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Activision pulls several Marvel games from Steam, XBL, PSN
Activision began the new year by removing several Marvel-licensed games from digital storefronts, including the six-months-young Deadpool. The departed Marvel assortment includes Spider-Man games Edge of Time, Shattered Dimensions, Friend or Foe, and Web of Shadows, as well as X-Men entries Destiny, Origins: Wolverine, and The Official Game. It's unclear what prompted the removal from Steam, Xbox Live and PSN, although it was in the works back on December 21, when it was noted on the Facebook page for The Amazing Spider-Man game. Curiously, The Amazing Spider-Man remains on the storefronts, and Activision is still publishing the follow-up tie-in for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Activision Community Manager Dan Amrich confirmed the removal yesterday, but he didn't provide a reason for the superhero games going up, up, and away. We've reached out to the publisher for more details. The expiration of a licensing agreement between Activision and Disney-owned Marvel is one possible explanation. Upon acquiring the comic book giant for $4 billion, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted his company was considering moving towards self-produced and published games in the coming years. "As these licensing deals expire we have the luxury of considering what is best for the company and the products," Iger said during a 2009 investors' call (via MCV). When Disney closed LucasArts last year, it then turned to EA with a multi-year exclusive agreement to license out Star Wars games.
Activision studios head brings development strategy into focus
"It doesn't make sense anymore," Activision executive VP of worldwide studios Dave Stohl declared to us in a small office, hidden away from the noisy E3 show floor. "You've really got to focus." The executive, who oversees every development studio that Activision owns, was reflecting on the old business model that encouraged studios to take on multiple projects at once. Today, the industry's leading third-party publisher has a new mantra: one game per studio. "People want the freedom to put all their resources against the big opportunity, and that's what we're trying to do," Stohl explained during our conversation at last month's show. We wondered if the shift in strategy was less ingenuity and more a sign of the times. Last year's holiday season was headlined by two major events: the slowdown of music game sales and the ridiculous success of Modern Warfare 2.
Kotick: Activision's Spider-Man games have 'sucked'
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick didn't just talk up the DJ Hero franchise in his recent Game Informer interview. According to Destructoid, he also disparaged the quality of his company's Spider-Man games. "Our Spider-Man games have sucked for the last five years," Kotick said, inadvertently revealing that he must not have played either the 360/PS3 or DS Web of Shadows games. "They are bad games. They were poorly rated because they were bad games." As for why they sucked: "We went away from what is Spider-Man," Kotick said. "It's about web-slinging. If you don't do web-slinging, what is the fantasy of Spider-Man?" Since this is Activision, we can speculate about how the company will focus on web-slinging: By packaging a special "web shooter" controller with the game in a big $120 box. And, of course, a new developer will be involved with whatever happens with the franchise since next-gen Web of Shadows dev Shaba Games is no more.
Shipping this week: indecision edition
Oh boy. Not only are there eight new games hitting the Xbox 360 this weeks (and Portal on XBLA, lest we forget), but several of them look to be good games. Heavy hitters like Far Cry 2 and Fable II undoubtedly top the list, but there are some other big names in there as well. Check 'em out: Fable 2 Midnight Club: Los Angeles Far Cry 2 Disney Sing It Spider-Man: Web of Shadows The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon Dance Dance Revolution: Universe 3 Legendary Now, the question is are there any "must have" games on this list for you, or are you strategically withholding your funds for something else?[Via Joystiq]
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows launch trailer is symbio-tastic
Despite what that affront-to-mankind-in-motion-picture-form, Spider-Man 3, may have tried to make you believe, merging with a dreaded symbote doesn't turn you into a mopey jerk with an unfashionable haircut and nightmarish dance moves. We feel that the upcoming Activision web-slinging simulator, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, depicts a much more accurate account of the side-effects of fusion with tar-like alien lifeforms: A widening of the eyes, an elongation of the teeth, and tendrils -- oh, so very many tendrils.The launch trailer for the aforementioned title, posted above, gives us a good sampling of the symbiotic adversaries we'll be pummeling come Web of Shadows' October 21 release date -- and with a classy touch of Moonlight Sonata to boot. We highly suggest checking it out -- perhaps you'll find some place in your heart that hasn't eternally sworn off games featuring the titular, charismatic wall-crawler.
Number Six to voice Black Cat in Web of Shadows
This is what Ricky Gervais calls the olds. It is news ... it just ain't news today! On Friday, Canadian actress Tricia Helfer was announced as the voice of Black Cat in the upcoming game, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows from Activison. Helfer is famously known as the gorgeous Cylon Number Six in the Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. Casting Helfer as the agile (and somewhat reformed) cat burglar works well as it isn't the first time the actress has taken on the role. The gorgeous actress previously took on the voice of Black Cat as a guest character in the CW 'toon The Spectacular Spider-Man back in May 2008. Did we mention, gorgeous.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows out Oct. 21, pre-order bonus at Best Buy
Click for high-res image First we'd like to point your attention to this lovely new screenshot of everyone's favorite insect-like hero, Spider-Man. Unfortunately for him, his spidey senses must not be tingling properly because it sure didn't help him get out of the maw of a Venom-wannabe symbiote. This is the sort of picture that good old J Jonah Jameson would pay good money for. You know who else would be paying good money? You -- well, that is if you're North American and are planning to pick up the title this October 21st. If you're planning on pre-ordering, best do it at Best Buy. You'll be getting an art book for your troubles. Check out the art book cover and more screenshots in our gallery below.%Gallery-28337%
Video: symbiote Wolverine in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
We knew that Wolverine would make an appearance in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows since Activision released potential box art for the game. What we didn't know, is that Wolvy will be infected by the infamous symbiote at some point in the game, creating a clawed, Venom-like monster. Joystiq blogger (and feeble podcast producer) Justin McElroy notes that this already happened once in the comics, at which point the alien goo was immediately ejected by Woverine's mutant healing factor. We have some possibilities then. One, this is a special new breed of symbiote. Two, the developers at Shaba want an awesome Woverine monster and don't care about continuity.Whatever the answer is, we suggest you watch the (awesome) trailer after the break, in which Wolverine shows up near the end. Be sure to watch the whole video for a look at some great looking combat too.
Cast your vote for Spider-Man box ... in the trash
It's Florida 2000 all over again: You show up to seizecontrol.com hoping to exercise your democratic right to vote for the lesser of two wacknesses and you exit having accomplished zilch. We're referring, of course, to Activision's new user-generated content marketing campaign for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, which is currently giving the community the power to choose the game's box art. (The correct answer is "shake-to-make-it-snow globe holding" Spider-Man over "dude, check my dual-action sleeve tats" Spider-Man, btw.) Remember kids, always read the fine print: "Activision shall not be bound by the outcome of the community vote and Activision's decision(s) and selection(s) shall be final and binding." And here we thought our clicks still stood for something!
You decide the cover art for latest Spider-Man game
Taking a page out of the Call of Duty 4 manual of how to successfully launch a video game, Activision wants you to choose the cover art of the upcoming Spider-Man: Web of Shadows game. There are only two options to choose from and, as you can see above, the designs are similar but different in their own right. Currently, the design featuring Spider-Man with crossed "X" arms is in the lead, but we like the other design better. We don't know why we care, but we don't want that stupid crossed arms cover to win. So, even if you don't care about the game or the cover (sorta like us), still vote on the other design. Crossed arms are so lame, holding a city in the palm of your hand ... now that's l33t.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows combat preview looks astonishing
We've had a love/hate relationship with past iterations of titles featuring our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, though one aspect of every title that we felt was never quite right was the manner in which the beloved web-slinger placed the beatdown upon unsuspecting thugs. Sure, certain games have had entertaining, intuitive combat systems, but none truly captured the way the arachnid protagonist whips up on baddies as he does on ink and paper.However, a recently released video from Shaba Games, developer of the upcoming Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, has boosted our spirits significantly, displaying the kind of aerial acrobatics and swift brawling we've always hoped to see in a Spidey title. Now, as long as they can avoid any glaring graphical issues or frequent cutscenes showing Peter Parker bawling his eyes out, Web of Shadows could be one of the better adaptations of the Spider-Man comics to ever hit the market.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows confirmed for all current platforms
It seems we'll be donning our tight-fitting Spider-Man costumes and matching cavalier attitudes sooner than expected, as we head off to the store to purchase Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. The humiliation better be worth it this time, Activision! Confirming earlier rumors, the publisher has announced (via IGN) that Spidey's next "free-roaming, open-ended" adventure will be hitting the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii, DS, PSP and PC, courtesy of Shaba Games and Treyarch. Not much is known about the title, but the official website hints that you'll be able to influence the game's "direction and outcome" and choose which characters in the Marvel universe to ally yourself with. The central theme seems to be "control," though as the trailer (embedded after the break) rightly points out, we can't know what it really means ... until we lose it.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows coming to Wii
Keep in mind, this is not the Wii versionTake note, webheads: a new Spidey game is being made for the Wii (along with those other systems nobody cares about). It's called Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and will once again feature the tried-and-true sandbox mechanic of a fully-explorable New York City. Other than that, we know that the game is being worked on by Treyarch and Shaba Games and will feature some kind of system that allows for customizable superpowers. Also, players will have some control in determining whether they want to be the boyscout do-gooder or a more selfish anti-hero type.Perhaps even cooler than the news of there being a new game is word that Activision will be holding auditions for folks to do the voiceover work in the game at their booth at the upcoming New York Comic-Con. The winner will be determined by open voting, which will go down at the game's official website here.
Rumor: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows being introduced this week
Considering that Spider-Man 3 sold roughly one hojillion copies despite its dubious quality, it's not a huge surprise that Activision wouldn't want to wait for Spider-Man 4 to hit theaters before its next game. First we had the brawling-centric Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and soon, according to Gamervision we'll be playing Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. GV says the info comes from an insider at GameStop, which will reportedly be putting marketing materials up for the game this week. Now, what, exactly is Spider-Man: Web of Shadows? We have no clue. We've heard rumors of a Spidey game subtitled "Red Vs. Black," and if this is that same project we can likely expect some symbiote action and maybe even a visit from Venom. Again though, that's pure conjecture. But it sounds like we might be hearing something more concrete very soon.
