Marvel MMO Re-Licensed to ... Gazillion?

John Funk

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Marvel MMO Re-Licensed to ... Gazillion?



Marvel Comics has signed a 10-year licensing deal for a MMOG based on its universe with relatively unknown developer-publisher Gazillion Entertainment.

The idea of a Marvel MMO has been around for quite some time now - initially, the title was in the hands of City of Heroes developers Cryptic Studios, but was canceled early in 2007, with some of the framework being used for Cryptic's own Champions Online. With Cryptic's cancellation, it was uncertain whether fans of the Marvel Universe would ever get the chance to visit it in MMO form.

Until now, apparently. Gazillion Entertainment announced yesterday that the company had signed a 10-year licensing deal with Marvel Comics to create online videogames based on the universe. The first of these will be an online game based on the kid-oriented Super Hero Squad [http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=8099] cartoon. The cartoon will air on Cartoon Network this fall, whereas the videogame is expected to launch sometime in 2010.

Of course, the 10-year license means that Gazillion could make any number of MMOGs set in the iconic Marvel world. They could go the route of an all-encompassing Marvel Online, sure, or perhaps break it down into series: X-Men Online, Avengers Online, etc., but retain cross-game functionality a la City of Heroes/Villains?

It's quite a big scoop for a relatively unknown company, but Gazillion (previously known as NR2B Research) has some MMO experience under its belt - notably, as the owner of NetDevil, the developers of LEGO Universe and Jumpgate Evolution.

Anyone care to wager how many characters we'll see with variants on the phrase "I'm the Juggernaut, *****"?

(Gamasutra [http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/16/gazillion-to-launch-series-of-major-online-games-with-marvel-comics-characters/])

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dekkarax

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Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
 

scotth266

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notoriouslynx said:
dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
That is exactly what I'm thinking.
I don't like marvel, DC is much better.
They do different things with their comics. It works out for the average consumer, who wants lots of different choices.
But yeah, the head is odd...Too skull-like.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
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notoriouslynx said:
scotth266 said:
notoriouslynx said:
dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
That is exactly what I'm thinking.
I don't like marvel, DC is much better.
They do different things with their comics. It works out for the average consumer, who wants lots of different choices.
But yeah, the head is odd...Too skull-like.
My favorite comic publishers are dark horse comics, their comics are very different than the superhero ones, which I like. Who is your favorite comic publishers?
Also obama looks weird in that picture as well.
Gotta give you props for picking DH, they're good dudes. Also, they published the manga Gantz, which is a favorite of mine (messed up as all hell though.)
I liked some of the Ultimates, mainly Spider-Man and X-Men though. The FF and Iron Man Ultimates... Well I didn't care for them.
Batman is usually pretty cool, though I haven't seen any DC series recently... Gotta get back into that stuff.
 

level250geek

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DC Comics tend to be more grounded in reality, while Marvel Comics tended to have more sprawling story lines. It's not easy to pull off either.

I like Dark Horse for doing things differently but still having mainstream appeal. Hard to do both of those.

Yes, Spidey's head looks odd.

I would rather play in Marvel's universe than DC's, so I've got to say that I'm rather excited about a Marvel MMO.
 

TsunamiWombat

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notoriouslynx said:
dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
That is exactly what I'm thinking.
I don't like marvel, DC is much better.
level250geek said:
DC Comics tend to be more grounded in reality, while Marvel Comics tended to have more sprawling story lines. It's not easy to pull off either.

I like Dark Horse for doing things differently but still having mainstream appeal. Hard to do both of those.

Yes, Spidey's head looks odd.

I would rather play in Marvel's universe than DC's, so I've got to say that I'm rather excited about a Marvel MMO.
Are you guys high? DC is horrible and chock full of cheese. Except for Batman/Blue Beetle, DC is full of crazy crazy cliche shit. Flash's "rogues gallery"? It's..ughn..ghlg..oh god I just vomited in my mouth
 

TsunamiWombat

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Onmi said:
TsunamiWombat said:
notoriouslynx said:
dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
That is exactly what I'm thinking.
I don't like marvel, DC is much better.
level250geek said:
DC Comics tend to be more grounded in reality, while Marvel Comics tended to have more sprawling story lines. It's not easy to pull off either.

I like Dark Horse for doing things differently but still having mainstream appeal. Hard to do both of those.

Yes, Spidey's head looks odd.

I would rather play in Marvel's universe than DC's, so I've got to say that I'm rather excited about a Marvel MMO.
Are you guys high? DC is horrible and chock full of cheese. Except for Batman/Blue Beetle, DC is full of crazy crazy cliche shit. Flash's "rogues gallery"? It's..ughn..ghlg..oh god I just vomited in my mouth
I'm impartial, can't I just like both?
Thats fine. To be fair, DC has friggin Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and the goddamned Batman. And if the other characters were creativly reinvisioned by someone like say.... me.... they could be awesome too. DC's biggest problem is it's hanging on history and characters that go back to the 50's. Wonderwoman should be in a breastplate, greaves, armored skirt- she should be a hoplite, not some bimbo in a unitard with a rope like some bondage queen. The Magic Lasso should be -real goddamn magic-, appearing from her hands like a whip of flame. Aquaman needs to be some half lizard half fish man thing. Not some prick in orange tights. The Dan Abnett reimagining was pretty good though.
 

level250geek

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Jan 8, 2009
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TsunamiWombat said:
notoriouslynx said:
dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
That is exactly what I'm thinking.
I don't like marvel, DC is much better.
level250geek said:
DC Comics tend to be more grounded in reality, while Marvel Comics tended to have more sprawling story lines. It's not easy to pull off either.

I like Dark Horse for doing things differently but still having mainstream appeal. Hard to do both of those.

Yes, Spidey's head looks odd.

I would rather play in Marvel's universe than DC's, so I've got to say that I'm rather excited about a Marvel MMO.
Are you guys high? DC is horrible and chock full of cheese. Except for Batman/Blue Beetle, DC is full of crazy crazy cliche shit. Flash's "rogues gallery"? It's..ughn..ghlg..oh god I just vomited in my mouth
Batman has always been good. Green Lantern is one of the better books being put out today. Anything with the Vertigo imprint tends to be pure quality. I guess you can say that when DC knocks it out of the park, they really knock it out of the park.

I wouldn't call DC horrible though. I still like Marvel better, overall. That's why I'd rather play in their world. So no, I'm not high. :)
 

I III II X4

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dekkarax said:
Is it just me, or does Spider man's head in that picture look like a misshapen potato?
He seems to have the skull of a rather old man...

Also, I love how it drew so much attention, to hell with the MMO, people are more curious as to what in the hell happened to Spidey.
 

darktruth

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Mar 19, 2009
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I'm a huge Marvel fan. I have nothing against DC or others in particular, I just understand more of the Marvel universe and prefer more of their characters to anyone else (I mean come on, who doesn't love Deadpool?). I can't wait to see what comes out of this deal, the Super Hero Squad one might be fun, despite its child audience. I think it's a smart choice by Marvel picking a relatively unknown company and a smart move by Gazillion to work on getting the rights to Marvels properties (five thousand plus character library). I'll admit a few Marvel characters can be really lame, though I tend to find that they're deliberately lame while with DC they try to make them popular but fail. That's just me though, and I don't have a lot of experience with DC so I may be wrong.
Another smart move is that they aren't directly competing against DC Online or Champions Online. Theyre buying their time with rather different projects like Super Hero Squad likely so they can build a base and check out the competition. Plus it means by the time they do try to compete they'll have better technology from launch on their side.
 

Rodlian

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Mar 20, 2009
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This has been a long-time coming, and it better be great. Otherwise, there may be a Hulk-like riot in the streets?

http://game.ology.com/2009/03/19/marvel-mmo-rises-like-a-jean-grey-from-the-ashes/

-Jared J. H. Catapano (ology.com)