All Articles: Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
Disney shuts down all console development and cancels Disney Infinity franchise
Two months ago, the Disney Infinity franchise was put on hiatus by Disney Interactive. Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company announced the end of Disney Interactive with the cancellation of all console development and the closure of the entire division.
Speaking during the company’s quarterly financial report, Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said, “During the quarter, we took a charge of $147 million in connection with the shutdown of our Infinity console games business. Going forward, our console games strategy will focus solely on licensing our great portfolio of content.”
This closure extends to developer Avalanche Software, and Disney Interactive General Manager John Blackburn thanked them for all their hard work on the publisher’s official website:
Our goal for Disney Infinity was to bring the best of Disney storytelling to life in homes around the world, and with your support we accomplished that. We hope you had as much fun playing the game as we had making it.
And as we turn to the next chapter in our story, I want to thank everyone who helped bring Disney Infinity to life, particularly Disney’s Glendale-based production and publishing teams, our external development partners, and of course the incredible Avalanche team for their tireless dedication to this project.
Avalanche will complete work on the remaining Disney Infinity content that is currently in development, including three figures from Alice: Through the Looking Glass (which will be available later this month) and a Finding Dory Play Set (coming in June).
With Disney’s console development future tied up in licensing deals, we should probably expect to hear about more third-party partnerships, like the one the company struck with EA to create Star Wars: Battlefront, soon.
Indiana Jones, Darkwing Duck, and others could be added to Disney Infinity in the future
Disney Infinity was released to fairly universal acclaim in 2013, but gamers everywhere hoped the Mouse House would add Marvel characters to the mix in a sequel. Disney listened to their requests, and released Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes a year later. This same cycle of fan feedback eventually led Disney Interactive to begin production on Disney Infinity: Star Wars, which will be released sometime in the Fall.
But what other characters from the Disney Vault will eventually make their way into a future Disney Infinity game? How about… all of them?
Disney Interactive’s John Blackburn and John Vignocchi recently spoke to Polygon about the franchise, revealing that every character from Disney’s vast empire has the chance to be added to a future Disney Infinity project. They couldn’t make any promises on which characters might make a future appearance, but Lucasfilm’s Ada Duan said that Howard the Duck has been asked for by a lot of fans. Other characters name-dropped by the trio include Indiana Jones, Darkwing Duck, and LucasArts’s stable of adventure games (especially Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle).
Though it might be a while before any of these characters make it into Disney Infinity, as Duan said the company is “looking forward” towards new content. That’s disappointing, but the full interview at Polygon is still a riot, so be sure to read the whole thing.
GameStop-exclusive Vita version of Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes is out tomorrow
Sony Computer Entertainment and Disney Interactive have announced Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be released for the Vita tomorrow. Available exclusively at GameStop, the Vita version of Marvel Super Heroes features a never-before-seen Black Suit Spider-Man figure and a wireless Base that connects via Bluetooth. The package, which is priced at $59.99, will also include two Marvel Super Heroes Toy Box Game Discs, a Web Code Card, and a USB Recharging Cable.
Naturally, the Black Suit Spider-Man figure is also compatible with all other editions of Disney Infinity and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes as well.
Even more Disney Infinity games will be coming your way soon as the third game in the series, Disney Infinity: Star Wars, was officially announced earlier this week.
Nintendo Download: Sportsball, Pier Solar, Super Mario Advance, Disney Infinity 2.0, more
Did you catch yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation? We don’t have the full picture yet, but it looks like Nintendo will have a lot of interesting offerings in 2015. But if you’re looking for something new to play today on your Wii U or 3DS, here’s what was added to the Nintendo eShop this week:
- Pier Solar and the Great Architects (Wii U) – A retro-style RPG that was originally released for the Sega Genesis (!) in 2010 (!).
- Super Mario Advance (Wii U) – Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance re-release of Super Mario Bros. 2 is now available on the Virtual Console.
- Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition (Wii U) – A special downloadable edition of Disney Infinty: Marvel Super Heroes. Requires the separate purchase of an Infinity Base and at least one figure.
- Sportsball (Wii U) – Sportsball is a unique blend of “Soccer + Jousting + Flying Birds” in a retro-styled package. OK…
- Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (3DS) – The Game Boy Color classic can be downloaded through the Virtual Console.
More information about all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: CoD: Advanced Warfare, Disney Infinity 2.0, MotoGP 14, more
Today’s Xbox Games Store update should look familiar to anyone that checked in on yesterday’s PlayStation Store update. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the first Call of Duty title developed by Sledgehammer Games, leads the pack on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Advanced Warfare stars Kevin Spacey in a pivotal role and includes a near-future storyline with plenty of advanced weaponry never-before-seen in a Call of Duty game.
Other games available today include:
- Rocksmith 2014, Ubisoft’s guitar tutor is now available on the Xbox One.
- The Wolf Among Us, Telltale’s Fables adaptation is now available on the Xbox One.
- Magic 2015, Microsoft’s latest digital adaptation of Magic the Gathering is now available for the Xbox One.
- Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition, Disney Interactive’s virtual toy box can now be downloaded through the Xbox Games Store for the Xbox 360 provided you own some of the actual Disney Infinity toys.
- MotoGP 14, Milestone’s motorcycle racing game skids onto the Xbox 360.
More details about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
CoD: Advanced Warfare, Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, MotoGP 14, more added to PS Store
Just like this week’s retail release slate, most publishers avoided the PlayStation Store this week because the juggernaut that is Call of Duty has staked a permanent claim on the first Tuesday in November. This year’s edition, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4, PS3), adds Kevin Spacey and a near-future storyline to the mix.
But a few games have taken up the challenge, including Edmund McMillen’s procedurally-generated action RPG, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (PS4, Vita). This expanded and updated edition of the game includes redone visuals and tons of other tweaks. Sony’s own downloadable version of SingStar (PS4, PS3) was also released yesterday after a slight delay. Also available this week is Milestone’s latest motorcycle racer, MotoGP 14 (PS4, PS4, Vita); a standalone download of Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition (PS4, PS3); and a handful of other titles.
More information on all of these titles is available after the break and a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Destiny was destined to be the best-selling game of September 2014
After selling more than five million copies in its first week of availability, Bungie’s Destiny easily took the top spot as the best-selling game of September 2014. New releases ruled last month as The NPD Group’s latest report revealed that seven games cracked the top ten.
At #3, EA’s FIFA 15 challenged Destiny for the crown, but came up short. It was followed by Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (#4), Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (#5), NHL 15 (#6), The Sims 4 (#8), and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (#9). The only holdovers were Madden NFL 15 (#2), Minecraft (#7), and Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (#10).
According to Joystiq, despite Destiny’s massive success, game industry sales only grew by 2% over September 2013. Of course, September 2013 featured the release of Grand Theft Auto V, a singularly special event, and downloadable titles are constantly eating into retail’s market share. But good luck getting The NPD Group to admit to that.
This months top ten can be found in a handy list format after the break. (more…)
New Releases: Hyrule Warriors, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, FIFA 15, More
Have you got Destiny out of system yet? If so, there are plenty of new releases to talk about this week includingHyrule Warriors, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo’s mashup of The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors for the Wii U. If nothing else, the game will let us play as Ganondorf and that just sounds amazing.
Also available this week is Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Disney’s “2.0” attempt at a toy/game hybrid adds Marvel superheroes and an expanded Toy Box Mode. And speaking of games that appear on a lot of platforms… EA Sports will release FIFA 15 this week for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Sorry, Wii U owners.
Finally this week, WB Games is rebooting the Gauntlet franchise on the PC and Microsoft is bundling up Killer Instinct‘s first season on the Xbox One in the Killer Instinct: Combo Breaker Pack.
Even more new releases can be found after the break. (more…)