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FS/FT: Disney Infinity Wii U Starter set

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17 Nov 2014 12:46 #190794 by Michael Barnes
OK, so my kids switched it up on me. "We want Infinity". Now, it's "We'd rather have Skylanders". Plus, I played a little Infinity and I think the toybox thing is cool but it's pretty far beyond them at this point and that's half the product.

I scored a great deal on a Wii U starter set (the one with Sulley, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible) on eBay and I'm lookin' to sell. Same price I paid for it- $25 plus $12 shipping. Granted, what you spend from there is between you and Benjamin Franklin. That Marvel stuff is looking reaaaally cool...

I will trade for pretty much any Skylanders figures. Santa is bringing the Swap Force set (thank god they're too young to realize that it's "last year's model", it was only $20 down from $75 last year) so I guess we can use anything from Swap Force back. No Trap Team. That will be Christmas 2015 if this goes over well.

Let me know.

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17 Nov 2014 13:17 #190800 by Mr. White
I just understood what this Infinity stuff was this weekend as my daughter came across...you guessed it...an Elsa figure for this at Target. My son filled me in on the rest.

Hellz no.

You gotta buy and house useless plastic junk to get digital content? Even the boy could see through that. During our discussion on this, he asked to spend some of his cash on the MK8 DLC. So we went ahead and did that yesterday. Awesome deal.

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17 Nov 2014 13:36 #190803 by Michael Barnes
Ah, but the Nintendo ones come out this week, Amiibos...will the White House be under siege? Or will Jeff White's steely resolve and jurisprudence carry the day?

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17 Nov 2014 14:28 #190810 by Sagrilarus
Pretty ingenious form of digital rights management. Figures run about $15 and make killer birthday and Christmas gifts. They also make great incentive for kids to do chores around the house, earning a couple of dollars per to afford a $15 purchase that opens new capabilities in the game.

My two 11yo boys love their Disney Infinity. It's more or less replaced Skylanders for the moment. That said, it may be because they've purchased much of the Skylanders figures and played them extensively.

S.
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17 Nov 2014 14:49 #190815 by Michael Barnes
Yeah, I was resistant but it is actually pretty cool system. Yes, it is effectively DLC+a figurine. But think about being 10 years old with this stuff...how cool is it to have $10-$15 in allowance and go to those huge ass displays they have set up and pick out a new character to play in a game you already own versus buying another $60 game.

Granted, it seems like it's an annualized thing now, but at least the figures are all forward compatible so you never lose the function of the figuers.

I do think that Infinity goes a little overboard with some of the stipulations around the game- having to have the playset pieces, the discs, and then also matching characters for co-op- but the figures are REALLY cool, and the Minecraft-like Toybox thing is pretty great...but what would happen for us is that dad would be doing all of the building for the next three or four years. And I really don't like build-your-own-level games apart from Racing Destruction Set.

I think Skylanders will be better for them- simple hack n' slash with some cool powers, and they like the characters.

The secret is, from what I've seen, to buy loose, buy late and buy in lots. I've got the starter and like four small lots coming, we'll have something like 16 figures (including four swappers), the game, the portal and everything for under $50. And that will be plenty for them for a long time to come.

I actually was leaning toward Infinity too because I thought there were more girl characters, but there's actually a ton in Skylanders too.

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18 Nov 2014 08:46 - 18 Nov 2014 09:03 #190863 by Mr. White
Still not sold at all.

When we buy a booster pack of Pokemon...we actually play with the cards. When we buy heroscape figs...we actually play the game with the figs.

These Infinity things appear to sell you digital content (worth a few bucks), but package it with this unnecessary plastic statue in order to inflate the cost to the customer, a statue that you don't really do anything with. So you are forced to spend a bunch more on wasteful crap in order to get the small bit of actual content. It's sick.

For the cost of three of these things, we could buy Smash Brothers Wii U. Guess which'll have a longer life.

The boy spent $12 this weekend and got 6 new drivers, 16 new courses, etc. Cheaper than an Infinity dust collector.

EDIT: On the Amiibos...no deal. We spoke about this. We could buy an Mario or Yoshi Amiibo so that our miis could dress up as Mario or Yoshi in MK8...or we could skip those and actually play as Mario or Yoshi in MK8. No brainer.
Last edit: 18 Nov 2014 09:03 by Mr. White.

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18 Nov 2014 09:16 #190866 by Sagrilarus

Mr. White wrote: These Infinity things appear to sell you digital content (worth a few bucks), but package it with this unnecessary plastic statue in order to inflate the cost to the customer, a statue that you don't really do anything with.


Yeah, but are you looking at this from a kid's perspective? They're toys. Kids love toys. My kids love the figs and love the mix-and-matchers in Skylanders now. I agree they're incidental to what's happening on the screen, but kids have a more emotional response to physical objects. They like toys.

Mr. White wrote: For the cost of three of these things, we could buy Smash Brothers Wii U. Guess which'll have a longer life.


Well, Smash Brothers for GameCube was banned from my house, so that's a loaded question for me. It was hidden in my sock drawer for a couple of years because my kids would get completely pissed off playing it and then be in bitchy moods the rest of the day. It also consumed hours and hours of their lives and they'd be pissed as hell when my wife or I would interrupt them to do something else. The game is one seriously bad habit.

Our video game consoles got the name "Stupid Box" because of Smash Brothers. So, the answer to your rhetorical question in my house is three Disney Infinity characters, because I'll throw the breaker when they're screaming at each other and throwing things ten minutes into Smash Brothers. Hate that fucking game.

Part of the reason I won't buy an X-Box or Playstation is that I simply don't want that level of immersion in the house for the kids. The Wii U is such a time-sucker as it is. I've got my oldest working in a metal shop building actual robots now (broke the habit of Modern Warfare every night) but his younger brothers got video games earlier in development and they have no interest in anything other than staring at the stupid box. Getting them out of the basement is a hell of a struggle. Granted, twins don't develop in the same way that singletons do.

Sorry for the lecture.

S.
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18 Nov 2014 09:25 - 18 Nov 2014 09:28 #190869 by Mr. White
I'm down with the lecture.

For my son it's MineCraft and MK8. Fortunately, from day one, we've limited the use of videogames in the house so it's been manageable. It can still be tough, because even though we limit videogame times to a few hours on the weekends...the heart wants what the heart wants...and its obvious the boy would like to play more videogames throughout the week. His friends do...and I hear about it.

The hard part for us is that the kid is doing fantastic academically, is a wonderful big brother, and all around great guy. It feels like he should be able to spend a few minutes each day playing MineCraft or what not. Afterall, the majority of his day he's doing what _others_ ask of him and doing it well. I feel like I'm punishing him when he should be rewarded. Something his mom and I are still coming to grips with...

In the meantime, all the more for us to keep away from these Infinity/Amiibo things. It would further reinforce the value of videogames. I figure Smash Brothers (or more likely NintendoLand) for Christmas and on a few hours a week, the game will have plenty of life in our house. I'd rather he spent money on pokemon or legos.

EDIT: Shall we spin off an old folks v videogames thread? ha!
(Though all four of us did play MK8 this weekend and it was pretty fun)
Last edit: 18 Nov 2014 09:28 by Mr. White.

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18 Nov 2014 11:07 - 18 Nov 2014 11:09 #190884 by OldHippy
Nintendo Land has a ton of entertainment value. It's a great little package.

My son is three and a half and I still don't let him play video games. He has toyed with a couple of endless runners on the iPad and I let him play Mario Kart 8 for 15 minutes once. He just kept crashing into walls but I let him do it and it was HELL to get the damn controller away. Same with the iPad which my wife occasionally allows and I never allow. I can always talk him into playing with me analogue style. It's work sometimes but I feel like it's worth it.

What age are you guys letting you're kids play these things and what kind of time limits do you impose on it? Sunderland is getting real close to the age where I'm going to have to figure out what to do. I can't keep him away from these things forever.

Maybe I should do a new thread for this question... sorry.
Last edit: 18 Nov 2014 11:09 by OldHippy.

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18 Nov 2014 11:10 #190885 by Mr. White
Should I look for a new thread to post my response?

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18 Nov 2014 11:11 #190887 by OldHippy
I'll start one.

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18 Nov 2014 11:24 #190891 by Sagrilarus

Mr. White wrote: The hard part for us is that the kid is doing fantastic academically, is a wonderful big brother, and all around great guy. It feels like he should be able to spend a few minutes each day playing MineCraft or what not.


We're thankfully in that position as well. My son that has had behavioral problems in the past earned $42 from his report card this week, six As and two Bs. That is definitely part of the equation. The other boys did very well too.

The other part is that we make them purchase most of the games themselves. They use that report card money, but more importantly they help with tasks around the house (the one boy cleaned up pounding nails on our deck resurface this summer) to earn money, so there's a tick-tock aspect to their lives. Play game until finished with it, earn money to purchase next game. The drawback is that they have a legit beef if we limit their play time too much since they're the ones that own the game. We have the veto power, but we need to use it judiciously because "you're using my electricity" isn't the most compelling argument for turning off the Wii.

We put Minecraft into a different category because it's more of a lean-forward sort of environment (almost hate to call it a game). It gets more leeway, and doesn't produce the stressed-out moods that the real time racing and combat games do. It's also a very different pursuit. I joke when I come down the stairs -- I cover my eyes and say, "let me guess, you're playing a game where you're staring at the back of somebody's head, he's running around, picking things up and hitting people with them." I'm always right. It's remarkable. Minecraft is much more deep-thinking. My boy built a coastal defense system, a repeating rock thrower that automatically hurled boulders if a ship came into the local harbor. Didn't need to be manned to function. I talked him into calling it the "Phalanx Gun."

S.

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