Talking to Gamasutra, Disney's Stephen Wadsworth and Graham Hopper have revealed that they're having "a lot of conversations" with executives at the recently acquired Marvel, with a view to Disney-made "high-quality executions" of Marvel games.
Wadsworth, who is president of the Disney Interactive Media Group and recently spoke at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, noted that Disney/Marvel discussions about games are still relatively early, since the Spider-Man and Hulk creator was only purchased last August.
His colleague Graham Hopper, head of
Disney Interactive Studios, commented on the possibilities of Disney-masterminded Marvel games: "We're engaged in a lot of conversations with the Marvel team", adding: "We would like to do some things in there which would be really high-quality executions of Marvel content."
The recent Disney results also echoed the belief that Marvel games would be good for the higher-end, more "hardcore" Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 demographic which some Disney properties have a more difficult time reaching.
However, since a number of third-party game publishers currently have agreements with Marvel -- for example, Sega for the upcoming Iron Man 2 game -- it appears that it may be some time before all major Marvel properties free up for Disney control in terms of video games.
As for what branding these titles would be released under, Disney's Wadsworth told Gamasutra: "If we do things under the Marvel brand it may just be [marked on the box] under the Marvel brand." He added that it also might be a joint Marvel/Disney brand in some cases.
But since Disney products are not ever M-rated (the company's Turok was actually released under the Touchstone label), it appears that the former Marvel-only branding could apply for some of the more adult superhero titles -- which are nonetheless extremely early in the planning stages.
I believe if they execute a game that is more akin to the comics in visual style and story (i.e. Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but not necessarily that gameplay), than they would be more warmly received.
Most people I know will view Iron Man 2 as a movie cash-in.
Maybe try to take a risk with a Marvel franchise as Rocksteady and DC did with Batman?
Wolverine (good action game) and Batman (game of the year) are the future of comic book games. These tittles succeeded in making the player feel like they were the main star. No silly weakness or situations that turn Wolverine into a cloned character from Streets of Rage. There were also solid stories and gameplay.
Robert you mentioned borrowing the comic visual style. I am reminded of XIII for the first Xbox. Cell shaded game with a unique comic book frame style. I would love to see a Marvel game pick up that art style.
I'd like to see some story based games, such as, action adventure titles which take up classic art styles like Jack Kirby. Captain America, The Hulk and X-Men to name the biggies. But also the lesser known ones are ripe for not only story based games, but third person action, like New Gods, and the Forever People. Villians like Darkseid would translate into games superbly. And to really get a great game out of the Black Panther.
There is a treasure trove of IPs to create games from.
Most people I know will view Iron Man 2 as a movie cash-in.
Maybe try to take a risk with a Marvel franchise as Rocksteady and DC did with Batman?
Robert you mentioned borrowing the comic visual style. I am reminded of XIII for the first Xbox. Cell shaded game with a unique comic book frame style. I would love to see a Marvel game pick up that art style.
There is a treasure trove of IPs to create games from.
Though to be fare Ultimate Alliance is an excellent series.
A Daredevil game in the vein of "Man Without Fear" would be epic. So would a Punisher game with the visual style of "Welcome back Frank"
http://aboutmakinggames.blogspot.com/2009/08/marvel-not-doing-crappy-movie-games
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