Epic Mickey - A steampunk/twisted take on Disney coming to Wii

[quote name='Gothic Walrus']The short version of the Oswald story is that Oswald was Walt Disney's first character and first success, but he didn't own the rights to the character. Eventually, Disney began butting heads with the studio. They tried to use Oswald as a means to force him to agree to budget cuts; he didn't agree to it, left, and Mickey Mouse was born from the ashes.

I'm guessing that most people who buy the game won't even recognize Oswald. His popularity waned and he vanished after the 1930s. Disney got the rights to the character back in 2006, but since then he's been used on some merchandise but not much else. If nothing else, this is one hell of a way to reintroduce him.[/QUOTE]
You forgot the bit where the rights to Oswald went to Walter Lantz, who later went on to create Woody Woodpecker and other characters.

Also, to add to the merchandise bit, there was a Disney Treasures Oswald DVD set that was a huge deal in animation fan circles when it came out, but yeah, he hasn't been seen in any "new" Disney productions since those silent cartoons. It's still not very hard to find if anyone's curious.
 
Some MSN love today as well, this is pretty early to have the hype train building on a microsoft site!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...t-dispatches.aspx?post=1354334&_blg=1,1354334

Mickey Mouse gets a face-lift
Disney's updated character will have an edge in the new video game 'Epic Mickey.'
Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:21 PM
The innocent days of a smiling, lovable Mickey Mouse might soon be over.



After 80 years, Walt Disney (DIS) is giving everyone's favorite mouse a makeover -- and the new Mickey won't be quite as friendly and sweet.





Disney is introducing a more mischievous Mickey in "Epic Mickey," a new video game for the Nintendo (NTDOF) Wii game console.



Bing: Top video games



Disney, which officially announced the new game and Mickey on Oct. 28, said the new three-dimensional Mickey "is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse" who is stuck in sorcerer Yen Sid's Cartoon Wasteland.



In the wasteland, Mickey has to face old, forgotten Disney characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit -- Walt Disney's first cartoon character, who debuted in 1927 -- and deal with their resentment after he dumped them as his popularity grew and he became Walt Disney's favorite. He also has to defeat the bad guy, the Phantom Blot, with a magic paintbrush.



"I want to bring (Mickey's) personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide," said Warren Spector, creative director of game-development studio Junction Point, which gave Mickey his new video-game face and body. "Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool."



The move is an effort to expand Disney's brand beyond the family-friendly sector and comes after the media company said it received approval from China to build a theme park in Shanghai.



"This is a huge opportunity to create more relevancy for Mickey and pull him into the fastest-growing entertainment medium," Jim Wilson, the chief executive of Atari's North American business, told The New York Times. "If it's a good game, . . . people are going to buy it."



Video-game sales rose 1% in September, according to NPD Group, after six months of declines. Game software sales rose 5%, a smaller increase than analysts had expected.




Disney generated about $86 million in retail sales in the U.S. in the first nine months of the year, according to NPD data. Nintendo of America, which is the leading seller of games, made about $1 billion in sales.



Mickey was created by Walt Disney in 1928, when he first appeared in "Steamboat Willie." He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978
Click to expand...
 
I was a hater of the game - but after seeing Spector talk about it and show some footage (and early animations) I'm interested. Hopefully it comes out well.
 
I really love the idea that Epic Mickey is not only the long-awaited reintroduction of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but now also the path to his redemption. His presence, with all the history that entails, certainly justifies the Epic title.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I hate to say it, but is this the weremickey treatment?[/QUOTE]

what is that? I don't think I've ever heard of that...
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I hate to say it, but is this the weremickey treatment?[/QUOTE]

There was a lot more wrong with Sonic Unleashed than the (ugh) "werehog" itself (as awful as that character design was). It was the gameplay tied to that character, which was a simply abysmal idea, based on the most counter-intuitive gameplay concepts possible, and atrociously executed.

What I'm saying here, is that Sonic Unleashed wasn't designed by Warren fucking Spector.
 
It's nice to see them putting so much effort into this title. I really want to see it be a solid effort, though I'm still a bit cautious until I see a lot more gameplay footage down the road.
 
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