Fantasia: Music Evolved Teams Harmonix With Disney

[Andy Chalk]

Fantasia: Music Evolved Teams Harmonix With Disney

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Fantasia: Music Evolved is a collaboration between Rock Band studio Harmonix and Disney that puts players into the Kinect-powered shoes of a new sorcerer's apprentice.

The new game from the developer that gave the world Guitar Hero and Rock Band doesn't stray too far from the studio's musical roots. Set in the magical realm made famous by the 1940 Disney flick [http://www.amazon.com/Fantasia-Special-60th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/B00003CX9W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370362151&sr=8-3&keywords=Fantasia], Fantasia: Music Evolved is a motion-controlled rhythm game being developed for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One in which players "unleash their musical creativity" as a new apprentice of the legendary sorcerer Yen Sid, who must bust some moves in order to bring life to various worlds he's created.

The game will launch with music from more than 25 musicians, but rather than mimicking on-screen motions as in conventional rhythm games, players will have a greater degree of freedom in how they interact with the music. "In building a gesture system we wanted to give a lot of freedom to people, so it's not this 'copy what you see on screen' thing, which is what we did with Dance Central. Here, you're moving rhythmically, and we wanted to give players the sense of freedom of expression," Creative Director Matt Boch told Polygon. "With your body, you can choose which hand you're going to use and how big your gestures are going to be."

The launch trailer may not resonate with Disney aficionados looking forward to a nostalgic return to Mickey's magical shenanigans but the premise is certainly interesting, and Harmonix Director of Communications John Drake had a very clear message for people fretting over the appropriateness of dubstep-fueled Fantasia. "If you have questions about our ability to deliver on adapting iconic work w/respect & reverence, go play The Beatles Rock Band," he tweeted [https://twitter.com/johntdrake/status/341945007000940544]. "I'll wait."

So there you have it. No release date has been announced but the Fantasia: Music Evolved Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/fantasiagame] says the game will be out sometime in 2014.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/4/4384732/harmonix-fantasia-music-evolved-announcement]



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[Revnak_v1legacy]

I don't know how to feel about this. I like Disney. I love Fantasia. I will never own a Kinect. I hate that this appears to be all modern music. I just... don't... why?

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Man, to think I was excited about that Harmonix announcement. I love Fantasia, and I love what Harmonix do with video games and music, but I sold the hell out of my Kinect. I switched Child of Eden over to controller in about 10 minutes, that's when my arms started to ache (and I play the drums!)

 

[2clueless]

Gut reaction: This has absolutely nothing to do with Fantasia. Pure blasphemy! Where is my giant demononic overlord, my whirling blossoms, my dancing mushrooms, my frost faeries? Rabble rabble rabble!

Kind of mixed on this. As seen, I get an awesome nostalgia kick thinking about the orginal Fantasia, and this does not cater to it. That being said, coming from Harmonix who knows what we may see later on down the road. Some actual screen footage would be nice. Lots of flash and no substance right now. The description makes it sound like a gesture DJ Hero.

 

[klaynexas3]

At first I was kind of interested. Then I heard the music itself, and having nothing to do with Fantasia besides the arm flailing, my interest waned. And now I remember I don't know music theory, so I couldn't "create" anything decent in terms of music and would just get pissed off too easily. I can listen to the soundtrack elsewhere, there isn't a thing besides the title that holds any weight with this game.

 

[mronoc]

I really don't get how they can call it a Fantasia game if the soundtrack isn't primarily comprised of classical music. The whole point of the films, was introducing a new generation to, and teaching appreciation for, classical music.

 

[V8 Ninja]

OF COURSE IT'S FOR THE KINECT.

That is all.

(PS: I don't own a Kinect or an Xbox 360, to give you all a hint.)

 

[Mr.Mattress]

... This is Samba De Amigo (A Dreamcast Game), for the Kinect and made by Disney... I don't know how well this game would actually do... It's certainly not gonna be Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

 

[ShakerSilver]

The title made me so excited. I adore Fantasia, it's probably the most magnificent piece of western animation ever created and had such a beautiful score that opened my up to a lot of classical music. But just as soon as a heard the choice of music they want to advertise this with... and the fact that it's an Kinect elusive..... I-I just can't see myself ever, EVER being happy about this game...

...fuck, now I'm crying. Are you happy Microsoft? You finally drove me to tears.

 

[Akytalusia]

the concept is solid, but i can't see anyone playing this if it's completely freeform. remote manipulation of an avatar in a virtual world you're not immersed in with no sensory feedback is awkward enough as it is when you have instructions to dictate and justify your movements, as you can at least blame the game for how silly you look playing it.
asking someone to subject themselves to this without giving them any instructions or justification leaves no one to blame for how silly you look but yourself.
if they back down on the freeform and provide instructions, then it's a different story. they'll at least get some people playing it. not me, but more than zero at least.

 

[Yokta]

I'm confused.
I mean, I like Fantasia, I like EDM, I understand that art needs to evolve to survive and if it wasn't Kinect exclusive I'd find the game slightly appealing.
But where the hell did this come from? Who came up with the idea to transplant modern music into one of the most iconic symbols of classical music? Why did you need to share its name with a project that hails the exact polar opposite of what it represents?
And who do I punch to get controller support? Xbox One sucks.

 

[CriticalMiss]

It's been a while since I saw Fantasia (last millenium I think) so forgive me if I don't remember the part where ethnically diverse people flailed to wubstep. The game has no chance with me anyway. Two words; EA and Kinect. Maybe it will flop hard and Disney might rethink giving EA the rights to make Star Wars games.