Batman notwithstanding, most super-heroes are too powerful to fit well in standard video games, so say some veteran gaming reporters, following a discussion hatched at nearby urinals.

During the latest installment of the Listen Up podcast, host Garnett Lee tore into a design decision made in the recent Wolverine game that strips the hero of some of his powers, forcing players to earn them back, Metroid-style.

This anger apparently fomented during a mid-podcast bathroom break during which Lee and show regular John Davison, founder of What They Play, discussed the problem with super-hero games that involve heroes more powerful than mortal men.

Back from the restroom, they shared the following with the masses, at 1 hour, 24 minutes into their show:

Garnett Lee: If you're playing a Hulk or a Wolverine or a Captain America, you know who those characters are.

John Davison: This is where video game conventions let down the super-hero genre.

Lee: Absolutely.

Davison: There are expectations of video games that super-heroes aren't compatible with.

Lee: Like building the character. And having rewards based on how you develop the character. Maybe there's another reward system somebody could come up with. I don't' know what it is.

Davison: In that situation you should be able to die. There are certain things in video games that you take for granted that a super-hero automatically table-swipes. That' why the city-health thing [in EA's Superman Returns] I don't think it worked but..

G4TV.com reporter Patrick Klepek: It's clever. It was an attempt to do something different.

05-15-2009 Listen Up

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