Skylanders has ruled the toy business for the past two years and Disney, seeing money on the table, just released Disney Infinity, their own take on the Skylanders model. By all accounts, the new game is doing quite well for itself. This toys-and-games hybrid delivers solid, if somewhat simple, gameplay, and the ability to provide something physical for fans to own and collect. It almost seems like a license to print money and with money to be had, other toy companies have to be looking at this gold mine and thinking, “we can do that. “Here are the three toy lines I want to see get the Skylanders/Disney Infinity treatment.
Transformers
Let’s face it: Transformers should be on everyone’s list of toys they’d like to see get this type of treatment. Imagine an awesome Transformers game, like one of the recent Cybertron games. Instead of the game directing you to utilize certain robots at certain points, you could control which robots you played with by putting your fully functional toy Transformer on the portal and having them appear right before your eyes. Like Skylanders, the toys themselves would level up and get more powerful in the game and you’d be able to transport your awesomeness everywhere you go. I’ll take a Gen 1 Megatron please.
He-Man
Swords and sorcery work great with video games, and what better way to bring it all to life than everyone’s favorite toy line of the 80s, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? I envision a Diablo-like game with distinct Heroic and Evil faction campaigns which would each require a toy from the particular faction to complete. Future expansions could explore the unnecessary futuristic version of He-Man where he was a Galactic Guardian and Skeletor was a Space Mutant. It doesn’t matter that no one cares to remember that iteration of He-Man: the toys would sell.
Matchbox
Think Burnout: Paradise or Need for Speed: Most Wanted but you provide the cars by buying them in packs at the store. Each car could have different handling, boosts and damage effects. New content could be done in the form of new driveable areas coinciding with new compatible cars. It would be awesome and give me a reason to have 100 different Matchbox cars floating around my desk.
Honorable Mention
I so very much wanted to include Star Wars on this list but being as Disney now owns the brand, it seems inevitable that the iconic franchise (and its iconic toyline) will eventually end up in Disney Infinity. But until they actually do show up there, I will continue to think of the amazing possibilities the brand could bring to this style of game.
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