darkSpyro

It's looking like trap team was a pretty big success and still beating Disney and amiibo so far hopefully this means they'll try and maintain their lead and make the next game something special.


http://skylanderaddictsblog.co...-is-number-one/

I'm honestly surprised given Trap Team's lukewarm reception. If anything, this disappoints me a bit. Rather than have to fight to stay relevant and truly make their games great, they now know they can keep going with what they're doing rather than innovate. And when I say innovate, I mean actual innovation rather than these half baked gimmicks every year.

Quote: Couragefan09

I'm honestly surprised given Trap Team's lukewarm reception. If anything, this disappoints me a bit. Rather than have to fight to stay relevant and truly make their games great, they now know they can keep going with what they're doing rather than innovate. And when I say innovate, I mean actual innovation rather than these half baked gimmicks every year.

Agreed, if the score was lower, which I wish it was, they might see that they need to stop the "rinse and repeat" formula of making these games,

Yeah innovation is quite necessary in Skylanders. The leaked picture showing that third person shooter view has give me some hope that they may come up with some special next time.

No surprises there. If Disney wants to close that gap they need to work on their game play.

Guys, this blog merely reposts a shareholder update from last week or so. Shares were up 9% on Friday so I suspect Destiny is a huge part of it. Bottom line we have no actual sales number so without numbers a general statement does not greatness make.

Btw, agree with everyone's sentiments. They need to do more than to overlay a gimmick on top of the exact same game. The attention to where they put effort APART FROM the gimmick will decide if I'm in for another ride.

Hah, there's actually a few articles going around and apparently Disney is claiming more sales too lol.

But the general consensus seems to be that skylanders had a lot of previous customers that bought the game/figures , where's as Disney infinite has more new customers.

People seem to be getting very defensive on their forums about this lol. Saying Disney infinity sucks or skylanders sucks. They don't seem to understand they are very different games.

I've played infinite as well, and it's very different . It's more open world and has more individual character content, but I kinda found the levels not very exciting or challenging. It's more of an straight adventure game were as skylanders has less content but is more about adventure/fighting, which I prefer a lot more.

People will invariably try and connect the two when nothing warrants it other than being in the toys to life genre. I've seen enough of Infintiy's offering to know I prefer to stick with the Skylanders brand. There's nothing bad about having loyalty...but that loyalty will be tested without some shakeup in their formula due to toy fatigue and not having anything new - and no the gimmick doesn't count in that equation.

Well Sky 5 is coming up, a long with (I believe) the 5th anniversary of Skylanders. I'd love to see some big changes gameplay wise and a SSA remake.

Quote: GhostRoaster

People will invariably try and connect the two when nothing warrants it other than being in the toys to life genre. I've seen enough of Infintiy's offering to know I prefer to stick with the Skylanders brand. There's nothing bad about having loyalty...but that loyalty will be tested without some shakeup in their formula due to toy fatigue and not having anything new - and no the gimmick doesn't count in that equation.

Agree.

People are still trying to compare the figures a lot too . Saying that a game that offers frozen and marvel etc should be more successful then a random monster fightng game . But they obviously don't understand the Pokemon factor lol.

It really depends wat your into ... Classic characters from your fav movies or discovering new imaginative characters you haven't seen before.

I personally don't think they are direct competitors. I haven't heard of anyone purposely switching from skylanders to Disney infinite or vice versa.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Well Sky 5 is coming up, a long with (I believe) the 5th anniversary of Skylanders. I'd love to see some big changes gameplay wise and a SSA remake.

An anniversary remake would be cool. But I'm not super sure 5 is enough . But it would make sense if say they were gonna make that first person shooter game as the new game but also remake and update SA to keep the classic style choice in circulation.

http://venturebeat.com/2015/01...e-hybrid-sales/

Both Disney and Activision are claiming the #1 spot, although it looks like Disney is just looking at US numbers (or possibly just DI 2.0 vs STT), while Acivision is looking at global sales, or comparing the entire franchise (including all past games). Either way they both did well. Our household ended up buying both DI 2.0 and STT starter packs. No Amiibo's yet

...,maybe I'm mis-reading it, but those % were NOT impressive.

Outsold largest competitor by 17%. Considering the larger installed base of skylander, the amount of support in stores, and the actually CHEAPER figures...I'm not impressed by 17%.

30% larger than its nearest competitor. So factoring in install base, it's only close to 1/3 larger? Disney has caught up THAT fast? Nintendo doesn't get to sniff this discussion yet (amiibos are useless anyway, returned half of mine since they weren't opened yet). And and and! I'd wager that skylanders has more 'multi-copy' buyers than Disney as well. Isn't portable yet - no 3DS (well Vita - yet), no tablet (yet!), and the way sales numbers are done, I'm sure they double dip on those Wii numbers with the 'free' Wii U copy, just like double disc music CDs.

I'm sorry...it may 'technically' be #1, but its a 'losers' #1 in that it shows a negative trend.
- Unreall

Quote: Unreallystic

...,maybe I'm mis-reading it, but those % were NOT impressive.

Outsold largest competitor by 17%. Considering the larger installed base of skylander, the amount of support in stores, and the actually CHEAPER figures...I'm not impressed by 17%.

30% larger than its nearest competitor. So factoring in install base, it's only close to 1/3 larger? Disney has caught up THAT fast? Nintendo doesn't get to sniff this discussion yet (amiibos are useless anyway, returned half of mine since they weren't opened yet). And and and! I'd wager that skylanders has more 'multi-copy' buyers than Disney as well. Isn't portable yet - no 3DS (well Vita - yet), no tablet (yet!), and the way sales numbers are done, I'm sure they double dip on those Wii numbers with the 'free' Wii U copy, just like double disc music CDs.

I'm sorry...it may 'technically' be #1, but its a 'losers' #1 in that it shows a negative trend.
- Unreall

To be fair , Disney infinite doing better then last year doesn't mean skylanders is doing worse. Of course Disney infinite sales were gonna go up with a second game.

No matter what, Skylanders is better than any figure-based game that will come after it

Quote: newkill

No matter what, Skylanders is better than any figure-based game that will come after it

So it seems, Yes...

People are arguing, saying that Infinity did better, but it's clearly incorrect. Every single DI figure, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. is not selling well.

Every single ToysRUs I've been to over the past 4 months has had an extreme overstock of Disney Infinity figures. You could get a complete set of figures for each game (minus the ones that haven't been released yet) just by walking into two of them and buying each one you need.


For Skylanders: I see parents, kids, and teens alike browsing through the figures here. I see multiple empty pegs, unlike when I browse the Infinity section.


It's also too early to compare Amiibo to these 2, as Nintendo is doing a terrible job with stock.

"We're low on figures."

"Here, more Mario."

"B..but we have over 40 boxes o-"

"HAVE MORE PIKACHU, THEN."

Quote: Matteomax

People are arguing, saying that Infinity did better, but it's clearly incorrect. Every single DI figure, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. is not selling well.

Every single ToysRUs I've been to over the past 4 months has had an extreme overstock of Disney Infinity figures. You could get a complete set of figures for each game (minus the ones that haven't been released yet) just by walking into two of them and buying each one you need.


For Skylanders: I see parents, kids, and teens alike browsing through the figures here. I see multiple empty pegs, unlike when I browse the Infinity section.


It's also too early to compare Amiibo to these 2, as Nintendo is doing a terrible job with stock.

"We're low on figures."

"Here, more Mario."

"B..but we have over 40 boxes o-"

"HAVE MORE PIKACHU, THEN."

I 100% agree.

also to add on to the Amiibo Conversation

"Have you noticed Marth, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Captain Falcon, Pit and Little Mac haven't been on are shelves for awhile? Other might be looking for them."

"Who likes those guys anyways?! The only franchises Nintendo cares about are Mario, Zelda and Pokemon so lets just overstock with Mario, Link, Pikachu and Peach so the characters from other franchises can get ditched so only the GOOD franchise characters can be bought."

"But don't we have too many Mario, Link, Pikachu and Peaches already?"

"How many people like Mario and how many like Wii Fit Trainer?"

"I see now. Guess I'll add 40 more Mario's"

I dont hate Nintendo, Smash Brothers or Amiibos. I LOVE all 3 but the marketing is absolutely horrible.

Quote: Matteomax

People are arguing, saying that Infinity did better, but it's clearly incorrect. Every single DI figure, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. is not selling well.

Every single ToysRUs I've been to over the past 4 months has had an extreme overstock of Disney Infinity figures. You could get a complete set of figures for each game (minus the ones that haven't been released yet) just by walking into two of them and buying each one you need.


For Skylanders: I see parents, kids, and teens alike browsing through the figures here. I see multiple empty pegs, unlike when I browse the Infinity section.


It's also too early to compare Amiibo to these 2, as Nintendo is doing a terrible job with stock.

"We're low on figures."

"Here, more Mario."

"B..but we have over 40 boxes o-"

"HAVE MORE PIKACHU, THEN."

I could have said it better myself.

Quote: wild_defender

Quote: Unreallystic

...,maybe I'm mis-reading it, but those % were NOT impressive.

Outsold largest competitor by 17%. Considering the larger installed base of skylander, the amount of support in stores, and the actually CHEAPER figures...I'm not impressed by 17%.

30% larger than its nearest competitor. So factoring in install base, it's only close to 1/3 larger? Disney has caught up THAT fast? Nintendo doesn't get to sniff this discussion yet (amiibos are useless anyway, returned half of mine since they weren't opened yet). And and and! I'd wager that skylanders has more 'multi-copy' buyers than Disney as well. Isn't portable yet - no 3DS (well Vita - yet), no tablet (yet!), and the way sales numbers are done, I'm sure they double dip on those Wii numbers with the 'free' Wii U copy, just like double disc music CDs.

I'm sorry...it may 'technically' be #1, but its a 'losers' #1 in that it shows a negative trend.
- Unreall

To be fair , Disney infinite doing better then last year doesn't mean skylanders is doing worse. Of course Disney infinite sales were gonna go up with a second game.

I think of it like this. Activision used to own 100% of this market. Of course competitors will look like they are heading higher and Acti are heading lower. It all depends on how they extrapolate and communicate the numbers...and true to form...the companies are acting in the best interests of their shareholders.

Yes, Skylanders is still #1, but like the New England Patriots they're geting old and the rest of the league has them in their sights.

Quote: GigaCamo

Quote: Matteomax

People are arguing, saying that Infinity did better, but it's clearly incorrect. Every single DI figure, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. is not selling well.

Every single ToysRUs I've been to over the past 4 months has had an extreme overstock of Disney Infinity figures. You could get a complete set of figures for each game (minus the ones that haven't been released yet) just by walking into two of them and buying each one you need.


For Skylanders: I see parents, kids, and teens alike browsing through the figures here. I see multiple empty pegs, unlike when I browse the Infinity section.


It's also too early to compare Amiibo to these 2, as Nintendo is doing a terrible job with stock.

"We're low on figures."

"Here, more Mario."

"B..but we have over 40 boxes o-"

"HAVE MORE PIKACHU, THEN."

I 100% agree.

also to add on to the Amiibo Conversation

"Have you noticed Marth, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Captain Falcon, Pit and Little Mac haven't been on are shelves for awhile? Other might be looking for them."

"Who likes those guys anyways?! The only franchises Nintendo cares about are Mario, Zelda and Pokemon so lets just overstock with Mario, Link, Pikachu and Peach so the characters from other franchises can get ditched so only the GOOD franchise characters can be bought."

"But don't we have too many Mario, Link, Pikachu and Peaches already?"

"How many people like Mario and how many like Wii Fit Trainer?"

"I see now. Guess I'll add 40 more Mario's"

I dont hate Nintendo, Smash Brothers or Amiibos. I LOVE all 3 but the marketing is absolutely horrible.

Tell me about it you guys. You and Matteo are right on the money on Nintendo's problem with stock. Sucks for me sinc most of my favorite fighters are the lesser known underdogs in the game.

Nintendo had thought initially that low production of more obscure characters (Wii Fit Trainer, Marth, & Villager) was smart...the last thing you want to do is sit on stock of characters that nobody wants. Now they've created a monster with people grabbing up obscure characters with every single wave that's released. A different kind of popularity has been created through rarity. Meanwhile, the truly popular characters with high production numbers like Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and Link have become the shelf warmers. It may be a very smart move by Nintendo as it's attracting many more people to the Amiibo line and creating a hunting frenzy unlike any other. Maybe Skylanders is taking a page from the Amiibo line and creating extra popularity/interest for the light and dark expansion packs by creating the rarity factor by just trickling supply of them into stores rather than dumping loads of them into stores....same goes for the Kaos trap.

In all the major stores I visited, Amiibos and Disney Infinity figures occupied almost double the space reserved for Skylanders, and they were overstocked, compared to the latters.

There wasn't even a Portal stand to try out the figures, in one store.

One may think "Oooh, it's because they are selling so well that there are so much".
I don't think that's correct.

Companies, but maybe also single stores are trying their best to give those two series the most visibility possible, so they will be more attracted to them.

"Wow, mum, look! A Pikachu figure! Can we buy it?"

"I don't know... You already have tons of those Pokèmon figures, and we already bought the other... Puppets game, the one with the purple dragon... You have to choose which one to keep buying."

"Oh. Ok, then. Ill take the golden lion for Skylanders."

And that doesn't necessarily mean they are worse games.
Just that, so far, people aren't responding as well as they are with Skylanders.

Outside of the obvious fact that the games are quite different, each other, so it would be like comparing Mario to Crash.

Both platforms, absolutely different.
And, yes, I know that the type of game are different, for those three, and that the common thing is the "toys to life" mechanic, but, I think you got my point...

I think people overestimate the collectability of Disney infinite and ammibos.

To the average gamer, Just because you like mario doesn't mean you want/need to buy pikachu and just because you like marvel super heroes doesn't mean your gonna want to buy toy story characters or princesS' as well.

I doont think they have the same " collect em all " type Pokemon effect skylanders have on people that makes them want to play a lot of characters, if not all. Especially with skylanders still being cheaper.

The now 10 element types naturally encourage everyone to have at least 1 of each type of skylanders already, plus whatever gimic.

I don't see how they'll ever overtake skylanders as far as character sales go.

Quote: Drek95

In all the major stores I visited, Amiibos and Disney Infinity figures occupied almost double the space reserved for Skylanders, and they were overstocked, compared to the latters.

There wasn't even a Portal stand to try out the figures, in one store.

One may think "Oooh, it's because they are selling so well that there are so much".
I don't think that's correct.

Companies, but maybe also single stores are trying their best to give those two series the most visibility possible, so they will be more attracted to them.

"Wow, mum, look! A Pikachu figure! Can we buy it?"

"I don't know... You already have tons of those Pokèmon figures, and we already bought the other... Puppets game, the one with the purple dragon... You have to choose which one to keep buying."

"Oh. Ok, then. Ill take the golden lion for Skylanders."

And that doesn't necessarily mean they are worse games.
Just that, so far, people aren't responding as well as they are with Skylanders.

Outside of the obvious fact that the games are quite different, each other, so it would be like comparing Mario to Crash.

Both platforms, absolutely different.
And, yes, I know that the type of game are different, for those three, and that the common thing is the "toys to life" mechanic, but, I think you got my point...

agree

skylanders character waves sell them selves straight off the shelves ( even before their shelved sometimes) within a couple of days without a single reminder to the public about new characters.

I' Ve never seen anyone ruthlessly searching through Disney figures, or even a single sold out stand. Sure they could be better at maintaining stock, but if they aren't selling what they are producing fast, there's not much money cycling back.

Quote: wild_defender

I think people overestimate the collectability of Disney infinite and ammibos.

To the average gamer, Just because you like mario doesn't mean you want/need to buy pikachu and just because you like marvel super heroes doesn't mean your gonna want to buy toy story characters or princesS' as well.

I doont think they have the same " collect em all " type Pokemon effect skylanders have on people that makes them want to play a lot of characters, if not all. Especially with skylanders still being cheaper.

The now 10 element types naturally encourage everyone to have at least 1 of each type of skylanders already, plus whatever gimic.

I don't see how they'll ever overtake skylanders as far as character sales go.

I only want 24 of the amiibos. I don't want to buy all of the amiibos and nowadays the amiibos are a mess.The one I TRULLY want is Falco.

It's hard to look at store stock as a meaning to anything.

Skylanders near me occupy 3-4 TIMES more space than amibos and DI COMBINED, so going by sheer retail space is a horrible comparison.

Skylanders always gets the most visibility, I had to HUNT down the amiibo sections when I was looking for figures, and DI is always 'after' you've past Skylanders, even when both are 'upfront', you 'see' Skylanders before you can see and/or come to DI.

It looks like everyone agrees that Amiibos aren't even part of the discussion (I still struggle with their purpose, reusable DLC for multiple games?...oooh costume for Hyrule Warrior and Mario Kart?).

This is where 'Waves' show their strength. For the most part DI has a launch wave, then a 'second' wave of figures most people won't care about. Compare that to Skylanders who launches with honestly a moderate 'launch class', and saves that 'recognizable fan interested' characters like Enigma, for later waves to keep interest high. The only delay DI had on a character like that was Hulk...and that was due to Sony exclusivity.

How "I" see it? Skylanders should be putting a WHOOPING on DI, but they aren't. I look at those numbers, and as an established franchise going against the new kid in town, with more retail space, more diverse figures, arguably better pricing, better positioning in retail stores, better sales, better release strategy, and honestly, a higher 'aggregate review score' if you will, it's disappointing for the market share to be only around 60-70%, with sales only showing about 15% higher. To me, that shows a downward trend, amiibos most likely won't turn into a legit threat, so focusing on DI, its obvious that next year, with the release of Star Wars, that DI3.0 will focus on Star Wars, and a high chance that they may still throw in a little more Marvel with the Marvel movies kicking butt, Ant-Man & Wasp already 'done', etc - leading to DI3.0 being bigger than DI2.0. Add in improved retail strategy from the house that Mickey built, and it would be expected that they take an even larger slice of the pie - that could be suffering burn out any year now.

So yeah, Skylanders is doing better than DI, half a brain can see that, but the numbers don't instill confidence.
- Unreall

Bear in mind when reading these that each company looks to paint the best possible picture for their shareholders.

"Skylanders® Trap Team is the #1 top-selling kids video game globally"

This could mean:

1. They sold the most Trap Team starter packs
2. The sold the most of starter packs and figures combined

Regardless, that's a good result for Activision.

"Skylanders is the #1 kids video game franchise of the year in the U.S, and globally, for the third year in a row, based on retail sell-through including toys and accessories(1)"

What this disguises:

1. This isn't Trap Team specific
2. Sales of old figures, many which are heavily discounted now, are included.
3. Disney Infinity 2.0 may have outsold Trap Team in the US this year.

"As a global franchise in 2014, Skylanders is 30% bigger than its nearest competitor"

When you've released four games into the market compared to your nearest competitors two, you're likely going to be bigger.

"Skylanders Trap Team outsold its nearest competitor globally by 17%"

Very positive news, but this could be influenced by the markets in which Trap Team is available. Selling in more countries for example, would give you a better chance outselling your competitors.

If anyone has a link to the Disney press release (I can't find it), I'll do the same for that.

^ Good job on the real story behind the words. I agree. Quarterly results are soon, and the stock recently jumped 9% (probably due to Destiny). We'll see the truth in the numbers soon.

I figured they already got the bump from Destiny and that it didn't do the numbers they actually anticipated. On the flip, I think CoD sold better than anticipated, Trap Team apparently has at least done well for them (I just think its a downward spin), and I know that apparently they are preparing to dive back into rhythm games (YESH! I NEED a next gen Rock Band, trying to get my boy into music and sports, and that would help with music).

*shrug* We'll find out, Activision is like a cookie hungry octopus with 8 jars around it...
- Unreall

Where did u hear about their desire to get back into instrument games?

Quote: Matteomax

People are arguing, saying that Infinity did better, but it's clearly incorrect. Every single DI figure, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. is not selling well.

Every single ToysRUs I've been to over the past 4 months has had an extreme overstock of Disney Infinity figures. You could get a complete set of figures for each game (minus the ones that haven't been released yet) just by walking into two of them and buying each one you need.


For Skylanders: I see parents, kids, and teens alike browsing through the figures here. I see multiple empty pegs, unlike when I browse the Infinity section.


It's also too early to compare Amiibo to these 2, as Nintendo is doing a terrible job with stock.

"We're low on figures."

"Here, more Mario."

"B..but we have over 40 boxes o-"

"HAVE MORE PIKACHU, THEN."

this is a classic line but sadly its true

I still think that DI3, with star wars I'm assuming, can top whatever Skylanders is going to come up with. Star Wars tops all.

Quote: Squid7201

I still think that DI3, with star wars I'm assuming, can top whatever Skylanders is going to come up with. Star Wars tops all.

Star Wars is still very much a niche market and and won't bring DI too many sales if it's the same old types of missions you see in the first 2 games. The introduction of Lego versions of video games many years ago was innovative. I doubt a Star Wars DI game can give any wow factor to the franchise, but we'll see. It will certainly bring out all the Star Wars geeks and collectors.

Nintendo didn't screw up Amiibos, I mean who exactly has these things on their desk down in Nintendo marketing and says "Hey, we need to manufacture more of those exercise girls and that dude from the strategy game franchise none of the kids like, and cut down our production on Mario, Pikachu and Link"? Keep in mind these figures according to the production run calendar were being made as far back as early Summer.

As people should have figured out by now with Skylanders, it takes months to do a production run of figures, ship them over and distribute. They don't just order a new set of Villagers and they are on the shelves two weeks later. Even if they want to flood the rare ones on the shelves they couldn't very quickly (and definitely not by now - but they did say a re-print of Marth is coming in the future). Scalpers/speculation are rampant with Amiibos, and they are more collectible than functional at the moment - which means the lesser produced ones are rare. In a non-skewed market, the ones that do more and people would typically want more would be Mario, Link, etc..

Quote:

Nintendo didn't screw up Amiibos, I mean who exactly has these things on their desk down in Nintendo marketing and says "Hey, we need to manufacture more of those exercise girls and that dude from the strategy game franchise none of the kids like, and cut down our production on Mario, Pikachu and Link"? Keep in mind these figures according to the production run calendar were being made as far back as early Summer

Wow. Someone else who actually gets how things work.

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: Squid7201

I still think that DI3, with star wars I'm assuming, can top whatever Skylanders is going to come up with. Star Wars tops all.

Star Wars is still very much a niche market and and won't bring DI too many sales if it's the same old types of missions you see in the first 2 games. The introduction of Lego versions of video games many years ago was innovative. I doubt a Star Wars DI game can give any wow factor to the franchise, but we'll see. It will certainly bring out all the Star Wars geeks and collectors.

It's not a 'niche' market at ALL. Don't kid yourself. I don't even like Star Wars and the ilk and I have to admit that it's kind of a big deal.
-New Star wars movie *check*
-Already collected toys *check*
-Large plethora of figures to make which are all fan favorites *check*
-Psycho-Ninja Yoda? Mufasa-Vader? *check*
-Galaxies enable for a HUGE growth in Toy Box mode capabilities, and with all the stories already written, the story mode can EASILY be the best ever *check*
-Fetch and defeat quest 'make sense' *check*
-Collectible variants could be "kind of a big deal" *check*
-Power disc could lead to a lot of options *check*
-Not hampered by Marvel's disdain for Fox (reason why we didn't get any XMen, Marvel is trying to kill all things tied to Fox, until they can make money off it again) *check*

Am I expecting the wheel to be remade? Naw. I'm expecting DI2.0 - reskinned, with less overhead to allow for bigger worlds and quicker load times, more tie-ins to the existing mythos, better combat, better sound effects, better power disc, and admittedly generic figures, though Darth Mau and Yoda will be had off principle alone - sort of like Hulk (dang it Disney, where is my crystal Red Hulk). But with that said, its less about 'making the best game possible' and more about the license and how it can be applied to pull in the loyalist, the kids of the loyalist, and the intrigued.
- Unreall

I get you both. Star Wars has had a huge impact on kids on MY generation, and there's movies from ten years ago and current Cartoon Network content still coming in to keep it relevant. It's a mini Disney if you will, because of impact over multiple generations. I get the niche market comment however because Star Wars has a bit of a catchup because of the poor performance of the prequels. However, Lucas wasn't stupid to keep the option for the toy revenue when he made the originals. Toys is where it's at in this franchise---as a result it will become a "big deal" when implemented in Disney. There will be people buying toys with no intent of even buying the game as a result.

I would argue however that the potential turnout for a Star Wars only infinity may look MUCH different customer wise than current--which will play into their "new customers" marketing research that will make it look like it's taking larger market share. I'd like to look at it from a units sold perspective however.

Quote: Unreallystic

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: Squid7201

I still think that DI3, with star wars I'm assuming, can top whatever Skylanders is going to come up with. Star Wars tops all.

Star Wars is still very much a niche market and and won't bring DI too many sales if it's the same old types of missions you see in the first 2 games. The introduction of Lego versions of video games many years ago was innovative. I doubt a Star Wars DI game can give any wow factor to the franchise, but we'll see. It will certainly bring out all the Star Wars geeks and collectors.

It's not a 'niche' market at ALL. Don't kid yourself. I don't even like Star Wars and the ilk and I have to admit that it's kind of a big deal.
-New Star wars movie *check*
-Already collected toys *check*
-Large plethora of figures to make which are all fan favorites *check*
-Psycho-Ninja Yoda? Mufasa-Vader? *check*
-Galaxies enable for a HUGE growth in Toy Box mode capabilities, and with all the stories already written, the story mode can EASILY be the best ever *check*
-Fetch and defeat quest 'make sense' *check*
-Collectible variants could be "kind of a big deal" *check*
-Power disc could lead to a lot of options *check*
-Not hampered by Marvel's disdain for Fox (reason why we didn't get any XMen, Marvel is trying to kill all things tied to Fox, until they can make money off it again) *check*

Am I expecting the wheel to be remade? Naw. I'm expecting DI2.0 - reskinned, with less overhead to allow for bigger worlds and quicker load times, more tie-ins to the existing mythos, better combat, better sound effects, better power disc, and admittedly generic figures, though Darth Mau and Yoda will be had off principle alone - sort of like Hulk (dang it Disney, where is my crystal Red Hulk). But with that said, its less about 'making the best game possible' and more about the license and how it can be applied to pull in the loyalist, the kids of the loyalist, and the intrigued.
- Unreall

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Unreallystic

Quote: mastermc54

Star Wars is still very much a niche market and and won't bring DI too many sales if it's the same old types of missions you see in the first 2 games. The introduction of Lego versions of video games many years ago was innovative. I doubt a Star Wars DI game can give any wow factor to the franchise, but we'll see. It will certainly bring out all the Star Wars geeks and collectors.

It's not a 'niche' market at ALL. Don't kid yourself. I don't even like Star Wars and the ilk and I have to admit that it's kind of a big deal.
-New Star wars movie *check*
-Already collected toys *check*
-Large plethora of figures to make which are all fan favorites *check*
-Psycho-Ninja Yoda? Mufasa-Vader? *check*
-Galaxies enable for a HUGE growth in Toy Box mode capabilities, and with all the stories already written, the story mode can EASILY be the best ever *check*
-Fetch and defeat quest 'make sense' *check*
-Collectible variants could be "kind of a big deal" *check*
-Power disc could lead to a lot of options *check*
-Not hampered by Marvel's disdain for Fox (reason why we didn't get any XMen, Marvel is trying to kill all things tied to Fox, until they can make money off it again) *check*

Am I expecting the wheel to be remade? Naw. I'm expecting DI2.0 - reskinned, with less overhead to allow for bigger worlds and quicker load times, more tie-ins to the existing mythos, better combat, better sound effects, better power disc, and admittedly generic figures, though Darth Mau and Yoda will be had off principle alone - sort of like Hulk (dang it Disney, where is my crystal Red Hulk). But with that said, its less about 'making the best game possible' and more about the license and how it can be applied to pull in the loyalist, the kids of the loyalist, and the intrigued.
- Unreall

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Don't want to sound ironic, but water is actually one of the "gimmicks" I like the most, in videogames.

Sure, you probably can't revolve an entire game like Skylanders or DI around it, but I LOVE it as an element, and because it is mysterious and unpredictable.

As a pure "item", it would be interesting to see water-based contraptions, in DI, and the randomness of a liquid just excites me. Think about all the possible reactions, both visually and technically speaking!

As an environment feature... Who wouldn't want Water Skylanders to be able to dive, and reach the depths to uncover ancient sunken Arkeyan cities and also battle giant sea monsters, all while don't caring AT ALL about the oxygen?

When they announced a water-themed Expansion Pack for LBP, my jaw dropped instantly.
Water is a GREAT "gimmick", but I don't think it would work, alone.

Oh, and I agree with you.
It always put a smile on my face, when someone says "Skylanders never innovates", and then buys DI.

Always.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Unreallystic

It's not a 'niche' market at ALL. Don't kid yourself. I don't even like Star Wars and the ilk and I have to admit that it's kind of a big deal.
-New Star wars movie *check*
-Already collected toys *check*
-Large plethora of figures to make which are all fan favorites *check*
-Psycho-Ninja Yoda? Mufasa-Vader? *check*
-Galaxies enable for a HUGE growth in Toy Box mode capabilities, and with all the stories already written, the story mode can EASILY be the best ever *check*
-Fetch and defeat quest 'make sense' *check*
-Collectible variants could be "kind of a big deal" *check*
-Power disc could lead to a lot of options *check*
-Not hampered by Marvel's disdain for Fox (reason why we didn't get any XMen, Marvel is trying to kill all things tied to Fox, until they can make money off it again) *check*

Am I expecting the wheel to be remade? Naw. I'm expecting DI2.0 - reskinned, with less overhead to allow for bigger worlds and quicker load times, more tie-ins to the existing mythos, better combat, better sound effects, better power disc, and admittedly generic figures, though Darth Mau and Yoda will be had off principle alone - sort of like Hulk (dang it Disney, where is my crystal Red Hulk). But with that said, its less about 'making the best game possible' and more about the license and how it can be applied to pull in the loyalist, the kids of the loyalist, and the intrigued.
- Unreall

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Don't want to sound ironic, but water is actually one of the "gimmicks" I like the most, in videogames.

Sure, you probably can't revolve an entire game like Skylanders or DI around it, but I LOVE it as an element, and because it is mysterious and unpredictable.

As a pure "item", it would be interesting to see water-based contraptions, in DI, and the randomness of a liquid just excites me. Think about all the possible reactions, both visually and technically speaking!

As an environment feature... Who wouldn't want Water Skylanders to be able to dive, and reach the depths to uncover ancient sunken Arkeyan cities and also battle giant sea monsters, all while don't caring AT ALL about the oxygen?

When they announced a water-themed Expansion Pack for LBP, my jaw dropped instantly.
Water is a GREAT "gimmick", but I don't think it would work, alone.

Oh, and I agree with you.
It always put a smile on my face, when someone says "Skylanders never innovates", and then buys DI.

Always.

Oh don't get me wrong I LOVE water, Drinking it, swimming in it and such. In games it's awesome as well. It just seems like a sudden drop from Star Wars to....water?

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Drek95

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Don't want to sound ironic, but water is actually one of the "gimmicks" I like the most, in videogames.

Sure, you probably can't revolve an entire game like Skylanders or DI around it, but I LOVE it as an element, and because it is mysterious and unpredictable.

As a pure "item", it would be interesting to see water-based contraptions, in DI, and the randomness of a liquid just excites me. Think about all the possible reactions, both visually and technically speaking!

As an environment feature... Who wouldn't want Water Skylanders to be able to dive, and reach the depths to uncover ancient sunken Arkeyan cities and also battle giant sea monsters, all while don't caring AT ALL about the oxygen?

When they announced a water-themed Expansion Pack for LBP, my jaw dropped instantly.
Water is a GREAT "gimmick", but I don't think it would work, alone.

Oh, and I agree with you.
It always put a smile on my face, when someone says "Skylanders never innovates", and then buys DI.

Always.

Oh don't get me wrong I LOVE water, Drinking it, swimming in it and such. In games it's awesome as well. It just seems like a sudden drop from Star Wars to....water?

Sure, both the ways I intended water for those games are more like "features" rather then the core of the gameplay.

Like jump-attack in Trap Team, or skills in DI 2.0.

Something the new game has, and that the previous lacked, but isn't fundamental.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Hahaha.

Well the way things are going, DI 4.0 will be most 'Toy Box' heavy to date most likely. But that's to ofar in the future for me to worry about.

But DI2.0 did what it needed to do IMO - 'establishment' of Infinity as 'legit' to the average consumer. DI3.0 will be the real haymaker from Disney. If Activision can take it on the chin and keep chugging? then they will win the war. To do that though, they will HAVE to step out of their comfort box. They will HAVE to throw EVERYTHING at the next Skylanders or risk losing major market share. If the fans have asked for it - do it...
Online
More mini-games/side games (as shown)
Less gimmicky and more 'core'
Extended replay
Heavier use of older figures (doubtful)

They will also need to chase Skylander $$$ further outside of the game. Why isn't there a Skylander TV show on Netflix? It would write itself.
- Unreall

^I fully endorse this post.

Quote: Unreallystic

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Hahaha.

Well the way things are going, DI 4.0 will be most 'Toy Box' heavy to date most likely. But that's to ofar in the future for me to worry about.

But DI2.0 did what it needed to do IMO - 'establishment' of Infinity as 'legit' to the average consumer. DI3.0 will be the real haymaker from Disney. If Activision can take it on the chin and keep chugging? then they will win the war. To do that though, they will HAVE to step out of their comfort box. They will HAVE to throw EVERYTHING at the next Skylanders or risk losing major market share. If the fans have asked for it - do it...
Online
More mini-games/side games (as shown)
Less gimmicky and more 'core'
Extended replay
Heavier use of older figures (doubtful)

They will also need to chase Skylander $$$ further outside of the game. Why isn't there a Skylander TV show on Netflix? It would write itself.
- Unreall

Honestly, with the recent leak and online Sky Stones it looks like Acti realized that they need to step up their game. I'm expecting Online, extended replay and a few other changes with Sky 5, mainly because VV is at the helm this time. Skylanders' 5th anniversary is lso later this year. I've been talking about this recently but an SSA remake on the engine of SF/TT would be great to see.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Unreallystic

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Stop making me want DI3.0


In all seriousness though. After Star Wars Infinity, I doubt DI could top something like that. It's been hinted (already) that DI4.0's theme will be water. Yes water. Does that sound fun to you? I guess characters will be a swimming animation and we'll see Ariel but other than that, what could you do? DI is a fun game I have both versions, preferring 2.0 because of Marvel and STITCH, but other than that they'e basically the same game graphically and game play wise. Granted you could say the same thing about Skylanders, but Skylanders innovates every game. DI about making money while trying to entertain fans, while Skylanders is the same thing, but entertaining fans is equally important to making money

Hahaha.

Well the way things are going, DI 4.0 will be most 'Toy Box' heavy to date most likely. But that's to ofar in the future for me to worry about.

But DI2.0 did what it needed to do IMO - 'establishment' of Infinity as 'legit' to the average consumer. DI3.0 will be the real haymaker from Disney. If Activision can take it on the chin and keep chugging? then they will win the war. To do that though, they will HAVE to step out of their comfort box. They will HAVE to throw EVERYTHING at the next Skylanders or risk losing major market share. If the fans have asked for it - do it...
Online
More mini-games/side games (as shown)
Less gimmicky and more 'core'
Extended replay
Heavier use of older figures (doubtful)

They will also need to chase Skylander $$$ further outside of the game. Why isn't there a Skylander TV show on Netflix? It would write itself.
- Unreall

Honestly, with the recent leak and online Sky Stones it looks like Acti realized that they need to step up their game. I'm expecting Online, extended replay and a few other changes with Sky 5, mainly because VV is at the helm this time. Skylanders' 5th anniversary is lso later this year. I've been talking about this recently but an SSA remake on the engine of SF/TT would be great to see.

Agreed, of course I'd like to know more, but I don't think they are 'resting' on this release.

I've been championing a Collector's HD re-release of all the previous games from PS4/XBOne for a while now. Reuse cut-scenes, and reuse current models - allowing the NEW characters to play the older stuff (sans jumping admittedly). Just for poop and laughter, possibly sell it at $100 or something 'high' and have 'reposes' or chase variants of Ghost Roaster/Boomer/Dino-Rang/Sun-Burn/Voodood (like an opaque black with silver paint). Then add in an Ultra Chaos Mode where villains and the such take twice as much damage and do twice as much damage - some kind of 'almost' stupid scaler.

I'd buy it. I'd limit it to Dark Set quantities, while selling it digitally through the DL channels - to limit cost.

I'd also do something similar with tablets, release each previous game at maybe $10 each, with the current portal functioning as an unlock.

But this is "5 years" as mentioned - might be a great time to finally do it.

Me, I just don't want to have to use my other consoles to play Skylanders, nor do I want ANOTHER portal laying around.
- Unreall

Quote: Unreallystic

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Unreallystic

Hahaha.

Well the way things are going, DI 4.0 will be most 'Toy Box' heavy to date most likely. But that's to ofar in the future for me to worry about.

But DI2.0 did what it needed to do IMO - 'establishment' of Infinity as 'legit' to the average consumer. DI3.0 will be the real haymaker from Disney. If Activision can take it on the chin and keep chugging? then they will win the war. To do that though, they will HAVE to step out of their comfort box. They will HAVE to throw EVERYTHING at the next Skylanders or risk losing major market share. If the fans have asked for it - do it...
Online
More mini-games/side games (as shown)
Less gimmicky and more 'core'
Extended replay
Heavier use of older figures (doubtful)

They will also need to chase Skylander $$$ further outside of the game. Why isn't there a Skylander TV show on Netflix? It would write itself.
- Unreall

Honestly, with the recent leak and online Sky Stones it looks like Acti realized that they need to step up their game. I'm expecting Online, extended replay and a few other changes with Sky 5, mainly because VV is at the helm this time. Skylanders' 5th anniversary is lso later this year. I've been talking about this recently but an SSA remake on the engine of SF/TT would be great to see.

Agreed, of course I'd like to know more, but I don't think they are 'resting' on this release.

I've been championing a Collector's HD re-release of all the previous games from PS4/XBOne for a while now. Reuse cut-scenes, and reuse current models - allowing the NEW characters to play the older stuff (sans jumping admittedly). Just for poop and laughter, possibly sell it at $100 or something 'high' and have 'reposes' or chase variants of Ghost Roaster/Boomer/Dino-Rang/Sun-Burn/Voodood (like an opaque black with silver paint). Then add in an Ultra Chaos Mode where villains and the such take twice as much damage and do twice as much damage - some kind of 'almost' stupid scaler.

I'd buy it. I'd limit it to Dark Set quantities, while selling it digitally through the DL channels - to limit cost.

I'd also do something similar with tablets, release each previous game at maybe $10 each, with the current portal functioning as an unlock.

But this is "5 years" as mentioned - might be a great time to finally do it.

Me, I just don't want to have to use my other consoles to play Skylanders, nor do I want ANOTHER portal laying around.
- Unreall

If we do get a SSA (And maybe Giants) then jumping would definitely be a thing, starting with SF, a handful of Skylanders have attacks while jumping. Fist Bump and Snap Shot come to mind. I could see villains use able as well, just for the hell of it. I think it's possible we'll get one. There have been a few hints in Trap Team.

It's way too soon to make remakes of SSA and Giants... wait until it is 10 years at least.

Well, Resident Evil REmake is a re-release of a remake of the original...and that franchise is 20 years old. Granted they just worked in new models to the existing game as opposed to rewrite...but I do eventually seeing all of this come to pass...maybe have all characters available "digitally" as well---this will definitely be in the sunset years.