Epic Mickey: Warren Spector's Epic Gamble

[I forgot]

This game is pretty much guaranteed to sell like gangbusters. Like Russ said, the Wii install base is ginormous, and you can't get more recognizable than Mickey Mouse. I know I'll be buying this game though, because it looks like it'll be fun. I know, fun in the game industry nowadays, what a laughable idea.

I don't know about 'gangbusters'. Remember, this is the Wii. If a game isn't made by Nintendo or isn't a collection of crappy mini-games, it usually doesn't sell. Look at the list of best selling 3rd party titles. Epic Micky might be too good to be on that list.

Actually, 3rd party titles do perform well. No more heroes, resident evil 4, rayman raving rabbids, sonic and the secret ring (I'll be damned), monster hunter tri, the conduit, red steel, rockband, etc.

It's going to be on the Wii, whatever story and gameplay there is will be marred by clunky controls.

Just being on the wii doesn't automatically guarantee clunky controls. Same with how just being on the ps3 doesn't automatically guarantee good games.

 

[kingcom]

snip

I feel I'm on pretty safe ground espousing this opinion considering it's shared by the creator

Deeply flawed? Wow. There are many things i would sue that against. Final Fantasy 7 is "deeply flawed", GTA4 is "deeply flawed", Halo is "deeply flawed". I mean that phrase is basiclly saying that even to its core and most basic elements it is a horribly broken mess. That it is near impossible to find even a shred of something redeemable about it. It is a polite way of saying 'this game is crap but may have had good ideas'. Im kinda a little stunned that there are people who think that low of a game like Deus Ex, the game that I've yet to see a story told as effectively (well perhaps Baldur's Gate).

Also you found it complex? Huh, i kinda wished it wasnt so simplistic and I had hoped that IW and similiarly Human Revolution is more complicated.

Also X2: why does the creator of a product have anything to do with what the product itself is? I mean by that logic, the Star Wars prequels were not horrible.

 

[Rack]

snip

I feel I'm on pretty safe ground espousing this opinion considering it's shared by the creator

Deeply flawed? Wow. There are many things i would sue that against. Final Fantasy 7 is "deeply flawed", GTA4 is "deeply flawed", Halo is "deeply flawed". I mean that phrase is basiclly saying that even to its core and most basic elements it is a horribly broken mess. That it is near impossible to find even a shred of something redeemable about it. It is a polite way of saying 'this game is crap but may have had good ideas'. Im kinda a little stunned that there are people who think that low of a game like Deus Ex, the game that I've yet to see a story told as effectively (well perhaps Baldur's Gate).

Also you found it complex? Huh, i kinda wished it wasnt so simplistic and I had hoped that IW and similiarly Human Revolution is more complicated.

Also X2: why does the creator of a product have anything to do with what the product itself is? I mean by that logic, the Star Wars prequels were not horrible.

It's easy to dismiss the views of a creation you believe is flawed that the creator liked, but not so much the other way around. The point is moot here anyway, if Warren Spector believes Deus Ex is flawed then you can't expect any subsequent games he makes to be more of the same no matter how much you liked it.

 

[ParadoxBG]

I was surprised no one mentioned the similarity in theme to Kingdom Hearts!

But still...for a platformer about Mickey Mouse to not only not be dismissed out of hand but to be considered a potentially great game...I'm definitely intrigued

 

[SD-Fiend]

I may still get this game but I'm still mad that they took out mean mickey and replaced it for LED lights

 

[Alphalpha]

This article depresses me. I've been playing Deus Ex again recently (admittedly with a couple mods) after buying it on Steam, and a decade later it's still just as good. I've been most impressed with the incredibly open level-design: I've been playing as a stealthy non-lethal character, knocking out less than a dozen enemies thus far, and there are still multiple solutions to each challenge. If Spector believes that manner of gameplay to be a mistake it is bad news for me.

I do, however, agree with him in regards to photo-realistic graphics and the detrimental effect they have on the cost and development of games.

 

[Zombie Nixon]

What the hell are you talking about?

 

[CronoDAS]

Attempting to create a world in which the player could potentially solve every problem in as many ways as he can possibly imagine creates similar problems.

Scribblenauts, anyone?

 

[Grand_Marquis]

Too much choice is a scary thing, capable of paralyzing people. (As I learned to my chagrin on Deus Ex!)

I see that as more a problem with the player than the game. But I'm not a game designer. I'm a player, so i'm going to criticize my own contribution to the experience before i would criticize the developer. Warren has the exact opposite reaction. He's never going to criticize the players.

It's an interesting duality. If i am face with a game with a lot of choices, and i choose the boring path, then that's my own fault. I see more choice as a virtue. If i can't step up and play an exciting game, then perhaps i'm not worthy of the experience.

This is not just a view shared by Warren Spector, though. He's actually referring to a phenomenon in psychology called "choice paralysis" wherein the more options you give a subject, the less likely they are to choose anything at all. It's not a matter of making good vs bad decisions or making fun vs boring decisions, it's about making decisions in general. You may indeed not be worthy of the experience, but if you had a thousand options and no clear answer...maybe nobody is. Maybe nobody should be.

I think Kingdom Hearts actually had a better-developed plot

See, it's at this point where you lose just about every sane person ever.

 

[rddj623]

This makes me want to play it even more!!! I am looking forward to this game!