Spector Says Critics "Misunderstand" Epic Mickey

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Spector Says Critics "Misunderstand" Epic Mickey


Epic Mickey [http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Epic-Mickey-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002I0GEXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291757155&sr=8-1] mastermind Warren Spector says the game is faring so poorly with reviewers because they just don't understand what it is they're playing.

So, Epic Mickey. It really hasn't lived up to the pre-release hype. It scored a wan 3/5 stars here at The Examiner [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8393-Review-Epic-Mickey], Spector, the driving force behind the game, said the real problem is that reviewers just don't get it.

"There has never been a game, ever, where if you give it to me for 30 seconds, I can't break it. I mean, I will break a camera in any game ever made," he said in response to criticism about the game's camera view. "Third person camera is way harder than I even imagined it could be. It is the hardest problem in videogame development I now believe. So it is a hard problem, everybody gets it wrong, it's a question of how close to right do you get it."

"Second, cameras are different in different game styles," he continued. "So in a platform game, you want the camera up higher in a steeper angle, because the important thing for the platform player is to be able to see the next jump clearly, to see the gap. In an action adventure game, like a Zelda [http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Skyward-Sword-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002BSC54I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291757320&sr=8-1] for example, you want the camera down lower so you have more tactical awareness because there are enemies out there... So platformers and action adventure games have different camera requirements."

The problem, he explained, is that Epic Mickey is an "action adventure role-playing" game, yet everyone including members of his own team insists on judging it as a platformer. Spector said the comparisons with Super Mario Galaxy 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-Galaxy-2-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002BSA388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291758040&sr=8-1] are "driving him crazy" because, as a dedicated platformer, it's naturally going to be better at it and have a better platform-style camera.

"I will go to my grave, imperfect as it is, proud as hell of my camera team," he said. "And if reviewers want to give us a hard time about it because they're misunderstanding the game we made, it's not for me to tell them that they're wrong, absolutely not. But I wish people would get it out of their head that we made a Mario competitor, because we didn't."

I have boundless respect for Warren Spector - you could substitute his dev credits with a "Top Ten Best Videogames of All Time" list and nobody would bat an eye - but in this case I have to disagree with his assessment. If a large number of experienced reviewers are somehow "doing it wrong," that speaks to a fault in the game, not in the understanding of the player. Misunderstanding a tricky mechanic or arcane rule is one thing, but "misunderstanding the game we made" just doesn't hold water.



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UnravThreads

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Aug 10, 2009
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If a handful were doing it wrong; That's likely a misunderstanding.
When almost all are doing it "wrong"; That's bad game design.

At the end of the day, the third person camera is not something new, and has arguably been around since maybe the SNES days of gaming in any manner similar to games today. Many games have done it right, many have done it wrong. Clearly, with Epic Mickey, it's not been done right.
 

Korten12

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Aug 26, 2009
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Didn't they also say this when Kane and Lynch 2 also didn't get good reviews?
 

Dioxide20

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Sessler over at G4 is probably pissed at all these game reviewers. He was talking about this game all the time...

OT: "If a large number of experienced reviewers are somehow "doing it wrong," that speaks to a fault in the game, not in the understanding of the player. Misunderstanding a tricky mechanic or arcane rule is one thing, but "misunderstanding the game we made" just doesn't hold water."

I have to agree. If you think your game is one thing, but everyone else thinks it is another, then you have it wrong. I haven't been able to play this game yet, so I can't really talk about what's right and wrong with the game.

I still want to play the game though, as even with these problems, it is still probably the best Disney game ever made.
 

DigitalSushi

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Dec 24, 2008
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So do the critics opinion of the game suddenly change when they think of it as an "action adventure role-playing" game as opposed to a "platform" game?.

Its quite funny that we as gamers are so hard on developers, I've not played the game so I can't comment on whether it feels different to Mario 64, I know I recently changed my friends view opinion of the recent Kings of Leon album (here me out), he said Come Around Sundown was totally phoned in and is a poor showing from the Kings after Only by the Night... this made me think, well Only by the Night is a dark album and Come Around Sundown is a quite light and happy album, thinking about it that way he's actually enjoying the new stuff...

So does it apply to gaming?, yeah I suppose it does, Deus Ex is a pretty poor game if your expecting a twitch type FPS, as an FPS RPG however, its spectacular, but thats more to do with how much you know of gaming, I highly doubt a reviewer who spent the better part of 18 months reading up on Epic Mickey doesn't know where Spector and his team were coming from... which is what Spector seems to be going on about right now.

I for one am not happy with Epic Mickey, I've not played it, but the hugely impressive Steam Punk concepts from about 18 months ago were just that, concepts.
 

Smooth Operator

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Yeah these don't smell like pathetic excuses at all, how about people grow balls for once and admit they f*cked up.

These developers are quickly morphing into youtube trolls "you just didn't get it, F*G !!1!"
 

Optimystic

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Sep 24, 2008
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It's the Wii's fault, yet again.

You get one thumbstick, as opposed to two. You need that one thumbstick to move the freaking mouse around.

That leaves you with the remote, which can't control the camera either, because you have to aim the gorram paintbrush at random shit.

So when you're done with all that, you're left with the d-pad, which history has proven is a shitty way to control the camera. This is a big part of the reason why The Conduit failed.

I don't know if there is a way to put a second thumbstick on the remote and still make it feel usable, but dammit we have to try. If I have to choose between motion control and camera control I will freaking pick the camera every time, paintbrush be damned.
 

megapenguinx

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I'll say one thing: For his rambling, he is right about the whole broken camera thing in most modern games. More than once I have been driven to nerd rage because a poor camera job either a) made me plummet to my death or b) got stuck in a wall and essentially made me restart the game :(
 

josemlopes

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Its the same problem that Mafia 2 had, it wasnt a sandbox game, it was a linear game set in an big map. Some people didnt understud that an rant about not having other things to do then the story. In other linear games you only did the story and had fun (like Max Payne, very good game although that was all you did)
 

Lord Beautiful

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What he said: "Third person camera is way harder than I even imagined it could be. It is the hardest problem in videogame development I now believe. So it is a hard problem, everybody gets it wrong, it's a question of how close to right do you get it."

What I heard: "BAAAWWW."

I'm certain Mr. Spector didn't get his reputation for nothing, but whenever the vast majority of critics say your game isn't good, it probably isn't. Just acknowledge your mistakes and try to do better next time. That's all we can do.
 

Grey_Focks

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Jan 12, 2010
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If this were anyone other than Warren Spector I'd start saying terrible things about how they make games, and probably even begin insulting his personal life. However, it's Warren "Deus Ex" Spector, so I'll just respectfully disagree and tip my hat.
 

lacktheknack

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Jan 19, 2009
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Andy Chalk said:
"There has never been a game, ever, where if you give it to me for 30 seconds, I can't break it. I mean, I will break a camera in any game ever made," he said in response to criticism about the game's camera view.
Not true. If anyone can break "The Experiment"'s camera system, I'll be impressed (and thoroughly unimpressed at the same time).
 

JUMBO PALACE

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Was the camera really that bad? I haven't played the game, but I can never understand why everyone is always saying "this or that camera sucks". I almost never find myself wrestling with a game camera. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong to : /
 

jamradar

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Way to pull a SEGA move Specter. Its not that the game is bad we just dont understand it.Of course how could I be so blind!

 

DevilWolf47

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Nov 29, 2010
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No Spector, you're the one who seems to misunderstand. You're game has a strong focus on platforming elements and a wonky camera, critics are going to call out on it. Trying to excuse a shitty platforming aspect by blaming the genre is like blaming the horrible writing of a movie on the lighting guy.