"There haven't been a lot of games like this on the Wii," he said. "There hasn't been a game that offers the kind of interactions and choices that this offers."

While he told us that the game won't be coming to any other platforms, that wasn't always the case.

In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, Spector said that the game started out as a PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title. At some point the head of Disney Interactive pulled Spector into his office to ask the designer how the game was coming along and what it would take to make it sing. Spector replied that he would like to focus on a single platform.

"At that time we were talking about a Wii port and I was begging people - no, we can't just port to the Wii, it's not going to work. It needs to be its own game. A lot of the design ideas just won't work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues. Graham looked at me and said 'What do you think about a Wii exclusive?' And I went 'Holy cow - yeah!'"

While Spector is deep in the development cycle of what sounds to be an ambitious game, one that could spawn a franchise and extend into other mediums, I was able to goad him into talking a little bit about future plans.

With Disney's recent acquisition of Marvel and Spector's love of comics, in particular Marvel, I couldn't help but wonder if he hopes to work on a Marvel game in the future.

Spector reminded me that he worked on the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game back in the 80s for TSR.

"I wrote a Marvel game book called One Thing After Another," he said. "And I was able to write the words 'It's clobbering time' and know that Stan Lee would read them.

"I'm a comic book junkie, I love, love, love comic books. Of all of the super hero characters the Thing is by far my favorite."

Any plans for a Marvel game? Not yet. Would he want to? Most definitely.

Spector added that he's also still like to make a video game based on the Golden Compass.

I think that's something we'd all like to see.

The game, though, looks just like every other Disney Princess video game even if the one in the ball gown is black. The Wii version of The Princess and the Frog is all about multiplayer mini-games where players dress up Princess Tiana and other characters from the movie, cook recipes and collect Mardi Gras beads to trade for dresses and recipes and stuff. The DS version actually has a plot, it looks like, with 27 levels set in the bayou where Tiana and the frog prince, Naveen, have to avoid obstacles and find ingredients – presumably for a cure to frog-ness.

What has me worried about the games isn't the potential for racism – it's the ""New Orleans-inspired" recipes they feature. What does that even mean? If it means authentic Cajun food recipes, I'm in – if it means sugar, hot sauce and rice in some pathetic mockery of gumbo, forget it. I take my cooking games very seriously.

Both the DS and Wii version of The Princess and the Frog come out this holiday season right around when the movie releases.

Gamasutra writes that it has seen concept art and other details on the title, now in development at Spector's own Junction Point Studios, which was acquired by Disney in 2007. Their description of the environmental artwork certainly sounds in line with Spector's style.

As the report points out, EGM's Quartermann-penned rumor column placed Spector on a Disney licensed platformer starring Mickey Mouse earlier this year.

Scoff if you want at the concept of Spector squandering his talent on a Mickey Mouse game, but go play Castle of Illusion for the Genesis before you do so.

Report: Spector's Junction Point Working On 'Epic Mickey' Title? [Gamasutra]

WSJ notes two potential "win-wins." First, the Disney-owned ESPN, which could benefit both the sports cable channel and the Madden NFL series. Second, WSJ argues that Disney could save at least some of the "$200 million it spends annually to develop its own games" at Disney Interactive Studios. The internal Disney studio currently works on properties like High School Musical and Tinkerbell.

Snatching up EA could also mean plenty of new, internally developed intellectual property for Disney and all of its subsidiaries. Properties like Mirror's Edge, Dead Space and Army of Two could be future Disney Pictures projects. As Dante's Inferno could have. We suppose Disney could send property the other way, too, with future Pixar titles going to EA instead of where they're currently housed at THQ.

It would be one big orgy of commercial appeal for both parties.

The Wall Street Journal points out that EA's market cap is at $7.7 billion, a serious drop from the $19 billion of a few years ago. That's a bargain, it says, one that maybe Disney should go for. We'd seriously hope that, if they did, they'd retain all those smart EA people turning the company's image and quality around.

Disney Could Raise Its Game With EA [WSJ - subscription required]

But there must be market for people (parents) who don’t want to deal with a plastic drum set and two guitars cluttering up the living room – and for these spoilsports comes Ultimate Band on Wii.

Ultimate Band uses the Wiimote/Nunchuck control scheme, which means you’ve got to use your imagination when it comes to strumming on guitar. The flicking of the Wiimote feels almost like strumming, I guess – but having to tilt the Nunhcuck left or right to hit certain notes was a bit of a stretch for me. To be fair, the game designers did try to make the game such that you could move the Nunchuck up and down like you were changing chords – but the Wii isn’t sensitive enough to pick up that kind of motion. Drums are pretty straight forward – up and down waving of the Wiimote and Nunchuck with flicks of each to the left or right, as if you were hitting the snares.

I tried out bass because it was some ungodly hour of the morning and my fingers weren’t having that press C, then Z, then both at the same time and spin your arm in a Pete Townshend windmill junk. At the Easy setting, bass plays just like guitar – press buttons, yay. At Normal or above, the two instruments diverge and the game starts getting pissy if you haven’t tilted your Nunchuck just so in order to nail a note.

The interface looks comfortingly like Rock Band or Guitar Hero – notes fall downwards towards a target and you’ve got to hit them by performing the correct motions when they get there. Because there are no vocals on Ultimate Band, the “frontman” player is mostly just doing dance moves with the controls (like Boogie or Samba de Amigo). The other players also have to perform some of these moves – like a clapping motion or tilting the controls this way or that to strike a pose. This gets even more intense if you fill up your grand stand meter and then press A. Grand stand mode then interrupts the song (kind of like a drug-fueled drum solo), and players have to perform various dance moves or poses in sequence to score points.

I thought this would be kind of a drag, but it turns out grand standing is a great way to take a break from a song that’s kicking your ass. And, I’m shocked to say, some of these songs destroy your ass. Even Rock Lobster on easy was a tough grind, and I was grateful when the guy running the demo triggered grand stand, just so I could give my arms a break.

The cool thing about Ultimate Band – for me, at least – was the absence of Hannah Montana. This gives the game freedom to do something else besides the sugary Disney Channel shtick, and I don’t have to listen to Miley Cyrus’s hateful voice. The developers chose to go with a “wholesome kids take their garage band pro” angle, which you get to experience in story mode (complete with cheesy Saturday-morning style cutscenes). By playing through story mode, you unlock songs to play in jam mode, which is just a free play setup. You can create your own band (as in, you can customize their clothing and pick a gender – they’re pretty much all skinny kids with questionable taste in fashion) to take through story mode and the game will adjust the cutscenes and even the lyrics to acknowledge your choices. For example, the song “Fell in Love With a Girl” would be sung as “Fell in Love With a Boy” if your frontman is a lady.

To me, little touches like that mark the difference between a developer phoning it in and a developer out to make a real game. And it gets points in the feminist bracket because if I were singing a cover of “Fell in Love With a Girl,” I damn well wouldn’t be singing about a girl. Thanks to Disney not smothering the IP with Hannah Montana, developer Fall Line Studios is able to explore original territory – and even if a peripheral-less Rock Band holds no interest for you, you’ve got to admire their spirit.

In particular, I was impressed with the inclusion of a Music for Relief level in the story mode. Music for Relief is a real-life charity founded by Linkin Park, and recently they partnered with Disney to do a benefit. As a salute to the charity’s efforts, the developer put a level in the game based on the location the benefit took place in and made it the final level your band has to play through en route to the ultimate competition at the Rock Dome.

And if that doesn’t make you give a damn: giant robots. Yes, giant robots are in this game. I’m not sure what they do, because I was too busy trying not to fail out of Rock Lobster, but they’re there – and for me, that’s a definite plus.

Ultimate Band on Wii is out mid November.

Your guitar/bass fills up both screens of the DS and notes appear as little icons that fall down along the strings from the top screen to the touch screen. When they get there, you have to tap them while pressing the D-pad button specified in the icon. This setup comes with a lefty variation that uses the X, Y, A and B buttons on the right. The drums are a little different this time around – they’ve been tilted on the screen so there’s more surface area for you to tap your stylus.

The Rhythm Play game mode allows you to try out all the instruments as you take your band across the city of Rockopolis (insert lol here), playing different venues to earn fans and work your way up to larger venues. There’s a multiplayer mode that lets you jam head-to-head or cooperatively with other DS owners that actually bring themselves to buy this game. But by playing rhythm, you unlock backbeat loops to use in the recording studio mode, which was the star of the Hannah Montana game. These looped drum beats are like those old keyboard toys we had when we were kids – start up the back beat and then randomly press the other buttons and somehow it all comes out sounding like music. For the more hardcore, you can skip the backbeats and arrange your own music – and for the utterly clueless, you can actually sort loops by genre (punk, pop, rock, etc.) if you have no idea how to get going.

All of this impressed me only because Hannah Montana was nowhere to be found. Even the cover band that recorded the 15 songs for the DS version didn’t make use of the mini megastar’s vocals; and none of the skinny avatar choices resembled her.

Disney is infamous for whoring out a particular franchise to the point where you want to claw your eyes out of your skull every time another video game/toy/Halloween costume appears. This prevents decent games like Hannah Montana: Music Jam or Kim Possible from getting recognition – because it’s Hannah Montana and most gamers wouldn’t be caught dead having anything to do with her (Kim Possible is negotiable).

Well, it looks like they’ve sort of learned their lesson with Ultimate Band. The game comes out mid-November.

Now if only I could pry myself away from Guitar Hero: On Tour…

The upcoming racer's soundtrack will include music from DJ Hyper, The Answer, Tapework and Blindside to name a few. Here's a partial track list for the game, due out on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year:

The Answer - "Into the Gutter"
Fred Baker -"Genius Touch"
Jeff Beck -"Grease Monkey"
Calyx & Teebee -"Dual Processed" Featuring MC Verse
The Datsuns -" Maximum Heartbreak' and 'Sittin' Pretty"
Diet Kong -"With Magic"
Adam Freeland -" Spin Machine"
The Futureheads -" Beginning of the Twist"
DJ Hyper -"We Control"
Midfield General -"On the Road"
The Music -"Strength in Numbers"
My Luminaries - "The Sound of Music"
Noise Control -"Cities of Dreams' and 'Mud Bath"
Pendulum -"Granite' and 'Showdown"
Pop Levi -"Wannamama"
Qemists -"Drop Audio' and 'Stomp Box"
The Radishes -"Good Machine"
Silvertone -"Try"
The Subways -"Rock and Roll Queen"
Tapeworm -"Getting Through"
The Whigs -"Need You Need You"
Zero DB -"Late in the Day' and 'Redline"
Wolfmother -" Woman"
We Are Scientists -"Inaction"
Blindside - "For the Nation"

"Music plays an integral part in action sports games and we wanted to provide the right background to complement the nonstop spectacular tricks and massive jumps in the game," said Jason Avent, game director at Black Rock Studio. "We feel that the songs we've included on the soundtrack are ideal to round out the adrenaline rush players will get while playing PURE."

I've only been able to play around with a single map in the game, but so far I really like what I've seen. And I'm not the only one.

This band game light is both peripheral and original music free, using only cover bands so the developers would be allowed to tweak the music to better fit the game. Those tweaks include the ability to have the lead singer be either a man or a woman, no matter who originally sang it.

The Disney folks told me that they did a number of focus tests during their development of the game. In them they asked potential gamers which of nine versions of the game they would want to play. The options ranged from a peripheral-heavy version of the game with original music, to the game they ended up producing. All of the tests showed, they told me, that gamers wanted a game that didn't require peripherals.

To play Ultimate Band gamers use the remote and nunchuk to strum, drum and flick their way through songs on a bass or lead guitar or drums.

To play lead guitar a player strums with the remote to the beat, matching the on screen timing, while holding different buttons or no buttons on the nunchuk. Depending on difficulty settings, you can guitar with just rhythm strumming or with as many as four virtual frets. The frets are triggered by holding the C, the Z, the C and the Z buttons or no buttons.

Bass is played by flicking the nunchuk and strumming while drums are played by drumming straight down with both controllers for standard drums, to the side for cymbals and then twirling the controllers in the air to mimic grandstanding.

A fourth option for playing, called frontman, consisted of dancing with the controllers. Because the game is peripheral free there is no way to sing in the game.

It may sound like the recipe for a douche simulator, but I actually found the game quite a bit of fun. The biggest problem I saw was that it was far to easy for even the most novice of Guitar Hero or Rock Band players.

I play guitar on medium usually (yes, I suck) but even on the expert setting in Ultimate Band I was able to score above 80 percent.

Hopefully this is something that can be tweaked, though it may be they'll be satisfied trying to drawn in younger, less dexterous gamers instead.

ULTIMATE BAND FACT SHEET

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Developer: Fall Line Studio
ESRB Rating: E10+ (anticipated)
Audience: Tweens, teens and music fans

Coming Holiday 2008 for Wii™ home video game console

It’s no secret that the music video game genre has exploded in recent years. While the attention of this genre has focused mainly on creating music simulation games for an older demographic, Disney Interactive Studios has been developing a performance-based music video game that will appeal to tweens, teens and families alike. With songs that represent new favorites and old classics, truly interactive venues, and innovative controls using only the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ (no peripherals), Ultimate Band for Wii will round-out any family’s entertainment library: right music, right console, right price.

Why Disney Interactive Studios?
Video games rated E through T represent an $11 billion market and no one knows the audience for those games better than Disney Interactive Studios, especially when it comes to developing third party titles for Nintendo platforms. From January to November 2007, Disney Interactive Studios was the No. 2 publisher of Nintendo DS™ games in North America according to NPD. Also in 2007, the company sold 3.4 million units of Nintendo DS video games in the United States alone (source: NPD Data). Fall Line Studio, which is developing Ultimate Band, is Disney Interactive Studios’ Nintendo-dedicated entity, focusing exclusively on developing games for Wii and Nintendo DS™. Fall Line Studio co-developed last year’s Hannah Montana: Music Jam video game that introduced new music mechanics to Nintendo DS titles through its unique “Creative Play Mode” where players could compose original songs using four different instruments. It also helped solidify Disney Interactive Studios’ position as a leader in creating music video games for tweens and families.
The Gameplay
· In Ultimate Band, there are four band roles that players can take on – drums, lead guitar, bass guitar and a band front man - all with unique motion mechanics using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
· Players can either follow a unique narrative story mode or stand up and jam to any songs and venues they’ve already unlocked.
· Ultimate Band offers group and family entertainment through multi-player modes that include head-to-head competition or cooperative play.
The Music
· 30+ songs made famous by artists such as The White Stripes, The Who, The Jonas Brothers, Weezer and more.
· All of the songs are re-mastered so they are performed in the gender of the front man and lyrics are age-appropriate.
The Atmosphere
· Players can customize their bands by creating characters that look just like them, or by selecting from different character genres.
· Imaginative and real-life venues, such as a haunted mansion or a garage, come to life during gameplay and react to how well fans perform.

Disney Interactive Studios' Original Franchise Continues with Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals for Nintendo DS

LONDON, England. — (March 19, 2008) — Details of the next game in the highly popular anime-inspired, sci-fi action/role playing game series Spectrobes have been uncovered. Disney Interactive Studios today announced the name of Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, the sequel to Spectrobes, one of the most successful third-party Nintendo DS™ games of 2007 with more than 1 million units shipped worldwide.

Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals for Nintendo DS continues the story of Rallen and Jeena, interplanetary patrol officers who discover, excavate, awaken and train mysterious fossilised creatures known as Spectrobes and then use them to battle enemies. The story surrounds the origins of mysterious portals that lead to distant dimensions.

Developed by Kyoto, Japan-based Jupiter Corp., the studio behind Spectrobes, Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals has a wealth of new features, including an entirely new story; a new three-dimensional perspective; a map to assist with exploration; new excavation and battle features; more creatures; and the debut of an online battle system utilising the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals also includes DGamer, Disney Interactive Studios' innovative new technology that provides a fun, connected online game community for Disney video game fans. Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals is currently planned for a Autumn 2008 release.

"Spectrobes has become an international sensation," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "By continuing to build on its enthralling story, unique gameplay features and memorable characters, Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals will continue to thrill fans. This second game is part of our plan to expand the series in the coming years."

The game is being overseen by Disney Interactive Studios' Tokyo office.

"With Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, we're working with Jupiter Corp. again and ensuring the series adheres to its defining features while capturing new elements of anime style and storytelling," said Kentaro Hisai, producer, Disney Interactive Studios, based in Tokyo. "Spectrobes was a major success last year and we look forward to continuing the series."

In Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, players can take on the role of either Rallen or, for the first time, Jeena. Jeena uses her research and technological skills so the duo can solve puzzles and complete their missions.

For more information about Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, log on to www.spectrobes.com/beyondtheportals.

The key thing for us is being flexible. We never said that we wanted to move away from licensing, and we don't intend to. Great examples of licensed games that we make that we would love to continue to make those licensed games.

A great example of that is Kingdom Hearts. It's a great collaboration between Square and ourselves. Disney characters are in there, and Final Fantasy characters are in there. It's the kind of collaboration that works, and where we see other opportunities like that, we will do them.

We've got a relationship with THQ, and things with Konami. It's not an aberration for us to be licensing. They stay part of our portfolio. But a big piece of the focus is that we didn't feel that purely following a license would give us the right kind of investment focus on quality, and building our brand in games where we thought we had the potential to do.

As tempting as it can be to dismiss a lot of the more casual and kid-geared offerings from companies like Disney, those markets are growing by leaps and bounds - a lot of kid games may fly under the proverbial radar while they're snapping up new users like no tomorrow. It's interesting to read how one company with a very well defined image is trying to cater to a number of pretty diverse markets.

Evolving Disney: Graham Hopper Speaks [Gamasutra]