Why our family is still buying Disney Infinity, even after it was shut down - Part 1 of 5
A new in box Toy Box Speedway Expansion Pack
On May 10th, 2016, I thought that I was being pranked with a joke headline. "Disney Cancels Disney Infinity," as reported by Kotaku.com. It was utterly confusing; Disney Infinity Version 3.0 was half way through releasing the toy-to-life figures, and we had only been enjoying the more robust Toy Box and Twilight of the Republic playsets. It was hard enough for me to get play time since my videogame-loving family members had each found their own favorite parts of the game to master. Even then, it still felt like we scratched the surface of what this game can offer, and what it can offer in the future.
Hiro and Baymax surveying the city
I was so appreciative of Patrick Klepek's May 12th, 2016 follow-up article on Kotaku.com of why Disney cancelled DI. It game me the closure that I needed to start processing the grief. It is true that the House of Mouse strives to run a tight and profitable corporation, but they can easily make mistakes. Instead of working through the challenges, they decided to cut their losses.
Throughout the summer, there have been casual sales of the DI figures and playsets. DI still had to compete with the other continuing toy-to-life games, and the box stores had an enormous amount of inventory on their peg boards. It was not until back to school season that we started to see massive clearance sales on these products. It was an event that is being tied to Labor Day Weekend sale promotions. In reality, stores need to clear the spot for the upcoming new figure releases, including the franchise expansion of LEGO Dimensions:
So why is my family still buying the parts to this game?
###Reason #1: It's a good video game to play
Ahsoka Tano looking for adventure while cruising around Coruscant in the Twilight of the Republic Playset
The Disney Infinity games are rich in graphics and special effect overlays. Although we have had our share of crashes and glitches with our XBox One game, the game play is very fluid and responsive to our controllers. Even the over-sensitive vehicle control is enjoyable in the Star Wars themed games with its large but still defined play space.
The playsets have interesting stories and entertaining cut scenes that keep us intrigued. The Toy Box gives us all the ability to create our own environment and share our creations over the network. There are many types of games that DI incorporates: action-packed combat, story-based missions, exploration bonuses, timed challenges, racing and creative play. Disney Infinity has "something for everyone" and is robust enough to handle it.
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