Ultimate Alliance
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'Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order' is a Switch exclusive
The next entry in Marvel's Ultimate Alliance series will arrive in 2019, but this one's only for players on Nintendo Switch. Announced tonight during The Game Awards 2018 event, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is the first new entry in ten years (excusing HD remasters), pitting heroes and villains in a race to find the Infinity Stones before Thanos and his Black Order crew can get them. The dozens of characters available will include "Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men and more." As you'd expect from an Ultimate Alliance game there are plenty of ways to play with friends, including drop-in/drop-out co-op with four players on one system or playing on their own console. A feature that's new to the series is an over-the-shoulder "Heroic Camera" perspective. Don't expect it to go cross-platform later either, as it's published by Nintendo and is being developed by Team Ninja.
E308: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 trailer is less than ultimate
We don't mind short trailers, and we don't mind teasers, but we were hoping to see a bit more from Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. We had a lot of fun with the first game, and we want to get hyped about the second, but it's hard when all we see is about nine seconds of non-action footage. Even less exciting, most of the characters featured in this trailer were already in the first game, so there's not even much new blood to enjoy. This is E3: step up your game, Activision. However, since this short video did remind us that the game is, in fact, coming -- albeit in 2009 -- we suppose we can't be too sour.
Friday Video: Samus joins the Ultimate Alliance
For those of you who noticed the PS2 buttons make their way into the video, know that this does come from the PS2 build of the game. You see, Vicarious Visions, the developers behind Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the PS2, wanted to include both Samus and Link into the game and apparently did without Nintendo's consent. There's a lot of confusion surrounding it and, supposedly, when Nintendo was shown the characters were included in the PS2 version of the game, told Activision to cut them out. The rest is just a bunch of confusing history.
Activision plans Wii sequels for its franchises
Wii owners can expect some new Activision games to hit their consoles in the not-so-distant future. To state the obvious first, a new Guitar Hero game (possibly two) will find its way to the Wii and other consoles by the end of Activision's next fiscal year (which ends in April 2009).You may be even more excited to know, however, that the next Call of Duty installment will also end up on the Wii (among other platforms). This is good news, since Call of Duty 4 skipped over the little white console. Don't get too excited, though -- this doesn't necessarily mean that the next game will be Call of Duty 5.We also wouldn't be surprised if Activision's other two sequels (one for Tony Hawk and one for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance) hit Wiis. The company promises innovation with it's next Tony Hawk game, which piques our interest for the title a bit. Does this mean the game will make use of the Wii Balance Board, or does Activision have another trick up its sleeve?
New Marvel: UA content still MIA
After waiting around all day staring at the Xbox Live Marketplace (what a living), the new content for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance still hasn't arrived. Naturally, we're a little confused, as a trailer was released on Marketplace just to let us know that the content would arrive April 10th (i.e. yesterday). The trailer has now been pulled, and the official Marvel: Ultimate Alliance website says nothing of the content beyond the original announcement that was made last month. Of course, it's possible the content failed the certification process, in which case fans could be waiting a while to get their hands on the new heroes and villains. Was anyone out there looking forward to this new DLC? Update: The sheer magnitude of all the super villainy contained in this post created a time vacuum, thus shoving the post backwards in time an entire day. The evil has since been rectified and the post returned to its proper time.
New goodies, and baddies, coming to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Xbox 360 owners, traded in your Marvel: Ultimate Alliance disc yet? If you did, then you'll be missing out on the opportunity to fork over your Microsoft points in exchange for some additional characters. In April you'll be able to purchase either a 'Heroes' pack or a 'Villains' pack for 500 points apiece, or both for 800. Whoever said that Activision doesn't like to make a deal and pass the savings along to you?The Heroes pack includes: Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, and The Incredible Hulk. On the flipside, the Villains group consists of Venom, Magneto, Sabretooth, and Doctor Doom ... which sounds like an 80s hair-band mega-metal tour. Both packs will include new achievements as well, breathing some life back into this game. Hopefully this is a trend that'll continue for awhile, because we like adding some shelf-life and playability to our games. Of course, we're still waiting on additional achievements for Whacked!, but that's a different story.
New Marvel: Ultimate Alliance content soon
It looks like the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance content that was announced last month is nearing completion. The news comes from GameDaily.biz, though it seems the original article has been removed. Luckily, Evil Avatar has captured the important bits. The content pack is set to bring 8 different heroes and villains to the game, including Hawkeye, Magneto, the Incredible Hulk, Nightcrawler, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom (!), Cyclops, and Venom (!!). The Hero Pack and Villain Pack will set you back 500 points each, or you could grab all 8 in one pack for a cool 800. Individual gamer pictures will also be available for 80 points each. No release date has been confirmed.Are you willing to drop the MS Points to breathe new life into Marvel?Update: As awesome as Magneto is, he doesn't deserve to be listed twice. Added Nightcrawler, who richly deserves to be there.
Exclusive Target Wii DVD for only a penny
Joystiq was checking out the games section of Target today, and we stumbled across a massive display of these Wii DVDs, stuck in the middle of the Wii accessories rack. It looked like a freebie, but the cashier told us it was a penny. Then she boggled at the price on screen and asked a manager. The manager was also puzzled, then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Wow. A penny?" Four dollars later, it was ours (we bought some beef jerky).What do you expect for a penny? What you get is a white plastic (did Nintendo just get tired of colors or what?) DVD snapcase (hey, that's worth a penny at least), and inside is a disc emblazoned with GAME TRAILERS ONLY -- GAMES NOT INCLUDED. Well, dur. We feel sorry for the poor sap who races home with this thing, and then not only discovers that the Wii won't play DVDs, but they don't even have a Wii because it hasn't come out yet.Anyhow, it's a nice collection of trailers, behind the scenes videos, and screenshots for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. Check out the doppelgangers from The O.C. in the video after the jump playing Marvel and tossing popcorn around. You too can party like this, just hook yourself up with a Wii and wait for the party to go off the chain. Plus, you'll get to use the line "Hey, wanna check out my Wii?" over and over again.
Joystiq hands-on: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
After previewing Call of Duty 3 and seeing the trailer for Flags of our Fathers for the umpteenth time, we wanted a diversion from the battlefields. Returning to Activision in search of something that would allow us to shed our daily mundane identities and to become heroes that weren't dressed in fatigues, we encountered our friend the receptionist again, still holding a grudge from our earlier victory. She led us into a dark room that had the villainous look of a secret lair. We had entered the realm of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.The green glow of Xbox 360 rings of light around the room looked like laser-activated booby traps, but we managed to evade them and press on. After a short briefing we were off to hand pick our four fellow heroes. You pick from tons of playable characters, although some of them are unlocked as you explore areas and find more heroes. Putting The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch on our team got us a Fantastic Four bonus (it was a no-brainer, we admit it), but we couldn't figure out any of the other combinations. We spied Deadpool and Spider-Woman on the Wii version -- which are probably the two unique characters that only the next-gen systems will be serving up. There is an extremely Nick Fury-esque shoulder holster on one of the silhouetted locked characters, and our fingers are itching to play the cigar-chomping, insult-hurling leader of the Howling Commandos.
Ultimate Alliance producer interviewed
UGO recently interviewed Activision producer Matthew Paul to get some background details on Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Paul discussed the creative process he and Marvel games writer C. B. Cebulski used to craft the Alliance plot, and also talked about how the reworked X-Men Legends technology allows for a greater range of combat moves. Look for alternate costumes and unique gameplay with the Wii controller when Alliance ships in October.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance trailer
Alright, perhaps I was too hasty in judging the Marvel Ultimate Alliance screenshots the other day. I know, I know, gameplay over graphics. Judging from the trailer, Marvel looks to be a pretty good time. It's also a lot prettier in motion, and it doesn't hurt that Activision seems to be cramming in every Marvel character except The Kitchen Sink (who's totally underrated). Seriously, playing as Doctor Strange? That's Cool with a capital C. Now if they could just squeeze Doctor Orpheus in there...
New Marvel Ultimate Alliance media
WorthPlaying has posted ten new screens from Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and there's an updated trailer and Nightcrawler vid over at GameTrailers. Due in October, Marvel's latest action-RPG includes a healthy sampling of playable characters, although I've yet to see Iron Man on any confirmed roster list. Hulk isn't mentioned either, but at least we know Bruce Banner will be one of the dozens of NPCs featured in the game, along with The Inhumans, Black Widow, Dr. Doom, and that big purple world devourer putting the squeeze on Spidey. Where's Silver Surfer when you need him?
Activision auditioning voices for Namor
Earlier this month, Activision started its online voice-over contest for the roles of Bruce Banner and Jean Grey in the upcoming Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The Marvel games publisher is no longer accepting entries for puny Dr. Banner, but a new casting call for Namor the Sub-Mariner (the elvish-looking guy with wings on his feet) has just been announced. If you're lucky enough to become the voice of the Atlantean prince, maybe you'll get a chance to woo the Invisible Woman.Activision is also still auditioning voices for Jean Grey, so ladies, step on up to the mic! The contest ends July 23.
Marvel wants your voice for Ultimate Alliance
Attention, true believers! If you've got the chops to be a super hero, Marvel and Activision want to hear from you (literally). The creators of Marvel Ultimate Alliance are currently auditioning aspiring voice actors for the parts of Hulk alter ego Bruce Banner and the X-Men's Jean Grey (a.k.a. Marvel Girl/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix). The top male and female entries will have their voices featured in the game, and will also take home an Xbox 360 and other prizes.Now, before you dust off those old Bill Bixby videotapes and start practicing the classic "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" line, there is specific dialogue you will have to read into the Flash recorder on the official site. Practice up and make Stan Lee proud.[via TeamXbox]
