Pocket Gamer: Peter Ong is the creative director of DreamRift, the studio behind the upcoming Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion game. Pocket Gamer was fortunate enough to grab some time with Ong before the release of the title this November.
Ong talks with us about the experience of working with Disney, why its characters are timeless, and how the game is inspired by (and improves upon) cult classic Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse.
"Amazon has added new game deals for Countdown to Black Friday Deals in Video Games for November 5th. Deals include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End $26, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion $13, Far Cry 4 Complete Edition $25, LEGO Star Wars: Force Awakens Deluxe Edition $35, LEGO Jurassic World $13 and lots more!"
Gamasutra: "DreamRift (Epic Mickey) co-founder Peter Ong puts a different spin on the issue. He believes that piracy is a huge issue, both on the Nintendo DS and now potentially on the 3DS -- and he puts this down to publisher perception of the problem."
"A publisher would go as far as to avoid spending the investment necessary to even release our game in Europe due to their projections of how piracy would impact its sales."
Won't pirates get past the region lock anyway, resulting in even more piracy in that region, as they don't have the option of buying it?
I really hope piracy doesn't grow as big on the 3DS and Vita as it was with last gen handhelds, these platforms need protection or the only handheld games in a few years will be crappy mobile ones.
I've lost all trust in game publishers. The same publishers saying things like this also say that used sales are destroying their business. Yet, used car sales didn't sink car manufacturers and used home sales didn't sink construction businesses. Game publishers seem to think that their product is more valuable than cars or homes to the tune of wanting to eliminate a used industry. The truth is that game publishers do not make games that people can afford to keep at the price point they sell them at. Just like a homeowner can't afford to eat the cost of their first home when they buy their second or to eat the cost of their first car after they buy their second. Same with games. I can't afford to keep a 60 dollar game without re-selling. If I do, I stop buying new games. Period. Game publishers don't seem to get that what is really costing them business is the lack of value of the products they are producing at the selling points they establish. They are digging their own graves and fleecing the average gamer over it and the average gamer is SUPPORTING this practice.
I stopped playing first person shooters many years ago for these reasons. I don't miss it. And game companies aren't getting my money. Instead of regretting that fact, they BLAME ME for not adoring their crappy product. Game publishers are business assholes.
You're putting games up on a pedestal. You're thinking just like game companies do. It appears that, in your mind, the game designer deserves MORE from life than the construction worker, the auto salesman, the book writer, the musician, etc.
Some of us think that game designers are flawed human beings, not Gods. If you think my arguments are "spin", then you aren't reading your own.
Pocket Gamer: For all its pedigree, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is a waste of time. It's not unplayable. It's not even intrinsically boring. But its core paint and thinner mechanic using Mickey's brush slows the pace of this 2D platformer down to a crawl, making for a seriously flawed traipse across key Disney franchises.