Tag Archives: epic mickey

Epic Mickey may not remain a Wii exclusive, Warren Spector’s told CVG.

HD versions are “a decision that other people in the Disney organisation are going to make,” the developer said in London yesterday.

Spector added, however, that he’s enjoying single-format work.

“Right now we’re a Wii game and I’m happy to be able to focus,” he said.

“It’s interesting – it’s kind of fun to be able to focus on gameplay and not have to worry about modern shader stuff.”

There’s more through there. It transpired last night that the game started life as a multi-format project. Hold onto the dream.

Epic Mickey was originally in development for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Warren Spector told Official Nintendo Magazine.

“The reality is that we started Wii development in 2008, but before that we were a PC, PS3, and 360 title,” said Spector. “It’s burned in my brain – Graham Hopper [Disney Interactive boss] pulled me into my office one day and said ‘What does it take to deliver on the goals we have for this product? And I said, well, you need enough time and enough money to be competitive. And it’d be awfully nice if we could focus on one platform.

“At that time we were talking about a Wii port and I was begging people – no, we can’t just port to the Wii, it’s not going to work. It needs to be its own game. A lot of the design ideas just won’t work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues. Graham looked at me and said ‘What do you think about a Wii exclusive?’ And I went ‘Holy cow – yeah!’

“They walked away from three other platforms – no other publisher on the planet would have done that. It was a magic moment for me. No-one has even mentioned other formats since that point.”

Interesting. Hit the link for the rest, and since you are slapping links around head on over to CVG for some more new screens – just in case you didn’t get enough with ours.

During the London Event for Epic Mickey, Warren Spector took the stage to chat a bit about gameplay details along with the history of the antagonist, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

After inadvertently destroying the magical land the sorcerer created, Mickey is pulled from home, kidnapped, and dropped off in the Cartoon Wasteland he created where he must figure out where he is and how to harness the abilities he has acquired.

There, he rediscovers Oswald along with other things and cartoons he knew back in the 30s and his main goal is to make the Wasteland better since he destroyed it, all the while trying to get back home.

The Wasteland is a place where Disney’s forgotten and rejected ideas go. It’s full of rides, people and places that want to be remembered. There’s the Gremlin Village based off an old ride at Disney World, along with 2D platformer segments inspired by classic cartoons like Clock Cleaners and the Lonesome Manor, which is reminiscent of the Haunted Mansion.

Gameplay has you wielding magical paint and thinner to re-shape the world, both of which give you creative or damaging effects, with the dynamic choices you make consequentially affect the environment, interactions with other characters, and Mickey’s appearance and abilities.

The game is being described as a “platformer meets RPG/adventure” with paint and thinner mechanics where everything is sketched and painted. As an example, if a bookshelf of flying books is blocking your way, you can just erase it – but you can’t use it as a platform or gain information unless you repaint it.

There’s loads more past the break.

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During the Epic Mickey event today in London, Warren Spector and Disney announced more details regarding the game, along with the announcement that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will be the antagonist in the game.

Apparently, the sorcerer Yen Sid (from Fanatasia) “creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations thrive” and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, his children, and other retired Disney characters and creations live there.

When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid’s map of the magical land, he inadvertently devastates Oswald’s world and his mistake pulls him into the Cartoon Wasteland to “face the destruction he unknowingly created” along with the resentment Oswald has been harboring for him since Mickey’s creation in 1929.

“Mickey is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse,” said Warren Spector, creative director and vice president of developers Junction Point. “I want to bring his personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide.

“Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool.”

Screens from the game are posted past the break.

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Disney’s hosting an unveiling for Epic Mickey in London today at 5:00pm.

1UP is liveblogging the event here, should you decide you want to know what’s happening when it happens.

We’ll keep an eye on it ourselves in case anything interesting pops up.

Warren Spector’s explained the reasoning behind bringing Epic Mickey exclusively to Wii, saying the game’s simply the right fit for the console’s audience.

The below quote’s taken from a massive – and excellent – Game Informer interview:

GI: Why the Wii?

WS: Well, think about it. Would you really want to tackle convincing Halo or Grand Theft Auto players that they want to be Mickey Mouse? Would you really want to do that? In terms of finding a congenial audience, let’s go for a platform that’s known for Mario and Link and now Sonic. Come on. Honestly, with the unit sales on the hardware, it was kind of a lucky happenstance. We made the call to go to the Wii long before it was clear that the Wii was going to be, at least for now, the best-selling platform.

It was about going where the audience is and going somewhere where they’re going to accept a visual style that is more cartoony than people are used to seeing and where we don’t feel obliged to throw in every shader on the planet. “Look at the normal maps and shaders.” We don’t have to do that kind of stuff. It’s the right platform for this project, for sure.

Definitely have a read of that piece, Saturday people. The game’s out next year.

Game Informer’s posted up heaps more artwork, shots and movies from Junction Point’s Epic Mickey. Take a look.

There’s five pages’ worth there, all to do with the game’s graphics, design and animation. “Epic” is definitely the word.

It’s out on Wii next year.

Nintendodpad’s posted the first Game Informer scan of Epic Mickey. It looks mental.

There’s only one page there, but you get a good idea of what’s going on. Looks a lot more colourful than we expected.

Check it out.

After the break. It’s a guy drawing Mickey facing off against an enemy, speeded up over three minutes.

There’s no date on the Wii exclusive as yet, but there’s a press conference for the game in London later this month, so we should get more then.

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Game Informer’s gone on the record to confirm Epic Mickey as a Wii exclusive.

Confusion arose after the mag said the game was only coming to Wii in an online teaser for its next cover, then altered its article to remove the claim.

Apparently, the team was trying to save the info for the mag’s release. Unlucky.

The issue’s out next week.

Here we go. As noticed by GoNintendo and Wired, Game Informer has altered its Epic Mickey teaser page to remove a claim that the game is a Wii exclusive.

The original claim of Wii exclusivity for the Junction Point project raised more than a few eyebrows, especially given the incoming spring release of Sony’s PS3 motion tech and the game’s “artwork” nature.

There’s the dream: cling on to it. A press event’s being held for the game in London on October 28, so we should know more then.

A source close to Disney has revealed details concerning Warren Spector’s Epic Mickey, to Eurogamer.

The reason Wii was chosen, according to the source, is due to Mickey’s tools: paintbrushes, erasers, thinner, pencils and artist tools. These tools are mapped to Wii remote gestures.

According to the source, the game is also about exploration, thinking and artwork, where you must use your environment to overcome puzzles.

Mickey will also be getting “his first makeover in years” which is why “no one’s seen his face yet, but he’s far more retro than you’ve seen him for years.”

There’s more through the link along with a bit of background story.

The rumours are true – Epic Mickey exists. Game Informer just took the wraps of it’s next issue: the game’s on the cover.

It’s also confirmed it is a Wii exclusive.

And Disney’s just sent out invites to a press event happening in London on October 28 for the “announcement of an iconic new game”, which has a massive droop of ink sliding down. More at IGN.

It’s official: we’re fucking pumped now for this. Go nuts.

Game Informer has put up a shot of its November cover on its website, and it looks suspiciously like Mickey Mouse.

Looking at the image properties, it clearly states “mickey-cover-spash.jpg”, so the suspicions are correct.

So far, all that is known about the new Mouse game is its codename, Epic Mickey, and the hint that instead of the happy-zany adventures we’re used to from Mickey and Co., it will be a darker and more steampunk-style world.

Also, there are some screens from the game, according to Gamesonsmash, here, and they look rather intriguing.

Rumors state that it may be a Wii exclusive as well, but it looks like we’ll all find out when the new GI hits stands with its new redesign this month.

Hot dog.

A teaser in the most recent edition of Game Informer – you know, the one with Ninja Theory’s Enslaved and Crackdown 2 – has paved the way for a reveal of Epic Mickey in the next issue of the magazine.

The page shows Mickey’s head, but not the face in a massive black ink stain, with a message which says, “Something EPIC is brewing.”

Don’t know what it is? This is the game Warren Spector and Junction Point apparently have in development, since the developer was bought by Disney in 2007. It’s apparently a Wii game.

Thanks, Nintendo Everything.

CVG’s posted up some rumour details on Junction Point’s increasingly-solid-but-very-unconfirmed Epic Mickey.

Apparently it’s a Wii exclusive in which the player “paints” their way through levels.

The game is to include very old Disney characters, says the site, who are out for revenge on the dear old mouse.

There’s more through there. Starting to sound interesting, though.

Superannuation‘s found a dev CV claiming Junction Point’s working on something called Epic Mickey for Wii.

The guy involved reckons he’s a concept artist on the game, work which included “designing and painting concept/inspirational artwork” and “painting ‘boxouts’ for locations”.

Junction Point is Warren Spector’s Disney-owned company, in case you’d forgotten.

There’s more on Eurogamer.

Gamasutra’s rumouring that Warren Spector’s Junction Point Studios is working on a Mickey Mouse title called Epic Mickey.

The site says it’s seen concept art showing “mockups of the potential game’s environment, including pencil sketches of cities assembled from junk.

“Another sketch included a surreal seashore invasion scene, in which machines wearing the faces of the Seven Dwarfs deposit old-fashioned renditions of Disney characters onto the beach with mechanical hands.”

Disney bought Junction Point back in June 2007.