Epic Mickey confirmed as Wii exclusive

By Robert Purchese Published 5 October, 2009

Game Informer puts an end to rumour.

US magazine Game Informer has announced Epic Mickey as its November cover feature, confirming the game as Wii-exclusive and in development at Junction Point Studios, where Warren Spector runs the show.

The revelation puts and end to months of speculation, although whether the finer details - which we rounded up in July - turn out to be true remains to be seen.

The cover art on the Game Informer website (via VG247) shows Mickey with a paintbrush in his hand facing off against a massive monster made of a black oil-like substance. A castle looms in the background, and both Mickey and beast appear to be melting away. It's dark, it's moody - it looks brilliant.

The November issue of Game Informer will be with subscribers from 12th October. We expect more information to appear online around that time.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • smelly #1 2 years ago

    ooooh... paintbrush .. wiimote pointer..

    interestwesting!

  • Skurmedel #2 2 years ago

    The concept art looks really cool...

  • Pirotic #3 2 years ago

    The concept art looks far too awesome for it to be wasted on the wii's graphical abilities :(

  • Skurmedel #4 2 years ago

    It's now an undisclosed title on the guys resume, hehe..

    (As usual, what the hell is up with the negs on this one, it is, go check the resume yourselves.)
    Edited by 1 at 05/10/09 @ 21:09

  • Psychotext #5 2 years ago

    Epic Mickey? Wii Exclusive? Epic Fail.

  • smelly #6 2 years ago

    The trolls are deep in this one.

  • mowgli #7 2 years ago

    What a fucking waste, such potential needs to be on a proper console.

  • smelly #8 2 years ago

    @Watkins381 : A quick search on your name shows you'll slag off anything in most wii/ps3 threads... So yes you are being a dick
    @mowgli : A quick search on your name shows you claim to own a wii...

  • triple_a #9 2 years ago

    The Wii can output pretty impressive visuals in the right hands. That said, the only Wii game that has managed to really impress me visually is Dead Space: Extraction. Just goes to show that if developers put their A-teams on the job the results can be very impressive.

  • tap #10 2 years ago

    @Watkins381: of the 50+ million people who currently own a Wii there will be more than plenty who will appreciate this, just as they appreciated SMG , TP and any number of AAA titles on the Wii.

    Make some fucking sense son.

  • LudusSolers #11 2 years ago

    The paradox of it being on a "proper console", so to speak, is that the significant possibility exists that "hardcore" would most likely berate or ignore the title for being a 'kiddies' game...

    Logically, this title will appeal to the core audience demographic of the Wii - casuals and younger gamers; especially given the Disney brand. It *will* sell, and do so in large quantities. I also think that the Wii can do it justice graphically, given it's most appropriate title for comparison - Mario Galaxy - still looks damned good by any platform's standards

    I fail to see why people engender such an irrational attachment to a plastic box that sits under a TV.

  • smelly #12 2 years ago

    @Azza12342 : The best looking game i've played this generation on ANY machine is mario galaxy..

    Not because of the tech, but because of the art style choices.

    There's more to making a game look good than how many pixels the hardware can pump out

  • SirJohnny #13 2 years ago

    So Wii owners have thereotically not the right to wait for an interesting project and should stick with third quality spin-offs, huh?
    And, by the way, can I ask to the detractors if they really think a brand like Disney (be it epic or not) would find a warm welcome on X360, given the userbase that console appeals to?



  • tomjoadsghost #14 2 years ago

    Yup, cause everything warren spector is famous for can be distilled into looking at emo mickey in HD.

    heres hoping that the wii exclusivity means that we can look forward to a robust and innovative use of the wii hardware, at the end of the day this thing will probably be released in a special edition for natal/ ps3mote somewhere down the road anyway.

  • LudusSolers #15 2 years ago

    "No, we want it on a 'next-gen' console as the concept art looked AMAZING! and the wii is not capable with the type of visuals it was portraying."

    Point 1: Define "next-gen", since if you are talking about 7th generation machines such as PS3 and X360, then the Wii is also by definition next-gen. Or in fact, current gen - since next month we'll be 4 years into the current cycle.
    Point 2: Concept art is one thing - translating it into a workable engine is something else. As has been pointed out before, the Wii is not totally incapable of producing a complex and well-rendered graphical environment. In the right hands (i.e. those not entirely consumed with shovelling out "crap-in-a-box" as quickly as possible) it can produce some high quality graphics - albeit not in HD (although there are enough articles on DF pointing out that PS3/X360 have their issues with that too).

    Are you a developer at Junction Point? Or anywhere else for that matter? Are you intimate with Wii hardware? Can you definitively say that Junction Point aren't technically capable of rendering an environment which can accurately reflect their concept art? How do you know that it wasn't a design choice based the control mechanism for the Wii?

    I'm not doubting that it probably couldn't be done better on another machine, but I'm puzzled as to why you're adamant that the Wii is the wrong platform. I'm quite happy playing Devil's Advocate in this instance. :-)

    EDIT: PC being a spaz. And spelling.
    Edited by 4 at 05/10/09 @ 21:04

  • bad09 #16 2 years ago

    Well well well. If this can in any way live up to the sheer joy of the Disney Mickey games of 16 bit gen I may have to get another Wii.

    / breaks out World Of Illusion

  • LudusSolers #17 2 years ago

    @bad09
    Yep, agreed - which is why I'm actually *really* looking forward to this. :-)

  • KDR_11k #18 2 years ago

    It's Mickey Mouse, the whole family remembers him. Makes sense to put his game on the system that's used by the whole family and not just by the people who are slightly too old to appreciate "childish" characters and too young to feel nostalgia for them.

    I didn't see people complaining that the PS2 is too bad for some concept art, some PS2 games had amazing art that did justice to its concepts and the Wii is much more powerful than a PS2.

  • penhalion #19 2 years ago

    It's bloody scary to see people getting worked up about a game with mickey mouse in it. Disney will not let this game be anything dark or brooding as that's simply not the Mickey Mouse IP. I doubt this game will be anything like the concept art and I'm fairly certain it's not going to be for mature adults only or anything like that. It's on the Wii for a very good reason!

  • smelly #20 2 years ago

    @penhalion : Yeah.. kingdom hearts was SHIT wasnt it?

  • chrisjm #21 2 years ago

    there is concept art like this for most disney films. the final result wont be anywhere near as stylish im certain.

  • penhalion #22 2 years ago

    @Smelly

    Are you seriously trying to tell anyone that Mickey Mouse's appearance in Kingdom hearts is in any way shape or form dark and broody!

    I've completed the PS2 kingdom hearts games as I'm sure many here have so we already know that Mickey appears as his familiar disney self in that game. In fact you don't get to play with him at all in any of the monster bashing gameplay. He simply advises you and is in a few cut scenes.

    I have a seriously low tollerance of fanboys of late and it's getting worse. I hate pointlessly misleadig hype heads even more!

  • Skurmedel #23 2 years ago

    chrisjm: Fair point. It is splendid though :)

  • MaxiSleep #24 2 years ago

    I would prefer Metal Mickey

  • cobaltfram #25 2 years ago

    Wow, that Wii exclusivity makes me sad.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #26 2 years ago

    What a disappointment.

    It's not just because of the Wii's graphics capabilities, though it is a shame that concept art won't be reproduced as beautifully as can be, but because third-party wii games (except, perhaps a couple from Sega) tend to exist in a low-production-value ghetto.

    ... and it risks the danger of being ruined by something not-quite-right in a partially motion sensitive control scheme, or wonky camera control due to the lack of a second Analogue stick, or something. Granted, Mario Galaxy migtht have made it work, but in that regard it stands alone, even Zelda was a kludgy hack, control-system wise, and Okami was the same but worse.
    Edited by 1 at 05/10/09 @ 23:40

  • JahB #27 2 years ago

    why the negs for everybody that wants this on 360/PS3?

    people are reacting positively to the game announcement and they still get rated down because they don't want this to look like a ps2 game? i wish the wii crowd would wake up and see the wasted potential, but hey, it seems denial is in fashion.
    Edited by 1 at 06/10/09 @ 00:02

  • hy4000uk #28 2 years ago

    better on wii than an overpriced failure like the PS3 which no-one owns. it wouldnt sell on the 360 either given that the 14 year old retards who own the system play nothing but shooters

    cant wait

  • LudusSolers #29 2 years ago

    @Mentalist(air)
    "What a disappointment.

    It's not just because of the Wii's graphics capabilities, though it is a shame that concept art won't be reproduced as beautifully as can be, but because third-party wii games (except, perhaps a couple from Sega) tend to exist in a low-production-value ghetto."

    That may be true in many cases, but then again very few third party devs will have the kind of financial depth and resource that the Disney group can provide.

    @JahB
    I'm platform neutral but I have to say IMO, I don't think the comments have been entirely positive or constructive in favour of the Wii. In fact, the first few posts were the typical "OH NOES ITS ON TEH WII" garbage which sadly clogs up games forums on a regular basis. If you post flamebait, it's not entirely surprising to see posts get flamed.

    Bottom line - nobody knows what Warren Spector and the team at Junction Point are capable of producing on the Wii; but there is existing evidence that it can manage to produce imaginative, stylised and graphically impressive game environments in the right hands. Given Warren's previous track record, I'm fairly confident that the game isn't going to be an abject failure. That being said, it's a major IP we're talking about and I doubt that Disney will want to have their company mascot's first lead title being anything less than stellar.

    I think we're all keen to see what the first in-game screens will look like.

  • hy4000uk #30 2 years ago

    if it was on the PS3 or 360 it would still look like shit. 600p at 30fps, whoop di doo. only way it would look good is on the pc.

    but the market for platformers is on the wii, and it makes sense if you're going to be painting stuff

    the PS3 is a gamecube-esque failure that no-one buys games for, period. the360 is more successful but no-one buys anything for it but shooters.

    if you retards wanted this game on ps3 or 360 you should have bought more copies of banjo kazooie or the latest ratchet and clank rehash for ps3.

  • smelly #31 2 years ago

    Xbox Fanboys : "The wii has no good 3rd party games"
    The Web : "here coems one which looks like it'll be good"
    Xbox Fanboys : "That shouldnt be on a wii, that should be on our system.. boo hoo"

    etc etc.

  • electrolite #32 2 years ago

    I mean, this isn't a comment exclusively related to this thread, but fuck me, gamers are retards.

  • Telepathic.Geometry #33 2 years ago

    Pirotic, Psychotext, I'm surprised at both of you. :-/ /tut tuts
    mowgli, carry on.

  • Benraiben2k #34 2 years ago

    I loved the Mickey's Magical Quest games on the SNES. I hope this will turn out to be a new quality Mickey Mouse game, it looks promising.

    I am already bored of the "its on the Wi! :-(" "fails on the Wii" comments. Seriously..so...pathetic. The Wii is capable of doing good graphics when the developers can be bothered to take the time, Mario Galaxy/Metroid Prime 3, sure the Xbox/PS3 still look better. However it isn't especially the power of the graphics, but the art style that makes the real difference. As long as the game's art style, music, and sound manages to create the steam-punk atmosphere displayed in the concept art I don't have any problem at all.

    I doubt the game will be overly dark at all, if anything I'd expect the games feel to be similar to Kameos, if even that "mature" styled.

    I'll be keeping my eyes out for this game's development.

  • DUFFKING #35 2 years ago

    This comments section is basically proof that the karma system is pointless for anything other than burying posts you disagree with.

  • Dizzy #36 2 years ago

    Lol at the whiners who want this on a "proper" console. If the game is good, it is good. I surely am getting it for my Wii. I do not mind that it is not on the 360. Yeah it will look a bit worse, but it is the gameplay that counts.

  • JahB #37 2 years ago

    @Ludus

    I'm not saying spector won't be able to do something great with the wii, but the fact is that there's a whole lot of potential going to waste here. it's like Ferrari announcing that they got Michael Schumacher to drive in the Fiat 500 cup. Sure, he's gonna get some really fast lap times, but he could do much, much better in a proper racing car.

    by the time this game comes out both Xbox and PS3 will have motion controls superior to the wii's, so there's nothing but downsides to making a game like this a wii exclusive. i know i'll get the negs for saying it out loud, but the sales numbers prove that "mature" games go to waste on the wii. and i'm afraid so will this one, which is a damn shame.

  • Shinetop #38 2 years ago

    The fact that Disney even allowed this is awesome by itself, I just wonder if the game will ever look as good as the concept art, regardless of the platform. Maybe they'll go A Boy And His Blob on this and make it a beautiful 2D-ish title to match Disney's old style of animation, but I doubt it.

    Also please no inserting crappy Japanese Final Fantasy characters into the Disney canon, this time. Thanks.

  • PlugMonkey #39 2 years ago

    I mean, this isn't a comment exclusively related to this thread, but fuck me, gamers are retards.

    Amen to that. Interesting IP? Check. Great concept? Check. Pedigree developer? Check. Gamers will be excited about this then? Nope.

  • Shinetop #40 2 years ago

    Anything substantial to go on like screenshots or descriptions of gameplay? Ch- uh, wait.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #41 2 years ago

    third-party wii games tend to exist in a low-production-value ghetto."

    That may be true in many cases, but then again very few third party devs will have the kind of financial depth and resource that the Disney group can provide.

    Disney Interactive's previous form on Wii would suggest that isn't necessarily the case.

  • varsas #42 2 years ago

    @JahB: Who says that this is a "mature" game? The fact is that even with a darker theme I doubt the main audience on the 360 and PS3 would want to buy this game.

  • Farfarer #43 2 years ago

    It's Spector and it looks pretty dark... but it's still Disney, Mickey Mouse based and on Wii.

    I have very mixed feelings over this game :/

  • JahB #44 2 years ago

    @varsas

    so you think the housewives will be all over this then?

  • varsas #45 2 years ago

    @JahB: No I think "kids" will be all over this. How many "hardcore" players will be over this if it were on 360/PS3 considering the motion controls required that they deride on the Wii?

  • CallousB #46 2 years ago

    Glad to see this is a Wii exclusive as hopefully it means it makes good use of the wii controller.

    I'd hate to see the game restricted by the PS3/360's last gen retro controllers (although of course a port may happen when they get around to releasing their current gen controllers next year).
    Edited by 1 at 06/10/09 @ 11:57

  • Skurmedel #47 2 years ago

    Let's hope this game looks great, plays great and comes with a Hot Coffee mod, then we can all be wrong :)

  • LudusSolers #48 2 years ago

    @JahB
    Ok, using your logic then no exclusive title should ever be on any console, since in terms of raw processing power and graphical rendering, the PC is - and always will be - far more capable than any console to date. So by your argument Uncharted 1 & 2 and MGS4 would be far better realised on PC and shouldn't be on the PS3; Crackdown should only be on PC rather than X360 as a top end machine will outperform the console every day of the week. It's a ridiculous argument and one that could br construed as a bit of a strawman.

    Forgive me if this sounds like an ad hominem attack but I also wonder about your interpretation of the term 'mature'; what makes something mature in your view - can you define it? Again, I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here and possibly bordering on the realms of subjectivity... I could explain to you why I believe Wall-E is a more mature film IMO than the latest Saw, or why Fantasia displays a greater level of maturity in it's approach and delivery than, say, The Firm. Can you tell me why Super Mario Galaxy isn't a mature title (being as it is a best seller on the Wii)? Or EA Sports Active? Or Mario & Sonic? Or even Red Steel?

    Secondly, you make some pretty steep calls about the quality of the motion/pointer control schemes that Sony and Microsoft will be releasing. If the Wii has taught us anything, its that in the right hands - even before M+ - it can deliver excellent and innovative methods of user interface (such as Metroid, Galaxy, Excite Truck, PES, Conduit, World of Goo, etc). Lazy or unimaginative approaches to control implementation are in large down to developers. So with this in mind, how can you say that the UI provided by Natal/PS Pointer is better by default when you know absolutely nothing about a) how effective the control mechanism will be provided by the Wii will be, and b) whether devs can utilise the alternative offerings in a more efficient and elegant system anyway? Again, you're offering strawman arguments here.

    Thirdly, your argument about 'mature' games not selling on Wii -- or looking at the flip-side of the argument -- selling well on other platforms doesn't always stand up. Even on PS/XBX, there is empirical evidence of critically acclaimed titles under-performing. In fact, given ICO and Shadow of the Colossus' relative sales on the far more widely established PS2, can anyone say with certainty that The Last Guardian will be a system shifter? Could it do the numbers of a Gears of War? Will it come close to the sales for God of War III? How about Beyond Good & Evil 2? Or Brutal Legend? If anything, it's possible to use that argument to justify why Little Big Planet should be on another platform.

    @Mentalist(air)
    Fair enough, but you could argue that there's a vast difference between output quality from Eurocom or Avalanche Software and the creative influence behind System Shock and Deus Ex. Who's to say a Disney published title with a well-respected developer won't break the mold?

    My point is that no-one knows anything about the title, how it will sell, how it will look, how it will play. To judge it's quality based on it's host platform is ridiculous and the "it's on the Wii - what a disaster" comments are a showcase for the kind of fanboy-ism that videogaming is sadly all too synonymous with.

  • JahB #49 2 years ago

    @Ludus

    bringing up the PC isn't really valid in this argument, since the developer chose to make a console game. there's 3 different ones to choose from, 2 of these very capable, the third - at least technically - a remnant from an almost forgotten generation.

    maybe i shouldn't have used the word "mature", because that always starts of rants on how to define it; simply put: if a game's target audience is the 16-35 age bracket (and with a warren spector game, it most likely will be), it's "mature" in my book, because developers don't need to hold back in terms of content (story/gore/nudity). i know full well that maturity has nothing to do with consumer age, but trying defining what's mature and what's not in terms of games would keep this thread going for weeks.

    as to your comparison, ICO and Shadow of the Collossus might not have sold that well, but none of these games had the world's most famous cartoon character on the cover. based on that cover alone it will sell millions on the wii, but it will be purely because of Mickey Mouse, not because the game is any good or not.

    to bring this rant to an end, i'm not dissing nintendo, i'm just disappointed that instead of getting a new warren spector game, we're gonna get the game spector could have made 5 years ago. other seem to share this opinion, just look at all the downrated posts in this thread.

  • varsas #50 2 years ago

    @Ashen-Shugar: I'm not making any definitive assumptions but stating that Wii is only owned by housewives was stupid. Would you not agree?

    To me it looks like reason the Wii is being derided as a choice for this game is based solely on the lack of graphical power compared to the other machines and I don't have a problem with that but dismissing how good this game could look on Wii is stupid. Again would you not agree?

    The Wii is often derided for the motion controls by "hardcore" players and this game looks to be using motion control at it's core so I find it a little puzzling that all criticisms are focused on the graphics.

  • Zomeguy #51 2 years ago

    >we're gonna get the game spector could have made 5 years ago.
    No, *this* game could not have been made 5 years ago, because there was no Wii at that time!
    The same as SMG could not have been done some years ago and the experience is *still* unmatched today.

    >just look at all the downrated posts in this thread.
    All I read is: "Whaa, whaa... but, but... look at the polygon count... whaa...

  • JahB #52 2 years ago

    @Zomeguy

    You don't get it, do you? 5 years ago we had the PS2 and the Xbox, both in the same technical league as the Wii. they even sold tacked on third party motion controls back then. same for SMG, that game would have been entirely possible 5 years ago if miyamoto-san actually worked for either Sony or MS.

  • varsas #53 2 years ago

    You don't get it, do you? 5 years ago we had the PS2 and the Xbox, both in the same technical league as the Wii. they even sold tacked on third party motion controls back then. same for SMG, that game would have been entirely possible 5 years ago if miyamoto-san actually worked for either Sony or MS.

    Well I don't believe that that is true although those machines could have come close but motion control only took off due to the Wii using it as the primary method of control; this is why it will continue to lead after the PS3 wand and 360 natal unless future Sony and Microsoft machines bundle the controls in as standard.