If you don't really study him, you might not even notice we changed anything! I love that. Though he looks kind of classic, he's really unlike any other Mickey Mouse, yet instantly recognizable. We came up with a unique video game for Mickey a little bit borrowed from existing Disney representations of the character and a little of our own unique thinking about the character. Related to that – how much freedom were you given with Mickey as a character? I was pretty surprised by how open Disney was with their most well-known character. Disney was an active participant, with the team and me, in defining where the lines were. I mean, we couldn't put magic in Deus Ex and you wouldn't have a 747 land in the middle of Red Dead Redemption, would you? All creative efforts happen within constraints. We did that early collaborative work, so we knew where the boundaries were and since we helped to create them, we never felt particularly constrained by them – no more than you're constrained creatively in any endeavour. When you're dealing with a character as long-lived and as important to people as Mickey Mouse, it was critical to work with folks at Disney to create a Mickey and a world we could all be happy with. Were you tempted to argue with Disney and make Mickey more "modern" for this game – or do you think the classic/vintage look will still resonate with today's gamers? I knew going in that making a Mickey game wasn't going to be the same as making an Ultima or Deus Ex game. We've seen that a lot, actually, at shows and in our playtest sessions. My greatest joy is seeing parents and kids playing Disney Epic Mickey together, handing the controllers back and forth, helping each other out. Just as no one would say Up or Ratatouille was just for kids, we wanted to make a game that kids and adults could appreciate and enjoy. Everyone at Junction Point has been inspired by the creative folks at Pixar and Disney Feature Animation to make "entertainment for everyone". What sort of audience do you think will be attracted to Disney Epic Mickey? You never know until a game is out there in people's hands, but my HOPE is that Disney Epic Mickey will appeal to all ages, men and women, boys and girls. How many other things created or that were popular in 1928, in any entertainment medium, can that be said about? Mickey's longevity and continued relevance is amazing. The amazing thing is that he IS still relevant, 82 years after his creation. Whether it's as the hero of an adventure story, as teacher and friend, as icon on watch, shirt or hat – everyone knows Mickey Mouse. Is Mickey still relevant to the kids of today? In some way, Mickey Mouse is still relevant to everyone. Nothing deeper than that, though it is nice that video game hardware has progressed to the point where our graphics and animation can meet people's expectations of Disney as far as quality is concerned. As far as the timing, well, I'd write that off to luck as much as anything – I happened to be out looking for a development deal and Disney happened to think my team and I might be the right people to make a Mickey Mouse game. You have to wonder why not, and the team at Junction Point is honoured to be in a position to try to do something about it. Why Mickey Mouse and why now? A better question might be: "Why NOT Mickey Mouse and why NOT now?" Mickey's been a star of movies, television, theme parks – he's been a part of the lives of most people on the planet – yet he's never been a video game star on par with the biggest video game heroes out there. Disney Epic Mickey is released for the Wii later this month, and I recently spoke to Spector about the game as well Deus Ex, Disney and what boardgames can teach video game designers. Best known for the classic RPG title Deus Ex, veteran games developer Warren Spector has turned his sights towards Mickey Mouse.
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