Ground-Breaking Playstation-2 Disney Title

[lrodk]

A little over a year ago Disney and Square(makers of the immensly popular "Final Fantasy" series)announced that they were teaming up to make a ground breaking title for the Playstation-2, which was still in developement at the time.

Well, today comes additional information about the upcoming title, which is set to be called "Kingdom Hearts".

"Kingdom Hearts is due out in Japan this fall and here in the U.S.A. by fall of 2002. With it's immersive environments(many of which we're familiar with)and rich movie-like graphics, KHs promises to be a whole heck of alot of fun.

``Kingdom Hearts'' is an epic story of adventure, heroism, teamwork and life's most important lessons. It is the story of Sora, a 15-year-old boy whose world is turned upside down when a violent storm crashes into his idyllic island-paradise home, and he is separated from those closest to him: his best friend Riku -- a 16-year-old boy -- and a young girl named Kairi. The storm's force scatters the friends to three different and unknown worlds.

At the same time, there's turmoil in the world of the Disney Castle. King Mickey is missing and protectors Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy set out on a mission to find him. On their travels they meet Sora, who is on his own mission to search for his lost friends.

The three are told of dark, ominous creatures known as the Heartless, beings without hearts derived from an unknown dimension and, as it turns out, the ones responsible for the devastating tornado. Imbued with the ability to morph and change their form, the Heartless' ultimate goal is to recruit the Disney Villains to help them steal the pure hearts and souls of others.

Upon learning of the link between the Heartless, the storm and the disappearance of King Mickey, Sora, Donald and Goofy decide to join forces to recover Sora's friends, return the king to his rightful position and save the universe from the Heartless.

On their adventures, they journey through a fantasy Disney Universe, where each land is its own unique world. The heroes visit many different worlds, including those of ``Disney's Aladdin,'' ``Disney's Tarzan(TM),'' ``Disney's Peter Pan'' and many more Disney and new, original worlds, where they interact with the characters of those worlds and battle their way across dimensions.

More than two years in development, ``Kingdom Hearts'' has a production team of more than 100 people, representing the best creative talent from both Disney Interactive and Square.

I'll keep you updated once the first previews come out.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

I can't wait to hear everyone's descriptions of what they think the "heartless" will be like.

 

[DisDuck]

With tongue firmly in cheek.. DVC-Landbaron and JeffJewel.

 

[Testtrack321]

Can we make a worse idea than JIYI? YES! Howabout making a VIDEOGAME that ties Mickiey and Final Fantisy together! WOW! I am very into the Videogame market and this idea seems to feel like it will fail. By mixing Disney (known in the videogame-world for cutsie games) with a "cool" new "young" cast mixed with the fab five.

 

[Quentin Disney]

Here is an article about the game from IGN PS2. It includes some screenshots.

There is also an yet to be named Mickey Mouse game coming out forNintendo Gamecube by Capcom . The first time I saw the pics of it, my jaw dropped and almost went to the center of the earth!

 

[lrodk]

Disney Interactive is making a major push into the mainstream video game market, as evidenced by their partnering with Square, the leading third-party developer and publisher of home video game console software in Japan .

Also keep in mind that alot of people scoffed at the idea of Microsoft entering the gaming market with their X-Box venture. After all, what does Microsoft, best known for Windows, know about video games? But so far, with the right alliances, Microsoft is poised to compete in a big way for the top spot in the gaming console war.

With that said, Square has the ability to deliver big with this title. And both sides have commited alot of resources and talent to the project, including that of legendary game developer Tetsuya Nomura.

I can understand your reservations TT about having Disney mixed in with traditional RPG gaming themes. It really is uncharted territory for Disney in that regard and may take some getting used to. But from my perspective, being a die-hard Disney enthusiast, I look forward to immersing myself into environments like Agrabah with the full support of the graphics-rich PS2 platform. And if the storyline is as good as the buzz going around about Kingdom Hearts, I 'll be the first in line to give it a shot.

 

[lrodk]

As a side note, I've heard that Microsoft and Sony have approached Disney about replacing Sega's section at Innoventions. Sega is expected to vacate their space by the end of the year, leaving the pavilion without an oficial video game sponsor.

The front-runner seems to be Microsoft at this time, due to their dealings and familiarity with Disney from the past(remember Mission Space was almost a Microsoft sponsored pavillion). They seem to want exposure for their upcoming X-Box console at WDW in the worst way.

As a new unestablished console, Microsoft is commiting alot of money promoting the X-Box, much more than Sony did just prior to their launch. At this point in time they're being more of the aggresor because they have much more to prove than Sony. With that said, I'm putting my money on Microsoft as the new gaming sponsor at Innoventions.

 

[YoHo]

Well, Plus Bill Gates could personally fund the rebuild of Epcot from the ground up and still be a millionaire. They have money to burn.