E3 2007 Disney Interactive Live Updates
Show Begins @ 3:30am Pacific, 5:30pm Central, July 12th
4:32: Conference is finally over.
4:31: Two people are trying to make folks in the audience do the dance with them. This is getting ridiculous. It's really so loud and so stupid. Wish I had video.
4:29: Oh wow. Turns out both of those people work for Disney. Motherfuckers. The two supposed volunteers are leading a choreographed dance with the cheerleaders and some fake basketball players. I again wish to leave.
4:27: People on stage no longer feel shame. Both doing stage theatrics. Were they planted? I don't know.
4:24: Got volunteers to come onstage and sing. Had trouble getting anybody to come up. Game's called High School Musical: Sing It! Having technical difficulties starting game. People look really really nervous. Going about as badly as it could have gone. Oh whoa. Mr. Dude just got real into it. Guy is a diva.
4:21: With D gamer you can jam wirelessly online with friends and record stuff. High School cheerleaders just came on stage to promote High School Musical game. They're cheering after the Disney guy says stuff. I want to leave.
4:18: Now demoing drums. Looks like Hannah Montana defeats Rock Band as well. Not really.
4:16: Tim Huntsman, senior producer, comes to demo the Hannah Montana game. "Creative Play Mode" lets you record songs with a 4-piece band. Detailing chord selection with playing. Exactly like Jam Sessions in that respect, except you can strum individual strings--Jam Sessions defeated by Hannah Montana.
4:13: Now talking about Hannah Montana. DS game features guitar playing that looks similar to Jam Sessions. Coming October 2007.
4:12: Hopper comes back to talk about Spectrobes. Showing video of Kentaro Hisai who says they'll be making Spectrobes 2 on DS. Showing video. Scheduled for a fall 2008 release.
4:11: Drew inspiration for dinosaurs from horror movies to make it scary. Now in dinosaur hunting ground area. Sounds like a T-Rex is nearby. There was, Turok was eaten.
4:09: Tried to make knife cooler and more useable in the game. Turok stabs guy in the eye. Pulls out bow and arrow. Shoots raptor egg in raptor nest to lure dinosaurs out and attack enemies.
4:07: Josh Holms, VP and GM at Propaganda Games comes on. Talking about reimagining Turok. Showing gameplay footage from unfinished alpha version of game. Joseph Turok, a space explorer, crashes on alien planet with dinosaurs.
4:05: Turok breaks a raptor's back in the video. Looks awesome.
4:03: Turok releases worldwide February 5, 2008. Showing video now.
4:01: Prince Caspian coming May 2008. Showing trailer for the game. Like the last Narnia title, looks a lot like the LOTR games.
4:02: Ed Bainbridge, VP of European development, comes on to talk about Prince Caspian. Show video with lots of character switching and cooperation. Minotaurs, griffins, drop-in co-op play online and off. It is a video game.
4:00 "D gamer is about connecting Disney game fans to what they have been asking for." Showing an example of D gamer users finding each other. "D gamer brings together your friends, your games, your world."
3:59: So basically Disney is making an online community a la Xbox Live for all the games it publishes on DS.
3:57: Michele Golding comes on stage to talk about a separate new project, "D gamer." "A brand new online community where Nintendo DS players with a wireless connection will be able to interact with each other wherever they are around the world." Will be available the first time with upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game. Can chat across country, create avatars, trade stuff online.
3:55: Spector leaves stage. Huge Mickey Mouse head made an ominous solar eclipse-like effect on the TV. Still haven't said what the project will be.
3:53: "This is the only project that could've tempted me to leave the world of independent development." Spector says first true passion has always been cartoons.
3:52: Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios are partnering with Disney Interactive for a project. Spector comes on stage.
3:50: Still talking about company metrics. 70% of money spent on Disney IPs.
3:47: Finally begun. Graham Hopper, executive VP and GM, comes on to talk about name change from Buena Vista Games and company growth. Sell-through is up more than 65% for company. No. 3 publisher on GBA in '05 and '06. In '06 company was No. 4 publisher on DS, up from No. 10 in '05.
3:45: Conference hasn't started yet. Running 15 minutes late.
