According to a poster over at NeoGaf Disney has released a newsletter that confirms Epic Mickey 2 is currently in development and is scheduled for a Fall 2012 release. Unlike the original Epic Mickey, Epic Mickey 2 will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3. Epic Mickey 2 also reportedly features a co-op mode and is a likely candidate for Wii U.
Disney are apparently hard at work on the well received Epic Mickey game which came out late last year on Wii. Several peices of artwork found on a Disney online marketing survey seemingly confirm the game’s existence. The game is currently being developed for Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The game will feature a two-player co-op mode where players control Mickey Mouse, with his paint and thinner mechanics from the first game, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who will use electricity to fend off enemies, as well as fly like a helicopter.
Ever fancied seeing a Disney theme park in 3D on your Nintendo 3DS? Well thanks to Inside The Magic you now do precisely that!
Inside The Magic the online site that specialises in theme parks and Disney related information has posted 100 3D photos from the Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando. The images are available to download in MPO format for use on the Nintendo 3DS. Just save the images and put them on your Nintendo 3DS SD card and you’re good to go!
Legendary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that the concept behind Nintendogs + Cats was inspired by the 1963 Disney film The Incredible Journey.
“When I see my two pets getting along so well, there are all sorts of pretty pictures. For example, my dog will be padding along with the cat padding along behind it, or their silhouettes will be lined up before the evening sun. It made me think of The Incredible Journey, a Disney film I had seen as a child. It’s about two dogs and a cat who go on a journey to return to their owners after their owners leave on a trip and entrust them to a friend. It was quite moving.
“I thought how pleasing it would be if you could see a dog and cat getting along well in a game.”
“Making a game called Nintencats just didn’t seem right for Nintendo, but people all over the world love cats, so I wanted to put cats in a game somehow. But when I actually got a cat, I realised there just aren’t as many things to do with a cat as there are with a dog, that we may use in our entertainment. I concluded that showing how dogs and cats interact would be just right.”
- Shigeru Miyamoto
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is extremely confident that Disney’s Wii exclusive Epic Mickey will also arrive on the Playstation 3.
“I’m sure Sony is talking to them right now, the problem is upscaling Epic Mickey because it’s not made in 1080p, it’s made for the Wii so I’m not sure they can go ahead and port the game,” said Pachter. “I think a lot of the gameplay mechanics would work but they’re going to have to build it from the ground up to make it work on PS3.”
“It will ultimately come there. Maybe they’ll do it as a Playstation Network game for a lot less money but they’ll have to wait a few years until the Wii version runs its course to get away with lower graphics.”
- Michael Pachter
Epic Mickey producer Warren Spector has expressed his interest in collaborating on a project between Nintendo and Disney.
“Disney has a culture of innovation that goes back 80 years and Nintendo has a culture of innovation. The two companies need to be working together, because their corporate cultures are so similar – and that is instantly apparent in the Nintendo 3DS.”
- Warren Spector
Disney’s Epic Mickey producer Raul Ramirez has told online gaming publication CVG that the critically acclaimed title pushes the Nintendo Wii to its ‘ultimate limit’.
“We do have such a great experienced staff at Junction Point that we were able to, as we feel, push the Wii to it’s capability and ultimate limit and provide a beautiful story for the player to jump into.”
“We are fortunate enough to have such great staff and we have a lot of years experience in the gaming community that they’ve just pushed the Wii to its capability, to its absolute max, in order to provide what you’re seeing in front of you.”
- Raul Ramirez, Disney
Disney Interactive Studios have announced that the highly anticipated Epic Mickey for the Nintendo Wii will be available from retailers in North America November 30th, United Kingdom November 26th and Europe November 25th.
Warren Spector the acclaimed designer behind Epic Mickey has already stated his interest in doing a sequel for the promising platformer on the Nintendo Wii.
“Yes, I have no interest on working on one offs,” said Spector, “I want to do things that have a life beyond me, beyond the team, beyond a single game.”
“I hope there are wasteland games featuring Mickey Mouse and also the Lucky Rabbit for years to come. We’re doing comic books and graphic novels, I want Wasteland to live on beyond this game.”
- Warren Spector, Epic Mickey
Epic Mickey lead designer Warren Spector has reiterated that Disney’s fantastic looking Epic Mickey is staying Wii exclusive, though the development studio could be swayed by Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s PlayStation Move.
“Before Move and Kinect I probably would have said no, because the game is built around gesturing. Now, however, there’s no reason technologically why we couldn’t. But that decision is really above my pay grade, ano one’s asked me for a port.”
So although the possibility still does exist (all that’s gotta happen is for someone to as him to do a port), Epic Mickey remains to be Wiixclusive for now. Not that he minds this limitation anyway.
“I’ve been a Nintendo fan, well, not as long as I’ve been a Disney fan, but a long time, and I’ve been pretty open about the fact that the Zelda games are some of my favorite of all time. So, we’re a Wii exclusive and I’m happy about that.”
- Warren Spector
