Marvel art giveaway; X-Men arcade game returns; updates on Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine films
Win art!
Allposters.com is giving a NewsOK Comics Podcast watcher the chance to win this framed art –just comment on the video with your favorite Marvel character, and we’ll draw a winner.
X-Men Arcade game coming to consoles
An image of "Amazing Spider-Man" #50 from allposters.com.
According to Marvel.com, Konami Digital Entertainment will release the classic “X-Men” arcade game originally released in 1992 for the very first time outside of arcades. The game will be available on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in Fall 2010.
Spider-Man casting news
Sony has announced that Rhys Ifans (“Notting Hill”) has joined the cast of the “Spider-Man” movie reboot. He’ll play the villain in the new movie, but Sony didn’t reveal who that would be. The Wrap reported that Ifans will play The Lizard, but that hasn’t been confirmed.
Batman and Wolverine updates
Deadline reports Tom Hardy has been selected for a lead role in “Batman 3,” and Darren Aronofsky is likely clearing his plate to take a stab at directing “Wolverine 2.”
Matt Price and Kyle Roberts review Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5, X-Men #4, and Bruce Wayne: The Road Home one-shots — Batman and Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl and Outsiders.
Captain America video game set in World War II announced
Screenshot from the upcoming Captain America video game.
Captain America will return to video game consoles in an original adventure set during World War II.
The title is set for release in 2011 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™.
“Videogame players the world over can now become Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Captain America,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA Europe and SEGA America, in a news release. “Captain America: Super Soldier puts players in the boots of the ultimate Super-Soldier, wielding Captain America’s legendary shield. Working closely with Marvel ensures we’re delivering the calibre product that gamers and comic fans deserve and it’s a partnership we’re proud of here at SEGA.”
The third-person adventure was written by Christos Gage (Avengers: The Initiative) and features Captain America versus the Red Skull and his armies, as well as the forces of Hydra.
The game will be set in the world of the upcoming film, though it looks like the costume will, at least in places, resemble the comic-book Captain America uniform.
- Matt Price
“Back to the Future” returning in video games
Telltale Games' "Back to the Future."
Telltale Games will release a new game series this winter celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Back to the Future.”
The games, based on the time-travel adventure film, will feature the likenesses of the original stars that portrayed Marty McFly and Doc Brown: Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
Lloyd will voice Doc Brown for the full game series, which will be delivered in five monthly episodes.The game series is developed through a licensing agreement with Universal Partnerships & Licensing.
“Creating cinematic adventures true to the source is a top mission for Telltale,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors in a news release. “Securing Marty and Doc for the games, and presenting the experience that fans know and love, has been top on our list since we initiated development.”
Co-creator and writer Bob Gale is consulting with Telltale on the characterizations and storyline for the game.
“Twenty-five years ago when I wrote Doc Brown’s line about ‘seeing the future,’ little did I realize that I would be traveling with him to work on this game,” Gale said in a news release. “Collaborating with Telltale is an amazing opportunity to continue the adventures of Doc and Marty.”
Telltale announced that the games will feature the DeLorean Time Machine. An authentic replica of the vehicle will be on display this weekend at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle Washington, September 3 through 5.
- Matt Price
Wonder Woman revealed in DCU Online game
Sony has revealed Wonder Woman’s look in the DC Universe Online game. Players will have the opportunity to fight alongside or against Wonder Woman as they create their own legend in the DC Universe Online.
Click past the cut for images of Wonder Woman as designed for DC Universe Online.
- Matt Price
Neil Patrick Harris to return as one Spider-Man of four for “Shattered Dimensions”
Very cool announcement fron Activision and Marvel: Four previous Spider-Men will reprise their roles as Spidey in the game “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.” The game features four different Spider-Mans, each voiced by a different actor. Neil Patrick Harris voiced the wall-crawler in “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series” in 2003; Josh Keaton was the voice of Spider-Man in “The Spectacular Spider-Man” from 2008-2009; Dan Gilvezan starred in “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” from 1981-1983; and Christopher Daniel Barnes voiced the iconic Super Hero in “Spider-Man,” the 1994 series. Additionally, Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee will serve as the game’s narrator.
Click past the cut for the full release.
- Matt Price
THQ announces Marvel Super Hero Squad Infinity Gauntlet game
THQ is bringing even more super heroes to “Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet,” the sequel to 2009′s Marvel Super Hero Squad video game. “Infinity Gauntlet” will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Wiiä and Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DS™ systems.
The game features the Super Hero Squad seeking the six stones of the Infinity Gauntlet before Doctor Doom and his cohorts. The game will tie into the season 2 storyline of “Super Hero Squad.”
“We are excited to announce the next game in our Marvel Super Hero Squad franchise to an eager fan base,” said Martin Good, Executive Vice President, Kids, Family, Casual Games, and Global Online Services, in a release. “The new co-op Challenge Mode, super-powered action-combat and integrated puzzles truly elevates the series and further broadens the audience.”
Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy announced for DC Universe Online game
Sony Online Entertainment has announced that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill will reprise their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively, for DC Universe Online. Conroy and Hamill voiced the characters most famously in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
Other casting announced is Adam Baldwin as Superman; Gina Torres as Wonder Woman; James Marsters as Lex Luthor and Michelle Forbes as Circe.
- Matt Price
Click past the cut for the full release.
Oklahoma State Pokemon master heading to nationals
The Pokemon national championships in St. Louis in 2009.
Oklahoma State student Jonathon Giles is heading to Indianapolis this weekend for the Pokemon national championships. Nathan Poppe talked to the competitive gamer for NewsOK:
Video games have been a part of Giles’ life as long as he can remember. He began with the Italian plumber adventure Super Mario Bros. and the shooting game Duck Hunt and has stayed loyal to Nintendo since. Today, he owns a Wii and the hand-held Nintendo DS.
Giles said he remembers seeing commercials and hearing hype in 1998 for the Pokemon video games. He got Pokemon: Red Version and played nonstop.
Giles, 21, won first place in May at the south regional Pokemon video game championships in Dallas, thanks to his Pokemon monsters Kyogre, Hitmontop and Palkia. About 650 people competed in his tournament bracket.
Giles is heading to Indianapolis for a series of one-on-one rounds with about 190 contestants this weekend for nationals.
Click through for the entire article, and good luck at nationals, Jonathon!
- Matt Price
DC Universe Online trailer revealed at E3
The long-awaited game now has a trailer – what do you think?
- Matt Price
UFC Undisputed 2010 faster, more realistic, says UFC project manager Neven Dravinski
“UFC Undisputed 2010″ comes to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week, and Neven Dravinski, UFC Project Manager, answered some questions for Nerdage about the hard-hitting sequel.
Nerdage: Can you tell me about the development of moves for the UFC Undisputed game?
Neven Dravinski: The Moves in the Undisputed series of games has always been about conveying the realism of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Our team watches a TON of footage, we have guys training in MMA, and we work with actual MMA coaches to really help convey the realism of the sport in the game. Marc Laimon (who also appears as the player’s Career Mode Coach) is one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coaches in the business but also a huge gamer. We worked with Marc on the 2009 and now 2010 game and it’s really great to have someone that understands the dynamic of video games helping you convey the nuance of the sport of MMA. Creating moves for a fighting game, especially one so complex as a fighting game that represents Mixed Martial Arts is extremely difficult and requires a lot of conversations between the Art, Animation, Programming and Design departments. Something that may happen in the blink of an eye for a player might be the result of weeks of discussions and agreements between all parties.
For example let’s look at a simple transition animation from say Open Guard to Half Guard. The designer indicates how many frames of animation the move should last from start to finish. The animator creates the move to that specification and make sure it is visually pleasing. Then there are points within the animation where the animation itself can be interrupted or branched. Then animator, programmer and designer have to work together to make sure all the nuances and permutations of the move and the moves that can come out of that move look and feel correct. A programmer has to take into account the physics and collision system, mapping the animation to the controller input etc. etc. When you look at the process from a 10,000 ft. view it’s incredibly complex.
UFC Undisputed 2010 plays a lot faster than the 2009 product. We didn’t just globally speed up all the animations but rather analyzed the game from a system level. In the 2009 game we had a lot of animated reactions (animations that play when the player gets hit). With a purely animated reaction control is taken away from the player receiving the damage. Even though it may be a second it still causes a feeling of unresponsiveness. In the 2010 game we moved a lot of those reactions to the physics system; which makes for a much smoother gameplay experience as the player is in control of their character for longer and you get great sequences of players hitting while being hit, all while running at 60 frames a second.
Nerdage: Tell me about the concept behind the virtual submissions.
Neven Dravinski: Our concept for the submission system in UFC Undisputed 2010 was to create something a little more elegant and analog that would effectively communicate struggle. In 2009 the game had very static states for the submissions. There would be an initiation animation, a mid-struggle and animation and then either a success or failure. The problem this creates is that there is no way to effectively communicate struggle. Visually the Undisputed series doesn’t use any graphical elements on screen (with the exception of the optional Stamina/Energy bar) as we try and mimic the broadcast look and feel.
In the 2010 game we created what we feel is a more analog system for submission. Once the submission is initiated (via clicking in on the right stick) you will see a more “educational” display of the submission. In an Armbar for example, you will see the arm bending back into the submission position as a player inputs more and more concentric circles on the rights stick (or the “shine” as we call it). As the other character fights against the submission you will see the arm try to curl back to safety. We use the camera as well to zoom in when a submission is closer to happening and zoom out on failure. This ends up being a much more descriptive way to convey struggle and really allows players to see who’s winning or losing a submission at an instant.
Nerdage: What is it that makes the UFC have so much appeal, both as a video game and as a sport?
Neven Dravinski: I think the thing that makes the UFC the brand and UFC the video game so popular is the realism. Fighting is something that is universal; there’s no cultural lines, it’s truly a global sport. The UFC’s mantra has always been “As Real As It Gets” and that certainly carries over into the development of the game. The strength of the UFC isn’t just one man but rather its arsenal of the best athletes in the world fighting against each other at the highest level of competition. The UFC puts on fights people want to see, they don’t put on cupcake fights to pad records, or protect their champions; I think they really put on very compelling matchups to give the fans what they want.
Giving the fans what they want is something that we’re very focused on with the video game as well. I think the success of the game is directly related to the fact that we made a very real interpretation of such a complex sport; but rather than passively watching on TV you’re actively participating in it. The game conveys impact in a very gratifying and realistic way. We really give you the opportunity to fight like a true Mixed Martial Artist. Most people initially gravitate towards the standup because that is more familiar than say the ground or clinch game. But if you want to win and win consistently, much like fighters in the real Octagon, you’re going to have to learn all aspects of the game; the clinch, the ground, the submissions as well as the striking. The game really allows you to fight how you want to fight. Are you a takedown, ground and pound guy? Do you set up your submissions with effective striking? There’s so many ways to play the game but that is the nature of a game that emulates such a dynamic sport.
Mixed Martial Arts is growing in popularity on an exponential scale around the world. Little kids don’t want to take Karate anymore, but rather Muy Thai and Jiu Jitsu. The UFC is the number one fighting franchise in the world, and they recognize how much impact the video game itself is able to have on global scale as we’re able to promote the brand and the fighters to territories that may not even have UFC programming yet. I certainly believe that having the UFC license is obviously related to the our success, but I’d like to believe we made and will continue to make good games as well.
Nerdage: What are some of the innovative elements in UFC Undisputed 2010?
Neven Dravinski: UFC Undisputed 2010 has a host of new improvements that make it an even better representation of the brand of the UFC and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. The Aforementioned submission system allows for a much more realistic educational view of submissions themselves. This year we introduced southpaw stances, cage positions, and sways and leans. These three things I think really dramatically improve gameplay and just add to the realism of the game. Statistically, from 2009, we quadrupled the number of strike animations, tripled the number of ground animations and doubled the number of submissions. As mentioned the game plays faster, it plays smoother, but that’s just the cusp of the game improvements.
In 2010 we offer a more exciting Create-A-Fighter system which allows you to literally place moves per controller input per position essentially allowing you to create the exact Mixed Martial Artist you want! We have a Tournament mode, a Title (arcade style ladder mode) and Title Defense mode (survival mode). We have an improved Career mode where the player will have more emotion investment in their created fighter via picking fighter voices and participating in interactive cut scenes. A new system called “The Game Is Watching You” tracks your behavior, your fighting style and the choices you make, creating consequences down the line in your career. Undisputed 2010 also has an event mode where players will be given the opportunity to create their own Pay Per View broadcast, and they’ll be treated to a lot more presentation and interview segments from Octagon announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. Players will also be able to download event cards of real upcoming UFC matches which we’ll be able to track the results of. Speaking of Online we’ve upgraded our system and in addition to the online exhibition matches we also allow players to create Fight Camps which are essentially guilds or clans and you can train with Camp Members online and fight against other camps.
While sequel titles in the sports genre tend to have a stigma associated with them of “how much can they really do” I think people will be incredibly impressed with what we’ve been able to accomplish in only a year’s time. UFC Undisputed 2010 is a better game than its 2009 predecessor and we hope to enjoy the continued success the Undisputed franchise has achieved.
- Matt Price
