NFC as a proximity technology has changed the way people enjoy their leisure moment. Disney Interactive oversees interactive media and video game developments for the Walt Disney Company. Disney Interactive released one such multi-platform series in 2013 called Disney Infinity that leveraged NFC to bring their toys to life. Disney Infinity used NFC in their toys that allowed the toys to communicate with the game just as easily as by placing the toy on the NFC based reader.
Disney Infinity NFC toys & video games
Disney Infinity was inspired by other interactive media which adopted NFC or RFID to create a new user experience. Disney Infinity offers interactive characters that can be connected to NFC readers and allow users to see their actual figure brought to life in the video game. This simple piece of tech was a masterstroke for Disney as their remarkably popular action figures can now not only be alive in a video game but they can also be brought to different character universes.
NFC Figurines and video games; functioning flow
NFC enabled cards and toys require no chore to pair and can bring characters to life just by putting them on the toy box or any NFC reader. Here’s how the flow takes place:
- Placing an NFC toy on the reader
- The NFC reader recognizes the character & previous progress data
- Video game characterizes the toy in the game
- Player plays the game and makes new progress
- Progress data is written into the toy by the reader
Disney Infinity offered their vastly popular characters as smart toys and these toys allowed a seamless user experience as the user can create their multiverse, users can play with each other and they can also resume their character play from right where they left the last game.
The popularity of NFC in the gaming industry
Front runners of the Gaming industry-accepted NFC hastily back then and as such NFC action figures that provided a real-life element to video games came to existence. Most popular gaming device manufacturers such as PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Wii supported NFC. NFC allowed the creation of inexpensive and effortless toys that were happily accepted by the consumers and changed the course of interactive media.
Lastly, The first version of the Disney Infinity was just the tip of the iceberg that was later followed by a few more updates to it, many more action figures for the gamers, and brand new interactive toys. Disney sold plenty of figurines by motivating the consumers with the full extent of their games and in addition to it, they started selling a set of these NFC smart toys which would make the user a happy collector of their favorite characters. These toys arguably became the stepping stone for Disney’s MagicBands, these MagicBands were RFID based bands that allowed Disney fans to enter their parks (without a paper ticket), unlock their Disney Resort room, and even buy merchandise and foods at Disney World. This was the indispensable period where substantial smart devices were invented and wireless systems such as NFC & RFID changed the whole experience for consumers.
