Epic Mickey

[ScoobyCafe]

http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2009/10/15/the-art-of-epic-mickey.aspx

More info:

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 ******* 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."

Another thing...

Look at the stained-glass. You can see Oswald in one while Maleficent is in the other. Not sure if that means she's a villain in this game or if that's just there for something else.

 

[SuperBowser]

I really like the art style for this game and will probably buy it just for that. Sorry if already posted, but here's some new info!

edit: i was beat'd by 2 minutes. booooo

 

[BBQTV]

sounds cool

 

[ScoobyCafe]

There's a video in the gameinformer link if you guys haven't noticed. Check it out if you want to see some of the art in the game.

EDIT: Got some scans.

http://i34.tinypic.com/i5cis3.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2n0663n.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/nzix09.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2hgusxv.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/bfs64k.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/34981m0.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/kainuq.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/xe4xt0.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/28txouu.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/34f1dfr.jpg

Hmm... not really sure how I feel about the way this game looks.

 

[justaway12]

Great work Cafe! :O

I said earlier not to get your hopes up, I hate to sound like one of those haters (the is even my favorite console), but the Wii isn't really that good with graphics, well, to my knowladge at least, I really don't think you should do get your hopes up thaat much (not that I wouldn't say that for everyother game).

Let's just say, I doubt this will live up to it's concept art...

But, nontheless, AMAZING WORK!
I'll put it in the OP

 

[CRASHiC]

The Wii can handle it just fine.
The only thing the wii can't do is create realistic looking graphics. BUT GUESS WHAT, this game isn't going for that.
If the game cube could create Resident Evil 4, there is no reason it couldn't handle anything stylistically.
Also, there are gameplay shots in the magazine.

 

[justaway12]

I meant it can't live up to it's concept art, that's all.
It seems that's what most people were excited about.

I'm still excited for it, but in the first page, a lot of people seemed to like the concept art.

The graphics was the only thing a was talking about, there is obviously more to it, but it was my response to ScoobyCafe's post.

 

[BBQTV]

the wii can handle it the wii has the horse power of 2 gamecubes so it should and i thought the game play shots were cool makes me want to get it more

 

[justaway12]

I was talking to ScoobyCafe, he didn't seem happy about the screenshots, I just told him not to get his hopes up and that it probably won't look like the concept art. That's all.

I'm sorry if I worded it poorly, I'm not good at that.

I don't care much about graphics, but that seemed to be his concern.

 

[ScoobyCafe]

Graphics isn't an issue with me , just that this isn't at all what I expected. A lot of what I'm seeing looks flat to me, and the art style... well, it's going to take some time for me to get used to it.

I'm disappointed, honestly; hopefully the gameplay will make up for it. I just wish it looked nicer artistically. Will have to see how it looks in motion before I say anything else about it.

 

[Scott!]

I really didn't want to get hyped up for this yet. Oh well. Now I'm excited. Looks pretty darn interesting. The area they're showing there doesn't look too exciting, but I can't imagine they'd be showing off the best parts yet. Gotta love the potential for semi-evil Mickey though.

 

[SkylerOcon]

I utterly detest this game's visual style. After all the cool concept art, and seeing this, I can no longer find even a slight reason to care for this game anymore. It was such a letdown that they made it appear to be dark and edgy... and we get something that's so incredibly cartoony.

 

[Thrillhouse-vh.]

There's a video in the gameinformer link if you guys haven't noticed. Check it out if you want to see some of the art in the game.

EDIT: Got some scans.

http://i34.tinypic.com/i5cis3.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2n0663n.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/nzix09.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2hgusxv.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/bfs64k.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/34981m0.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/kainuq.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/xe4xt0.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/28txouu.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/34f1dfr.jpg

Hmm... not really sure how I feel about the way this game looks.

It's alright, but the concept art severely passes this in every possible way.

 

[BBQTV]

I utterly detest this game's visual style. After all the cool concept art, and seeing this, I can no longer find even a slight reason to care for this game anymore. It was such a letdown that they made it appear to be dark and edgy... and we get something that's so incredibly cartoony.

even though i like this i kinda agree especially the part about it being more cartoony then dark

 

[GreenKirby]

I utterly detest this game's visual style. After all the cool concept art, and seeing this, I can no longer find even a slight reason to care for this game anymore. It was such a letdown that they made it appear to be dark and edgy... and we get something that's so incredibly cartoony.

Translation: I thought a game was good because of the concept art and then I thought the game was bad because of the concept art. =/

Just another child whining about graphics.

 

[ZMan]

I utterly detest this game's visual style. After all the cool concept art, and seeing this, I can no longer find even a slight reason to care for this game anymore. It was such a letdown that they made it appear to be dark and edgy... and we get something that's so incredibly cartoony.

go take that weakass trolling to gfaqs

the game looks fine to me. ill wait till i get my greasy hands on it decide if its good or bad. but its sounds cool to me.

there should be anamatronic versions of the jonas bros and hanna montana so they can freak the **** out of kids and i can drop a god**** anvil on their ugly *****

 

[Kei_Takaro]

there should be anamatronic versions of the jonas bros and hanna montana so they can freak the **** out of kids and i can drop a god**** anvil on their ugly *****

^Amen to that XD

I feel less creeped out ever since the screenshots of the gameplay were revealed.

 

[Darkslash]

I feel the saying "Looks can be deceiving" can fit here. I'm seeing reactions similar to wind waker, and look what happened to it. I'm going to think that this game is going to get Psychological reactions, like Dumbo and the Pink Elephant scene.

 

[BBQTV]

i think it looks fun it may be darker then we think and mickey looks sorta retro

 

[GreenKirby]

The problem with people assuming something is dark and edgy is also the context that goes with it. Like people think this will have an M rating. (I can see this being a T rating at best)

Seriously, would anyone believe this was the prelude for Kingdom Hearts II at first?

And course, Paper Mario 2 was fairly dark for a Mario game despite it being cartoony.

And then Conker's Bad Fur Day was very light hearted and cartoony. Doesn't mean it's for kids.

Also keep in mind we saw the dwarfs dead and used as ships. Hades' head was attach to a random body. And Oswald's Donald has his rib cage showing.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Am I the only one who is glad that it isn't really dark and edgy?

Seriously, what people would a violent and mature Disney game be aimed at? Kids wouldn't be able to play it, and people old enough the play the game, 18+ year olds, won't really care for a dark version of Disney, a company that has been going downhill for a long time. For me, the late 80's and early 90's was when Disney was at its greatest. Most stuff that has departed from this too radically has been mediocre.

The game makes more sense being cartoony- it is Disney, and like GreenKirby said, you don't need to be all blood and guts to be mature, because as we all know, violent games don't equal mature games. If it has good gameplay, and a good story, which seems to be the case from what is known about it up to now, it should be good. It actually doesn't look too cartoony- strangely Psychonauts comes into mind with the style of the screenshots. And Mickey Mouse will more often than not always be smiling, him running round looking ticked off killing things for no reason is silly.

 

[XACE-K]

I'm not gonna lie, this game looks really interesting even though I despise Disney over the past couple of years. The semi-dark take on the Disney universe is what I like most about this. I'll definitely watch to see how this game progresses.

 

[Thrillhouse-vh.]

go take that weakass trolling to gfaqs

Disappointment =/= trolling

there should be anamatronic versions of the jonas bros and hanna montana so they can freak the **** out of kids and i can drop a god**** anvil on their ugly *****

You sure to like that mad face

I'm not disappointed that this game isn't "dark" or "edgy" or "mature" or whatever, I'm just disappointed that the in-game screens don't look like the amazing concept art.

 

[BBQTV]

yeah thats what a lot of people will say

 

[Scott!]

I'm not that disappointed that the game doesn't look like the concept art, because it was just not the kind of thing that was going to translate all of that awesomeness into a game and keep that style. But what I liked about the concept art, the mash-up of Disney elements and machines, doesn't show itself too much in the shots from the game. It doesn't need to be super dark, but I hope that future shots, and the game itself, have more of the corrupted Disney type thing rather than the random stuff. The church-like area looks cool though.

 

[Darkslash]

Here's a picture of animatronic Donald

And here's a link to the GI online article, discussing more about the art.
http://gameinformer.com/b/features/...-at-Epic-Mickey_1920_s-Art-and-Animation.aspx

 

[Dogysamich]

I hate Disney. Always have.

But I will say with no shame that reading up on this game in Game Informer got me super interested. I'm not exactly interested in the game itself just as to where the image of Mickey goes from here.

Because the article was right, Mickey has dropped off in the current era. Something needs to happen to bring him back if Disney wants to hold out in the long run (well, if they want to hold onto their original stuff). And this seems like a step that could lead to some interesting results.

 

[Hero.]

Am I the only one whos ineterested in Warner Bros. doing something like this for Bugs Bunny? Because hes in the same position as Mickey. Lol at an Epic Bugs game coming out.
This does however seem like a good game and I look forward to getting it.

 

[BlackLightning90]

This is like Mickey Mouse...

Spoiler

FROM HELL!!!!!

 

[justaway12]

OMG Donald :D

I hope Goofy turns out ok in the end...
I'm glad more is reaveled about this...

 

[StinkomanFan]

Donald looks like he's been to Hell and back

 

[smash brawl player 99021]

I read through this in GI. Seems sort of odd for Disney to take it this direction. It's also strange to me how the developers would input a Karma sort of perk in it.

 

[Skrlx]

In game Screenshots

 

[Thrillhouse-vh.]

Looks pretty cool, I suppose. Looks like something Disney themselves would put out.

 

[SkylerOcon]

These aren't as bad as the first batch of screenies, but they're still not my style. Actually, it's just the enemies that bug me now. That rabbit looks absolutely atrocious.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

These aren't as bad as the first batch of screenies, but they're still not my style. Actually, it's just the enemies that bug me now. That rabbit looks absolutely atrocious.

I have to agree with that. The enemies I've seen do make it look bad.

I was hoping for the mutated animatronic monstrosities to be the enemies in the game.

 

[Scott!]

Well, apparently, those weird rabbits aren't the enemies. Here's some more screenshots with info, though the site is a bit awkward to use.

http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2009/10/26/Anatomy-of-a-Screenshot_3A00_-Epic-Mickey.aspx

 

[justaway12]

I just read the antomy about the bunny kids, how many bunnys are there?

Oswalds sure is lucky, but he needs to slow down
What an animal!

 

[Chill]

:C At these screens so far.

The world looks empty and bland. The game doesn't seem to have incorporated the style we saw earlier. I'm still interested though.

 

[highfive]

Does anyone remember the "mouse of mince" from "An American Tail"? You know, the original? It's an enormous wooden machine designed to look like a mouse with the jaw of an alligator and pieces of it are coming off, looking like it's flesh is decaying. Now that would make for a great level boss. Too bad I can't find a picture.