As much as we love Disney and a lot of the things they do like Wreck-It Ralph, even we notice that they don’t always come up with all their own concepts. Usually it is something that has been successful in the past and they put a Disney twist on it to turn it into an even bigger success. Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and tons more are all examples of this. So, it’s no surprise that Disney and Avalanche Software would be following the success of the toys to video game combo of Skylanders with the announcement of Disney Infinity.

Using a special hardware base accessory, players will be able to unlock new in game content and characters for Disney Infinity. Sounds familiar right? Disney Infinity will be following a model similar to that of Activision’s Skylanders franchise. Players will be able to take purchased toys and put them on a base that will read the figure and unlock characters and items in the game.

In the trailer below, you’ll see characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Monsters University, Cars, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story and more that will most likely be on the list of playable characters and toys coming out for Disney Infinity.

Epic franchises have been doing crossovers for years. It was only a matter of time before the team behind The Lord of the Rings movie franchise took notice of the success of other film blockbusters like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones and how well they all did when they met the LEGO world. Not only did the toys sell, but their video games were all certified hits. LEGO The Lord of the Rings promised to again do something never before done in a LEGO crossover.

The Long

Unlike LEGO Batman and its sequel which were original stories, LEGO The Lord of the Rings took the path of Star Wars and put the entire film trilogy and its most epic encounters into LEGO form. Unlike Star Wars though, LEGO The Lord of the Rings included actual voiceover taken directly from the film. That means the most iconic scenes, though given LEGO twists and humor in many cases, have the authentic audio from the movies. Hearing LEGO Gandalf utter, “You shall not pass” to the Balrog is unexpectedly still incredibly powerful even though, for all intensive purposes, it’s a toy saying it.

If you have a young male gamer in your family anywhere between the ages of 6 to 36, you have most likely heard of Skylanders. What seems like a simple adventure game takes on the addictive nature of Pokemon style in-game collection alongside real life figurines (a staple of any geek lifestyle). Skylanders Giants comes as the second iteration of what will likely become a yearly franchise for at least the foreseeable future from Activision and developer Toys for Bob that adds some new gameplay dynamics and, more importantly, a slew of new figures for gamers to collect.

The Long

Skylanders Giants kicks things off following the events of the original Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. There is a little bit of meta going on with the story as the antagonist Kaos finds himself in our real world and sees the Skylanders trapped in toy form. After transporting himself back to Skylands, Kaos finds out about a mystical artifact that will allow him to control a robotic army and take over Skylands.

Meanwhile, the player finds out that the ancient Giants, who were the first Skylanders, have been found and they can be awakened to stop Kaos and the robotic army. Yes, it does sound like a Saturday morning cartoon but that is a part of the charm of Skylanders Giants.

Just as the story has a whimsical youthful feel to it, so does the character design. All of the Skylanders from the original game return along with eight new Skylanders and eight Giants. The designs stay in line with the different elements of the game like Life (trees), Death (skeletons), Tech (mechanical) and others while keeping the designs of the new characters original as well. The Giants are unique both in their size on-screen and in their design as well. They have a larger than life feel with the way they interact with other characters and objects on-screen.

The madness has begun. On Sunday, Skylanders Giants was released in game and toy stores around the country. Parents waited outside on the brisk fall morning to be the first in line to get their hands on the new Skylanders Giants game as well as the horde of new figures released. After the shortages of various figures with Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure it is no surprise that parents and collector’s alike flocked to stores so not to miss out on the latest line of Skylanders Giants.

Aside from the game itself which was launched with either just the Tree Rex Giant figure for owners of the original game or the Portal of Power, Tree Rex Giant, the new Jet Vac and the series 2 Cynder for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo 3DS, there was a horde of figures released with waves 1 and 2. Not counting Tree Rex, four of the eight new Giants figures have been released. There have also been the releases of series 2 Skylanders (remakes of the original Skylanders), Lightcore Skylanders (classic Skylanders remodeled with pieces that light up when put on the Portal of Power) and of course the new Skylanders made for Skylanders Giants as well. They have also released the first Battle pack three pack which includes Chop Chop 2, Shroom Boom and the Dragonfire Cannon which unlocks a new Combat Arena.

Not since Pokemon has a “gotta get ’em all” mentality hit gaming like it has with Skylanders. Shipments would hit stores and be gone within a few short days. And when someone had finally gotten all the new characters for themselves or their kid, the next wave would hit. And come October, we get to do it all over again.

When Skylanders Giants was announced, details were still a little unclear as to how the classic Skylanders would fit into this new game world. Even more questions arose when the new Skylanders Starter Pack was revealed. Would players of the original need to purchase another Portal of Power and a repeat Cinder Skylander to get to play Skylanders Giants? With this latest features trailer (seen after the jump) we get all the important facts.

First off, the Starter Pack will be available for the Wii, Wii U, XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS and will retail for $79.99. It will include Skylanders Giants, the Portal of Power, one Giant, one New Skylander and one Series 2 Skylander.