Nintendo x Disney? Nintendo x Amazon? These two may actually soon be coming to pass, if these latest reports are to be believed. Though they are, so far, unsubstantiated rumors, the source in question has had a good track record with Nintendo stuff, having successfully predicted  the third wave of Amiibo, including the third party characters announced; on top of that, the same source gave early word on Nintendo characters being added to Skylanders.

With that out of the way, it seems that the rumor is now going that Nintendo has struck a deal with Disney regarding media diversification of their brands. This deal includes films, video games and interactive toys/merchandise; apparently, Mario was due to appear as an Amiibo in Disney Infinity 3.0, but the companies have not yet been able to smooth out the details, which is why this is not happening. It may be an occurrence in next year’s title, however.

Apart from NFC figure cross pollination, the deal will include a Mario appearance in Wreck It Ralph 2, as well as full fledged Nintendo universe movies and merchandising- the kind of thing that Nintendo has resisted until recently, when Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that the company will look into licensing its IP more (the first results of this were the DeNA mobile game deal, as well as the Universal theme park deal).

Finally, Disney apparently wants a game spearheaded by not just Mickey Mouse, but also Mario- this would be a huge deal, it would be one of the greatest media collaborations and coups of all time. Nintendo, it seems, is accepting of this idea, but wants to take it slow, and this difference in the timeframes that both companies want to operate on seems to be the biggest issue so far.

As if Disney were not enough, it appears that Nintendo and Amazon are also close to striking a deal (which would be surprising, given the issues the two companies have had in the past). It sounds like after Nintendo made the announcement regarding its mobile games, Amazon approached Nintendo with the intent of securing their titles for their App Store as well. In return, Nintendo and Amazon seem to be working on some kind of emulation solution for Android on Nintendo’s NX system, so Nintendo can run all the games on the Amazon App Store- which would certainly explain some of the Android related NX rumors we have seen crop up in the past.

All in all, it seems that after a generation marked by nothing but failure and the threat of irrelevance, Nintendo is gearing up to make its move, and strike back with full force. Whether all of that amounts to anything or not remains to be seen.

Last week, we broke the news to you that Warner Bros. is looking at jumping into the toys to life category of video games, which is currently dominated by Activision’s Skylanders, Disney’s Infinity, and Nintendo’s Amiibo. Now, we have a bit more to share with you on that- it appears that the game, under development at perennial Lego custodian Traveler Tales, will be called Lego Dimensions.

Also important, the first set of NFC enabled LEGO figurines are slated to launch with this game, which would certainly make for an interesting synergy with the Lego brand of toys.

As stated before, Lego is one of the most recognizable brand in the world when it comes to kids, and generally permeates all cultures. If this development is in fact true, then Warner Bros. may just have managed to score themselves a home run and gotten themselves an assured hit in this segment. And as Nintendo demonstrated recently with their Amiibos, brand identification matters when trying to break into this crowded genre.

Watch this space.

Source.

Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is tapping into properties from Disney’s newest acquisition- Marvel- to create a package that is simply irresistible. The opportunity to play as Marvel heroes within one video game, while also getting to collect figurines? I’ll be very surprised if Disney doesn’t make money hand over fist with the game.

But just to drive the point home, just to ensure success, Disney isn’t stopping at just including Marvel super heroes into the new game, they’re also going to be including Marvel super villains. That’s right, Disney Infinity will have highly bankable and marketable Disney super villains like Green Goblin, Ronan the Accuser, and of course, the current Marvel favorite heartthrob villain, Loki.

Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition)- yes, that’s what it called, maybe Disney has been taking naming classes from Square Enix or Nintendo, I don’t know- will be out later this year. Stay tuned.

Marvel’s upcoming movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, promises to be an interesting one- fans are excited not just to see how the cult hit Marvel characters are translated on to the big screen, but also to see how what seems to be such a tonally different movie is integrated into the larger overall Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Disney and Marvel are nothing if not adept at cross promotion of their properties, and Disney today announced that Marvel’s Guardian of the Galaxy will be coming to Disney Infinity, their NFC enabled ‘toys-to-life’ game, via a new toy set: Disney Infinity: Marvel Superheroes- Guardians of the Galaxy. Whew.

All four of the Guardians from the movie- Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, and Groot- will be playable in game.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set will be available this Fall, meaning it’s probably a good bet it will be in the markets by the time you and your kid get out from the theaters, just waiting for you to spend all that money.

Perfect.

Disney Infinity will be getting The Avengers joining the lineup of memorable Disney and Pixar characters later this year, and Disney has decided to give us a little sneak peak of the action with the new trailer that you see above.

The Marvel Super Heroes Avengers Play Set will be available for Disney Infinity 2.0 later this year during Fall, features a brand new true to the comics storyline, and characters from the popular movies, including Iron man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Black Widow. The Avengers Play Set and new Toy Box mode will be included in the Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack. Additional Play Sets and characters will be announced in the coming months, similar to how additional characters kept being added to the original Disney Infinity.

Disney Infinity is Disney’s response to Activision’s NFC enabled toy/video game sensation, Skylanders. The NFC toy market is about to heat up with Nintendo’s expected entry with their own line of NFC toys to be announced at E3 this year.

Disney Infinity, Disney’s take on the NFC toy augmented video game genre that was kickstarted by Activision with the Skylanders series, has been a pretty successful experiment for Disney so far, but it has also only been limited in scope, including only Disney and Pixar characters. Given Disney’s recent acquisitions, including LucasArts and Marvel, it was only a matter of time before they expanded the roster of characters in the game, though, and now it looks like that is exaclty what they are doing.

As VideoGamer reports, the latest trailer asks players to  ‘get ready to assemble’ (a clear reference to Marvel’s Avengers), which implies that Marvel’s characters might make it into the game; given the popularity that they are currently enjoying thanks to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, this might be a very smart move for Disney.

A new Disney Infinity game is expected some time this year. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

Disney has announced the winners for the Aladdin Toy Box Challenge for its hit NFC figurine based game, Disney Infinity. The winners include the Cave of Wonders, Agrabah Guards, Agrabah Palace and the Princess Jasmine Townsperson, all of which re-create favorite scenes from the classic Disney film.

The winners are a diverse bunch, and they include Agrabah Market (which recreates the classic 16 bit Aladdin game), Jafar’s Wish (which sees you stave off the threat of a returned Jaffar), Al’s Quest (play as Aladdin, but without being permitted to fly), Jafar’s Revenge (exactly what it sounds like), and  Carpet Cleaning (cleaning the carpet. No, really).

In addition, the newest episode of Disney Infinity Toy Box TV: The Official Weekly Web Show is also now live (and embedded above this post), so be sure to check it out.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more of the latest news on Disney Infinity.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, the wildly popular incarnation of the world’s first (and most popular) mascot, is finally coming to Disney Infinity, Disney Interactive’s own take on Activision’s wildly successful Skylanders franchise, it was confirmed today.

This incidentally marks the first appearance of Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey… ever. The toy figure will be available at stores nationwide starting this coming Saturday, February 8, for $12.99, and this will allow players to not only unlock the character in game, but also unlock Sorcerer Apprentice Mickey’s Toy Box, which will bring quirky, unique, fantasic adventures to the Toy Box mode.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey joins other popular and enduring Disney and Pixar characters in Disney Infinity; curiously enough, characters from Marvel and LucasArts, both recent acquisitions by Disney, have remained absent from the game thus far. Maybe they will be coming up in a future update when sales start sagging, or in the inevitable sequel? We’ll see.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

A lot of information is buzzing regarding Disney Interactive. First, there are rumours of Star Wars and Marvel versions of Disney’s “Infinity” brand, along with several hundreds of staff members being laid off. Now it seems that either Disney Infinity 2 is on the way, according to some recent job listings, or other expansions are in development.

As of now, developer Avalanche Software is looking for a temporary game tester to work on “video games based on Disney and Pixar properties.”

“We are looking for temporary game testers to join our team! Applicants need to be available 8-6pm (with possible overtime). Position is estimated to last 4-5 months.” The key line in the listing is, “Familiarity with Xbox 360, XbOne, PS4, PS3, WiiU a plus,” which makes us believe that it could be a sequel of sorts.

Of course, it’s also possible that Disney Infinity will be ported over to the Xbox One and PS4, with other platforms receiving expansions in the process. Regardless, this seems just about in line for a late Autumn release. What are your thoughts? Let us know below.

This week’s new Toy Boxes include Tower of Terror (a door opening to a tower full of nightmares), FantasyLand (essentially allowing you to ride the rides of FantasyLand), Fantasmic! (save Mickey’s imagination by finding all the hidden Mickeys), and perhaps most importantly, Indiana Jones (as you help him escape from the wrath of Mara in the Temple of the Forbidden Eye).

The first episode of Disney Infinity Toy Box TV: The Official Weekly Web Show also debuts today, that has the weekly top five Toy Box countdown, tips and tricks and a special shout-out to some very special fans- you can find it above.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.