Disney Infinity Announced for a Summer Release

Pokémon X and Y? What's that? Let's talk about something far more exciting; Disney Infinity.

A while back, rumors started to circle about an upcoming Disney Interactive project that was being designed to out Skylanders Skylanders and feature a wealth of Disney characters. Concept art surfaced earlier in the month, like the picture I used for the header, but few details were released about the game other than the title and the fact that it would bring a bunch of Disney characters together. Today, the game was officially announced and it is glorious.

The game is set to play like a mix between Skylanders and the Toy Story 3 video game by blending physical toys with a sandbox style game space. Each toy you bring into the game becomes a character you can play as in-game and it creates a whole new area of the world for you to explore. Beyond simply exploring and doing whatever you want, you can also complete missions or campaigns as each character and world. The game is also set to include drop-in and drop-out multiplayer both locally and online.

I'm going to go broke.

Instead of players progressively leveling up their characters like in Skylanders, Disney is going to be selling these little discs for the figures that will feature a number of new powers and abilities. A Buzz Lightyear disc

will give your character a wingpack to fly around on while the Finn McMissile disc will give your character missile projectiles. Two can be stacked per character and they can be mixed and matched at any time. While it might deter some players who like the idea of leveling up your characters on your own, it is a smart business decision in terms of getting more people to enjoy the game.

Each of the toys, which there will be 30+ of at launch, create new areas to play as well. Using the characters to unlock new areas, you can choose to play their standard story campaigns or build and share your own areas of play in the Toy Box mode. The game is set to include one figure from Monster's University, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Incredibles at launch but if you want to explore the worlds of Toy Story or Frankenweenie, you're going to have to drop some cash on the toys. Which will definitely put a lot of people off but the toys look cool and kids will eat it up.

Toy Story 3: The Video Game promised to offer a similar experience with it's Toy Box mode but it was ultimately a short, shallow experience but fun while it lasted. Disney Infinity seems to remedy that by offering a bigger world, more to do and online co-op. It's unclear if the game will catch on or if it will even be good but the prospect and concept of it has me excited alone. Decide for yourself whether you like Wreck-It Ralph and Davy Jones enough to drop the cash on both the toys and game. But as for me, I eagerly await further information on this Disney fanboy wet dream.

The game is currently set to be released this summer on the Wii U, 3DS, PS3, Wii and X-Box 360. We'll keep you updated on any further information as it comes.