Activision expands its license for developing Marvel games

[Velorath]

From comicxfan.com:

Activision has announced that it has extended its license to develop video games for Marvel Enterprises and its characters. The extended deal grants Activision the exclusive rights to develop and publish cross-property RPGs (role-playing games) that use an "ensemble cast" of characters from the Marvel Universe. "We have had tremendous success with Activision through the licensing of individual characters and groups such as Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four," said Marvel Enterprises Vice President of Interactive Ames Kirshen, "Rather than focusing on just one character, this unique license enables Activision to develop role playing games that tap a broader base of characters from Marvel's expansive universe. We look forward to an even more successful future with Activision." Activision is wrapping up development for the upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men Legends 2: Rise of the Apocalypse video games to be released later this year, while the first game to be developed under this new deal allowing an "ensemble cast" is scheduled to tear the internet in half in 2007.

I thought that X-men Legends was pretty good (although it had a lot of room for improvement), so the idea of an RPG using characters from different parts of the Marvel U seems like it could be pretty cool.  Maybe they could do something along the lines of a Secret Wars or Infinity Gauntlet RPG (please no House of M).  I'll be checking out USM and X-men Legends 2 when they come out, and we'll see if Legends was just a fluke or not.

[Llava]

Someone explain the appeal of X-Men Legends to me?

I bought it based on the fanfare and couldn't really have been more disappointed.  Felt like I bought "Mutant Barrel Smashers!"

[stray]

I thought that it was mindless fun in a button mashing kind of way. It was also the first decent X-Men game in quite a while (or ever?). Lots of powersets to mess around with too (Not all of them interesting, I suppose, but some were pretty unique. Nightcrawler's powers, for instance, were pretty different from anything I've played in an RPG before).

[Llava]

I didn't get as far as Nightcrawler.  I just really didn't enjoy the game.  Didn't like how it looked, didn't like how it played, and I especially didn't like that it had to sit there and load every time I wanted to go adjust someone's stats or put on a new piece of equipment.  Hey, how about we pre-load the stuff the players are gonna come back to every four minutes?

[Velorath]

I thought it was an entertaining game.  Not great, but fairly high up there compared to most comic book based games.  There's a lot of things that can be improved so I'm very interested in seeing if they make the second one better or if we just get more of the same.

[Arnold]

I thought that it was mindless fun in a button mashing kind of way. It was also the first decent X-Men game in quite a while (or ever?). Lots of powersets to mess around with too (Not all of them interesting, I suppose, but some were pretty unique. Nightcrawler's powers, for instance, were pretty different from anything I've played in an RPG before).

I liked the X-Men game for the Sega Genesis a lot.  Yeajh, it was just a side scroller, but I had fun with it.

[Kail]

I liked the X-Men game for the Sega Genesis a lot.  Yeajh, it was just a side scroller, but I had fun with it.

I thought X-Men 2 was WAY more fun (though they're both ludicrously difficult).  The first one had some pretty weak production values, in terms of graphics and level design.  The mechanics struck me as a bit awkward, too; "mutant power" was way too limited.  It pissed me off to be playing as Wolverine and to be forced to run around punching with my bare fists for 90% of the level because I was "out of energy."  But what really drove me ABSOLUTELY NUTS was that damned "Reset the computer now" bit.  I swear, if I EVER find the fucker who wrote that bit...  WAAAAAGE!

X-Men 2, in my opinion, let you have a lot more fun with the characters.  You could blast away with Cyclops' eye lasers as much as you wanted, you could run around on the cieling with Nightcrawler, you could even play as Magneto and just FLATTEN the bad guys.  It just seemed way better done.  You might want to check it out, if you liked the first one.

[Llava]

God, that always drove me nuts... "Well, Wolverine's powers are his claws, so how do we put that in?" "Well, same as the others! Every time you use the claws, you use up energy!" "But... why would he suddenly be too tired to use his claws but just fine to fight with his bare hands?" "Who cares?  It's not like we actually give a shit about this license."

[Arnold]

God, that always drove me nuts... "Well, Wolverine's powers are his claws, so how do we put that in?" "Well, same as the others! Every time you use the claws, you use up energy!" "But... why would he suddenly be too tired to use his claws but just fine to fight with his bare hands?" "Who cares?  It's not like we actually give a shit about this license."

Wow, you guys remember more about this game than I do, and I liked it!  I actually have a Genesis set up now, but I temporarily traded some games with someone I have no contact with now, so I don't have that one, but I do have his Pirates! game.  I never played the second game, but just remember good times with the first.  I didn't have too much problem with the claws, because after playing it a lot, I knew when I needed the claws and when I didn't.  The best thing about Wolverine was his healing factor.  In places where another character would die, Wolverine could just sit there, regenerate, and contine.

[Llava]

Actually I'm not sure if I'm talking about the same game.  I know there was one that I thought was resoundingly mediocre.

But there was also a Wolverine NES game that had the same "Hey, let's only let players use the claws some of the time, despite that never once happening in the comics and not really making sense, THAT would be cool!" device in play and I still harbor my feelings of youthful resentment when I blew all my saved up money on this game only to find out it wouldn't really let me play the hero I wanted to play.

[schild]

I still harbor my feelings of youthful resentment when I blew all my saved up money on this game only to find out it wouldn't really let me play the hero I wanted to play.

I wanted to play as Jubilee too!

[Llava]

You are a bastard.

And you know damn well what I meant.

Smartass.

This forum has no room for that kind of thing.

[schild]

You are a bastard.

And you know damn well what I meant.

Smartass.

This forum has no room for that kind of thing.

You know what I meant too.

[stray]

This love for Japanese schoolgirls goes back a long way, doesn't it? 

[schild]

This love for Japanese schoolgirls goes back a long way, doesn't it? 

In this particular case, I actually had a problem finding a picture of Jubilee from the comic books that wasn't all shitty stylized. Doing a GIS for Jubilee Xmen pulled up terrible results and I wasn't in the mood to actually dig. My admiration of Jubilee has much more to do with how completely awful her powers were compared to everyone else. She shot fireworks from her fingers that COULD conceivably blind someone. Even though many villains and superheroes wore sunglasses or eye obscuring masks, etc. If I were to do some legwork, I wouldn't be surprised if her effectiveness in battle was as low as 30%. Gotta go for the underdog. Also, in video games, powers like hers are great looking. Particle effects for the win and all that.

[Llava]

Depending on who's writing, she is quite powerful when she really cuts loose and gives in to the flow of power.  But that was during the Generation Next thing that a lot of people disliked, so you can ignore it if you like.

But when Synch copied her powers, he was able to create an explosion just shy of an atomic bomb.  I think they justified it with her subconcious- like people who pull back on a punch reflexively, whether they really want to or not.

But like I said, during a period that many fans were unhappy, it may have been completely retconned by now.

[stray]

I gotta give the title for most stupid powers to Forge. What the fuck kind of "mutant" is that? Manipulation of Magnetics, Storms, Kinetic Energy, and the Power of the Psyche I can accept (for some reason), but the ability to "Create/Invent Things"? Ooohhkay.

[schild]

I gotta give the title for most stupid powers to Forge. What the fuck kind of "mutant" is that? Manipulation of Magnetics, Storms, Kinetic Energy, and the Power of the Psyche I can accept (for some reason), but the ability to "Create/Invent Things"? Ooohhkay.

I was going to mention Forge as one of the gimpier super heroes, but I can't remember a time where he actively pursued the apprehension of criminals or villains on his own accord. He knows his place. Building guns for Cable and Co. Jubilee, however, is just a terribly weak mutant.

I wish I had the power to build things. I'd build a better Dreamcast marketing campaign.

[Llava]

I always wondered why, if he can build anything he can conceive, he didn't build himself a badass suit that made Iron Man look like a pussy?

[HaemishM]

This love for Japanese schoolgirls goes back a long way, doesn't it? 

In this particular case, I actually had a problem finding a picture of Jubilee from the comic books that wasn't all shitty stylized.

I don't think there ever was one produced.

I hated the Jubilee character until they put her in Generation X. She was just a new Kitty Pryde substitue with shittier powers.

[Ironwood]

Didn't she like fry someone's neural stem once or summat ?