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In October 2011, Activision released Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, a game unlike any other that’s come before it. Skylanders used a series of figurines and a special base that allowed the player to pick which character to use. Each figurine keep track of the character’s strengths and levels as the player used within the game and allowed the player to use them in other versions of the game(ex. If a player played with a character on the PS3 version and went to their friend’s house they could use the figure to import their character with all of their stats on the Xbox 360 version).
Three different kinds products were released for Skylanders when the game was launched: Starter packs (including the game disc, the figure base, and 3 figures exclusive to the starter pack), multi-figure packs(includes multiple figures for new characters, items, and levels), and single figure packs(figures of a single character). This crossover of toys and video games worked similar to DLC but gave customers a physical item rather than data downloaded to their console’s hard drive.
When I first learned of Skylanders I thought it was a clever business decision. Skylanders’ target audience primarily consisted of younger kids who wouldn’t understand how DLC works and even if they did, their parents would most likely not be too excited about needing to pay additionally for their child to enjoy a game they already paid. The figurines give the content a physical essence that children and parents can comprehend easier.
In 2013, Disney Infinity was released. Following a similar structure to Skylanders, Disney Infinity used figures to in conjunction with the game to add additional playable characters, levels and items to the game. A big advantage that Disney Infinity had over Skylanders is that they already had an enormous roster of characters to choose from to make new figures for. With access to every Disney, Marvel and Star Wars character in existence, the possibilities were near infinite. Additionally, character recognition added another selling point to the game since Skylanders needed to create new characters for every entry in the series.
Disney Infinity also introduced a “Toy Box” mode. Toy Box mode allows players to create their own levels and use any character they want (normally characters are limited to specific levels; such as characters from The Incredibles only being playable in The Incredibles levels). Additionally, players can upload their levels online for others to download and play. This is probably the most appealing factor of Disney Infinity, allowing players to play the game however they choose with whoever they choose. If you want to have Elsa from Frozen team up with Iron Man to navigate a maze, you can do that.
In 2014, Nintendo joined the figure craze with Amiibo. Unlike Disney Infinity and Skylanders though, Amiibo figures were not software specific. Amiibo figures can be used with a number of different Wii U titles, such as Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and Super Smash Bros for Wii U. Additionally, the figures do not require a special base to be used, like Disney Infinity and Skylanders figures do. Instead, an Amiibo figure can be used within a game, simply by tapping its base against the Wii U gamepad. Prior to Amiibo’s release, Nintendo made several announcements and discussed plans to integrate Amiibo into future Nintendo titles. Character recognition and multi-software use for the Amiibo figures gives Amiibo figures a unique advantage over Skylanders and Disney Infinity.
64 Hit Combo 