Disney to announce new gaming initiative in January

Disney is rumored to announce a new gaming initiative in January which could incorporate collectible toys to interact with console games, according to a report by Polygon.

The Jan. 15 press event, called Disney Infinity, will feature John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and a principal creative advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering, as well as John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive, according to the website.

While nothing official has come out on what Disney Infinity actually is, many of the Disney fan sites and and gaming sites are speculating that Disney is going to try to take on Skylanders, the successful Activision franchise that incorporates toys with gaming avatars. 

An October New York Times story, has Pleasants talking about Disney working on a console game with "extensive mobile and online applications in which various Pixar and Disney characters will interact with one another for the first time. 

So imagine purchasing a Disney/Pixar/Star Wars character with an RFID chip in it that can be played with on console, computer and mobile gaming platforms.