darkSpyro

http://venturebeat.com/2013/02...for-skylanders/

In a conference call to investors to report the company’s annual earnings, Activision’s top executive said that the slow adoption of the Wii U would pose a challenge for its Skylanders gaming franchise.

“We were somewhat disappointed with the launch of the Wii U,” he said. “It’s a challenging environment. One of the things we’re worried about is what the install base will be for 6 to 12 year olds.”

Well, $1b in revenue and you're crying? Wowzers.

And what about new competition from Disney Infinity, which combines the toy-based gaming model of Skylanders with the brand power of The Walt Disney Company?

“We take every competitor seriously, but Skylanders is a proven force,” said Hirshberg. ”If the response we’re seeing from toy fairs is anything to go by, we expect to increase our presence at retail [this year].”

My prediction: Infinity will do well and will "legitimize" toys to life, but skylanders will still be dominate. At least through this year.

I'm not so sure. There will be a LOT of dollars thrown at promoting Infinity and people's budgets only stretch so far. I can't see people spending a lot of money on both. Skylanders as a product has some serious issues and I can't see Activision doing anything much to address these issues. If they continue to focus on characters over game play I can see Skylanders taking a huge hit. I think Skylanders could compete well with Infinity and who is to say Infinity won't have its own problems, but Skylanders is a big investment for a game that takes at most a few days to complete with limited replay appeal and toys that quickly become redundant. I think Infinity is a huge threat to Skylanders and Activision only have themselves to blame for treating their customers like a bunch of suckers.

Wait, Infinity a threat? Just seems kinda joke to me, I take it about as seriously as Epic Mickey or Toy Story games.

New console genaration will sell less, when ps1 came out 100% of my friend had it, when ps2 came out 60% of my friends had it, and when ps3 came out 10% of my friends have it and with ps4 probably only 1 of my frinends will have her . WHy?

They getting to much expensive for a regular pocket and why bother buy a ps4 for 500$ when you can buy a pc for the same price with free games to download (or even equal or better graphic) and of course online play.

So no ps4 for me, I dont care about skylanders when he leave ps3 so do I , the money that i will save in pc play will worth it

Quote: WUMBOSIMPSON

Wait, Infinity a threat? Just seems kinda joke to me, I take it about as seriously as Epic Mickey or Toy Story games.

this. and the fact that kids like to DO stuff with their toys. the swappability and lightcores are something infinity doesn't have.

I have yet to see anything indication a real storyline element in Disney Infinity. That being the case, I have very little interest. If the Marvel or Star Wars brands actually get ported into it I might give it a second look. Otherwise the only one that really currently interests me is the Pirates of the Caribbean figures. Sadly I dont feel thats enough for me to invest in Infinity over Skylanders at this point in time.

I think wii u is just off to a slow start partly like what spyroblue said, and also because there isnt much out yet. However the big N has announces lots of wii u titles to come and even recently some luigi themed dlc for mario u. The sales will start to improve once more good titles come out. I know for a fact some people plan to buy one next month just to play monster hunter 3 ultimate. Once we see a new zelda or a few other good games like bayonette 2 (wich is a wii u exclusive) sales should pick up, by how much who knows.

Ah yeah, I read this the other day. I think right now a lot of execs are seeing slow Wii U sales numbers and worrying...they're just not realizing that this is the beginning of the lifespan for this console, while things like the Wii, 360 and PS3 have all been out for many years now. People that have one of those consoles aren't going to go out and get a Wii U to play Giants, even if it's the best version of the game.

I think these guys are too quick to jump on the "omg the Wii U is failing" bandwagon. Same thing happened with the 3DS, and now it's a heavy hitter console. I'd be willing to bet that the system will pick up in sales over the year when more games are released/announced, and by the time Swap Force comes out, that version will sell pretty well.

Ok wii U isnt bad. We can always wacth a movie ( wait you cant do that )

Or getting a replay value on games by doing the trophies (wrong again dont have trophies)

You can play on the screen that come with the gamepad( wait again if you can play in a plama why wasting my eye sigh in a small screen ) .

They amazing graphic (they have 6 years to develop a console that is equal or bit better graphic them a xbox or a ps3 )

And all this for a expensive price, you better be quick cuz they sell realy bad (have your time)

Quote: WUMBOSIMPSON

Wait, Infinity a threat? Just seems kinda joke to me, I take it about as seriously as Epic Mickey or Toy Story games.

My son went in yesterday to Best Buy and said Epic Mickey was EPIC. Don't know if he's giving up Skylanders, though. Frankly, my kids are not Disney lobotomized yet, so they aren't google over their IPs. No one has said they wanted it.

Quote: GASSA

I'm not so sure. There will be a LOT of dollars thrown at promoting Infinity and people's budgets only stretch so far. I can't see people spending a lot of money on both. Skylanders as a product has some serious issues and I can't see Activision doing anything much to address these issues. If they continue to focus on characters over game play I can see Skylanders taking a huge hit. I think Skylanders could compete well with Infinity and who is to say Infinity won't have its own problems, but Skylanders is a big investment for a game that takes at most a few days to complete with limited replay appeal and toys that quickly become redundant. I think Infinity is a huge threat to Skylanders and Activision only have themselves to blame for treating their customers like a bunch of suckers.

Frankly both has issues, and I wasn't discounting Disney's entry. I'm simply 'saying toys to life will be truly "legitimate".

Considering that Activiison was the only entry it only makes sense that they will take a hit. At the same time, I guarantee consumers who has never heard of Skylanders might actually come to the franchise as a result of Infinity. So, there will be some give/take.

Sounds like you are bitter. I'm sure somewhere on the Infinity board someone will say the same thing your'e saying (treating customers like a bunch of suckers). Oh wait. Disney customers are lobotomized to not think but simply consume any crud they throw their way.

Quote: spyroflame0487

I'd be willing to bet that the system will pick up in sales over the year when more games are released/announced, and by the time Swap Force comes out, that version will sell pretty well.

I agree. Sales have typically been lukewarm. It's a chicken/egg problem. People won't buy the hardware without the software, the software guys won't create until there's some market share in the hardware.

Quote: spyroblue

They getting to much expensive for a regular pocket and why bother buy a ps4 for 500$ when you can buy a pc for the same price with free games to download (or even equal or better graphic) and of course online play.

I agree, but from what I understand the new gen consoles are trying to be more entertainment "hubs" as opposed to dedicated gaming machines--so it sounds like they are trying to up the ante here. For the sake of gaming's future, I hope it works.

Quote: GothamLord

I have yet to see anything indication a real storyline element in Disney Infinity. That being the case, I have very little interest. If the Marvel or Star Wars brands actually get ported into it I might give it a second look. Otherwise the only one that really currently interests me is the Pirates of the Caribbean figures. Sadly I dont feel thats enough for me to invest in Infinity over Skylanders at this point in time.

That's why I think Skylanders will have stronger sales. Since storyboard is santized from mixing and matching characters, most people will stick with the one or two IPs that appeal to them and it will be done. Disney has a lot of IP to work through before it's done so I'm sure they will eventually get to the Marvel and Star Wars. All I'm saying is that Skylanders opens up ALL of the franchise whereas customers in Infinity are more likely to stay in one world. And if toy box mode is questionable on return on value. It's cool and all, but free play is kinda lazy.

The Wii U is going to be fine. Everyone thought the same thing about the 3DS two years ago, and Nintendo responded by pulling several shrewd yet smart moves that catapulted the console to dominance. When they see that the Wii U is faltering, they're going to slash the price, market the heck out of it, release Zelda and Mario, and nobody will be talking about this by the time Swap Force comes out.

Also, Disney consumers and video game consumers have historically been two separate things. Name one blockbuster Disney game. I think they're overestimating how many of their fans are gamers, and even worse, how many gamers are Disney fans.

Fact is, stories like this are actually good for business. This isn't Activision really worrying about their franchise, it's them leveraging Nintendo into pushing their system harder. This is a huge franchise that has typically been built for the Nintendo brand and ported elsewhere. The announcement is Activision saying they need to get their act together if they want to keep it that way, not them worrying that Skylanders Swap Force will fail to be successful because of a lackluster Wii U launch. If a layman like me knows this, it was obvious to Activision's marketing gurus well before they very carefully crafted this statement. Everything is planned. There's not much in the way of truly "off the cuff" remarks in the business world.

Quote: WUMBOSIMPSON

Wait, Infinity a threat? Just seems kinda joke to me, I take it about as seriously as Epic Mickey or Toy Story games.

This is pretty much how i feel about it.


Quote: Hakann

You can play on the screen that come with the gamepad( wait again if you can play in a plama why wasting my eye sigh in a small screen ) .

This is the biggest feature of the wii U, i have a ps3 as well, but i get 10x the playtime on my wii U because i dont need to worry about if someone
wants to watch the TV, i can still sit in the lounge and play - or go to my bedroom and play in my bedroom at night.

Wii U may not have a lot of advantages over the ps3 and xbox, but its a natural progression from the original Wii as its a big leap in graphics, and is made
to work 100% with the Wii's controllers and is 100% backwards compatible with the Wii's games, it may not be selling big right now, but i have
no doubt as the Wii dies off the Wii U will take over. (especially as the price falls)

the only problem with disney Infinity is pricing. If they priced it on par or lower than Skylanders they make take on Skylanders seeing how some fans will not let go of their beloved collection. SSF and DI both have ok game play but DI have advantage on replayability(toy box mode). Ingame feature this is where DI has advantage as 4player and online mode was a plus for the game which skylanders skipped this year. remember Disney has a huge franchise Tron, Marvel, Starwars. they will just test the waters with DI improved it and will for sure bring this big names into infinity.

whats good about this is Skylanders wont be slacking off and may also drive the prices down due to competition which is good for us end users. we will support both games as we had fun playing and liked the idea of toy meets video game. just my opinion anywas.

^ I think replay value is totally subjective here. Completionists will find endless hours of OCD semi-excitement in completing Heroics and 100%-ing everything Skylanders has to offer, and it's these very same players who probably won't be compelled to spend a whole lot of time in a directionless sandbox. It just depends on the style of the gamer. Sandbox games are plentiful, and honestly, from a personal perspective, I'm a little worn on the genre and I feel I've tasted the best it has to offer with games like Red Dead Redemption.

Toy Box mode on Infinity can kiss my butt. I've never liked building levels for others to enjoy. Well, I take that back. If I had a job creating Skylanders, that would be one thing.

However, wasting my life making levels on games like Minecraft, Little Big Planet, and Infinity Toy Box Mode won't get me anywhere. Some will like it, sure, but for me, I like my online competitive or cooperative.

"IF" I get Infinity, Toy Box Mode is the last thing I would ever mess with. I'm still skeptical about even getting into Infinity, because some playsets might not have the type of gameplay I like. If Cars is nothing more than a racing game, I wasted money on Infinity already, by not having all of the on-disc content, because there are way too many racers and first person shooters out there, which have brought down gaming in my eyes.

^actually its true but wud you rather play the same thing over and over again for 100x over playing different maps made by players? I really prefer Skylanders but they shud really improve their ingame features but I suppose it caters to kids mainly thats why they made it so simple. no online mode was the feature that turned me off with Skylanders but oh well they will prolly realize this once their competition comes into play. if they really fear of kids playing with strangers make some security features then. but like I said we will still support as we enjoy playing skylanders and hope they will be way better with their next games.

Oh I'm getting Infinity. I doubt I collect all the toys, but our toddler is in love with Skylanders Giants and shows no signs of moving on, while mommy and daddy are beyond sick of the game. For our own sanity, a stopgap solution in the "toys to life" genre for summer is something we're hotly anticipating.

We just don't view it as a legitimate threat to Skylanders, that's all. Doesn't mean it won't be enjoyable, but... come on. Immobile toys while the competition has lights and part swapping, higher prices, late to the party, a Disney game... so much is piling up that it would be reasonable of anyone to question the product's ability to succeed.

no one even know that skylanders will even succeed at first same this will apply to new comers of this genre. like I mentioned above DI shud fixed their pricing if they want to be competetive. competetion will always be good for us end users. they will be making better products and prices to drop down. I really want them to both succeed so this genre may innovate more.