14 DAY TRIAL // Another important video game developer criticized the E3 2012 publisher press conferences, saying that they have focused too much on services and too little on new titles that can impress the player base.
Warren Spector, who is currently the leading designer working on Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, told Games Industry that, “The most interesting part of the press conferences had nothing to do with games. When the games are the least interesting part, there’s a problem. When did the game conference become about interfacing with Netflix? I just worry a little bit.”
The developer, who is also well known for his work on Deus Ex, Ultima, Thief and Wing Commander, believes that gaming is going through a Golden Age of creation and finds the focus on entertainment services even more bewildering.
He added, “Nobody knows what the future of games is. Nobody. At a time like that Notch can come along and do Minecraft, and Chris Hecker can finally do his incredible party spy game, and Jon Blow can do Braid, and I can do a triple-A Mickey Mouse game – anything is possible.”
Spector says that the marriage between franchise titles that only get bigger and more violent and services like Netflix is detrimental to the audience.
As far as he is concerned, developers can adopt a number of business and distribution models as long as they have a clear idea of what they plan to create and which audience might be interested in it.
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is currently being developed for the PC, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, with the launch date set for September of this year.
The game will allow gamers to use the painting and thinner mechanics of the first game with more options and will see Mickey and Oswald the Rabbit work together in order to stop the machinations of the Mad Doctor.