Epic Mickey (Warren Spector Game - Announced for Wii)

So not much is known about this game, Warren Spector (a very well known game developer) said on a 1UP Yours awhile back that he was working on a project with Disney and until now, we have had no idea what it's about, what console it's going to be on or anything. We still don't know much (including we still don't know the console, though there is a Wii rumor out there) but we have some concept art and I think it looks pretty awesome! We should know something soon though, possibly as early next month, as the first image I'm posting is from this month's Game Informer. Their magazine relaunch happens next month. Anyway, here are the images:

More -

GAF was talking about how awesome it would be now that Oswald is a Disney character again, if this game was about Oswald getting revenge on Mickey

So yeah, the studio doing the game is Junction Point

the concept art is outstanding! how amazing would it be if they were to have a release date set before our trip? fat chance of that happening thoughprobably not gonna happen, haha. but if that miracle happens, we should totally get it and play it together.

I mean, I guess we'll see how close the game is to being done next month when the new Game Informer hits. I mean, I think Warren Spector was on 1UP Yours last GDC talking about it, so it could be pretty far along.

So Game Informer released the cover of the upcoming issue, which they're saying should begin hitting subscribers Oct 12th (in which case I will transcribe the article). They will also have pics, interviews with Warren Spector up on the website soon. You can check that out here.



Wallpaper of cover

*This confirms that I'll be buying a Wii (the game was announced as a Wii exclusive).

Disney releasing more deets later this month:



And the logo:

Also someone on GAF made a mock-up of what the Wii cover could look like.

Eurogamer had plot details, as well as a bit of gameplay details (which shows us why this is going to be a Wii exclusive.

Quote :

Epic Mickey is a tale about the 'forgotten' Disney stars: the rides, the characters, the lesser-known cartoons. When nobody any longer cares, they are cast into a dark void; a forgotten world of broken machines and bitter personalities - a bit like Sid's bedroom in Toy Story, but without the friendly furnishings.

This forgotten world is run by Oswald the Rabbit. He was Disney's first creation, made long before Mickey Mouse, and his jealousy of the newcomer has fermented for years. Now, finally, Oswald is ready for revenge.

He unleashes The Phantom Blot to wipe out Mickey and his cartoon world. The Blot pollutes the Disney universe with sticky black ink that makes colours run and fade (as seen on the Game Informer cover), so it's up to Mickey to restore peace and order. And this is where his tools come in.

Mickey has to draw and scribble his way through levels, mending broken bridges by applying the right colour paint or peering through walls after applying thinner. He can even clear rubble from his path by erasing parts of the world.

Our source told us Epic Mickey is a game about thinking and artwork - laterally considering your environment in order to overcome puzzles.

On top of that is a healthy dose of exploration, plus Mickey will be getting "his first makeover in years". "That's why no one's seen his face yet," our source explained, "But he's far more retro than you've seen him for years."

Fantastic mini history of Mickey.

Things I liked from the article

Warren Spector wrote:

“[Disney] lost Oswald because he refused to compromise on budget. So they fired him, found somebody who would do it cheaper, and guess what? Nobody remembers Oswald after Disney stopped doing him.”

Quote :

The 1930s represent the height of popularity for the character. Disney’s studio pumped out 18 cartoons per year on average, and the character garnered international acclaim. By the middle of the decade, Mickey had his own magazine, comics, toys, movies, and regular coverage in newspapers and other media.

Quote :

Mickey Mouse’s rascally and rambunctious behavior became a victim of his success. With such broad appeal across the world, Disney inevitably chose to scale back Mickey’s more mischievous activities in favor of more friendly behavior. Many of Mickey’s more dangerous and questionable activities were either eliminated or shunted off to his many cartoon buddies. Spector elaborates: “They took his mischievousness and his anger and need for revenge and gave it to Donald. At some point they took his naïve simplicity and gave it to Goofy. They took his loyalty and infinite affection and gave it to Pluto of all things. They took his character and just shattered it, and all of a sudden he’s kind of a straight man for the gang.” Interestingly, during this transition in the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Donald Duck began his rise to popularity, which in many ways eclipsed Mickey in the following years.

Quote :

Famously, the Allied command word on D-Day was “Mickey Mouse.” On the other side, a well-circulated German newspaper quote from the 1930s declared: “Mickey Mouse is the most miserable ideal ever revealed... The dirty and filth-covered vermin, the greatest bacteria carrier in the animal kingdom cannot be the ideal type of animal. Down with Mickey Mouse!”

Warren Spector wrote:

“The irony is I think the best way to rejuvenate or revitalize the character, whether in a game or in a movie or anywhere else, is to return him to his roots,” Spector says. “Mickey used to be a character who about whom kids could say, ‘He’s acting out for me,’ and I think he could do that again.”

Timelapse video of one of the Junction Point artists drawing some art for the game.

More of the concept art.



Inspired by the Mickey short Clock Cleaners as you can see above.



You can see Oswald both under the purple lighting and in the stained glass window above him. Then in the other windows you can see Scar, Maleficent and another character that I can't make out, can you?

You were wondering about Warren Spector and who he is, here is a profile of him and the games he's made.

Also, here is a profile of Junction Point Studios.

Info from the magazine, I haven't gotten my issue yet but this is from Go Nintendo:

Quote :

As Game Informer has been hyping for weeks now, their latest issue features a huge spread on Epic Mickey. You get your first look at in-game screens and brand-new art, as well as Mickey's redesign, and a host of other characters. Obviously, I cannot show you that here, but thanks to Hero of Legend, I can give you the first details!

- Mickey's appearance is much, much closer to his original debut style
- Disney was the one to approach Spector
- Spector originally was against the idea of creating a Mickey game, because he said that he didn't do kids games
- Spector changed his mind when Disney said that they were looking for someone to 'reinvigorate' Mickey
- Disney had to get back the rights to Oswald before he could be used in this game
- the sorcerer Yensid creates a pen-and-paper world for his forgotten creations, which is where Oswald lives
- this world is similar to Walt Disney World
- Mickey enters this world through a magic mirror, and accidentally spills paint and paint thinner on the drawing of this world. Mickey escapes before Yensid finds out.
- The spill that Mickey caused ends up turning the drawing into a twisted version of what was originally created.
- the Phantom Blot ends up taking over this world
- many years later, after Mickey becomes successful, he re-enters the mirror and sees what has happened to the world. The Phantom Blot drags Mickey into the world, which is where your adventure begins
- use the Wiimote to paint in buildings, platforms and more
- swipe away enemies with the Wiimote when using paint thinner
- create/destroy the world as you go along
- Junction Point took hundreds of photos while at Disney World in order to capture the essence of the park, and translate ideas into the game
- play the game as you like, either destroying everything in sight, or taking the hero's route. It's completely up to you, and you can mix-and-match play styles
- Gremlin Village is reminiscent of 'It's a Small World'
- Mickey's appearance and stance will change based on the way you play the game
- trade some items for health
- Pete returns, and at one point attacks you with a huge zepplin
- Donald Duck animatronic pieces are scattered throughout one portion of the game. Collect them to put him back together.
- Spector wants this game to scare kids, in some ways
- the game will also have funny parts
- Spector calls the game world's visuals 'the bastard child of Tim Burton and Disney'
- elements of platforming, exploration and role-playing
- go into the inner-workings of some levels and rides
- visit the gears and mechanics underneath the 'It's a Small World' ride, complete with an eerie re-imagining of the music
- enter movie screens to move from in-game island to island
- movie screen transitions put you into a 2d world, where you'll revisit some of Mickey's old cartoons
- find sketches, and bring them to life with your paintbrush
- sketches can be activated to give you new powers (clock sketch to slow time, TV sketch to distract enemies, and more)
- collect 'E-Tickets' to enter rides, and use as a form of currency to buy power-ups
- Jim Dooley 'Pushing Daises' is doing the soundtrack

Warren Spector on Mickey

"I want him to be a hero...and I want to remind him that it's okay to behave badly."

Warren on Oswald

"All he really wants is to be loved by Walt Disney. In the end, the Blot won the war and pushed Oswald into hiding and exile."

Warren on the Gremlins

"The Gremlins are the only forces of good in the world that can continue to fight against the Blot.

Warren on the Bunny Kids

"These are going to be the breakout stars of the game. Mark my words."

Warren on the Buddies (Donald, Goofy, ect.)

"Oswald is trying to recreate Mickey's life, so he has the Mad Doctor build these animatronic versions of his buddies."

Warren on the Mad Doctor

"He's from an early 30's cartoon that is pretty swell."

Warren on the Phantom Blot

"The Phantom Blot has been a consistent villain since 1939. He's just been lame."

Warren on the Blotlings

"They're the popcorn unit. You need something that the player can just swat away. They're supposed to be funny, silly and stupid."

Warren on the Beetleworx

"In order to deal with these guys, you have to erase their painted bits to get to the vulnerable inert spots underneath."

And of course, the infamous screenshots! I have to admit though, since I've never seen this first one that I really, really like his design in it, it matches the cover image a lot better. Also, just to remind ya that the game is at least a year away from releasing (as you can see in this screenshot, Fall 2010) so the graphics are usually touched up soon before release.

Okay, I'll officially eat crow here and get my foot out of my mouth. I'm 100% re-sold on this game and will be buying a Wii along with the game to play it. Game Informer put up the next of their month long features on this game, primarily dealing with the animation this time. It looks fucking fantastic I think!

Here is the article.

Here are some of my favorite things about the article, but really go check it out at least for the animation videos!

Quote :

From early on, the game featured story elements that emerged from the history of Mickey Mouse, which the art needed to reflect. “You’ve got this wealth of subject matter out there that’s known all around the world and respected by so many people. It’s just an honor to be able to work with that, and it’s a big responsibility as well,” Harker admits. “You’ve got to continue on top of all these great artists that have come before you and build off of it.”

Quote :

Caption: “How you decide to play the game should make a difference. You get to determine what kind of hero you are. Everybody solves the problem. Everybody saves the day. Everybody gets to save the world and gets the girl,” Warren Spector tells us, in regards to the shifting spectrum of play styles that change the appearance of Mickey throughout the game. “But how you do it, and how you end up looking is up to you. What abilities you have is up to you. Who likes you is up to you. What missions you hear about or not is up to you.” Each version of Mickey has a distinct look crafted by the character artists at Mickey, from the crouching and feral scrapper to the stalwart hero.

And it looks like the game might match the earlier concept art better than we thought!



What do you think?

Someone on GAF was flipping through an old Game Informer and found this quote from Warren Spector:

Quote :

“This is so freaky, but there have been a couple of people that have written master theses about the games I’ve worked on. There was one I read, and it pointed out that three things have appeared in all of my games. There’s always a basketball court; that one is on purpose, by the way. The second thing is there is always an altered state of reality. The last thing that this academic pointed out to me was that every game I’ve worked on has in some way been about a family relationship. It doesn’t necessarily mean a literal nuclear family, but it’s always about the close bonds that we form with each other and how they break up. Maybe I’ve just been in an extended therapy session for the last 26 years.”

Then they theorized about how in Disneyland there's a basketball goal at the top of the Matterhorn, so will that be a location?

First, the bad news. This is taken from Nintendo Power, which is the official Nintendo magazine:

Quote :

When asked whether there was pressure to bring Epic Mickey to other formats, Spector told ONM: "The reality is that we started Wii development in 2008, but before that we were a PC, PS3, and 360 title."

"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."

That issue goes on sale Nov. 20th, so I'll be keeping a lookout for that.

So with that in mind, I think we can surmise that the original concept art we saw was from that version of the game. So I think it's best to temper expectations for this version, as it was never meant to match that vision. With that in mind, here is a bunch of the actual concept art for the Wii version.













Probably my favorite:



Here are some of the character designs, in game shots:

Hero Mickey



Scrapper Mickey



Small World Pete



Beetleworx



The Mad Doctor



Robo-Donald



Oswald



Screenshots:



























This last one has a shot of one of the Bunny Kids:



Saving the best for last, this is the best news I've heard from this entire thing so far.

Quote :

"I've had some discussions with people and really, really want to see some comics and cartoons and feature animation built around this," he Spector told Kotaku. "There have been discussions about all sorts of things talking about other possibilities around this project.

"I really hope it's going to happen and I'm going to keep beating on that drum."

Quote :

Spector says that he has every intention, Disney has every intention, of this game becoming an established and beloved franchise.

"I certainly have big plans," he said. "Have they been approved? No. But I have had a lot of discussions about what is going to happen next. In my mind it's already a franchise."

Succeed or fail, Spector and his team aren't holding anything back on this game.

"I really can't abide the thought that it will be OK or mediocre," he said. "We are going after Mario and Zelda, Ratchet and Clank, we all aspire to that.

"I don't always succeed, but we're always shooting for the moon," he said. "I'm a man of many motos and one of them is fail gloriously."

Seriously though, I hope this is really successful and all of that happens!!!

Warren Spector talks about the original concept art:

Quote :

He answers, "There are a couple aspects to that. I think I've mentioned before, that I'm a big believer in finding out where the line is by pushing past it. There are lines that are on every project; every project exists in a creative box. For most of my games, I create that box and the team has to sort of work within it. In this case, there's a creative box that I create, and there's the creative box that Disney overlays on that. I know where my lines are, but I don't know where Disney's are. I had a lot of stuff generated that was very specifically designed to be provocative and to cross that line. I know it's too far -- or is it? You tell me. So it forces a confrontation or a decision. Some of what you saw was beyond the line, and so I learned something from it. 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."

And here's an audio tour with Warren about the game, screenshots, ect.,:

Here