Infinite Arms - Smart Weaponized Robot Toys & Deep RPG Gunplay from Halo/Gears Devs (iOS)
75We try out Infinite Arms toys and game-play while talking to creators Keiichi Yano (KY) and Chris Asaki (CA).
Reboot Toys to Life
KY "We've been working on this idea for three years. Toys to life as a segment could be much more than we've seen in the past. Now we have the technology to take Star Wars style toys out of the physical and seamlessly work with mobile games."
KY "That bridge between the physical reality and the virtual reality, the closer you can get them out of sync and into sync the more you feel like those lines are blurred. That speed that accessories get reflected in the game was super important for us."
No portal:
CA "It's not just an extension of the game but it's a part of the whole. Being able to play, pose, customize ad put weapons on the physical toy was really important. Being artificially tethered to something just didn't work for us, they had to be autonomous action figures like we grew up with. That unlocks all the play possibility of a real action figure."
Console and Toy veterans:
Keiichi Yano director for Elite Beat Agents, Gitaroo. Chris Esaki creative director for Gears of War and Mass Effect. Yasuo Takahama worked on Transformers toy line and designer of Tamagochi pocket pets.
KY "We look at the future of the toys to life segment and wanted lots of people to enjoy the experience. The portability of the toys really works with mobile."
CA "We set out to make an experience we want to play with older tastes. The sophistication of the game skews more to Call of Duty, Halo and Gears of War both in terms of the game-play and the action figures."
KY "What people thought of as toys to life up to date we've purposefully tried to break in creating this aspirational brand."
Accelerated Toy Delivery:
KY "It's very accelerated, we wanted to have a service based model that means releasing toys on a bi-weekly basis. It's a lot like card games when new cards would come out."