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]

(Gamespot) – Captain America: The First Avenger is scheduled for release on July 22, and it will see Fantastic Four actor Chris Evans stepping into the superheroic boots of a new masked champion. Making use of its Marvel Entertainment license, Sega expects to release a game tie-in for the film, and the publisher announced today that the live-action star will also lend his voice and likeness to the publisher’s adaptation, Captain America: Super Soldier.

Super Soldier will be based on the Captain America film, which also stars Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) and Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man 2). Hearkening back to the comic franchise’s roots, Nazis will be the target of Captain America’s ire, as the shield-wielding hero squares off against his archnemesis, Red Skull, in an effort to stop the evil machinations of the scientist Arnim Zola.

Beginning during the height of WWII, the third-person action adventure will be set in a sprawling castle complex and will feature foes from the comic books, including the Iron Cross and members of the terrorist group HYDRA. Gameplay will have an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat involving the superhero’s indestructible shield as well as platforming sequences.

I miss playing City of Heroes.

I don’t miss the level grinding, the occasionally difficult “solo??? missions, and the often distracting names and costumes of my fellow “Heroes??? that always seemed to interfere with my becoming completely immersed in the game. So I guess I don’t miss playing City of Heroes but I certainly miss the concept of playing City of Heroes which is running around as a super powered being, fighting crime.

I know there have been some major overhauls to the game since I played several years ago but each time I almost convince myself to put the virtual tights back on, I come across a screen shot of a brown and green clad Hero named “Captain Dookypants??? and the urge flees. Rapidly.

But the urge has been particularly strong recently and I’ve been keeping a critical eye on the development of the superhero MMO “DC Universe Online???. The screenshots and video that have come out from the game make me want to be a superhero again, that old familiar feeling I had when City of Heroes first came out.

That kid that used to tie towels around his neck and run around going “WHOOSH!??? is still in here somewhere, co-existing with the grizzled video game player I’ve become. I’ll admit to being particularly jaded when it comes to MMOs. It doesn’t take much for me to decide an MMO isn’t worth it and move back to my single player RPGs thinking that maybe next time they’ll get it right.

But that’s the problem. When CoH came out, they did just about everything right. The character creator was almost perfect. I’d spend hours on my Heroes’ costumes, tweaking their features and making sure the colors were just right. I’d have a backstory in mind when I started and that story would be told, quietly, through the creation of my character.

Here’s my prediction, however, when DCUO launches…  There’s going to be a ton of people who don’t want to make their own original character. They’re going to want to make a clone of Superman or Batman. Within minutes of launch, my character is going to be surrounded by “Souperman???, “Sooperman???, “Siouxperman???, all clad in blue, red, and yellow. My carefully thought out, meticulously created character will be lost in a wash of photocopies of DC’s most popular heroes. And that’s not even considering what will happen when the Marvel fans start making their clones…

The urge, however, is growing stronger every time I see the screenshots. It may be enough that I still want to play a superhero to brave a world where Star Labs went a little crazy when cloning Superman and now the world’s new and upcoming heroes have to wade through those masses of the Man of Steel.

Maybe they’ll let me add some kryptonite to my costume when I make my character.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

I remember a discussion I had with my father when I was but a wee lad. We had just seen one of many science fiction movies we watched when I was a child and being the inquisitive (and somewhat intelligent) child I was, I had questions which my father took his time to answer as best he could. One, however, may have been much more embarrassing to my father than the rest had we been in public at the time.

“Why would there be black aliens????

Keep in mind I was asking a serious question. I wasn’t being a pre-teen jerk or anything. I honestly wanted to know why an alien species would have races that so closely resembled our own. I could have asked why there would be Asian aliens or Spanish aliens but that day, it was “black??? aliens.

Growing up, I realized that suspension of disbelief was a major part of watching movies or even reading books. Actors are chosen to play a role because they gave the best performance in their audition or because a director thought they would be “perfect??? for a role. This doesn’t always match up with our, the audience’s, ideal of who should be cast in a specific role. But I’ve learned that an actor’s skill and talent is necessary for me to be able to suspend my disbelief and for the most part, especially in the case of very talented actors, they succeed. Not everyone has an easy time with this, however.

Enter the upcoming Thor movie.

I’m excited about it. I think they nailed the choices for the lead characters (and I mean Thor, Loki, and Odin) right on the head. The story looks like it has potential, the special effects look great, and it’s really starting to look like Marvel is getting the hang of this whole move to the big screen thing down. Well, at least initially. They’re still working on the whole sequels thing. And sometimes they let the screenplay writers take some pretty big liberties. Yes, I’m looking at whoever made Galactus a cosmic cloud…

Now, those of us who are looking at this movie with a cautious eye have, at one time or another, picked up a Thor comic and have the perceived right to be critical of cast choices. We base our critique on what we’ve read in the comics, what we know of the characters from the comics, and on the stories we’ve read on those pages. So long as some basic rules are followed, we’re going to be happy. After all, this is supposed to be fun, right?

Apparently someone at the Council of Conservative Citizens didn’t get the memo about this being fun. The CCC is up in arms that Idris Elba is going to play Heimdall because he’s not… white. Somehow I think the fact that he’s not white wasn’t missed by the people running the auditions and thus far, from what I’ve seen of his acting, I’m actually looking forward to seeing Idris playing the role of Heimdall. If you’re not familiar with Idris’ work, check out 28 Weeks Later or Losers. He’s really good at playing a tough guy and aside from Thor, who else in Asgard was such a badass?

The CCC, however, is really upset that Idris isn’t a Nordic looking Viking dude and says that “Marvel has declared war on Norse mythology??? by casting him as Heimdall. Because that’s what Marvel does… declares war on mythologies. For fun and profit.

Seriously though, we’re talking about a mythos here, not some historical event or living religion. It’s not like Marvel is doing the “Adventures of Jesus and the Apostle Squad???. Now that I write that, I could see myself reading a title with that name and probably enjoying it. Don’t get any ideas, Marvel, copyright pending.

Among the CCC’s “noble??? goals is the opposition of “all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called “affirmative action??? and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.???  Straight from their website.

Here’s where I’m confused. Mentioned in their “Statement of Principles??? is this little Tidbit: “We believe the United States is a Christian country.??? I might be a little bit of a stickler but doesn’t that mean your group should be protesting the movie as a whole because, you know, it’s about a race of Gods who don’t appear to be mentioned in the bible?  But nooooooo, you’re going to protest the fact that a black man is playing a Viking God. Way to pick your battles there, guys.

This isn’t the sort of thing I would typically legitimize by writing about it but the humor here writes itself. It’s hard to believe you’re going to pick a movie about mythological beings to protest ONE whole cast member as a means to make your principles known. Seriously.

I wonder what they’re going to think when I cast Idris as the main character in my movie adaptation of “Jesus and the Apostle Squad???.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

So like most fan boys, I was pretty rearing to go to see the new Iron Man movie. Now don’t get me wrong, even though I am a cynical jerk and really bash a lot of the movies I watch… I was actually looking foward to seeing Iron Man 2. The first one was better than I expected, and I really wanted to see the bar raised for this one.

If the bar was raised… someone forgot to tell Marvel because they made a movie that reminds me of that girl in the tourist bar you always see. All hype… no follow through. You know the type, just out to score free drinks. In this sense.. the free drink is a 13 dollar movie ticket, and we all got taken for a ride.

Now don’t get me wrong. The movie is visually stunning. (Like said girl in a bar). It’s pretty to look at, there are scenes that are kind of cool if they lasted long enough. It’s just well… I think I saw more of Tony OUT of the suit than in it. They tried to tackle this plot of Tony Stark dying, but we didn’t care, we wanted some action. The story was a bastardized version of the comic (will we ever learn Marvel… it didn’t go down like that) and we comic fans have to put up with it so Joe Dumbass who never read a comic in his life can approve it…

That’s just it Marvel movie studio… if I NEVER read a comic book before, I guess I’d be impressed (ahem.. wanted anyone?)

On the cool though, Scarlett Johansson’s fine Tom Waits’ lovin’ self was damn gorgeous. They could have casted better, but at least she was something to look at.

SPOILER ALERT:
(more…)

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.

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

I woke up today with the phone ringing off the hook. I was unaware of the media bomb that had been dropped earlier in the morning. Disney is buying Marvel.

Wha? Hold the phone…

Immediately visions of kiddie shows, “Avenger Babies”, a Hanna Montana guest appearance, and a Jonas Brothers super hero team came into my head.

No way did I want the heroes I grew up on to be mixed up with this. I logged on to Twitter as the news was somewhat fresh to see artists and freelancers freaking out about the future of their work.

As the day wore on, more things came to light. Disney says it’s not going to touch Marvel much. They are going to let them continue to work on things as they had been much like the Pixar buyout.

(that is until the 3rd party licemse agreements expire)

The good news is, comics as a print form are slowly dying out. Disney has a hell of a media setup, and there movies havent been to shady either. This could be a good thing.

The only thing certain is that sooner or later, change is coming to the House of M. We can only hope for the best.

On another note, maybe they’ll let Peter and Mary Jane get back together… aren’t they big on “happily ever after”?

-T. Danger

If there was anything that was going to bring me out of my little hiatus from writing, it was probably going to be a comic book movie, and folks… I guess I waited for the right one to spew about.

The movie of course, is “XMEN ORIGINS: Wolverine” which is a bad sign because that is 20th Century Fox’s way of saying “We can always make more America!”

I probably could have gone to see this at the midnight premeire Thursday night, but I really didn’t want to because quite honestly, most Wolverine fans have the fashion sense of an overweight Brett Micheals and frankly the only bad mutton chops, cowboy boots and hats I can stand are from the leading character here.

Why the dislike for the clawed one? Why not? Someone around here has to play the devil’s advocate, and it just seems like every 15 to 40 year old virgin who still think Dogg the Bounty Hunter is cool just can’t let this character go….

So here’s a shocker for you… Wolverine is the Britney Spears of superheroes. He’s overrated. He has a crappy origin that wasn’t even explained until the 90′s and it wasn’t because Marvel comics was holding onto some big important origin, it was because they just didn’t have one, they created a viseral looking character who was Stone Cold Steve Austin before Steve Austin was… Case in point, they broke comic book character law by not making a real origin for him… later they added on this Weapon X bullsh** so we would all think he is some great tortured character and blah blah blah. And then they made a movie of it.

He heals. (Great) He has claws (Great) and he’s indestructable (Great)… He’s every 13 year old who ever got beat up in school’s wet dream. Which leads me to believe there was a lot of you kids getting beat up in school, because why this guy is the number one hero of all time is beyond me.

But hey… I’m a comic guy. I’ve read these books. It’s my schtick. So my question to the movie makers is… If a guy who thinks Wolverine is a word that rhymes with Budussy can stop and read the Wolvie and Xmen comics… why can’t the movie people stop and read Xmen comics? I mean did any of you decide to crack open a book just slightly?

Of course Rob Liefield has been loving the movie on twitter. I’m sure it’s because he co created the Deadpool character and is probably getting great royalties off of it, but if I was him, I would be pissed off at how bad they EFFED up Wade Wilson  AKA Deadpool. I’d be mad at half the things they messed up, I mean without giving much away, it’s almost as bad as making Galactus a cloud in the Silver Surfer disaster. (Oh we didn’t forget about you FF!)

So in short (and you will notice that this movie isn’t much discussed because frankly there are other sites out there to tell you the damn plot) I’ll tell you what this is good for…

Good for:

Chilling out for 2 hours

Getting your denim on

Seeing the same fight over and over (Wolverine: “I’m going to kill you! ROAR!” charges at opponent, gets knocked down, repeat)

Not Good For:

Deep Thought

Expecting another Iron Man or Dark Knight

Deadpool fans (unless your name rhymes with Seinfeld and you like people runining your character)

-Timothy Danger / BusyGamer.com

It’s on, it’s off. It’s on, it’s off again. Well now latest reports from Reuters are saying it’s on again. What you ask? A massive multiplayer online game set in the Marvel Comic world. This beast has been stuck in limbo for two years now. Of course it needs to be done, and I’m thoroughly delighted that it actually IS moving forward in some sort of developmental phase.

Here’s officially what Hollywood Reporter said:

“Marvel Entertainment and Gazillion Entertainment have struck a licensing deal to develop massively multiplayer online games based on Marvel characters.

The first game in development is a casual MMO title for younger audiences based on Marvel’s “Super Hero Squad” property.

Videogame publisher Gazillion also will develop “Marvel Universe,” an MMO game for PC and consoles. Financial details of the licensing deal were not disclosed.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Tuesday’s agreement is an exclusive 10-year deal between Marvel and Gazillion, whose investors include Allen & Co and Oak Investments.”

What I don’t get is they were unable to get this deal in motion in the past but now they are going to try and throw two Marvel MMO’s at us? I feel the words “Epic Fail” for some reason. And looky looky, they are boasting a ’console’ version too.   

With DC Comics putting their online soul stealer together “DC Universe”, and Cryptic’s “Champions Online” very close to open beta testing, it only makes sense that Marvel finally get on the ball.

I really hope so, just don’t leave me a trail of bread crumbs and jump horses a year into development (again).

Come on Marvel, I want to dust off my cape.

-Crutchboy Out

[Source]

For those Halo fans out there, we here at Busy Gamer are getting the buzz that plenty of things are coming in the future for the first person shooter sci-fi series.

Halo franchise development director has announced two new Halo comic series for 2009 (in addition to The Halo: Uprising #4 coming out March 18, which closes the gaps on activities between Halo 2 and Halo 3). Marvel has stated that two new working titles are ‘Halo: Hell Jumpers’ about the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and ‘Halo: Spartan Black’, tales of a team of Spartans.

The ODST comic arriving this summer will be stories of the Shock Trooper Team who are known for their “Navy Seal” type skills, according to O’connor. These ass whoopers will be the focus of the next Halo game “Halo 3: ODST” (a first person shooter taking place just after Halo 2 and before Halo 3).

O’Connor says:

“(this game) is significantly more than an add-on. It’s a lot of game. You play the game through the point of view of an ODST. They are dropped into combat from orbit. They have a rivalry with the Spartans that is well known to the fans of the fiction. We finally let you into their boots as it were. …It’s kind of a detective story in a way. But it is much more action-packed than that.”

O’Connor also added penetrating words regarding our favorite main character, “I doubt we have seen the last of Master Chief.”

So as if your Halo wish list was not full already, it ought to be full as hell by now.

[Source]

-Crutchboy out