John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

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John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby Sheriff Woody » Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:12 pm

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on the 1 year anniversary of the Disney Infinity launch announcement i represented our forums and had breakfast with John Vignocchi, John Blackburn and several other members of Disney senior management. i would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped to arrange this.

as a follow on from our breakfast i was able to send John some questions. unfortunately not all questions that were asked were able to be answered, but hey i tried.

on behalf of all of the interested Disney Infinity Fans, below are the questions that could be answered.

are their any statistics about the game that you can share?

To date, we have had sold over 3 million Disney Infinity starter packs and we were one of the top 10 games of the year according to NPD. Also, more than 5 million Toy Box creations have been downloaded by fans around the world.

The most popular characters (in terms of play time) are Dash, Mike Wazowski, Mater, Jack Skellington and Violet.

The most popular power discs are the terrain modifications -Frozen, Sugar Rush and Finding Nemo.

what is the most sold play set?

For play sets outside of the starter pack, Toy Story in Space, Cars and Lone Ranger are all doing really well.

who is the most sold individual character?

Mike Wazowski and Dash are currently the most popular individual characters, but Anna and Elsa have been the breakout Disney Infinity characters since ”Frozen” was released in theatres.

which play set do you enjoy playing most and why?

I enjoy them all!I enjoy Toy Story in Space because it is the play set that started it all. As the community knows, Disney Infinity initially started off as "Star Command" which was a spiritual successor to the Toy Story 3 video game. We used this play set as the example of how virtual toys could be unlocked from this play experience inside of the "Toy Box" mode. So I have this really big personal and emotional connection to it.

I enjoy Cars because, quite frankly, it wasn't until I started playing through our experience that I became enthralled with the Cars franchise. It opened my eyes to the fact that Disney Infinity could be what introduces gamers to Disney franchises that might not have otherwise been familiar or cared about. This was very powerful to me.

I love Monsters University because of how the team managed to take the key pillars of what made Monsters University an amazing film and turn it into a fun gameplay experience. Watch Monsters University, close your eyes and think about how you would design it into an open-world gaming experience. It was a difficult task! I think the Monsters University team at Avalanche pulled off in a really great way that remains true-to-property while delivering a fun overall experience.

When we said that we wanted to do an Incredibles play set, there were a lot of people that raised their eyebrows. Not because the Incredibles aren't totally amazing, but because there had not been much done with this IP over the past ten years. The Incredibles was a passion play set for the development team, and re-introducing this IP to a new generation of Disney fans was an honor. The fact that we were able to create a living, breathing Metroville, which was seen in brief glimpses during the film, was a huge undertaking. The team did a great job with this one. Fun fact: At one point we were only going to have Mr. and Mrs. Incredible as the playable characters!

The Pirates of the Caribbean play set remains a favorite of mine as it is a shining example of how our team took a non-animated film and made it fit within the Disney Infinity style, from an art and gameplay perspective. Also, it is the first play set that was done by an external development team (Studio GoBo) which is exciting for a variety of reasons. The team at Studio GoBo have all become "family" and we couldn't have delivered an exciting Pirates of the Caribbean play set without them!

Lastly, the Lone Ranger play set remains at the top of my list for how just-plain-ole'-fun it is. Exploring Colby and the old west on horseback is a lot of fun, and some of the liberties we were able to take with it from a gameplay perspective (such as the spirit abilities and actually being able to fly as the crow) made it really fun. I'll never forget when John Blackburn, Jeff Bunker and me saw Johnny Depp on-set dressed up as Tonto for the first time – our jaws dropped!

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how has feedback been so far from players?

I think feedback has been largely positive so far. We love getting notes from parents about how much fun they are having playing with their kids, and we have an entire wall dedicated to fan mail that we have received at Disney Interactive. I think we are all a bit surprised by how popular the game has been with young adults as well, and we think the Toy Box is largely to credit for that.

on average how many toy boxes are submitted for the weekly challenges?

A lot – we cannot comment on specifics, but we have an entire team that sifts through them all to pick out the best to share with the community!

how long does it take to select challenge winners for the weekly toy box challenges?

About a week.

do you have a favorite user designed Toy Box?

I think I speak for the entire team when I say that "The Big Room" by Enrem has been one of our favorite Toy Boxes created so far. That Toy Box even made it over to our friends at Pixar!

who is your favorite Disney Infinity character?

From a figure design perspective, I like Wreck-It Ralph the most. We went through so many different poses with that character and worked so closely with the film team on getting it just right. I am immensely proud of what our team was able to achieve with this figure.

From an in-game perspective, it is tough – the situation really dictates who I use. As of late it has been Elsa (her ice powers are just way too cool) but Vanellope and Agent P are right near the top for me also.

who is your favorite character that you would like to see in future versions of Disney Infinity?

On the "half joking" side, I've been pretty clear that I would love to see Captain E/O, but that seems like a bit of a stretch unless I can get some pretty major groundswell support from the community! Outside of the obvious "new" additions to the Disney family, I would love to see content from Gravity Falls. I am a huge fan of Alex Hirsch and his team and think they have such a great show. I also have a real soft spot for classic Disney content, such as anything from the "Fab 5" or Disney Animation Studios. Disney Afternoon content also – Like DuckTales, Gargoyles, Rescue Rangers, Talespin, Goof Troop, etc. would be so great as well. I'm not exactly sure if I answered your question… There are just too many great options to choose from!

It doesn't really matter what I think though… We are really listening to what you guys, our COMMUNITY, want to see the most. When we run those polls on social media about what characters you guys would like to see next, we take it very seriously! Make sure you guys get out there and voice your opinion!

what is the most random figure suggested?

Piglet. During new character discussions, John Blackburn always makes a case for Piglet and how he should be the most powerful character in the game. (See? We all have our favorites!)

how impressed are you with the Disney Infinity communities that have evolved from a game that you are responsible for?

We are so flattered by the various communities that have sprouted up around Disney Infinity. It is an honor and it tugs at our heart strings to know that you all appreciate and care about Disney Infinity as much as we do. Community is so important to us, and it is so much fun to interact with all of you on forums, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. We consider you guys a big part of this whole platform we are trying to build, and know that your opinions are heard by our entire team.


as part of the Disney Infinity Fans D23 Expo Meetup a meet and greet was arranged with John Vignocchi.

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and here is a shout out for our forums. "Disney Infinity fans, you guys rule!"

 
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby thedisneyfanatic22 » Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:44 pm

Great interview Sheriff!! Johnny V. Continues to be an inspiration for me!
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby toops » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:24 pm

i don't know about you guys but i'm totally down for a ridiculously strong piglet! let's get that suggestion train going!
 
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby Modeltrainman » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:27 pm

Mr. V. seems so cool!
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby itstimechicken » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:47 pm

I am honestly surprised Dash and Mater are the most played
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby Paradox » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:50 pm

Very cool and great to see and hear him give us props :)
 
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby Modeltrainman » Fri Mar 14, 2014 7:14 pm

I don't know...Mater's very cool. He's the character I beat Cars with.
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby itstimechicken » Fri Mar 14, 2014 7:34 pm

Yeah, but beating out the starter pack and the actual Cars playset, idk just doesnt sound believable to me
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Re: John Vignocchi, Disney Infinity Executive Producer

Postby Jazz820 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 12:05 am

Very cool! John V seems like an awesome person! Piglet sounds like an awesome character to make, I'm down for that!
 
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