Epic Mickey is on the Wii because of its audience
When Epic Mickey was first hinted as being a Wii-exclusive, most gamers believed that the decision was made because of the controls the system offers. However, according to Warren Spector, the audience behind the platform is the primary reason why the title landed on the Wii. Spector told Game Informer that Epic Mickey could be a tough sell to those who play games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto.
“Well, think about it. Would you really want to tackle convincing Halo or Grand Theft Auto players that they want to be Mickey Mouse? Would you really want to do that? In terms of finding a congenial audience, let’s go for a platform that’s known for Mario and Link and now Sonic. Come on. Honestly, with the unit sales on the hardware, it was kind of a lucky happenstance. We made the call to go to the Wii long before it was clear that the Wii was going to be, at least for now, the best-selling platform.
It was about going where the audience is and going somewhere where they’re going to accept a visual style that is more cartoony than people are used to seeing and where we don’t feel obliged to throw in every shader on the planet. ‘Look at the normal maps and shaders.’ We don’t have to do that kind of stuff. It’s the right platform for this project, for sure.”
