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Epic Mickey making a splash on Wii November 30
Warren Spector's visually striking take on Disney's ancient rodent mascot, Epic Mickey, finally has an official release date. As revealed in a recent Entertainment Weekly article and confirmed to us by Disney, the paint-stained platformer will be released in North America on November 30. (CVG reports that the game will make its way to Continental Europe on November 25 and to the UK the following day.) Entertainment Weekly also procured a new trailer for the game, which you can find posted just past the jump. Of all the pieces of promotional material released for the game thus far, we feel like this one might be the most deserving of its "Epic" designation.
Warren Spector pitched Deus Ex 'spiritual successor' to Disney
Square Enix Europe may be working on an official Deus Ex sequel, but that didn't stop Warren Spector -- one of the creators of the original game -- from pitching a "spiritual successor" to his new employer, Disney. According to Develop, Spector delivered a presentation for a new "futuristic sci-fi game," one that he believed Disney wouldn't be interested in. Spector walked out of that meeting with a new game deal, but not on the project he expected. "We have a concept for Mickey, we want to show you our idea," the designer recalls the execs telling him during that meeting. "And they gave me this pitch." That pitch ended up being Epic Mickey, an unexpected (but certainly not unwelcome) departure from Spector's earlier, more mature works. With Spector's Junction Point studio nearing the end of Epic Mickey's development, we can't help but wonder if the team will move on to the pitched (but seemingly ignored) sci-fi idea. Spector doesn't offer an answer, but there's clearly some interest from the Disney higher-ups. "Disney now owns the IP to it," Spector said. "So who knows?"
Epic Mickey preview: Small mouse, big decisions
Mickey Mouse isn't supposed to be in situations like this. Though I'd been having a great time spraying paint on enemies and wiping out obstacles with magical paint thinner in my PAX demo of Epic Mickey , I found myself absolutely stymied during a crucial moment. Here on my one hand was a helpless gremlin in a cage, begging for rescue. On the other, a treasure chest full of the game's currency, E tickets. The tickets were counter-balancing the catapult in which the gremlin was confined, so snatching them would lead to his doom. But I was told that the tickets would be lost if I freed the gremlin. I had to get one of the two, but as soon as I did, the other would be lost forever. %Gallery-101451%
Video: Part two of Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic
During his keynote speech at PAX yesterday, Warren Spector revealed the second half of Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic, which you can find and watch right after the break. The first half, you'll remember, set Mickey up as a mischievous type who'd played around with a magical paintbrush and eventually fallen into a spinning vortex of darkness. In this half, Mickey is dropped into a mad scientist's castle in the Wasteland, where we get to meet Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the Phantom Blot and a cast of other characters who will undoubtedly appear elsewhere in the game. And just like the first half, this one is presumably full of old school Disney animation references and in-jokes, none of which we actually get (although Google helped us out with this one). Any Disney scholars want to call out Spector for showing off?
Epic Mickey Collector's Edition will cover your belongings in paint
Does your plain white Wii look like a blank canvas in your mind's eye, just waiting to be mussed up by a few splashes of darkish blue paint? Your bizarre outlook can be brought to life by purchasing the Epic Mickey Collector's Edition, which was recently revealed by Toys 'R Us' online storefront. The $69.99 bundle includes everything seen in the image above: A copy of the game, a pair of skins for the Wii, a faceplate for your Wiimote, a DVD containing behind-the-scenes videos and other marketing materials, some special packaging and a five-inch vinyl figurine modeled after the game's falsetto protagonist. See, here we would have settled for a 25 cent paintbrush and a set of Crayola watercolors. Thanks for not taking the easy way out, Disney!
Warren Spector says game devs are 'still making cartoons'
When Warren Spector told Gamescom attendees that the denizens of his chosen profession are "still making cartoons," he wasn't referring to his upcoming illustrated opus, Epic Mickey. Rather, he was voicing his opinion on what he sees to be one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today: game developers' proclivity for attempting (and ultimately failing) to mimic the storytelling techniques of movies, comics and other forms of popular media. Of course, one of his main problems with games' stories is their tendency to be dude-centric -- he warned the Gamescom crowd "if we don't break out of big buff guys with swords and guys in tights and space marines in armor, we're going to get marginalized in the way comics have been in the United States." He also warned about attempting to ape blockbuster films by filling games with obscenely expensive visuals, as "we still fall far, far short of what people expect from a movie." Ultimately, the only form of storytelling Spector thinks games should attempt to emulate is oral conversation, as the person interacting with the game is equally responsible for shaping its story. "Player experience comes first," Spector explained, "we have to allow them to show their creativity. No other medium has allowed them to do this. We are unique in the history of humankind. Every player becomes an author when they play a game."
Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic is probably over your head
Finally, with the release of the opening cinematic for Disney Epic Mickey, we're getting a bigger look at the story going on behind Warren Spector's ode to Disney animation. As expected, it involves some shenanigans with Mickey and a sorcerer (Yen Sid from Fantasia), a magic paintbrush, some paint and paint thinner. But even more intriguing are the many nods to old-school Disney cartoons, from all of the hats and objects placed on the walls to the dates and movie stills flying past in the quick montage near the end. Of course, it would probably take a Disney aficionado like Spector to catch all of those references zipping by, but even if you don't get everything, you can at least see that Mickey has unintentionally created the Phantom Blot, and has caused a little bit of chaos in Yen Sid's alternate reality, turning it into the Wasteland that the big-eared hero gets tossed into. Hopefully the game will be just as fun without knowing why that calendar above says "March 25."
Warren Spector really wants to make a DuckTales game
When we talked to Warren Spector back at E3 this year, he specifically named the Capcom's DuckTales as one of his favorite Disney games. In a new interview with Industry Gamers, he now says that, "A day does not go by where I don't tell somebody at Disney: 'Uncle Scrooge, come on! Donald! Huey, Dewey, and Louie! Come on, let me do a duck game!' So yeah, I would love to do a duck game." Of course, being the animation geek that he is, Spector prefers the Carl Barks version of Uncle Scrooge and the nephews, so we probably won't get any Fenton Crackshell cameos (even though that would be awesome). If Epic Mickey does take off, you never know what franchise Disney may let Spector put his own spin on next.
Warren Spector delivering (presumably) Epic keynote at GDC Europe
Step aside, Will Wright -- there's a new Hollywood It-Girl on the video game industry conference keynote scene. Yes, it seems event planners across the globe are trying to get Deus Ex and, more recently, Epic Mickey creator Warren Spector to come deliver their expo's keynote speech. The ghostly developer is already slated to speak at PAX Prime next month -- but according to a last-minute press release, Spector will also deliver one of the GDC Europe keynotes, titled "What Videogames Can Learn from Other Media ... What We Can't ... And What We Shouldn't," as the three-day event kicks off August 16. The subject of the newly announced speech sounds intriguing, but of course, in an industry as fast-paced and cruel as the video game biz, we doubt Spector's going to stay on top of the keynote game for too much longer. We're betting he's got two more speeches in him before things go sour, and the industry turns its collective attention to a fresh face -- a Bleszinski or a Levine, for example.
Junction Point taking the (mean) Mickey out of Epic Mickey
One of the key features in Disney Epic Mickey is the ability for players to choose either good or evil actions as Mickey Mouse. We originally learned that Mickey's appearance would change based on what sort of actions you take. Take good actions, and he would appear more like the Mickey we all know and love. Take evil actions, on the other hand, and he would transform into something decidedly more sinister. Until now, that is, with the Mainichi Daily News reporting that the "mean" version of Mickey has been removed from the game after it left a bad taste in the mouths of focus testers. Now, instead of transforming into a more menacing mouse, Mickey will simply adopt a smudgy look. Just another reminder that, yes, focus testing can ruin anything.
Interview: Warren Spector
Warren Spector is here at E3 this week showing off his Disney Epic Mickey project for the first time, and we got to sit down with the creator of System Shock and Deus Ex to talk about his new gig with the House of Mouse. After the jump below, Spector answers our questions about why he decided to do a Disney game in the time and place that he did, his favorite Disney properties, and how hard it is to make a platformer game. Read on for more.
Preview: Disney Epic Mickey
I've actually been lucky enough to see Epic Mickey twice now, once at a pre-E3 event a few weeks ago and then again this week at E3. And while my first reaction to the game was twinged with disappointment (which I'll explain in just a minute), after seeing it a second time, and talking with Warren Spector himself, I think the game will turn out to be something really special. What changed in between then and now? Honestly, I don't think they're showing the right demo. The Epic Mickey you can see on the floor of E3 this week shows a middling-to-above-average platformer, with few simple stages and a paint/thinner mechanic that allows you to draw and erase various walls and platforms. But I am convinced anyway (perhaps wrongly, I'll admit) that there's a lot more to this game than that.%Gallery-95374%
Warren Spector explains why Epic Mickey got the silent treatment
During an E3 chat today, we asked Warren Spector why Epic Mickey lacked voiceovers. The characters do squeak and chitter, Banjo Kazooie-style, but none of the classic Disney voices are featured in the game. Why not? "There's something about that voice, you know?" Spector said in his best high-pitched Mickey impersonation, before returning to his normal voice. "It's hard to accept that as a really big hero. I wanted people to accept this guy as a hero, and so I kind of made an early decision that we wouldn't have speech in the game." Plus, one of the main characters in Epic Mickey is the long-forgotten Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who only appeared in Disney's silent cartoon era. "In a world where Oswald is the ruler," Spector told us, "it seemed appropriate that people don't talk."
Epic Mickey to be supported by epic tie-in books
Disney is taking a multimedia approach to Mickey Mouse's return to relevance. The revived mascot won't just feature in Junction Point's Disney Epic Mickey video game; as spotted by NeoGAF's Shiggy, the Disney Epic Mickey universe will expand into a series of books as well. Epic Mickey - It's Your Call #1 (which suggests more on the way) is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style book in which readers battle the Phantom Blot and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In addition to that, there's a "Junior Novelization" of the game. According to Amazon, It's Your Call will be released October 12, with the novelization following on November 23. These dates could provide a release window for the game, since we'd imagine Disney would want to use these tie-in materials to help market it. [Via NeoGAF]
Disney wants to take Epic Mickey to 'Nintendo levels' on the Wii
Gamasutra got a chance to speak with the executive VP and GM of Disney Interactive Studios, Graham Hopper, who says that Disney is swinging for the stands on their future game releases. The games division is learning from "pure" gaming studios and their success, and while Hopper admits that the company hasn't always treated their properties correctly on the gaming side, starting with Disney's Epic Mickey, it wants to "give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful." In other words, let them stand on their own as games, rather than squeeze them up against a movie's release date. And Hopper hopes for quite the payoff, too -- while third-party titles on the Wii have been hit or miss (mostly miss), Hopper expects Epic Mickey's success to go "to Nintendo levels." He does say that they don't want to turn Mickey into Mario by "simply using him as an icon or an avatar in a game," but Disney's goal in the future will be to make sure that each of their properties' appearances are worth it. Hopper says if they port a film to five different gaming platforms, customers should expect "not the same story five times over, but five different stories, each uniquely suited for the platform they're on." A good plan to have, but much easier said than done.
Disney won't rule out Epic Mickey on 360, PS3
When Warren Spector's first Junction Point Studios title, Disney Epic Mickey, was revealed, many gamers were miffed to learn that the game was exclusive to the Wii -- especially after being inundated with some spectacular concept art for the game. It looks like there is still some hope that the game will hit the Xbox 360 and PS3, according to Disney's Graham Hopper. Hopper tells Gamasutra that one of the game's core concepts is its "ink and paint mechanic", making it ideal for the Wii. However, now that both Xbox 360 and PS3 will soon support motion controls of their own, things might be different. "If we started it 6 months ago we would have potentially thought differently about it," said Hopper. He noted that Disney has "a very large audience base that has Wiis in their home" but that the company isn't ruling out the possibility of a future port to other platforms. Making all of this a bit stranger, as Joystiq readers will recall, is that Epic Mickey actually started out as a project for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. The game switched to Wii development in 2008 when Disney raised the possibility of a port. At the time, Spector told the company that many of the design ideas wouldn't work on the console, noting that a Wii version would have to "be its own game." Disney apparently agreed, deciding to make the game Wii exclusive. Here we are two years later, and the game just might come full circle.
Epic Mickey is the strong, silent type (of cartoon mouse)
When Mickey Mouse makes his triumphant return to the world stage in Disney Epic Mickey, he'll do so without his trademark squeaky voice. The mouse will still speak in the game, but all speech will be rendered as text bubbles. And it's not a technical limitation, but an artistic one. "I made the creative decision that characters wouldn't talk in the Cartoon Wasteland," Warren Spector explained to The Cut Scene. "It was entirely a creative decision because [he begins speaking in a high-pitched Mickey voice] As soon as I start doing this, I've lost most of my potential audience. [resumes natural voice] If I'm trying to re-introduce this character to an audience, there are certain connotations with that voice that I'm going to have a hard time overcoming." When he does speak in a future game, he'll probably be an affable Everyman voiced by Nolan North (our guess). Oswald, Spector said, won't need much consideration, due not only to his relative unfamiliarity to modern audiences, but also due to the properties of the character itself. "If you watch the existing cartoons," Spector said, "he's such a special character. In many ways, he's a funnier, more cartoon-y, more modern guy than Mickey is." %Gallery-76724%
Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at spiritual successor to Deus Ex
During a London event to showcase Disney Epic Mickey, developer Warren Spector revealed that his initial pitches to Disney were for two very different titles; hinting one -- in many ways -- may have been a spiritual successor to Deus Ex. The other title, according to The Cut Scene blog, was a "big fantasy" story the developer and his wife unsuccessfully pitched to DC Comics. Prior to the announcement of a new game in the series, Spector said he had previously attempted to acquire the Deus Ex license from publisher Eidos, but was unsuccessful. Since then, Spector's Junction Point Studios has been acquired by Disney Interactive, revealed his latest title and hinted at more from the Epic universe. While Spector says there are still stories in the Deus Ex universe he would like to tell, the upcoming prequel, Deus Ex 3 -- helmed by developer Eidos Montreal -- will be the first title in the franchise without the original creator's watchful eye. "That story is not done for me," Spector said. "Deus Ex was very much a game of the millennium." Sadly -- with another team on the project -- it appears Spector's dream of continuing the Deus Ex conspiracy personally have indeed come to an end, for the time being. [Via GamePro]
Warren Spector envisions two more Disney Epic Mickey games
In the ongoing media blitz that Disney Epic Mickey (yes, it's really still named that) has been receiving over the past few weeks, the game's creative head Warren Spector has been decidedly candid. First, he spoke about the difference between the game's concept art and in-game graphics, then he discussed its roots on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and just this week, in a talk with 1UP, he confirmed his hope that the game would spawn two more adventures. One hitch – those games have yet to be approved by his new overlords at Disney. "In my head, I've got two more planned ... those games have not approved and who knows if we'll ever see them," he said. "I had three games planned for Deus Ex and you see where that got me." As far as other titles that Spector's Junction Point Studios were working on before being acquired over two years ago, Spector confirmed that Disney has officially dropped the lot of them. Wait, even Ninja Gold?! Yes, even Ninja Gold.%Gallery-76724%
Spector explains disparity between Disney Epic Mickey concept shots and reality
If you're anything like us, you may have felt a bit ... underwhelmed by the recently released screenshots of Warren Spector-lead project Disney Epic Mickey, especially when compared to the magic-filled concept art leaked so many weeks ago. Speaking to 1UP in a recent interview, Spector says he works on creating concept art that will find the metaphorical "line" by "pushing past it." For him, it is a question of finding the boundaries for not just himself and his development team, but also Disney. "I know where my lines are, but I don't know where Disney's are."He additionally teases, "Some of what you saw was beyond the line ... some of it was early design ideas that are no longer relevant ... some of it is stuff that's still in the game, and I'm not saying what." If the recent steady stream of information on Disney Epic Mickey continues, we'll likely see at least a few of those original concepts in their current form at a point in the not-too-distant future.%Gallery-76724%%Gallery-68993%
