if it had the likes of Aladdin and Darkwing Duck. Hopefully they didn't ruin it so much that we could actually get another game that has some of the best Disney had to offer.
-The Stay at Home Dad Gamer 1/28/14
*Maybe. We start a lot of things and change our mind around here. Also, our months tend to be about 6 or more weeks. We'll change that next month. Probably.
Since it's Disney month on the X-pound*, I figured I would choose a topic that was something I've been ranting about for awhile. Strangely, it also ties into last month's rant. What could it be? Well, read the title, but failing that: Disney Infinity!
Am I going to rant about how blatantly it copied Skylanders? No.
Am I going to rant about the massive amount of on-disc DLC the game has? No... but maybe I should
Am I going to rant about the sheer cost of 1 game? No.
So what then?
Simple. The game is failing to do what it should to be a must buy for all Disney fans.
How?
Well, it has no balance. Most of the figures and sets released are for "recent Disney" and they have no real representation of "classic Disney". And that's a problem.
When they're not grabbing back their licenses from comic book and video game companies so they can do fuck all with them, Disney still makes animated movies. Or buys a company that does (Pixar). I understand why they are focusing on more current or upcoming films, but they are doing so with no regard to people that would buy the game.
Let's look at the sets so far. The starter set had 1 popular (Pirates), 1 current (Monsters Inc had a movie coming out soon after) and 1 cool (Incredibles). That was a good thing to do. It doesn't quite reach far back enough for classic, but it's a good representation of what people might want. The separate sets released soon after were Cars and the Lone Ranger. Cars, ok, yeah, it was popular, so that I can let slide. But Lone Ranger? Kids don't want to see that movie (acutally no one wanted to see that movie). Adults wouldn't really care either, so a huge fail there. Yes, it was made in an attempt to push the movie (or push the game if the movie happened to be huge), but it was a mistake.
The next (and maybe last until DI2) was Toy Story. Ok, that is a good choice. Not really "classic" Disney, but getting there. Strangely, the set had Jessie and Buzz. The hell? It should have had Buzz and Woody, but then nobody would purchase Jessie. So, just put Jessie and Woody in the set? Makes sense and it would still work because everyone would purchase Buzz.
No real classic stuff here, which is a wasted opportunity. Parents would see the classic stuff and would be more likely to purchase it and maybe even play it with their kids. As a parent, I know that I like to spread the things I enjoy to my kids (my 4 year old can identify Transformers symbols, yay!), and I can't be that different from other parents (no snickering). Yes, there will be many that buy it for their kids to shut them up, but what if you had some of the older stuff? Like a Beauty and the Beast set? I'm sure some parents would buy it without the kid bothering them if it was things they recognized.
"What about the Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey?" you might ask.
Yeah, they came close there. Add in Jack Skellington and you have around the eras I'm thinking of. Granted, I don't like either of those movies, but it's a glimmer of hope. Except that you can ONLY use them in the "Toy Box" mode, which didn't take off like they wanted. Nobody talks about this mode since the game released, which leads me to believe it's nowhere near as huge as Little Big Planet's level creator was. So you can't do much with them, or any of the other figures that don't have a playset with them. Another huge flaw in their product. They could be saving them for the next game, but that just creates more problems.
Overall, I don't think they planned it out very well. If they had a good mix of popular, new and older movies and TV shows, I think the game would have done better. I know many people that would already own the game if it had the likes of Aladdin and Darkwing Duck. Hopefully they didn't ruin it so much that we could actually get another game that has some of the best Disney had to offer.
-The Stay at Home Dad Gamer 1/28/14
*Maybe. We start a lot of things and change our mind around here. Also, our months tend to be about 6 or more weeks. We'll change that next month. Probably.