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Games Entertainment

Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts 152

Posted by CmdrTaco from the goofy-versus-tidus dept.
jaredcat writes "Ever wonder what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Squaresoft and Disney got together? Well I never did, but that didn't seem to stop them. The first joint production of Square and Disney, Kingdom Hearts, was just released in Japan. Its an RPG with a Square CGI, a Square story, a Disney sense of humor, and Square and Disney charectars. If the opening movie is any indication of what's to come when Kingdom Hearts becomes available in the US, its going to be the best thing to hit the PS2 since, well, Final Fantasy X :)." Very positive review. Gotta admit, I'm intrigued. Update by J : Check out this review too, with a ton of screenshots, from the GIA: "By all rights [it] should be an awkward, conflated mess... instead, it's an epic piece of crossover fanfiction."
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Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts More

Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts

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  • TheGIA (Score:2, Informative)

    by CharlesV ( 22919 )
    The GIA has a great set of impressions [thegia.com] up that I highly reccomend. Also a crapload of screenshots to peruse, but the impressions are top choice.

  • Just checking (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Spazntwich ( 208070 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @01:54PM (#3260893)
    So, Disney's NOT evil this week?

    • Re:Just checking (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31, 2002 @01:55PM (#3260902)
      So, Disney's NOT evil this week?

      This is Sunday. Disney isn't evil on Sundays.
    • Aside from the monney grubbing whore [ft.com] that is it's current CEO, Disney has always been just a bit evil. I mean I know that's what corporations do, they co-opt, they commercialize. but there's something a bit more then subtly wrong with the commercialization of children's imagination.
      • After all, didn't Walt attend American Nazi Party meetings? Whether or not this particular slur was true, it definitely remains that his politics were... ummm... rather extremely right-wing.
  • I can't believe it! The main character looks just like every other main Squaresoft game character! Such clever people.

  • Oh no.. (Score:1, Funny)

    by pseudofrog ( 570061 )
    Disney sense of humor

    Oh no no no...

  • Before anyone gets too excited: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Glytch ( 4881 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @01:55PM (#3260901)
    Remember who owns Fritz Hollings.

    • Re:Before anyone gets too excited: (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:03PM (#3260926)
      Dummy, this is a WE LOVE DISNEY BECAUSE THEY MAKE SHINY THINGS FOR US article. The "We hate Disney because they take away our hax0ring" article is over there.

      Learn the Slashdot doublethink or stop posting. Please.

      -- Fuckin' J'raxis. Yeah that's right. Fuck.
    • if I had mod points right now....

      I do wish slashdot, as a community, wouldn't fawn over entertainment pieces such as this. These type of posts always seem kinda shallow for a "geek" community. Not that the entire world should be design patterns and aglorithm analysis... but what do I know....
    • Damn Fritz Hollings! If he was even a little _less_ evil, I would get this game.

      I own nearly all Square games that made it across the Pacific but this is one I won't picking up because all I'll see when I'm playing it will be "you've done it..you're one of us...Disney 0wns j00 now.."

      Gawd, couldn't anyone just tell me (or lie!) it sucks as much as Evermore? :-)

      • Whether you buy it or not is not going to make any difference to Disney, so I say if you want it, get it. You only live once, why deny yourself this little pleasure? The companies that sell you the gas for your car are far more evil than Disney, anyway. Sell your car and buy all the Disney crap your heart desires! :-)

  • Voice Acting and More (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jaredcat ( 223478 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:00PM (#3260913)
    I didn't mention this up above, but there is more...

    - Many of the side charectars, shop keepers, etc., in Kingdom Hearts are well known Disney charectars or charectars from past Squaresoft games. For instance, Donald Duck is the chief magician to the court. Cid from FFVII runs an items shop. Even Wakka from FFX makes an appearance.

    - The Disney voice acting and animation seem to be authentic. i.e. Donald Duck moves and sounds exactly how you would expect him to. Check out one of the movies where he enters the throne room and says good morning (in Japanese), and runs into Pluto. The camera angles and the voices look like they are right out of those old Disney cartoons that we all grew up with.

    Last but not least... Make sure to check out the opening movie. Its ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, and 10-times better than any FMV from FFX, which is saying a lot as FFX FMVs look 10-times better than any CGI DVD I've seen.

  • Slashdotted! Naturally. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by dmomo ( 256005 )
    Slashdotted.


    The Gaming Intelligence Agency has a short write up [thegia.com] on it.

    Also, you can see a movie [rpgamer.com] at rpg Gamer.


    The CGI looks incredible. It is weird having Final Fantasy characters mixed in with Goofy and Tarzaan, though.


    I wonder what inspired this?!? It looks cool (visually), and Square does tend to make great games, but what were they thinking? What is Disney up to? Why not just a Disney character RPG? This is an odd marriage. Then again, Street Fighter v. X-Men worked well. I saw some screen shots. The Alice in Wonderland parts look great.

  • Isn't a Disney sense of humour.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by happyhippy ( 526970 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:05PM (#3260933)
    ....not funny at all? Bland 'family' entertainment wih the odd fart joke thrown in?

  • Obviously Disney must have had huge control on how their characters were used but this still smells of gimmick ... Disney characters don't hang around in space and have major battles.

    The damning quote from the review ...

    "What`s really great about Kingdom Hearts is that throw aside all the Disney and Square references, and you still seem to have an enjoyable game"


    If you're going to have a game/book/movie/whatever with famous characters in it then the work ought to have some reliance and relevance to those characters. Don't just drop them in to make a quick buck.

    Yeah ... I know, this is major corporations at work and I ought to know better than to whine about greed in this day and age ... oh well.

  • only 5 views! (Score:2, Informative)

    by Sango ( 90468 )
    IGN won't let you view more than 5 screenshots/movies per day unless you pay for their "IGN Insider" subscription service. So choose wisely!
    • > > Ever wonder what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Squaresoft and Disney got together?

      There'd be lawsuits, but they'd look really cool, with, like, rendered hair on the judge's funny wig.

      > IGN won't let you view more than 5 screenshots/movies per day unless you pay for their "IGN Insider" subscription service. So choose wisely!

      Actually, mixing Disney with software development would probably result in something like that, plus prison terms for people who exchange screenshots amongst themselves after viewing them. (And even longer prison terms for people who write web browsers with "Save Image As..." buttons.)

      Too bad, this RPG sounds like fun. But I'd sooner gnaw off my own testicles than give Eisner my money.

  • a mirror in case it gets /.'ed (Score:3, Informative)

    by drDugan ( 219551 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:10PM (#3260945) Homepage
    I posted a copy here

    Kingdom_intro.mov [stanford.edu]

  • Disney (Score:5, Insightful)

    by tempest303 ( 259600 ) <jensknutson@@@yahoo...com> on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:11PM (#3260949) Homepage
    Yeah, I'm intrigued too, Taco, but it's still Disney. Ever hear the one about Michael Eisner in the Senate hearing saying he couldn't think of a single reason for Michael Dell to sell PCs without hardware copy prevention except to sell to infringers?

    I can't believe as an EDITOR (the founder, no less) of /. that you'd still consider giving money to these sleezy bastards.

    I don't care how "great" this game might be. It's Disney, therefore I'm not buying it.

    • Re:Disney (Score:3, Insightful)

      by raydobbs ( 99133 )
      I am afraid I have to back that position. I am not giving money to a company that is already calling me a theif, and I haven't had the pleasure of DOING anything yet!

      I am not putting another dime in Disney's pocket so they can turn around and lobotomize my PC. I don't care how 'cool' or 'l337' their product(s) are, they're not getting my dollars.
    • very good

      if that kind of attitude were to prevail, we
      might eventually be FREE from coporate
      control

    • And I can't believe that he let the terrible misspelling of "characters" slip through.

  • Is it just me or does Square start 90% of their movies (in-game or on big screen) with a close up of an eye?

  • Doesn't seem so cool (Score:4, Interesting)

    by reo_kingu ( 536791 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:11PM (#3260952) Homepage
    I saw this in the store the other day (I live in Japan), and it didn't seem too impressive. Granted, all I saw was the box and the intro screen they had running on a demo machine (no controllers plugged in), but my impression was that it seems to be aimed at little kids. Anyway, it didn't make me feel like buying it or even want to play it.

    Mod away, I just thought someone who reads at -1 might want to know :)

    By the way, I am a Square/RPG fan and I do own a PS2 so it's not like I'm biased against it for some weird reason.

  • Later stages in final fantasy games have always gotten weird yet fun as your characters begin to get increasingly demi-god like powers. It's kind of fun when your characters have abilities challenging even the power of imaginary legends.

    But introduce Disney characters into the equation, and it gets seriously creepy for some reason. The alchemy of psuedo-religious legendary power, and 50-year old irreverent cartoon characters does not sit well in my stomach. Snow white as a stained glass icon, revered as a revelation once seen, is like seeing coke machines being installed in the carved-out mouths of the easter island heads for tourists.

    Not that I'm a religious person - I'm agnostic for the most part - but it still feels all wrong.

    :^)

    Ryan Fenton
    • Compare Mozart's reputation today to that he had during his lifetime.

      Now think of how people will consider the Disney characters in one or two hundred years time, given a constant marketing budget and various image changes.

      Scary, isn't it? :/

  • Ever wonder.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Chicane-UK ( 455253 ) <chicane-uk@@@ntlworld...com> on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:14PM (#3260958) Homepage
    ..what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Senator Hollings and Disney got together?

    The CBDTPA!

    *sigh*

  • Uhhh (Score:4, Interesting)

    by sielwolf ( 246764 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:15PM (#3260966) Homepage Journal
    ...its going to be the best thing to hit the PS2 since, well, Final Fantasy X

    Excluding Metal Gear Solid 2 [gamespot.com] and GTA 3 [gamespot.com] which, if I remember correctly, were much better received critically and sold more than FFX.

    Final Fantasy has basically become watching a DVD with a broken pause feature: you have to intermittantly hit a button to get the movie started again.

    Freedom Force [myfreedomforce.com], on the other hand, is as close to a pen-n-paper RPG experience you can get. Exciting, personal, and thrilling. Oh and replayable. Another classic from Crave/Looking Glass.

    BTW Kingdome Hearts does look cool though. It seems Sony is going to try and take the demographic they don't have: the kids from Nintendo.
    • Of course, FFX hasn't been released in Europe yet, so those figures could change, when they release it around August 2005

      • Re:Uhhh (Score:1)

        by qurk ( 87195 )
        I haven't played any new videogames since the snes days. Still grieving that they didn't port Seiken Denshuto 3 (however you spell it) and the Dragon Quests to English :(

        At least this will be an easy game to boycott for me, as I still have FF 7,8,9,10 and lord knows how many other playstation 1 rpg's to get caught up on first, if I ever feel the need :)

    • Yeah, well, he said the best thing "since" FFX, both of those games came out before it, so there.

    • Um, not to be a luddite, but if you're trying to get "close to a pen-n-paper RPG experience" why don't you play a pen-n-paper RPG? I love pen-n-paper RPGs, but I don't play a computer one for the rules-lawyering and the cheetos.

  • Disney Humor (Score:4, Funny)

    by kindbud ( 90044 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:30PM (#3261006) Homepage
    ...a Disney sense of humor...

    You mean the sense of humor that says "You vill vatch our product, und you vill like it, or you suffer penalties under federal law."

    Is that the sense of humor you mean?

  • Boycott squaresoft (Score:2, Informative)

    by HanzoSan ( 251665 )
    I hope they go out of business along with disney
  • Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest [rpgamer.com] was bad enough - I don't even want to think of how terrible Final Fantasy: Mickey's Quest is going to be.

  • what is an RPG? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    roleplaying as defined by defensive kids with no interest in intelligent discussion spout that it is 'any game that you play a role' then give a string of examples that in truth would make EVERY game in which there is a character a RPG. This would include Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong.

    If I go to the movie store and see that they split up the store for my convenience into action, drama, comedy and horror, then I know I can usually find the movie I want based on that. Sure some movies will seem at first glance to be cross 'genre' but what is the point of the movie? Would I find superman in the drama section? Would it make sense there? It had drama types of themes sometimes, but perhaps comedy is where it belongs.

    The point is that roleplaying game (RPG) is supposed to tell a potential customer 'Hey, I am a game that allows you to immerse yourself into the character and make that character do what you want it to do. I don't force you to fit some predefined role, thus forcing YOU to do what I want you to. I give you freedom, much like you would if you were roleplaying in a small LARP or such in which you 'play the role' by bringing it alive through word and deed." Dragons, magic, elves and the like do _NOT_ make a game an RPG, anymore than a game that is set in modern day or in a science fiction setting is not a RPG simply because of the lack of said dragons and elves. (nanotechnology seems the 'magic of the future' however).

    I played many a Final Fantasy game and enjoyed it, however that does not mean it is an RPG simply because it modeled the look and feel of some CRPG's at the time. Recently the trend has grown so that the 'console style RPG' really means a movie. Notice that I didn't even say interactive movie, as that trend is to decrease interaction and control more and more until you basically have a sort of adventure game like the old Dungeon Lair game. Perhaps a 'choose your own adventure' book, but with only 2 to 3 very limited, static and predifined choices available at any time. You might soon notice that you were obviously being steered into the conclusion they want you to be at.

    So, please understand this before having a terrets type of reaction, jumping up and saying 'RPG'. That is silly and helps no one. Call it like it is, if you feel like you have to 'sell it' then that is an indication that you are justifying your actions and choices and perhaps should stop being a social slave.

    • It's generally accepted that computer/console RPGs are only related to "table top" RPGs by their use of various numbers to describe character's attributes.

      If you really want to get technical you should keep in mind that computer "games" really aren't games at all due to the limited number of outcomes possible. To be correct you should call them "computer puzzles".

      • If you really want to get technical you should keep in mind that computer "games" really aren't games at all due to the limited number of outcomes possible. To be correct you should call them "computer puzzles". There are very much real games thet have limited outcomes too, should I call them "real lifed puzzles"?
      • You're absolutely right! I've played Quake III Arena so much now that I can't rail-gib some poor sap from across Q3CTF4 any differently! I've tried it from every pixel location and angle!

        Oh, you meant computer RPG.

    • Re:what is an RPG? (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Mod this guy up, for he's said what I have long said, but he's managed to say it without having to kill anyone.

      Levels, experience, endless battles against odd colored gelatin products.. Those do not make a roleplaying game.

      Equipment.. Your character's power.. How much money you have. It's all irrelevant.

      In a true roleplaying game, you are nothing. You will never be anything. You will die, and no one will care. The world will not stop, it will move on without you.

      Simply put, the only thing that matters in the end is the story.

      How do you win at a roleplaying game? You've won, if, many years from now, over a few pints of Guinness, a short graying man with an eyepatch looks at you and says, "Remember the Little Wooden Boy?"

  • But it's Disney, (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    But it's Disney,
    which we all know is evil..

    Or maybe our attention span is really short.

  • The hypocrisy! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by psicE ( 126646 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:55PM (#3261089) Homepage
    Hmm...

    One day, Slashdot publishes a story about the CBDTPA, saying how horrible it was, and how they hope that Senator Hollings gets voted out.

    The next day, Slashdot publishes a story about a collaboration between Square and Disney, with Square everything except a Disney sense of humor and characters from both.

    Now, I'm willing to give Taco the benefit of the doubt. Maybe both Disney and Square are in bed with Hollings, so it makes sense that they're working together. However, he then says, "Very positive review. Gotta admit, I'm intrigued." Aside from the fact that any game with a "Disney sense of humor" and Donald Duck as the court's chief magician is bound to suck, Taco is endorsing the very company who bought a senator to make a law to outlaw open-source!

    <sarcasm>Maybe the CBDTPA isn't that bad after all. You won't have your PS2 Linux kit, or Linux anywhere for that matter, but you'll have all the Square-Disney collaborations you could ever want!</sarcasm>

    Slashdot is "News for nerds, stuff that matters", right? Well, you're faced with a "difficult" decision. Which matters more: Linux or Disney?
    • BOTH MATTER EQUAL!!

      Slashdot's job is to report on all aspects of what's going on in the techy world. Yes, we're all pissed about the regulation going on in congress and the companies supporting it... but that asside, this game looks to have INCREDIBLE potential. I've been holding out on getting a PS2 thus far, but between GTA3, GT3, FFX, and now this new Kingdom Hearts... wow.. I think I may have to buy one.

      Sorry for the little side tangent. But I guess the message I'm trying to conve is don't shoot the messenger (In this case slashdot)
      • Well, I'm a bit more political than the average Slashdot reader. In addition to being a ultra-lefty (in contrast with most Slashdotters' libertarian views), I would, and do, boycott all Disney products because of the company's immorality, and assuming this new game isn't a joke, I'll be boycotting Square too.

        Slashdot users seem to care more about the product than the politics. And that's fine, and I respect that, but in that case Slashdot isn't the forum for me.
    • Erm, it's not hypocrisy. Taco is just telling us loyal Slashdotters about a neat up-and-coming game that we should pirate. It's ridiculous to think he'd be telling us to BUY it, because it's from Disney.

      Of course he can't explicitly tell us to pirate it or else he'd get sued, but did you see him tell us to buy it either? No. Plus I'd say that the /. crowd is, on the whole, technically competent enough to copy PS2 games, as opposed to the rest of the general populace.

      Not to sound like a flame, but do you need everything spelled out for you?
      • This is bad tactics because: This is not a good recommendation. A copy of a program doesn't cost the publisher anything, and does act as free advertising.

        This is bad strategy because: If you support the illegal copying of disks, then you are providing ammunition that will be used against you in the legislature.

        Avoid and disparage the evil ones. Do not do anything that will benefit them in any way. This means do not advertise their wares as well as do not purchase their products.

        Support the good companies. Purchase software from them, and advertise their wares. Use the "Powered by red hat" sticker that came inside your CD box. If at all acceptable, use the bumpersticker. Or Mandrake (I presume that they have a similar sticker). Or, if you like SuSE, support them. (I dislike their proprietary installer, but compared to most companies they count as good guys.) If Debian is your distribution, perhaps you should buy and wear a Debian tee-shirt, or whatever they have available.

        And join and support the EFF. And the ACLU. They seem to be relatively quiet on this front, from what I've noticed), still, if their attention can be caught they could be a powerful friend, and their goals are generally compatible.

  • Who? (Score:5, Funny)

    by The Cat ( 19816 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @02:56PM (#3261093)
    creative talents of ... Disney

    So this time they didn't use someone else's story, or make a sequel? Oh, wait, they reused characters originally drawn decades ago.. never mind.

    While we're at it, anyone see the McDisney ads at Walt Donald's World? "Disney, 100 Years of Magic"

    Now unless they count baby Walter's used diapers as "Disney Magic" I don't see how they can reach back to 1902. But I suppose anything's possible when the Marketing Dept. is involved.

    Then again, I suppose the 79 years since 1923 isn't quite good enough for the boredroom "executives" who's only creative contribution is the fragrance in the conference room after the catered lunch of Mexican food.

    I still think someone ought to make the following movie:

    "REVENGE OF DISNEY"

    Starring Jackie Chan as Walt E. Disney

    A story about a victim of mistaken identity arriving at the very gates of the "Magic Kingdom." Looking around, he sees his own name and only the outline of his beloved character's disembodied head plastered over every flat surface in a display of wanton greed so profound that the enraged cartoonist vows to carry out a one-man campaign to wrest control of the entertainment behemoth from its corporate masters.

    Following scenes of frantic, moving, dubbed speeches, gripping courtroom drama, and an action-packed chase through the back hallways of a cineplex on opening night, the film culminates in a spectacular 45-minute "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-esque kung-fu fight scene in the Disney Corporation's board room as the screaming, elderly, bandanna-wearing animator defeats the entire company's senior management single-handed.

    The film ends with Disney, having liquidated the company, and placing its entire portfolio in the public domain, opening an art school with a record $800 million endowment, then retiring to a life of drawing one of a kind cartoons for children in the park.

    Truly an instant classic.
  • Sure the latest Final Fantasies have had wonderful movies to look at, there games are far more than the movies. Roughly speaking, you get just about as much gameplay (if not more) in the modern games plus you get about an hour (oh my god, an hour of movies in a 40 hour game...its ALL FMV, isn't it?) of movie content as well. I still play them all. Now, with that being said, I do think that Kingdom Hearts is supposed to addressed more to kids than to adults, but I am sure it will be somewhat enjoyable to everyone else. Disney may or may not be evil (a personal choice), but Square is at least a True Neutral diety (yes, an RPG reference). As for how MGS2 and GTA3 compared to Final Fantasy 10, I have no idea about which sold more but I would say that critics tended to look at them close to the same. I personally thought FFX was a better game (but then I tend to prefer that sort over those sorts) but I realize the other two are good as well.
    • When we say "non-interactive movie" we're not just talking about FMV here. Were talking about those annoying scenes where the characters are blathering on and on at each other and you're just sitting there clicking the B button over and over again wishing they could just print it all up on the screen so you can just read it instead of having to read in the choppy unpleasant manner of RPG videogames. And notice less and less of the pop-up questions where you actually get to choose what to say? Thats the sort of thing. In my opinion, that stuff's worse then FMV, at least in FMV you don't have to keep clicking to watch the story unfold.

      How about those 15-minute breaks of scripted animations, blackouts, trasforms, and tons upon tons of clicky-text, with little bits where you get to walk your character across the screen? Those parts where the screen goes all black and theres another buttload of badly-translated slow-moving click-boxes while you wait for your character to wake-up or start dreaming.

      That's why the rest of us keep our gaming and storytelling separate. The story telling in RPG videogames is fscking annoying. For pity's sake, you're on DVD & gig disks now - no text allowed anymore, it'd better be well done voice with no more freaking clicking. Even playstation didn't have much excuse (there were 1-disk PC RPG's that were all voice instead of text).

      I think Square is very talented and competent at storytelling and computer animation - and I think their skills are wasted on RPG videogames. If they'd made a real Final Fantasy movie (one that was cute and magical, like the FF games) - not a wannabe American Sci-fi movie, then they'd be where they belong - in cinema, in television, in OAV's - not freaking click-fests.

  • Waitasec... (Score:1, Troll)

    by psicE ( 126646 )
    Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday March 31, @12:50PM

    But what if I set it to Japan time?

    Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday April 1, @2:50AM

    Nice try.

    Granted, it was posted to IGN on 27 March, but not Slashdot. I'll believe it when it's still there on 2 April.
  • I love it how people piss and moan about the DMCA/SSSCA/CBDTPA and then howl with delight and help subsidize it when something neat looking comes along. Grow a backbone and vote with your feet people! Don't buy CDs from the maggots in the RIAA, and don't buy DVDs and Disney games from the scum in the MPAA/Disney.

    Oh, but I'm a troll no doubt for not gobbling up everything those enemies of freedom toss to me.
  • I know I may be modded down as a troll, but you shouldn't be seeing this! By doing so you are supporting Disney and therefore supporting the SSSCA/whatever acronym it is today.
  • To view this page without the large, annoying advertising images, add "images.slashdot.org" to your WebWasher [webwasher.com] URL block list.
  • I might be wrong with this, but I think they are teaming up with disney because they need the money. You do remember "Final Fantasy" the movie, right? It was a great movie, but it shouldn't have been called final fantasy, but that is a whole different topic.

    Okay, Square lost a HUGE amount of money on that movie, so teaming up with Disney might have boosted their money supply a bit, and the game might actually appeal to younger kids and big kids alike.

    You never know, this game might be good, but remember, I did say might, so don't hold me to it...

    -=J=-

    • So they have so little money but ENOUGH to buy out [thegia.com] a very popular franchise from another company
      (one that they pretty much blatantly ripped off for their widely praised FFT).

      I've been a fan of Square games for a loong time, but I get the sense they're developing more and more giant-corp mentality like Disney. Maybe it's a vision of things to come. I never believe a second that Square is doing this just because of their "financial" crisis.

  • so much for that (Score:2, Interesting)

    by azosx ( 568180 )
    As I was browsing through the screenshots, IGN suddenly made all the media subscription only. Must be a clever ploy at getting the slashdot effect to work for you.
  • Some might think a game that is 50% Squaresoft/50% Disney might be the same thing as a game that is 50% Capcom/50% Barney but I dont think it will be too bad. Ive been curiously watching the Gia over the past few months and the screenshots look somewhat interesting. I think the two companies are trying to draw in the younger crowd to play more RPGs. I think they will succeed with the extremely crisp graphics and similar battle system to the Final Fantasy series. Im used to such games Final Fantasy, Persona, and Dragon Warrior and this will be a unique addition to my collection of games. I dont mind Disney that much just as long as Pokemon doesnt make a cameo in the game somewhere. :)

  • Why? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'd seen this at last year's E3. My reaction, and that of everyone I knew, was 'Why?'.


    Oh, and a unanimous certanity that the kid hero is going to turn out to be Mickey in the end, since the mouse was very conspicuous by his absence in all the bits they were showing.


    This is the sort of game where you wonder if the history of making the thing might not be more interesting than the actual game itself. Who approached who with the idea of 'Let's make a game that jams together the wholly-alien styles of Square and Disney together, with lots of fannish references!'? Who's paying money to who? Who's publishing it in the States: Disney Interactive, Square, Sony, some un-named party to be named later?


    Meanwhile, Treasure is working on no less than three different Tiny Toons games. Sigh.

  • "If the opening movie is any indication of what's to come when Kingdom Hearts becomes available in the US, its going to be the best thing to hit the PS2 since, well, Final Fantasy X"

    Umm, maybe I'm in the minority here, but that was possibly the lamest game intro I have ever sat through. Maybe the game itself is good, but as I watched the intro, I just kept finding myself asking 'wtf is this?!?!' over and over. Is falling in the ocean over and over until you find the hidden underwater Disney shrine the point of the game? wtf?!
  • ...to count and publicize the wonders and qualities of Disney. Meanwhile, they are one of the most powerful members of a consortium that's working hard to eliminate freedoms enjoy most by the type of readers that consume Slashdot.

    Way to go guys. Not only are most religious and polotical leaders hypocrites, but so is a huge group of the geek archtype.
    • Can't you simply let some folks enjoy a video game without needing to inject politics into the discussion? Not everyone gives a crap about that copy protection political circus going on in Washington right now, they just wanna play some games!
      • Not everyone gives a crap about that copy protection political circus going on in Washington right now, they just wanna play some games!

        It's amazing that you can brush this agenda off like that. You realize that you won't <condescending>get to play your cute little games</condescending> if the general purpose computer minus copyright protection becomes illegal. You might want to become aware that what the government does affects all of us no matter how distant they may seem.
        • If you are going to take the time to be condescending, the least you could do is make sure you are correct about what you are talking about. No one ever said video games had to be played on the all purpose PC. They could be played just fine on your console, or on the PC after it has been fitted with proper digital rights management hardware. So whats stopping us from playing the games then?
          • So whats stopping us from playing the games then?

            Nothing.

            Of course, we won't be allowed to write them, since the licensing fees will be carefully balanced to close the market tighter than a bass drum in a thunderstorm.

            But that's ok. Right?
            • If you want to write your own games, then all you have to do is form a company, hire the programmers and get funding. Just because it isn't as simple as some other things does not mean it isn't possible. So yeah its ok with me.

  • Title (Score:3, Funny)

    by Stenpas ( 513317 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @04:51PM (#3261665)
    Did anyone else read that title as "Square and Disney Team up For Klingon Hearts," or am I just too much of a star trek fan?

  • Even More Info (Score:2, Informative)

    by Iron Chef Japan ( 531022 )
    Well you got the details on the game now, check out the soundtrack [gamefu.org]. It seems pretty killer.

  • Disney and the DMCA (Score:4, Informative)

    by aminorex ( 141494 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @04:57PM (#3261695) Homepage Journal
    Every time you spend a dollar on a Disney film
    or buy something advertised on ABC, you are
    placing a vote in favor of the DMCA.

  • Taco, (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Silver222 ( 452093 )
    You're one day early for April Fools.

  • Disney is "highly creative" now? Granted, I'm not a big fan, but the last two Disney movies I can think of off the top of my head are Tarzan (thats never been done before),and Atlantis (apparently a close approximation of an older anime movie). I saw a commercial the other day for "Cinderella II" on DVD. Whatever magic there ever was left that kingdom long ago.
    • Yes, of course, the long awaited sequel to "Happily Ever After." No doubt some writer somewhere had this burning need to get that on paper ASAP.

      Don't forget the Peter Pan sequel too. One writer, guys. Just one. You make million$ a day, and all you need is ONE WRITER to come up with something original. ONE.

      Makes me gagging, dry-heaving sick.

  • I hate it when two people team up on me (Score:3, Funny)

    by Yarn ( 75 ) on Sunday March 31, 2002 @06:07PM (#3261942) Homepage
    at network hearts.

    Oh Kingdom.

    I've been coding X *and* win32 in one application today, it has turned my brain to Emmenthal
  • I heard the main characters were followed around by a cute little fairy named Cbdtpa who casts protection pixi dust on all the good little electronic devices. It was also rumored that this fairy locked up the infomus Packet Fairy and put new locks on her magic packets. :)

  • April First (Score:1, Redundant)

    by mbrubeck ( 73587 )
    Haha! This is just an early April Fools joke (early for US timezones, but not for the Japanese game sites where this originated). They took promo shots [fflegend.com] from the unreleased Final Fantasy XI, and used Photoshop to mix them with characters and backdrops from Disney 3D Creations [macgold.co.uk]. I can't believe how many people have fallen for this already. Good job, guys.
  • Uh, trading Shiva for Dumbo as my summoning in a Square RPG? No thanks. Back to XenoSaga for me :)
  • I just want to respond to all the posts on this story and others decrying the DMCA and the CBDTPA.

    The reason these laws exist or will exist is that many people, including many slashdot readers, have been pirating music, software and movies like hyperactive baboons for quite some time now. The establishment wouldn't care about DRM or anything like that if all people did with mp3's was to rip 'em and listen to them off their hard drives. But abuse of fair-use privileges has provoked this response. Evil corporations have the right to defend their own intellectual property. That's the law, and it makes sense.

    There's no use now in whining like spoilt children. Your own (or your peers' own) actions are directly responsible for the current situation. Tough luck.
  • It is probably inappropriate to support Disney in any way. That includes recommending anything from which the company may derive either money or favorable publicity.

    Remember that Disney is the real backer of the bill formerly known as the SSSCA.

    I have been recommending against every Disney product that I encounter whenever any reasonable opportunity presents itself. It's usually quite easy to find good reasons to be against them. Flat characters, shallowness, etc. and I will use this. But if it seems at all appropriate, then I will also mention the way Disney has been spreading political corruption (I consider the purchase of Senators to be political corruption!). And I will mention that the copyright laws have been continually extended specifically to keep Mickey Mouse covered by the copyright law.

    And I will particularlly display clear distain for the artistic quality of the Disney works. They merit it, too. Some of the older ones were decent, I suppose, but none of the recent ones were worth the price of a ticket to a rerun. At best they are an expensive version of lonely-hearts columnist. And that's their high point. The characters are flat. The coloring is unskilled. The plots are either missing or stolen. I suppose that the action is usually smooth, and there are a few nice details, but that hardly makes up for the rest of it.

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