I kept getting a sense of déjà vu when I attended the announcement event for Disney’s and Hasbro’s Playmation, a line of interactive toys aimed at kids and families. It’s sort of related to toys-to-life games like Disney Infinity and Skylanders, where you can buy toys that add more characters and levels to a game.
Pixar’s next film, Inside Out, is set for a June 19 theatrical release, and it will see a complementary game release as a new play set within Disney’s Infinity adventure game. It’s a showpiece for the company’s 3.0 version of the platform, which sees characters from the Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney brands coming together, and it adds new gameplay improvements.
Turns out kids are really good at convincing their parents to buy them stuff. “Interactive Gaming Toys,” a new report from industry-tracking company The NPD group, found that parents spent an average of $131 on toys-to-life games over the last six months.