We caught up with influential game designer Warren Spector at PAX Prime 2010 in Seattle, Washington, where the Junction Point lead shed some light on upcoming Wii-based action-adventure Epic Mickey, and how a game starring Disney's iconic cartoon mouse may not be the departure many assumed it was.
"A lot of people think it's weird that I'm doing a Mickey Mouse game after doing all those Ultima games, and System Shock, and Deus Ex and all that," Spector told GamePro in a one-on-one interview. "But from a gameplay standpoint I think players of those games will find a lot that's familiar and appealing here."
"This is my twentieth game, and every game I've done has been about choice and consequence," explains Spector, referencing Epic Mickey's core create with paint/erase with thinner mechanic. Spector hopes to grant notable weight and depth to the in-game choices made by players, with each action earning its own unique outcome that actively affects the game's world, as well as its inhabitants. "It's all about new ways to express the idea that play style matters, and about it being players that get to be creative and not even... well, me. So from a gameplay standpoint it's right up my alley, and even from a content standpoint."
Spector was quick to cite his pen-and-paper roots as key influences on the upcoming Disney-themed adventure's foundation. "In the tabletop world, when I was working at Steve Jackson games and TSR, I did Toon the Cartoon Role-Playing game; I did the Rocky and Bullwinkle Party Role-Playing Game; I wrote my master's thesis on cartoons. It was only when I got into electronic games that I became the guy that makes steampunk, dystopic future kind of stuff. This is absolutely a natural progression for me -- at least from my perspective."
Disney Epic Mickey is slated to ship during the 2010 holiday season, releasing exclusively on the Nintendo Wii.
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Monday, September 6, 2010