Disney Wants Epic Mickey to Reach "Nintendo Levels" of Quality
Executive VP explains how their strategy on Wii will differ from other third parties.
Why do Nintendo games, on average, sell so much better than third-party games on the Wii? There are probably a number of ways to answer that question, but according to Disney Interactive Studios executive VP and general manager Graham Hopper, it's about giving games the time and care they need to reach the "Nintendo level" of quality -- and they intend to do so with Epic Mickey.
"I think we've tried to learn from the things Nintendo does well," Hopper said in an interview with Gamasutra. "One of the things that Nintendo does on their own platforms is they give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful, and they iterate until they get there. And I think we're doing the same with Epic Mickey, giving it the time and resources to be successful."
That, Hopper hopes, will lead to better success than many third parties find on Wii. "I'll tell you that I don't think all other third parties are approaching the Wii in the same way. If there's a third-party game that I think has potential to be as successful on the Wii to Nintendo levels, I'd like to think it's Disney Epic Mickey. We're following the same playbook."
But that doesn't mean they won't be releasing games based on popular Disney properties for other platforms too -- in fact, they'll probably still release them on every platform they possibly can. "For some of the biggest properties that have the biggest and broadest reach and appeal, [they'll] be on multiple platforms. Something like Toy Story 3 is going to be on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii and DS," Hopper says. But he also said the key going forward will be to do "not the same story five times over, but five different stories, each uniquely suited for the platform they're on."
Whether they'll be able to develop five different versions of the same game concurrently and make them all reach that vaunted "Nintendo level," however, remains to be proven.
Quelle