Page 1 of 7

Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:08 am
by Sheriff Woody
Source: Chad Liddell, Lead Artist at The Walt Disney Company

I have just barely started to read about the response to the game. I’m stoked by the generally positive vibe. I’m also a bit shocked at how many inaccuracies I’m seeing.

Anyway, a few misconceptions that I really hope someone helps points out-

Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders. While I fully understand why the comparisons exist, people should stop making them;) Yes, they share the use of physical toys, but in my mind comparing them is like saying Borderlands 2 and Madden Football are similar because they both use the exact same controller. There is a rich history of crossing over toys into video games. When we started working on Infinity my kids were absolutely enamored with Webkinz. I think there is a pretty identifiable evolution of the use of toys in games in recent memory. Littlest Pet Shop -> Webkinz -> U.B. Funkeys -> Skylanders, and now Inifinity. U.B. Funkeys added the reader concept and in-game representation of the toy avatar to the previous code input system. Skylanders added the convenience of RFID, and we have added Play Set pieces and the collectivity of Power Discs as well as greatly scaled down the bulk the RFID reader. On the software side there are ZERO similarities.

Minor thing, but toys in the Toy Box come both from Play Sets and from the Toy Maker, which resides in the Toy Box. The basic concept of the Toy Maker is it is skill based slot machine type mini-game that yields toys. As you level up your figurines, complete challenges throughout the game, and complete adventures you will earn spins at the Toy Maker. And those toys will result in a more expansive Toy Box experience.

Play sets are NOT levels. They are full games who’s scale compares favorably with more than a few full price stand alone sand box style games. Think Grand Theft Pirates, (but family friendly of course.) For people who played Toy Story 3 Western Town would be considered a play set if it were in Infinity.

Infinity is not a kids game. This is my own personal view on this, (note, possibly not Disney’s…) As one of the primary creatives behind Toy Box my goal was to create an experience for families. By this I don’t mean the typical, “family,” game where dad, and maybe mom, will occasionally play the game with their kids and hopefully tolerate it. This is an experience designed from the ground up so that moms, dads, sons, and daughters will all love the game, regardless of how “hard core” they are even if they are playing alone. There is an almost insane amount of depth in the Toy Box. For example, the logic system has full on behavior and property modification and supports some pretty beefy almost programmer like concepts like data flow supporting functions such as AND and OR. (Try coming up with a non-nerd name for those btw…) For the younger kids we have gone to pretty major lengths to scale the experience for how advanced a player is. You may have noted that the Toy Box editing interface uses a ribbon interface plus categories. It allows a very young child to spawn and play with toys. If they can press the back button and the right trigger they can select and play with toys. But an older player will be able to take advantage of category hot switching, and other short cuts to jump around and quickly find the toy they are looking for. These little scaling touches are pervasive throughout the Infinity platform. The end result is I can confidently say this game is for you.

Credit: Mr Penguin Knight for the original link information

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:10 am
by Nibelilt
THANK YOU.

Not nearly enough people are giving Infinity any chance. It has the same toy gimmick. BUT wherever I look(besides here), I see at least one person instantly writing it off as a Skylanders clone.

In every way except for the toys, Infinity is nothing alike.

A platformer with a sandbox mode VS a dungeon crawler. Learn the difference- it could save your life.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:40 am
by Adscan
I have sat and explained every facet of Infinity to people, a good amount of time making sure I describe all the different things that the platform can do.

Only to get the response "So it's like Skylanders with an open world component you can run around in."

The best luck I have had is if you can find a person who has actually played Minecraft, Little Big Planet, and Skylanders and then explain to that person how it is so much more than all of those in one package.

Otherwise I have come to understand it's just not worth trying to explain. I think Infinity will be one of those things that will really explode after it has been out for a while and word gets around enough for people to want to investigate what it is for themselves.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:19 am
by Mr Penguin Knight
The best way I can describe the two is that Skylanders is a gauntlet game it's whole life, while Disney Infinity can be any type of videogame you want it to be.

For instance if you want to play a beat-em-up you can play the Incredibles play set but if you want something slower and more relaxed you can have a go on the Monsters Uni playset. I now understand that they don't call Disney infinity a game as that would lead it to have one genre but by calling it a platform, and letting it be expandable, it can be any genre of game that the player feels like, playing at the time. The fact that each playset is 6 hours long just shows that Avalanche know what they are doing to make this significantly different from Skylanders.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:56 pm
by ryanator008
I agree with all this.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:17 am
by Adscan

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:17 pm
by Doodley
Yeah, right off the bat, this game looks more expansive and varied than Skylanders. If a game featuring a has-been character like Spyro and a punch of new OCs can make half a billion in sales, than Disney should have no trouble at all.

Heck, if Disney Infinity fails, they should just get rid of their interactive division. Because SERIOUSLY, this game looks too damn awesome to fail.

If people want to think its like Skylanders with Disney characters, let them. They'll find out soon enough that it's so much more.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:03 pm
by J03Y
wow i love all of this, and it's great to finally get a grasp at understanding the concept of this game. i've spent months so confused. but one question: so the slot machine gives you more figurines and playsets, or do you still need to buy them separately? i've just heard about the slot machine thing.

Re: Infinity is a COMPLETELY different game than Skylanders

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:29 pm
by mutatedjellyfish
The slot machine (aka Toy Maker) is how you can unlock more in-game digital toys for use in the Toybox. Playsets and figures are bought in stores.