Joystiq

12 Days of Joyswag: Disney Epic Mickey game, jacket, Wiimote charger

Christopher Grant — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST

To celebrate the holidays, we're having twelve straight days of giveaways up through Christmas day. And while we say it's to celebrate, really ... we're simply getting rid of some of the larger packages around the ol' office.

Alright, you got us ... we missed one of these yesterday, so it's really the 11 Days of Joyswag, With One of the Days Featuring Two Giveaways. That's today! Our first giveaway will be Disney Epic Mickey-themed, with the above Wiimote controller charger, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit jacket and, of course, a copy of the game. Head on past the break for all the rules on how you can get in on this action.

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12 Days of Joyswag: Disney Epic Mickey game, jacket, Wiimote charger originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warren Spector says reviewers 'misunderstood' Epic Mickey's camera

Justin McElroy — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST

Though plenty of reviewers (our own included) were swept up by the enchanting world of Epic Mickey, its shoddy camera has been pretty much universally maligned. Creator Warren Spector leaped to his team's defense while speaking with MTV, saying, "First, there has never been a game that I couldn't break if you give it to me for 30 seconds. I mean, I will break a camera in any game ever made. [Ed.'s note: Well, clearly.] Third-person camera is way harder than I even imagined it could be. It is the hardest problem in video game development. Everybody gets it wrong. It's just a question of how close to right do you get it."

Spector went on to claim that the issue stems from the fact that his game isn't a pure platformer, so the camera couldn't be tuned just for that purpose. "If reviewers want to give us a hard time about it because they're misunderstanding the game we made, it's not for me to tell them that they're wrong," he continued, "absolutely not."

Listen, we love Warren Spector, and Epic Mickey has plenty of good points, for sure. But "We tried to do something that was crazy hard and it didn't work" is not a suitable excuse -- unless you're going house to house and explaining the "right" way to play. (P.S. If Spector does start doing that, you probably shouldn't let him near your cameras.)

Warren Spector says reviewers 'misunderstood' Epic Mickey's camera originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Era Cap releases Epic Mickey, Tron hats

JC Fletcher — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST

New Era Cap, which makes the official Major League Baseball hats, has released its first hat design based on a video game: a fitted cap featuring Epic Mickey imagery. The $37 hat came out on November 30 alongside the Wii game, and is available from the company's website or its Flagship stores.

It's a nice design, but a Disney hat with no plastic ears on either side seems ... wrong, somehow. It disrupts the natural order of the universe. Maybe you could staple some ears onto it yourself if you get one of these -- otherwise, you know, it would be weird.

The company also has a line of sort-of game-inspired hats, based on Tron Legacy.

Gallery: Epic Mickey cap

New Era Cap releases Epic Mickey, Tron hats originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Epic Mickey trailer dives into the Disney archives

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:40:00 EST

The latest Disney Epic Mickey trailer shows developer Junction Point diving into the Disney archives for game ideas and feeling overwhelmed by the rich content. Is this the first time we've been excited for a history lesson?

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Disney Epic Mickey trailer dives into the Disney archives originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Epic Mickey trailer goes behind story

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:00:00 EST

Disney Epic Mickey has a heavy emphasis on storytelling. If the seven minutes of previously released cutscenes didn't already bang that over your head like an Acme anvil (mixed cartoon metaphor), here's Junction Point's Warren Spector to tell you more.

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Disney Epic Mickey trailer goes behind story originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Part two of Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic

Mike Schramm — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

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?

Continue reading Video: Part two of Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic

Video: Part two of Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic is probably over your head

Mike Schramm — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

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."

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Disney Epic Mickey's opening cinematic is probably over your head originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warren Spector will keynote at PAX Prime 2010

Mike Schramm — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

The official Twitter account for the Penny Arcade Expo has announced that this year's PAX Prime keynote speaker will be none other than Warren Spector, driving force behind the classic Deus Ex and System Shock games, and current boss behind the upcoming Disney Epic Mickey. Spector's no stranger to the keynoting game, having spoken at GDC and other conferences before. We got to talk to him back at E3 this year, and he's right in the thick of Epic Mickey, thinking about accessible gameplay and how to build very famous and licensed characters into his game in a fun way.

Spector will also be at Comic-Con later this week, speaking at a panel with writer Peter David about bringing Mickey and his less famous friends to life in the video game medium. PAX Prime is going down the first week of September up in Seattle, WA, and tickets are still (barely) available.

Warren Spector will keynote at PAX Prime 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Junction Point taking the (mean) Mickey out of Epic Mickey

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

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.

Junction Point taking the (mean) Mickey out of Epic Mickey originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interview: Warren Spector

Mike Schramm — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

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.

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Interview: Warren Spector originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Preview: Disney Epic Mickey

Mike Schramm — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST

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: Disney Epic Mickey (E3 2010)

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Preview: Disney Epic Mickey originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warren Spector explains why Epic Mickey got the silent treatment

Mike Schramm — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:55:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

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."

Warren Spector explains why Epic Mickey got the silent treatment originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Interactive reports increased revenue, $55 million loss

Richard Mitchell — Wed, 12 May 2010 23:00:00 EST

Disney has posted earnings for its second fiscal quarter ended April 3, 2010, and there's good news and bad news. The good news is that revenues are up in its Interactive Media segment (which houses Disney Interactive Studios). Specifically, Interactive Media revenues are at $155 million, up from $129 million in the same period last year, a 20 percent increase.

The bad news: the Interactive Media segment still reports a loss of $55 million, though that loss is an improvement over the $61 million loss reported during the same quarter last year. Disney pins the improvement on growing Club Penguin subscription revenues as well as "lower video game inventory costs." The company added that gains were offset by "higher internet product development and sales and marketing costs."

The report makes little note of Disney Interactive's prospects for the rest of the year, though the publisher has more than a few big projects on the horizon. Split/Second is only a week away, while Toy Story 3, Disney Sing It: Family Hits, Disney Guilty Party, a new Pirates of the Caribbean and Disney Epic Mickey are all on the horizon this year. And let's not forget Marvel -- which Disney owns -- has a title or two on the way, as well.

Disney Interactive reports increased revenue, $55 million loss originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 May 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic Mickey to be supported by epic tie-in books

JC Fletcher — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:15:00 EST

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]

Epic Mickey to be supported by epic tie-in books originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 May 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney won't rule out Epic Mickey on 360, PS3

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST

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.

Disney won't rule out Epic Mickey on 360, PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic Mickey is the strong, silent type (of cartoon mouse)

JC Fletcher — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:20:00 EST

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: Disney Epic Mickey

Epic Mickey is the strong, silent type (of cartoon mouse) originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at spiritual successor to Deus Ex

Xav de Matos — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST

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]

Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at spiritual successor to Deus Ex originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warren Spector envisions two more Disney Epic Mickey games

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:50:00 EST

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: Disney Epic Mickey

Warren Spector envisions two more Disney Epic Mickey games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spector explains disparity between Disney Epic Mickey concept shots and reality

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:40:00 EST

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: Disney Epic Mickey

Gallery: Epic Mickey concept art

Spector explains disparity between Disney Epic Mickey concept shots and reality originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic Mickey was originally an epic PC, PS3 & 360 game

JC Fletcher — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:50:00 EST

While the family-friendly Wii seems like the starting point for a Mickey Mouse relaunch, the decision to make Disney Epic Mickey a Wii exclusive wasn't automatic. In fact, it wasn't even the original plan. "The reality is that we started Wii development in 2008," Warren Spector told Official Nintendo Magazine, "but before that we were a PC, PS3, and 360 title."

When the issue of a Wii port was raised, Spector told Disney that it wasn't 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." In response, Disney Interactive's Graham Hopper suggested that the game simply be a Wii exclusive, thus solving the problem of a subpar Wii port and addressing Spector's desire to focus on a single platform. That single platform just happened to be none of the ones for which the game was initially planned!

Gallery: Disney Epic Mickey

Epic Mickey was originally an epic PC, PS3 & 360 game originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Epic Mickey screens and art are suitably epic

Randy Nelson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:35:00 EST

Click to make more epic.

From the looks of things, Warren Spector and his Junction Point Studios aren't doing a Mickey Mouse job of their, well ... Mickey Mouse job. Disney Interactive has opened the floodgates today, releasing a torrent of screenshots and artwork from the now-properly-announced Disney Epic Mickey, the Wii-exclusive platformer that sees the iconic rodent painting his way through a twisted Magic Kingdom.

According to Disney, the idea behind the game didn't originate with Spector -- rather, an internal group at DIS, called the Think Tank, um, thought up the idea of Mickey in "turmoil." Working with that initial pitch, Spector created the Epic Mickey game. The concept is certainly intriguing, but we'll have to wait until the game launches in fall 2010 to draw our final conclusion.

Gallery: Disney Epic Mickey

Disney Epic Mickey screens and art are suitably epic originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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