Snapshots and Impressions of Disney Infinity

NOTE: All the pictures in today's post were snapped with an iPhone pointed at my (very cheap) little television screen. This game looks much, much better in person.

Barbosa finds the Hatter's tea party...and doesn't know quite what to make of it.

Disney Infinity is a huge, sprawling game, so full of possibilities and options that no two people will play it in quite the same way. We'll have a complete review later this week, but here are our impressions after several hours inside Infinity's strange, astonishing world.

Mr. Incredible borrows Mulan's horse. And yes, that's an Autopia Car

The game is brilliant, beautifully animated, and an absolute blast to play with. And that's the key to Infinity: you don't simply play through it like a normal video game. You play with it, tweaking it, experimenting and changing it around as you go.

A Toast to the Pirates Infinity Left Behind

As Disney Infinity approaches its Sunday release date, here's a brief clip of its iPhone tie-in App in action. Here, Jack Sparrow's trying out for a spot on Don Karnage's team.

Unfortunately, none of the Tale Spin crew made it into Infinity (unless there's a power-up or tribute tucked away in the game somewhere).

Reviews of this project, Disney's biggest-yet bid to make a splash in the video game market, should start appearing tomorrow as the toys and software hit the shelves.

Characters Invade Real World in Disney's Free Infinity App

He turns the photo around to reveal a surprise mini-snapshot of the player's face.

In advance of the much-hyped Disney Infinity video game, the company has released Infinity Action, a free promotional app for iPhone (the Android version is coming soon). An impressive little bag of magic tricks, it's definitely worth checking out.

A Sparrow Defends a Cat

The App features two main modes. In the first, you tap and swipe the screen to interact with an impressively animated trio of Disney characters: Sulley, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible. Of the three, Jack Sparrow is, by far, the funniest. Be sure to try the toy props, which include a voice recorder and--even better--a cartoon camera which uses the actual phone lens to allow the character to take a shot of your face. The "goal" of this section is to earn coins for purchasing animated clips for the "Action" section.

He got a cookie for being a good sport (the dog, not Sparrow)

In this second mode, you bring the characters into your home through augmented reality as you stage brief videos combining animation with live footage. It's easy to do, and the results are amazingly smooth. Easily saved to the phone or posted to YouTube or Facebook, each clip is boldly tagged at the end as a Disney Infinity promotion...which, of course, is Disney's reason for creating this free App in the first place.

One warning: Extra coins can be purchased with real money, so make sure that feature's disabled on your phone before handing it over to children. Even without paying a cent, however, there's enough free fun here to make Action a clever little diversion for all Disney fans.