New Toy Story 3 Video Game: Spirit of Play

Generally the topics here are much broader than only traditional video games, and it’s rare that I might highlight a specific game. But this one caught my attention.

I’m actually not much of a gamer, but I do find myself drawn to what I’ve seen of this new Toy Story 3 game. The two things most compelling to me are:

1. The game’s focus on playfulness above and beyond only gameplay
2. A “toy box” mode — a version of the game’s universe that allows players to goof off and do within the environment whatever they wish (i.e. unstructured free play)

The game offers both story-driven gameplay and this fun toy box mode. I suspect this game is going to be a hit. This is due, no doubt, to Pixar’s high level of direct involvement.

Photos and video are embedded in the links that follow.

Toy Story 3 game celebrates Pixar’s spirit of play:

To Blackburn, the feelings he took away from his 2007 meeting with Lasseter and the rest of the “Toy Story 3” brain trust were the “power and imagination of play” and the “whole idea of the joy of play.”

Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 3: The Videogame Lets Players Create a Story of Their Own:

A primary feature on Toy Story 3: The Video Game console offerings, Toy Box is a virtual box full of toys. With an open-world sandbox-style of play, Toy Story 3: The Video Game taps into the beloved franchise’s humor and brings fans into the toys’ world to create their own unique story. The game’s developer, Avalanche Software, is working in close collaboration with filmmakers at Pixar to create an authentic Toy Story experience that inspires imagination and celebrates the joy of play.

Designed to replicate the universal experience of playing with toys as a kid, Toy Box mode brings cowboys, space rangers, dinosaurs, and little green aliens together to create adventures only possible in a child’s imagination. Kids, families and fans will dive into Andy’s toy box with creativity driving their own stories and adventures.

“With Toy Story 3: The Video Game, audiences will have multiple ways to experience and enjoy the Toy Story world,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Story Mode follows the film’s story and adventures, while Toy Box Mode gets to the playful heart of the Toy Story franchise. By combining the power of imagination with the Toy Story universe, the game appeals to the joy of play in all of us.”