marvel-comics posts

Gazillion Entertainment has been quiet about the details of its plans for its super hero themed Marvel Universe MMO game since it was first announced over two years ago. That all changed late on Thursday at a press conference that was streamed at the Marvel.com web site.

The main revelation from the press conference was that the game, currently in development at Gazillion's Secret Identity studio, will be a free-to-play game when it launches. This shows more evidence that this business model is becoming more and more mainstream compared to the older monthly subscription model.

It was also announced that Brian Michael Bendis, one of the most prolific writers for Marvel Comics, will be the head writer for the Marvel Universe MMO game. Bendis's credits include writing a number of Marvel's big crossover event mini-series including House of M, Secret Invasion and Siege.

According to the live stream, the game will feature a "grand, epic tour, a reimagining of some of the biggest events in Marvel history. " One big difference between this game and Sony Online's recently launched DC Universe Online is that the Marvel MMO will allow players to play as the mainline Marvel characters. Yep, instead of creating your own character to team up with the Marvel heroes you will play as Captain America, Thor, Iron Man or Spider-Man, among others. Also Dr. Doom will be the main bad guy in the game's story.

The game will be released for the PC but Gazillion is not commenting if the game will be browser-based or not. They are also not commenting on the game's release date yet.

Earlier this week publisher Activision released the action game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for various consoles. However the publisher also sneaked in a notice in the official press release that the title will be coming to the PC as well. Big Download emailed Activision's PR rep who confirmed that the title will be released for the PC sometime later this this year.

The console versions from developer Beenox have been getting some solid reviews this week as gamers check out not one but four different versions of Marvel Comics' web slinger: the classic costume Amazing version, the black suited Ultimate version, the futuristic 2099 version and the pulp inspired Noir version.

Earlier this year we reported a sighting of an upcoming Tron graphic novel on Amazon.com. Now it looks like Marvel Comics will in fact be publishing the graphic novel as part of a two part mini-series that begins in October. Tron: The Betrayal is still going to be a prequel to the upcoming Disney movie Tron Legacy that's due in theaters in December.

Of course Tron Legacy, the sequel to a 1980's movie about a man sucked into a computer and forced to play games, is getting its own game tie-in, Tron Evolution. That game, which also serves as a prequel to Tron Legacy, is still due for release for the PC and other platforms later this fall.

X-Men comic book fans are very familiar with the tank where adamantium was fused to Wolverine's bones, creating Weapon X. That scene is lifted from comics and comes to life in this trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In-game footage can be seen with the 'Final Reveal' trailer. The game is scheduled to bust out on May 1st, the same day the movie is set to premiere.

Download HD X-Men Origins: Wolverine 'Water Tank' Trailer (96 MB)
Download HD X-Men Origins: Wolverine 'Final Reveal' Trailer (131 MB)
Check out all X-Men Origins: Wolverine downloads

It looks like Marvel Comics isn't done yet with creating comic books based on Bungie's Halo games. IGN reports that during a panel at the New York Comic Con, Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada revealed that they plan to release two more Halo mini-series later this year.

The first five issue mini-series, due out this summer, will be written by Peter David and drawn by Eric Nguyen. The second mini-series is due this winter and will be written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Francis Portela. After releasing a graphic novel anthology of Halo short stories in 2006, Marvel launched the first issue of a planned four part mini-series, Halo Uprising, in 2007. However massive delays hit the series, in part because of changes to the story dictated by Bungie. Indeed the fourth and final issue of the series has still not shipped.

Many people wondered exactly why Microsoft decided to cancel plans to make a MMO based on the Marvel Universe staple of super hero characters. The game was supposed to be developed by Cryptic Studios (they moved on to their own super hero MMO Champions Online. Now a new interview with Marvel Comic scriptwriter Brian Michael Bendis on on Comicmix reveals there is a (sort of) copy of the Marvel MMO somewhere out there.

Bendis is one of Marvel Comics' most prolific writers and has been responsible for titles like Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, New Avengers and crossover mini-series like House of M and the new Secret Invasion (Bendis is also the writer of the Halo: Uprising mini-series which has only had two of its four issues published due to issues with Bungie with the storyline). As it turned out Bendis was also working on the Marvel Universe MMO before it's cancellation: