By Jim Rossignol on July 5th, 2012 at 10:00 am.
Speaking to Gametrailers, in a chunk of footage you can see below, Epic Mickey 2 lead Warren Spector explained that the fully-voiced cast for the new platformer will regularly feature characters breaking into song, in that time-honored Disney fashion. These songs will apparently explain things and further the story.
Spector also told IGN: “This time around, in the second game, I just wanted to take a baby-step to making the full-blown interactive musical game. This is not it. Gamers, you tell ’em there are songs in the game and they start getting panicked, but I just want to see if people will accept songs in games and, if they do, next time I’m going crazy.”
Thanks, VG247!
05/07/2012 at 10:07 Njordsk says:
Yeah sure but…. it won’t be on PC, will it?
05/07/2012 at 10:11 c-Row says:
According to Spector, it will be released on various consoles, PC and Mac. So says Google.
05/07/2012 at 10:10 Kamen Rider says:
See now I’m at a crossroads. I’m ok with a few songs, but if I don’t act like I’m pissed then we’re gonna get one with tons of musical numbers, and I’m gonna be not ok with that.
05/07/2012 at 11:09 sneetch says:
I don’t know, I for one am eagerly awaiting “The Pirates of Penzance: The Game” the very first First Person Singer. It’s gonna be awesome!
05/07/2012 at 11:12 phlebas says:
I was thinking Rigoletto. Hardcore stealth action, with singing.
05/07/2012 at 13:02 Subject 706 says:
I’d like to see a Disney vs Warner Brothers characters fighting game. With singing.
05/07/2012 at 13:37 LionsPhil says:
Only if it has Christopher Lloyd in it as a malevolent judge.
05/07/2012 at 13:45 fiddlesticks says:
One of the minigames would be Donald and Duffy having a piano duel.
05/07/2012 at 10:11 Thiefsie says:
Good luck to Warren with this, but it will tank in the over 12′s age bracket – aka anyone not on a wii…
This is truly last generation… ooo teeter totter…
05/07/2012 at 10:41 Okami says:
Why should this tank with people who are older than twelve? Because there are no boobs, blood or other “mature” things in the game?
05/07/2012 at 10:54 Xzi says:
No. It will tank with anyone over twelve because it’s Mickey Mouse. Singing songs. They’re clearly not designing it with 20-something core PC gamers in mind. And by that I mean in any aspect of it. Difficulty, gameplay mechanics, etc. There are certain games which I would argue can be appealing to all ages, but this isn’t one of them.
05/07/2012 at 11:05 UncleLou says:
Which begs the question – how do you design the difficulty of a game for kids? My nephews (8 and 10) are much better at platformers than me, and I’ve been gaming for 30+ years. ;)
I am also not sure they’d see the appeal of a Mickey Mouse musical game, FWIW.
05/07/2012 at 11:13 Xzi says:
The answer is that you don’t design the difficulty for kids. I started gaming at around 6 years old back in the early 90s, and developers definitely didn’t coddle us then. Which was a good thing. It developed my reasoning skills and hand-eye coordination at a young age. Kids oftentimes have the capacity to learn and overcome challenge at a faster rate than adults, especially when you put a challenge in front of them that draws interest, like gaming.
05/07/2012 at 12:58 Jason Moyer says:
One of the things that makes me really glad to have been born in the 70′s, entertainment wise, is that I grew up on arcade/Atari/computer games that didn’t coddle you (and yet, were incredibly successful). The same thing with other forms of media really; instead of having pre-teen garbage that parents feed their kids now we actually listened to real music, watched real tv shows and movies, etc. I doubt I would be the same person I am now if I had spent most of my childhood being entertained by crap specifically marketed towards children on the basis that children can’t handle adult things.
05/07/2012 at 14:14 MSJ says:
Halfway through Moyer’s paragraph, I thought “uh oh, one of those!”
05/07/2012 at 14:30 Keymonk says:
And we walked uphill both to and from school and it was always in snow to the knees, even in summer!
05/07/2012 at 15:33 Jason Moyer says:
When I was a kid all we had was dirt. And we liked it.
05/07/2012 at 11:31 Mo says:
So I’m just going to assume you haven’t played the first Epic Mickey, yeah?
05/07/2012 at 12:43 Jason Moyer says:
What has Mickey Mouse done that doesn’t appeal to adults? Fantasia is amazing, all of the shorts from the 30′s are amazing, and even most of the stuff from the 40′s is great. Other than that he’s been more of a symbol for Disney than an actual part of any sort of creative work.
05/07/2012 at 13:39 fiddlesticks says:
Maybe that’s the problem? The stereotypical gamer doesn’t strike me as the type that would appreciate Fantasia.
05/07/2012 at 14:19 Rikard Peterson says:
Not appealing to the stereotypical gamer is a good thing to me. (Because that means it’s more likely to appeal to me.)
05/07/2012 at 17:59 sqparadox says:
Sure Mickey was fine in the early decades, but how old are the adults that saw that as kids? 70′s, 80′s, 100… they certainly aren’t going to be picking up some newfangled ‘electronic gaming toy.’
Most adults in their 20′s, 30′s, 40′s began to hate Mickey Mouse when they learned of his crucial role in multiple infamous extensions to US Copyright law. It’s not that he’s evil, it’s just that his name is used to accomplish evil intentions.
/sarcasm
05/07/2012 at 18:54 LionsPhil says:
Also he has a really annoying voice.
05/07/2012 at 17:16 Urthman says:
Pshaw, junior. Core PC gamers are 30-something and 40-something.
05/07/2012 at 14:36 Thiefsie says:
OK I’ve haven’t played the first – I have a very limited Wii collection, but it looks like a watered down Mario game that is lacklustre when compared to Mario, with a tacked on Disney background that vaguely appeals to the older guys with meta appeal, otherwise subjectively a pretty bland looking platform game that looks barely any more advanced in gameplay (let alone graphics) than anything that has been done a good few years ago. Super Mario Sunshine crossed with TinTin perhaps? Throw musicals in and it won’t be my thing at all – same reason that Kingdom Hearts isn’t really.. but I guess it does have it’s appeal to a large number of players regardless.
What exactly did Warren reveal to the tv show that is vaguely unique or interesting apart from the co-op which is nothing really new, and that it has songs in it?
I’m all negative nancy I know, angry internet man… etc. I’m not angry – just nonplussed with this game. I don’t know why I felt the urge to comment on it, as I usually keep negativity in. My bad. Perhaps I expect a little more from Spector…?
05/07/2012 at 16:01 MattM says:
Noo. I am nearing 30 and my first thought on reading the headline was “Awesome.”
05/07/2012 at 10:17 CaspianRoach says:
Songs? In my games?
It’s more likely than you think.
05/07/2012 at 12:18 Felixader says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D90QvhFX_0g&feature=player_detailpage#t=559s
This is the first Musical Scene i ever witnessed in a game when i was a kid. It blew my mind and strangely i still like it today. ^_^
And this is the second, equally awesome albeit a bit disturbing, BUT you figth him DURING thze song. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBxSMnYCPjw
05/07/2012 at 14:37 Thiefsie says:
Omikron – that’s how you do songs in games!
06/07/2012 at 16:28 phlebas says:
That was a concert that formed part of the setting rather than being involved with the game proper, though, I think? Omikron was great though.
Space Channel 5. That had boss battle songs, at least in part 2.
05/07/2012 at 16:13 Skabooga says:
I’m fairly certain Pyschonauts’s theater world inside the crazy actress’s head had a few musical numbers, but that’s the only game I can think of off the top of my head.
05/07/2012 at 10:21 Squirrelfanatic says:
Songs in games? This can’t go unmentioned:
Conker’s Bad Fur Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXK9B-eitlA
05/07/2012 at 11:27 Bhazor says:
Totally my first thought.
Followed by this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSEBAukcHaU
05/07/2012 at 12:19 Felixader says:
Thios one was even earlier. ^.^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D90QvhFX_0g&feature=player_detailpage#t=559s
05/07/2012 at 13:01 Squirrelfanatic says:
I wasn’t aiming for the earliest song, but yeah, Goemon 64 – good call, how could I forget?. What an utterly great game.
05/07/2012 at 13:31 LionsPhil says:
Golden age adventures would occasionally break into song, too.
Pretty sure there’s one in the King’s Quest with Prince Alexander. Er, V? Something to do with a stick in the mud?
05/07/2012 at 12:46 Jason Moyer says:
The first thing I thought of was this game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHF5uoonR-c
Unfortunately the humor and the songs are the only good things about it.
06/07/2012 at 00:29 Quarex says:
Wrong, but they were certainly the standout parts. The only bad thing about Bard’s Tale was the camera behavior, and other things were mediocre-to-good.
05/07/2012 at 13:41 fiddlesticks says:
Sam & Max has what I consider to be the best musical number in any videogame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MEp_OnpMY
05/07/2012 at 14:39 Thiefsie says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eOulnVZv0o
05/07/2012 at 17:21 Isair says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AawQvD8L_h4
06/07/2012 at 00:03 thestage says:
cool people think of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwHrQdC02FY&feature=related
05/07/2012 at 10:23 Gusj says:
Did he seriously call Xbox 360 next-gen? What year is this, 2005?
05/07/2012 at 18:27 Brun says:
It’s next-gen compared to a Wii. Despite being considered a Seventh-Generation console (like the Xbox 360 and PS3), the Wii has internal hardware that is on the same level as a Sixth-Generation console (Xbox/PS2/GameCube).
05/07/2012 at 10:40 caddyB says:
Never liked Mickey.
05/07/2012 at 10:43 Njordsk says:
I too prefer McDuck or Donald, Mickey is just a pretentious little rat.
Give us Epic Donald, full of fail and tiresome task to do for our uncle please !
05/07/2012 at 12:59 caddyB says:
Yes please!
05/07/2012 at 15:59 MattM says:
Mickey in Who Framed Roger Rabbit is hilarious. He is a mischevious prankster and works well with Bugs.
05/07/2012 at 10:44 magnus says:
Going crazy? You’ve already gone Spielberg, that’s crazy enough already.
05/07/2012 at 10:58 Roshin says:
From Deus Ex to interactive Disney musical. Yeah.
05/07/2012 at 13:02 Rikard Peterson says:
Yeah!
(Not sure if you’re sarcastic, but I’m not.)
05/07/2012 at 11:12 Hmm-Hmm. says:
Now they’re really taking the Mickey..
05/07/2012 at 11:22 Bhazor says:
Pah. They’re just ripping off My Little Pony.
05/07/2012 at 13:23 LionsPhil says:
Perhaps once they’re done with that silly Dishonored thing nobody cares about, we need to get Harvey Smith and the rest of the team to go head-to-head against Spector with My Little Pony: Immersive Operatic Sims are Magic.
Coming to PC and Mac, Foal 2013.
05/07/2012 at 13:44 fiddlesticks says:
I’m genuinely surprised no one has made a game based on My Little Pony so far. It wouldn’t even have to be decent. Just put in some characters from the show and you’d be raking in the cash.
05/07/2012 at 14:14 caddyB says:
Yeah, a lot of people would play it for the PLOT so you can get away with bad gameplay. Tee hee.
05/07/2012 at 14:25 Bhazor says:
Theres plenty of fangames being worked on including at least two rpgs, an mmorpg, a cart racing game, a fighting game and clones (Plones) of Rhythm Heaven and Ace Atourney.
http://www.equestriagaming.com/
The official games are pretty bare pones in comparison. That said though the spot the difference game has one of the best background tracks I’ve heard in ages. Seriously, I could have that in the background all day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ep-1aCs5RY
05/07/2012 at 15:32 LionsPhil says:
The show’s got the makings of a proper Maniac Mansion/Day of the Tentacle-esque adventure: plot-heavy, mostly not direct combat, problem-solving with a small team with defined skillsets, you can make it look good (and very close to the source material) in fixed-camera 2D scenes…
05/07/2012 at 15:49 Bhazor says:
One idea I had was a D&D style RPG where you play as the mane cast playing the RPG.
So Twilight would be a twinker and be able to use obscure rules and keep track of hundreds of bonuses but each turn would take longer and become more aggravating for the other players. Rainbow Dash would be able to just ignore the more complex rules like trap dodging and just plow straight into the enemy. Pinkie Pie would have access to metagame knowledge like reading ahead and knowing what decisions to make and pointing out where things are on the map before the party sees them. If Fluttershy was in the party you’d have the option to flip out until the DM agrees to replace the monsters with less scary versions.
All these extra abilities would be balanced out by you having to keep the DM from giving up because everyponies cheating too much.
The game would take place over several sessions and between each session you can level up the mane cast. So you could improve luck to boost dice rolls, or increase conservation allowing them to get away with more cheating. You would still level up and play the D&D as any normal D&D game.
Bear in mind Hasbro owns the D&D franchise. This is a cross over that will happen sooner or later.
05/07/2012 at 11:43 MistyMike says:
Instead of a spiritual sequel to Deus Ex he’s making Disney cartoon-platformers BETRAYAL!!!
05/07/2012 at 14:12 MSJ says:
If you ask Spector, Epic Mickey 2 is that game.
05/07/2012 at 11:43 Kollega says:
I’m actually fine with songs as long as some of them are tied into gameplay. For instance, a tutorial song like here. I’m not the biggest fan of Disney, or musicals unless done with a wink and a not (and not really even then), but it’s about time someone should’ve done something like this.
05/07/2012 at 13:48 fiddlesticks says:
Maybe Warren Spector is looking at this from the wrong angle. Rather than making a musical video game he could make a video game musical.
Just think about it. “Deus Ex: The Musical”!
05/07/2012 at 14:05 LionsPhil says:
It’s currently undergoing prep~arat~ion
And will be oper~ation~al within six monnnnnths
(within six months)
(within six months)
05/07/2012 at 14:11 MSJ says:
I await the hit number “A Bomb!”.
05/07/2012 at 17:57 SominiTheCommenter says:
Nobody will see this, but what the hell.
Deus Ex: The Musical Main Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j8jMn2Kcgs
05/07/2012 at 18:56 LionsPhil says:
The fnords see all.
05/07/2012 at 20:02 niussd says:
http://is.gd/PFQQs4
05/07/2012 at 21:58 Shadram says:
I’ve always wanted a musical game (that is, a game that’s a musical). Ever since Conker fought the Great Mighty Poo, I’ve wanted a game that took that idea and ran with it. Not the poo part, the way that his song blended rather seemlessly with the action, and added a rhythm to the boss fight.
Go for it, Mr Spector! Go full on Broadway. Moulin Rouge the game, or a Rocky Horror MMO. I’d totally buy that game.
06/07/2012 at 01:54 hosndosn says:
I like to think I really gave Warren Spector the benefit of the doubt but Epic Mickey is just, as it looks, a slightly above-average platformer. The whole “paint an thinner” mechanics sound great at first but quickly turn gimmicky, the rest is forgettable, gameplay-wise. In fact, the whole premise of using a theme as “uncool” as Mickey Mouse with so much respect for the material and bringing in all this background information is probably the best aspect of the game. But I’m just not a Disney buff enough for this to be sufficient.
06/07/2012 at 08:18 zeekthegeek says:
I am so glad this thing exists, screw any haters complaining that Warren isn’t making shooters anymore – I think basically everyone in the industry has that covered already. If this has a good demo I may even buy it.