MARVEL Comics MMORPG for 360

[ringsyde]

DC comics recently announced an mmorpg for the PS3. Well, Marvel Comics has answered the call and set up a little deal of their own. This is from Yahoo news group:

Microsoft and Marvel ink online game deal By Lisa Baertlein
Thu Jul 14, 8:42 AM ET



SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it won exclusive rights to develop and publish multiplayer online games starring Marvel Enterprises Inc.'s super heroes, including Spider-man, the X-men and the Hulk.

The deal covers massively multiplayer online (MMO) game titles developed for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox 360 gaming console and published by the software giant's game studio.

The deal is Marvel's first MMO pact. The first title is expected in 2008.

"This is our one and only," Tim Rothwell, worldwide president of the Consumer Media Group at Marvel Enterprises, told Reuters, referring to the MMO pact.

The MMO deal is Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) first for a console, although the company has previously had MMO deals for the PC.

MMO games allow players in various locations to compete. Such game play is popular with PC gamers in Asia. Some analysts estimate that as many as 2 million people are MMO game players

Online capabilities will be central to new game consoles and Microsoft sees MMO games as a large opportunity.

The Xbox 360, Microsoft's next-generation game console, is due out this fall. The company launched Xbox Live, a fee-based online console gaming network, in November.

"Online gaming is reaching a point of acceptance. We will use as many of the Marvel characters as we can" in the MMO game, said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft's Xbox.

New York-based Marvel Enterprises (NYSE:MVL - news) owns a library of more than 5,000 characters, also including the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. It reaps revenue from licensing its characters for clothes, movies, games, snack foods and toys. It also publishes comic books and sells toys of its own.

Marvel has video game deals with Activision Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI - news), Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:ERTS - news), Vivendi Universal Games (EAUG.PA), THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI - news) and Majesco Entertainment Co. (Nasdaq:COOL - news)

[Chris Ingersoll]

I think they'll both tank. The only other MMO to be based on a franchise for far (The Matrix) didn't do that well to my knowledge, and it sounds like both of these games really want to be City of Heroes. The whole point of an MMO is to use your own character, not someone else's creation; since there's no way they'll let you use the official characters as players (at least if these are going to be Everquest-style MMOs), what will wind up happening is that you get to design your own D-level superhero and occasionally rub shoulders with the big boys. Sorta like being one of the seat-fillers in the Justice League. Personally, I'd rather just go ahead with CoH (if my PC could run it; I don't use it for gaming).

[More Palpatine]

admin said:

I think they'll both tank. The only other MMO to be based on a franchise for far (The Matrix) didn't do that well to my knowledge, and it sounds like both of these games really want to be City of Heroes.

Well, there was Star Wars Galaxies which wasn't that great in my opinion. Galaxies should've been a slam dunk, but there were too many flaws in the system (advancement, becoming a Jedi, etc.) that the game's stake dropped pretty quickly.

[ringsyde]

Therein lies the problem with this type of game. Bad servers and programming flaws send even the best concepts into the junk pile. I assume that the first of these two releases (DC's mmorpg for PS3 being the other) will be a failed attempt at creating a brand-specific version of City of Heroes. The latter release has a chance at being successful.

[Chris Ingersoll]

More said:

admin said:

I think they'll both tank. The only other MMO to be based on a franchise for far (The Matrix) didn't do that well to my knowledge, and it sounds like both of these games really want to be City of Heroes.

Well, there was Star Wars Galaxies

Oh yeah, forgot that one. Does that feature major characters form the movies, though? I know Matrix did, and presumably the comics ones will. Not quite the same thing, but a good point nonetheless.