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Avengers: Battle for Earth features favorites, familiar faces
Ubisoft has named all twenty characters appearing in Avengers: Battle for Earth, the upcoming fighter for Kinect (and then Wii U). You'll be able to spin off some psy-force as the Phoenix, embodied by the X-Man Jean Grey, and take command of the Skrull queen Veranke, among others. It's not surprising to see a big "Secret Invasion" influence, given the game's initial trailer. See the full list after the break.Avengers: Battle for Earth will have you and your friends jumping around and debating the correct time for clobberin' on November 9. If you want to see some of these heroes throwing down right away, there's a demo available for download in the meantime.
Ex-Marvel Studios head becomes 'special advisor' at Angry Birds studio
The man responsible for the sale of Marvel Entertainment to Disney, as well as for producing a string of Hollywood blockbusters based on Marvel properties, is now a "special advisor" for Angry Birds creator Rovio. David Maisel left his successful position as the chairman of Marvel Studios after just two years on the job to work with Rovio on building "the company's entertainment strategy." He'll be helping the Finnish studio expand into "new areas in the entertainment business," and will also head up any future Angry Birds films as executive producer, in part reprising his role at Marvel Studios. "I'm very honored and excited to join Rovio ... and the franchise potential of Angry Birds give Rovio the most exciting prospects I have seen in the entertainment business since Marvel in 2003," Maisel overextends in the press release announcing his job appointment. "We welcome his experience and vision as we continue broadening our entertainment production scope at Rovio," CEO Mikael Hed adds, returning the back scratching. Corporate steam blowing aside, we can't help but wonder how Maisel can compare Rovio's one (admittedly very, very popular) property -- Angry Birds -- with Marvel's decades old stable of properties, but then we're also not special advisors to Rovio.
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online playable at Comic-Con
If you're attending Comic-Con later this week, make sure you leave some time in your schedule to visit the Marvel Entertainment booth. Marvel and Gazillion Entertainment will be fully unveiling Super Hero Squad Online for the first time, allowing attendees to play the game. Super heroes, combat missions, and social spaces will be available for play, and the game's headquarters system will be revealed as well. Players can customize their headquarters based on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, adding trophy collections to dress it up even more. Amazing Society Vice President and Studio Manager Jason Robar thinks attendees will like what they see: "Combining hundreds of items, realistic physics and the unique personalities of the Super Hero Squad members makes an unforgettable experience. We're looking forward to sharing it with all Comic-Con attendees."
Disney's Marvel buyout won't affect Sega superhero games
Yesterday's news that Disney was buying Marvel Entertainment to the toon tune of $4 billion raised questions about games based on the comic book powerhouse's licenses. One of these has been answered by Sega, which is currently working on three announced Marvel tie-ins: Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America. The word from on top? "At this time there are no changes to Sega's existing licensing agreement for [those] videogame titles," Sega told GI.biz. In addition, the publisher indicated that it would be teaming with Disney and Marvel (Misney? Darvel?) on "future ventures." One thing at a time, folks ... one thing at a time. It's probably best to focus on the here and now; after all, we all remember how the first Iron Man game turned out.
Capcom puts Marvel vs Capcom 2 release near 'the end of July'
Further clarifying reports from nearly two months ago surrounding the release of Marvel vs Capcom 2 on XBLA/PSN, Capcom's Twitter account is putting the game's digital release "closer to the end of July." Oddly enough, the statement claims to not know where the "rumor" came from, though Marvel Entertainment's Q1 2009 financial report (sourced below) was clearly the culprit.In the month or so you have before the game releases, you should probably head over to Shoryuken's MvC2 forums to find out how badly you're going to get stomped online. And yes, you will get stomped. We all will.Source -- Marvel Q1 2009 Report [Warning: PDF Link]
Marvel Universe MMO keeping masked until 2012
What with analysts anticipating new console launches and the Mayans predicting our doom, 2012 is set to be a pretty eventful year, though we'll probably be too busy living out our lifelong fantasy of being Ant-Man to notice. Simon Philips, Marvel's president of worldwide consumer products, let slip in a recent interview that the upcoming Marvel-based MMO isn't expected to be released until sometime in 2012. The exec told MTV comic blog Splash Page that the time will be spent creating an "environment that is going to be a totally immersive experience and a perpetual storytelling experience as well." Until that time, we suppose we'll just have to make do with dressing up in spandex and pretending to save the world ourselves. Or, as we've come to call it, Wednesday. [Via Big Download]
GDC09: Marvel getting involved in Gazillion's MMO with art and writers
Speaking at the inaugural GamesBeat conference in San Francisco, Ira Rubenstein, head of the global digital media group at Marvel, stated that the comic book company plans to stand behind Gazillion's future Marvel-based MMO, lending its writers and artists to the project. Rubenstein didn't want to speak for Gazillion, but said that Marvel offers an IP that isn't very common -- a full universe of superheroes that has yet to successfully manifest in an MMO. Considering the 10-year deal Marvel has inked with the "new" company, there should be enough time to get some MMO based on the popular characters out the door.
