Warren Spector wants you to be a mouse for a change

Warren Spector, the man behind the creation of Deus Ex and Ultima, is confident about his next game, Epic Mickey 2, but wants gamers to have an open mind to the vividly coloured world.

“Okay, relax. Yes. It’s Mickey Mouse. Okay? You’re fine being a blue hedgehog, you’re fine being a fat little plumber, you’re fine being whatever that orange cat-like thing is that has a robot buddy. You’re really okay with all that stuff. Try being a mouse for a little while. It won’t hurt you”, said Spector, practising what he’d say to sceptical gamers.

When asked about the transition from making violent FPS and RPG, to adventure platformers like that of Epic Mickey, Spector feels there’s little distinction between what’s suitable for a mature audience.

“I’ve always made games that appealed to older audience and I didn’t see anything different here. I just made a game that I found interesting. I like Disney stuff. No-one looks at Toy Story and says, “Oh, that’s just for kids.” Why is it that games can only appeal to a certain audience, but movies and books – I mean, how many adults read Harry Potter?”

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Spector continued that cynical gamers have never changed the way he would approach game development.

“I honestly never anticipated it to be a hurdle, and it wasn’t one, because I always just make the game I wanna play,” he said. “I never – I’m not kidding, nobody believes me when I say this – I’ve never been assigned a game, never been told to make a game. I’ve never made a change in a game based on focus testing except once and it was a mistake, I shouldn’t have done it.”

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two also had a solid showing at this year’s E3 expo, with lines to play the Junction Point Studios game never ceasing to grow; and Warren Spector is excited for the future of the Epic Mickey.

“There is great joy in doing things that are different and I make that point to the people on my team all the time. I’m so proud of what we’re doing here because we’re flying in the face of so many expectations, and being successful at it. Make no mistake about it; Disney Epic Mickey was by far the most successful game I’ve ever worked on, in terms of sales. By far.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two releases on PC, Xbox 360, PS3,and Wii in November this year.