Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts

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."

Comments

Just checking

[Spazntwich]

So, Disney's NOT evil this week?

Before anyone gets too excited:

[Glytch]

Remember who owns Fritz Hollings.

Voice Acting and More

[jaredcat]

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.

Isn't a Disney sense of humour....

[happyhippy]

....not funny at all? Bland 'family' entertainment wih the odd fart joke thrown in?

Disney

[tempest303]

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

[raydobbs]

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.

Ever wonder..

[Chicane-UK]

..what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Senator Hollings and Disney got together?

The CBDTPA!

*sigh*

The hypocrisy!

[psicE]

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?

Disney + Square = Square is out of the dumper...

[Blasto.Net]

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=-

CBDTPA/DMCA/Whatever

[abhinavnath]

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.