Gazillion Entertainment held an event in San Francisco this week and revealed a few tidbits on what we can be expecting from the new Marvel Universe MMO. “Free to Play” seemed a bit of a suprise to us, but with all the other power MMO’s (besides WoW) heading to free subscriptions (relying on in-game “microtransactions” only) this seems to be the safest route of attack for a game that has to compete with other hero games like NC Soft’s City of Heroes…anyhow here’s a few confirmed goodies.

What we know for sure:

Marvel Universe will be free-to-play, and was planned that way from its inception.

It’s being developed by Secret Identity, a sub-group of Gazillion that was formed in late 2009 specifically to build Marvel Universe.

You can play as Marvel characters, and other players can be the same hero as you at the same time, which the devs believe creates “lots of problems and lots of opportunities.???

You won’t have to choose only one character, but will be able to play as all of them.

Some of the characters you will play as are: Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Thor, Spiderman, Nova, and Squirrel Girl.

Doctor Doom will be the game’s main villain (at least at launch).

You will play through existing stories that are told in the comic books.

The game world exists within the canon Marvel Universe–this is not an alternate reality scenario.

Marvel Universe is being made primarily for adults (as opposed to Gazillion’s other kid-focused Marvel MMO, Marvel Superhero Squad). They want to target core gamers first, and also make it accessible for everyone else.

So does that mean I can’t make my own super hot hero chick that flys around in lingerie saving lives and kicking ass? Looks like it. /sadface

[Source]

Thor - God of Thunder

Last week out in California, most games press got the chance to fly out and check out the new Thor and Captain America video games. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fly out. In Chicago at C2E2, I was able to demo the final build of Thor: God of Thunder for the Xbox 360 and the Wii. The footage I was able to capture was off-screen with a Flip-like camera. With experiencing the controls on both consoles, I can clearly justify their port to each console. For once for a multi-platform game, I think the Wii version plays the best. Though the graphics look terrible comparing to the Xbox 360 version, the controls for god powers work so much better. The motion controls feel natural and don’t take much time getting used to. With the Xbox 360 version, all of the god powers are on the yellow Y button.

Without further delay, enjoy looking at some gameplay from my demo with the games executive producer:

Sega announces comic book hero will return to his propaganda roots to fight Nazis on Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, and DS next year

Super Soldier Captain American will be facing off against his nemesis, the Nazi agent Red Skull in 2011 on your consoles. Set during the height of WWII, the third-person action adventure will be laid out in a sprawling castle complex that will feature foes from the comic books, including the Iron Cross and members of the terrorist group HYDRA. Gameplay will have a heavy emphasis on hand-to-hand combat involving the Cap’s indestructible shield as well as platforming sequences.

Sega is taking the shield-wielding hero back to his WWII beginnings in the forthcoming game Captain America: Super Soldier. The game is based on the eponymous film, which stars Chris Evans (Fantastic 4), Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), and Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man 2). The movie has been titled Captain America: First Avenger.

Let’s hope next year is not too soon for our favorite Amercian hero, we’d hate to see another horrible ‘movie-to-game massacre’.

Can't keep America's hero down!

Like most people plugged in these days, we here at BG can tell you what day of the week it is by what is going on… For instance… new DVDs and music… that comes out on Tuesdays. New movies? That’s Friday unless it’s a blockbuster, then it’s a Thursday showing. Saturday? That’s when our new Hangovers are due… But Wednesdays, now that’s something special. Because Wednesdays my dear friends… is comic book day.

2009 saw some doozies… here’s our favorite comic happenings for the year:

THE BEST

1. Captain America – He is back. Yeah… after about 3 years of being dead… turns out he’s only mostly dead.

2. Battlefields – It’s WAR! It’s Comics! And it’s written by Garth Ennis of Preacher fame.

3. The “Oz??? series – It all started with “The Wizard Of Oz??? that was adapted more closely to the books, now it’s growing to include the other Oz books. Best part? The art is by Skottie Young.

4. Batman – Shenanigans… Bruce isn’t here any more… Dick Grayson has taken the mantle of the bat. Bruce’s son is the new Robin, and the old Robin… he’s now Red Robin. Beautiful art and writing in the new “Batman and Robin??? series… Fans are a talkin’.

5. Image United – Remember the 90’s? So do tons of others. The original Image creators are back, and Image United has been selling out. Best thing? Al Simmons is back.

THE WORST

1. HULK – This is hard for me… I love the Hulk character… but they need to cut out this Red Hulk business. I’ve never been more bored in my life.

2. The “she characters of Marvel” – Red She hulk and Lady Deadpool. Let’s stop beating a dead horse.

I've got a bad feeling about this...

3. Xmen Forever – Chris Claremont picks up from his 90’s Xmen run. It’s hit or miss. Sometimes it’s interesting… and other times… he kills off Wolverine and gives Kitty a claw. That spells lame.

4. Wolverine Origins – It’s just bad, people.

5. The great comic book company buyout of 2009 – WB bought DC. Disney buys Marvel. We are still awaiting the fallout. I don’t care what anyone says. Never trust the man, The mouse is gonna kill comics eventually. I may be sounding like that crazy bum outside the train station with a “End is Near??? sign… But comics are a dying art form. I doubt a company as money hungry as these two are going to keep a traditional medium like comics.

-Timothy Danger