Question: My nine year old daughter has been begging me to buy Disney Infinity for our Nintendo Wii so she can play as Elsa and Anna from Frozen. I’ve resisted so far, but the holidays are coming around again. Should I cave? She really loves those characters. I don’t really know anything about video games though. Please help!
Disney has been on a roll recently. Disney Infinity was the biggest name in the relatively new toys to life market and Frozen is the highest earning animated film in history. It only makes sense that the Frozen characters would make an appearance in the game. Parent’s wallets just haven’t been safe since.
Your question is actually more common than you think. Video games are huge and they are getting bigger every year. There are plenty of parents who grew up without video games who are finding themselves in the position where their children want them… and badly. That’s the entire reason this site exists in the first place!
My answer might be different if you had a different console, but if your only gaming device is a Nintendo Wii then I would recommend against it at this point. The biggest draw for Disney Infinity is a toy box mode that lets players create their own landscapes and even go online to download other people’s creations. This mode is absent in the Wii version of the game because it doesn’t have the same power as the rest of the consoles on the market.
My answer doesn’t shift completely if you were to own a different console though. Disney Infinity is a difficult game for a younger child to understand and play on their own. They might be able to run around the toy box as Anna and Elsa, but they wouldn’t necessarily be able to do much else without a significant amount of help from you. This really would need to be a “together” activity as opposed to a distraction. If that isn’t what you are looking for then I would probably pass.
You had mentioned in your question that you weren’t much of a gamer yourself, so this is definitely something you would want to consider. If you aren’t looking for something to do together, then I would again recommend against it in your situation.
With all that said, if she is really interested in those two figures because she loves the characters (what nine year old girl doesn’t right now?) there is no problem picking up the figures themselves without the game.
The figures themselves are gorgeous and well made so they are worthwhile even if she will only ever put them on a shelf. The hidden advantage to that is that if she has a friend at school or a family member with the game all she needs to do is grab her figures and brings her own team!
Let us know what you decide to do!