I have to voice a worry of mine and I am interested to hear what the rest of the GB community are thinking regarding, Epic Mickey.  
 
What I have seen of the game I love, but my concern is that it is going to be misunderstood. I think it could be too much of a gamers game and throw off a lot of casual younger Mickey Mouse fans who buy the game or have the game bought for them at Christmas time. For me, it been a gamers game would be just perfect, but if it doesn't sell well we won't see more of it as a potential series and it will have an adverse effect on a great games designer (Mr. Spector) and a damn good game dev team and that would be a shame.
 
Do you think this game is going to be too much of a gamers game to sell well and do you think it being on the Wii will hinder or enhance its sales performance? 
 
 Is Epic Mickey going to be an Epic Failure?  Discuss! 
 

Rumor has it that if this game doesn't break 500,000 Activision is gonna shut down Disney.

It has the name "Mickey" and his silhouette on the cover. That guarantees it some sales. 
 
As a game, I don't think it will fail. Financially, I'm not sure.

" It has the name "Mickey" and his silhouette on the cover. That guarantees it some sales.  As a game, I don't think it will fail. Financially, I'm not sure. "

I still don't understand why this game is getting so much hype. I'm not trying to sound like a dick- I genuinely mean it.

Again, I'd have to say that it seems like something that would benefit hugely from being on the 360/PS3.  The main draw for me is the landscape and the idea of being able to explore a corrupted version of Disney World.
And like you said, it doesn't seem to be something that's aimed at casual gamers, so the Wii could very well be the wrong platform in both regards..
 
But we'll see.  I'm sure the Disney name will help at least somewhat help.

" @jaffaz: Yes I think being on the Wii is going to mess it up a little. Games not made by Nintendo that seem like they are going to be real good don't sell to well at all on the Wii. I don't understand why this wasn't on the PS3 and Xbox 360 also. "

It's Mickey Mouse. 
 
It's going to sell.

it sounds like an awesome game. the only thing i don't think is good is that it's for the wii. i think it's getting hype because of how kingdom hearts is like. i never got to play that game.

That's some Gametrailers quality alliteration. That is to say, your low hanging fruit "epic fail" joke is about on par with Gametrailers. Keep it over there please.

Marketing will decide the fate of this game.

It won't sell.  Gamers are all too "hardcore" to pick up a mickey mouse game, and this goes for most of the younger ones as well, age 12 and up, who spend all their time playing Call of Duty online and spouting the racial epithets they heard from their parents.  This type of platforming game itself has this stigma of being for little children, and since this isn't mario, I doubt gameplay is going to be the definitive factor for people wanting to pick this up.
 
And do kids even care about mickey mouse anymore?  The most sales I can see coming from this game are from family members impulse buying a gift for christmas for their 10-year-old son/nephew/grandson.  Even so, the game doesn't seem to be especially targeted for kids, and the boxart being kind of grim (compared to other disney games) might drive even some of those away.
 
I can see the target audience that the game is going for; those people who grew up with Disney and have fond nostalgic memories.  Maybe it's just because I'm not one of those people, but I really don't see a lot of crossover between those people, that are gamers, that own a wii, that still love Disney, that want what looks to be a generic (at first glance) platformer.  I just don't see those people flocking out to buy this.
 
I like Warren Spector, and I'm really glad he's making a game that he really wanted to make.  I hope the game turns out good, but I don't believe there's a market for it.  Adult gamers don't want to play platformers, and children already have a much better fit for them on the Wii with Kirby's Epic Yarn.

It should've been for the Move.   
 
The game would've looked stunning, and would've had a better chance to sell more.

if my mom is interested in buying this game, then it will sell.

Yo, it has Mickey Mouse in it. It'll break a million, at least. As for it being good, I can't say because I don't know anything about it. 
 
Also, I thought "Epic Fail" was over already.

"Adult gamers don't want to play platformers. "

" @jaffaz:  Also Epic Mickey being an epic fail is such a painfully obvious pun that you shouldn't have used it. "

" It should've been for the Move.    The game would've looked stunning, and would've had a better chance to sell more. "

" @yinstarrunner said:

"Adult gamers don't want to play platformers. "

Incorrect. "

I have faith in the sales figures for this game being decent, though i have yet to be convinced by the gameplay i have seen, disney shouldn't worry however because i don't own a Wii anymore.

I never understood why people think the Wii sucks for 3rd party sales. If that were the case, wouldn't developers have given up by now. Epic Mickey will do fine on the Wii. And if it ever does get brought to the HD consoles, I want every motherfucking HD fanboy to buy it. Shit, can't the Wii get any exclusive love?

" @TehFlan said:

" @yinstarrunner said:

"Adult gamers don't want to play platformers. "

Incorrect. "

Seconded. "

As someone else said, I don't understand the hype for this game. It looks weak to me, its mechanics borrowed from games like Ratchet & Clank (to me, the most comparable platformer in level design,) Fable, and Okami. I'm not a huge fan of ANY of those games (though R&C is very good, I still wouldn't call myself a fan,) and the story sounds like an idea that is initially tantalizing, but not especially creative. There might be a weird romance level or something like that, but Epic Mickey is clearly going to be a story of abandonment; the repercussions of Walt Disney throwing away his creations, leading either to undirected rage (as with all "destroy the world" bad guys) or vengeance (if it's directed at either Disney's creations or at Mickey, as with the case of Oswald.) 
 
Between semi-unoriginal gameplay and an obvious story arc, I just don't see the market. To call it a nostalgia trip is insane; as far as I'm aware, none of these cartoons were exactly shown as Saturday morning cartoons, and the only people who would be aware of these cartoons in the first place would deserve a degree in animation history if such a thing existed. Ii think people are confusing the sources of inspiration for the game; while the worlds are largely based on Disneyland theme parks, I doubt most people are going to recognize the sources of most of the characters in the game. We might recognize Clarabelle Cow because she is a classic image, and the Peter Pan cast will remain strong in all of our hearts, but the other announced characters are hardly recognizable. Yen Sid is most memorable for those who've played Kingdom Hearts II, and the character in the original Fantasia film was only foreboding, without a personality at all. 
 
I'm not trying to say I feel this game will be bad; the design elements look solid, and the characters, while not pulling my heartstrings, certainly don't seem annoying. It just all seems at best good, and at worst mediocre. This game, to me, merits about the same amount of discussion as GoldenEye or Enslaved, but I doubt it'll be a title that ranks up there with Kirby's Epic Yarn, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, or DKC Returns (all platformers released THIS YEAR.)

" I still don't understand why this game is getting so much hype. I'm not trying to sound like a dick- I genuinely mean it. "

" @MysteriousBob said:

" I still don't understand why this game is getting so much hype. I'm not trying to sound like a dick- I genuinely mean it. "

Because Warren Spector is making it. "

" It should've been for the Move.   It would've had a better chance to sell more. "

Internet experts never tired of being wrong about the Wii.

What I have seen of the gameplay looks mediocre at best. And the fact that I don't like Mickey Mouse at all certainly doesn't help. 

" @FreakAche said:

" @MysteriousBob said:

" I still don't understand why this game is getting so much hype. I'm not trying to sound like a dick- I genuinely mean it. "

Because Warren Spector is making it. "

Its not much of a selling point outside the gaming community though. I couldn't sell this game to a mom by saying, "Well, Warren Spector made it" like I could sell a movie by saying, "Its got Brad Pitt in it". I wonder how much television advertising this game is going to get. "

" Rumor has it that if this game doesn't break 500,000 Activision is gonna shut down Disney. "

Given that my girlfriend has been clamoring for me to buy this game since she first heard of it, I think it might do better than expected if you just polled Giant Bomb users. 
 
That said, I'm still wondering what area the game is trying to operate in.  Being a Disney game for the Wii, you'd think it'd be targeted more casual, but the gameplay and way Spector has been talking it up seem like they require at least some platforming experience to play.   Though really, people who liked Mario Galaxy and Disney are probably a pretty large crowd. 
 
I'm at least somewhat anticipating it and have it on pre-order, though it's not the game I'm most looking forward to playing during the holidays.

Epic Mickey seemed awesome when it was in the concept art phase. That art was amazing. Ragged, dark, insane. But the moment the first screen shots came out, that was it, it was just a bland Disney game.

I'm not too far into the game yet, but so far I really like it.  It's definitely more of a "gamers game" though, and I can see a lot of more casual players getting confused and fed up with it.  It has quite a Mario 64 vibe to it, so if you're a fan of platformers you should really enjoy it, especially if you're into Disney.  There's a lot of little references to Disney things, particularly the Disney World rides, which should really bring a smile to your face if you're familiar with them.
 
One or two issues I have though..  The motion controls are bad.  Unlike Mario Galaxy where a small flick of the wii-mote made him use the spin attack, here you have to really shake the remote and it's quickly tiring.  I also think it's a bit too easy to leave areas before completing all of the quests in them..  and at the moment, I'm not sure if there's any way to return to them.

It's created by Warren Spector, therefore it won't fail. The GB doesn't care because they're too busy having their head's up in Modern Brokefare 2's ass all the time.

I'm sorry, but a "gamers game"? LOLWHAT! Would you kindly explain what do you mean by that? I have an assumption, but assuming things is bad.

" I'm sorry, but a "gamers game"? LOLWHAT! Would you kindly explain what do you mean by that? I have an assumption, but assuming things is bad. "

" @WinterSnowblind:  Because of course, "casuals" are imbeciles that are not capable of solving a little platforming problems?  Wow, you guys and your "hardcore gamerz 1337" egos... "

" It's created by Warren Spector, therefore it won't fail. The GB doesn't care because they're too busy having their head's up in Modern Brokefare 2's ass all the time. "

" @valrog said:

" @WinterSnowblind:  Because of course, "casuals" are imbeciles that are not capable of solving a little platforming problems?  Wow, you guys and your "hardcore gamerz 1337" egos... "

I never said casual players CAN'T enjoy it.  But the majority of casual Wii games out there are very simplistic and yes..  are designed for imbeciles, whether or not all casual gamers have a low I.Q. is irrlevant.  If you gave Mario 64 to your mother to play, do you think she'd be able to make it through the whole game?  I'm sure some casual gamers would still love it and put a lot of time and effort into it, but even my mum who uses a DS regularly would toss something like Mario 64 aside due to the difficulty. All I said is that Epic Mickey is a really good game and not designed for the typical Wii shovel ware crowd.  It has nothing to do with intelligence. "

As per every Wii thread, there's always one person who I can't tell if they're being serious or not, today it's WinterSnowblind.

They're always serious, and this will be the third year in a row they've been completely clueless about Wii demographics. Completely clueless.