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Barely Related: Mythbusters break up, Spider-Woman cover
Home again, home again – and then off to PAX Prime next week. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Rumor: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster to include Mega Man, Frank West, and more
A source shared what they claim to be the full roster for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, containing no fewer than 18 characters who have yet to be announced by Capcom, in addition to a new "War Machine" look for Iron Man. The list includes characters like the Red Arremer, Mega Man (in Battle Network and classic styles), and Frank West/Chuck Greene (probably as alternate versions of the same character) on the Capcom end, and Ultron, Squirrel Girl, and Thanos from Marvel. The most random character on the list is probably Victor Delacroix from 2003's Chaos Legion. Though, of course, all of this new information is unconfirmed, it's worth noting that She-Hulk and Zero, both appearing in the list from our source, were announced after we received it. In addition, some of the characters, like Frank West and Soki, are believable because they were featured in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (like Zero) and thus are probably relatively easy to update for MvC3. The Mega Man character is likely also similar to the Mega Man Legends-style version found in Tatsunoko. It's possible some of the new characters are even based on Tatsunoko movesets -- Delacroix makes more sense if he's taking the place of the sword-wielding Karas or Tekkaman Blade, for example. [Image: Frank West in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]
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.
