Kotaku: iron man

Summer Blockbuster Maximize Licensed Crap Profit

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:40:33 MDT

Summer blockbusters don't just line the pockets of film studio executives and actors working on a percentage of the gross, it looks like they help resellers of licensed games too. According to a bit of research from the Video Game Price Charts blog—I've used them in the past when selling my unwanted games via eBay—the time to strike when selling your copy of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine or Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal is when the movie adaptations hit theaters.

Yes, there's even a market for the terrible PlayStation Speed Racer game! Plenty of interesting charts and graphs await hopeful auctioneers at VGPC. I'm off to put a spit shine on my copy of The X-Files for PSone in anticipation!

Summer Movies Increase Game Prices. Go Speed Racer! [VGPC]

Iron Man Game Rentals Beat Out GTA IV (Sorta)

Brian Crecente — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:00:00 MDT

Iron Man the movie wasn't the only Marvel enterprise to do well against GTA IV over the weekend, it looks like Iron Man the video game also held it's own, at least for rentals.

In GameFly's weekly run down of top releases they show that while Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 took the top spot and Grand Theft Auto IV for the PS3 took the number three spot, Iron Man managed to wedge itself between the two, creating a crunchy GTA sandwich. The game based on the movie was also the top PSP and PS2 rental last week.

Not bad. Hit the jump to see the full list of cross-platform rentals for the week of GTA.

1 Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox 360 Action Adventure Take Two
2 Iron Man Xbox 360 Action Adventure Sega
3 Grand Theft Auto IV PlayStation 3 Action Adventure Take Two
4 Mario Kart Wii Wii Racing Nintendo
5 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Xbox 360 Shooter Ubisoft
6 Dark Sector Xbox 360 Shooter D3P
7 Iron Man PlayStation 3 Action Adventure Sega
8 Army of Two Xbox 360 Shooter Electronic Arts
9 Viking: Battle for Asgard Xbox 360 Action Adventure Sega
10 Ninja Gaiden 2 Xbox 360 Action Adventure Microsoft

Marvel Plans Iron Man Sequel After Big First-Quarter Cash-In

Leigh Alexander — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:40:00 MDT

$100.75 million opening day results for the Iron Man flick helped boost Marvel's sales for the first fiscal quarter to $112.6 million, the company announced today. While sales are down over the same period last year when the company raked in $151.4 million, Marvel said Iron Man was the 10th best opening weekend ever and the second-best non-sequel film debut ever, second only to Marvel's Spider Man. In total, Iron Man has generated about $201 million globally to date.

Marvel will no longer be involved in direct toy operations, it said, to increase its focus on entertainment and licensing opportunities. The company is also looking ahead to its next three years of character franchises — including an Iron Man 2 film to be released on April 30th, 2010.

Following the Iron Man sequel in April, Marvel will follow up with Thor on June 4th, 2010. Also up ahead? An "Avengers-themed summer," with two Avengers movies planned for May (The First Avenger: Captain America) and July of 2011 (The Avengers). The results announcement didn't reveal whether video game tie-ins were planned for the upcoming films — but it did show that they're working on a Spider-Man musical with music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge.

Marvel chairman Morton Handel said, "Marvel's self-produced feature film slate launched this past weekend with a performance that firmly establishes Iron Man as a major new film franchise, and the Company eagerly awaits the June premiere of The Incredible Hulk, Marvel's second self-produced film. In addition, Marvel has been investing in other important areas of growth such as the Internet where, to lead the Company's newly formed Global Digital Media Group, Marvel recently announced the hiring of Ira Rubenstein. Marvel has a strong foundation to build from, and the Company is adding infrastructure to maximize these opportunities."

Iron Man Movie Does Fine Despite GTA Release

Mike Fahey — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:20:00 MDT

Following the poor box office performance for movies released around the time Halo 3 came out, the film industry began to blame the major game release for causing the poor attendance rather than the poor quality of their films. Insiders began to speculate that the release of Grand Theft Auto IV would have significant impact on this last weekend's big movie release, Marvel's Iron Man. Well consider the whole video game versus movies theory shot down, as Iron Man earned an estimated $104.3 million this weekend including preview showings on Thursday, the second-highest grossing opening weekend ever for a non-sequel behind Spider-Man. I did my part, seeing the film twice over the weekend, and enjoying it immensely both times. Considering the fact that Iron Man is much lower on the public's radar than Spider-Man and the fact that GTA was a multi-platform release compared to the 360-exclusive Halo 3, we can safely assume that poor movie performance can still be blamed on poor movies.

'Iron Man' Blasts Off [Box Office Mojo]

Iron Man Lives Again

Mike Fahey — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:00:00 MDT

In case you haven't been paying attention, both the Iron Man movie and the game of the Iron Man movie are coming out tomorrow (or tonight at midnight), so you only have a few hours to complete your homemade suit of armor before heading out to the stores. Andrew Le already has his done, having painstakingly crafted this suit of armor in just six days.

What the Armor is made out of is Poster board, what was used was Hot glue gun, masking tape and alot of paint. I started making it 6 days ago, and wanted to be best i can make it.

So what drives a man to spend six days of his time to create this damn fine piece of work out of stuff just lying around the house? The answer, along with more pictures, after the jump.

i just wanted to make it for the movie release and for children to have a hero they can actually see in person :D. I done it because i been a fan of Iron man. I noticed that there nor plans or blue prints to make the armor of Iron man so i made one.

That's one mighty damn noble guy right there. To give the children a hero, because he is a big fan, and because it hadn't been done. Ladies and gentlemen, I have officially been out-Iron Man fanboyed. Check out the gallery for more pics, or visit Andrew's MySpace for a whole slew more. Damn fine work for poster board. I'd love to see what he'd do with more time and better materials. Hulkbuster Armor, anyone?

Iron Man: One Man Army

Mike Fahey — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:20:00 MDT

The star-studded behind the scenes Iron Man action continues as Sega gathers Stan "The Man" Lee, John Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., and a cast of thousands sing the praises of the upcoming game, due out at the end of this week. There really isn't all that much more they can say at this point. Stan likes it. John likes it. I myself am mildly fond of what I've seen so far, while awaiting having the full game in my hands before I pass any sort of final judgment. I think we've seen just about everything we're going to see before the movie and game come out, so now we wait.

And play GTA IV.

Behind The Iron Man - The Armor

Mike Fahey — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:00:00 MDT

Personally I don't know why Sega and Secret Level keep putting these things out, seeing as we already posted the definitive Iron Man video on Friday, but at least this behind the scenes look at the making of the game deals with what we can probably all agree is the best-looking part of it - the armor itself. Having played the demo some 20 times more over the weekend after my initial impressions, I can say that I am a good bit excited by the potential of the title again. I think I could find a great deal of fun in upgrading the armors and customizing the suit to my liking. I would have liked some cosmetic customization, but that wasn't going to happen. The game is due out May 2nd with the movie, and with my birthday May 1st, I shall procure it as a present for myself. That way if it isn't as good as I hope it'll hurt that much more. Woot!

Iron Man Weekend Party Fun Time!

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:30:00 MDT

The weekend is finally here! After a long week of helping fill in for the mysteriously absent McWhertor and Crecente, it's time to kick back and have some fun, and I'm bringing Iron Man with me, because that guy knows how to party. Shoot at him and he only dances harder! Hell yeah!

Talking To The Iron Man Demo

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:00:00 MDT

You'll notice long periods of silence in this video of my play through of the Iron Man demo on the Xbox 360. Those were moments when I was genuinely enjoying myself enough that I forgot I was filming it. Despite said enjoyment, I'd have to say that if I weren't an Iron Man fan, I probably wouldn't have been moved to buy the game after a single play through. To controls take a great deal of getting used to, the bits that let you use special moves to take out vehicles and turrets are simply jarring interactive cutscenes, and I could certainly see Tony's running dialogue with his computer JARVIS (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) growing stale quickly. You're watching my second play through here. On my third I actually took things slow, and the flight controls grew on me quite a bit. Oh, and you can upgrade a couple of the systems in the suit...just not the one I was attempting to. Not exactly overjoyed, yet not quite heartbroken either.

IRON MAN 360 DEMO LIVE - While we hesitate ...

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:10:00 MDT

IRON MAN 360 DEMO LIVE - While we hesitate to sabotage our own download speeds, the Iron Man demo that Sega announced yesterday is now available for download on Xbox Live. 623MB of heavy metal mayhem. For those of you not at your 360, check back later for impressions on the Iron Avenger's 360 adventure.

Iron Man Demo Coming Tomorrow

Mike Fahey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:00:00 MDT

I was sitting here, thinking how odd it was that Sega hadn't released anything new on Iron Man today when the notification showed up in my email box - a playable demo for the game is will be available for the Xbox 360 tomorrow, with a PlayStation Network one coming soon. I'm both overjoyed and anxious about getting my hands on the game. It could be a wondrous experience, or it could suck completely. I suppose we'll know come tomorrow morning. While we wait, enjoy this video revealing what the demo has in store for us.

Iron Man Voice Acting With Downy Downey Jr.

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:20:00 MDT

Here's another in the series of the Victor Lucas narrated shorts for Sega's Iron Man video game, this time featuring the voice acting talents of a Robert Downey Jr. who seems to have a soft lining of goose down on his head, which they explain is for an upcoming role. He doesn't make a good blond, but he does make a damn fine Tony Stark. Even Stan "The Man" Lee thinks so! Listening to Downey Jr. read the lines, we can at least rest assured that the game will be a joy to listen to as well as look at. Here's hoping the gameplay follows suit!

You Got Iron Mans In My Incredible Hulk

Mike Fahey — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:00:00 MDT

This interesting bit of concept art for Sega's The Incredible Hulk game just showed in my mailbox today. What do you suppose it means? You don't think that Hulkbuster Iron Man could make a cameo appearance in the game, do you? Probably just a coincidence. I mean, the Hulkbuster armor is appearing in the Iron Man game, so they're probably just using leftover artwork or something.

OMG Iron Man in the Hulk game!

Iron Man Unlockables In Action

Mike Fahey — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:20:00 MDT

Dammit Sega, quit teasing me already! I've got it preordered, okay? I've read the novelization of the film by Peter David, I've got movie tickets for midnight on my birthday, I have several of the action figures sitting on my desk in action poses, and my desktop wallpaper is Iron Man pounding his fist into the ground, as he is wont to do. You don't have to sell me anymore. Yes, it is nice to see the unlockable armors in action, along with confirmation that each of them will have their own stats, but really...we get it. I'm telling you guys, this had better be the best damn comic book video game ever or I'm going to start biting people.

Games Are Bigger Than Movies? I Did Not Know

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:00:31 MDT

Movies, games, FIGHT! Electronic Arts' honcho John Riccitiello has his finger on the pulse of something and noticed that movie people are worried about big time video games. When not trying to take over Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two, Riccitiello says:

There is more interest today from Hollywood to make movies out of our games than there is interest in our industry to make games out of their movies. There's a big reset happening now...

The buzz in Hollywood, which I heard from some Hollywood folks is people are worried whether Iron Man the movie is going to get killed by Grand Theft Auto the game. I don't think I've ever heard of that before.

Apparently, Riccitiello was under a rock or something when Halo 3 launched.
Gamemaster Makes Play [Financial Times]

Iron Man Unlockable Outfits

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:40:00 MDT

I doubt many superheroes have had nearly as many costume changes as Iron Man has over the years, and Sega recognizes this fact by including several unlockable classic armors in the game. You've got your classic red and gold, the dull metal prototype version Stark crafted while in captivity, Hulkbuster armor, and even the Extremis suit, which a techno-virus infected Tony could keep inside the hollows of his bones. The extra armors are both a gift and a curse, however, to someone owning both an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 3, as each platform is getting an exclusive. The 360 gets the Silver Centurion suit worn during the first Armor Wars, while PS3 buyers get the high-maintenance Ultimate Iron Man outfit. Right now I am leaning towards the 360 version, though I am sure once I hit the store I will break down into a tiny puddle of indecisiveness.

Iron Man Game to Feature New + Classic Suits [Comic Book Resource - Thanks Dana!]

Sessler On Grand Theft Box Office

Mike Fahey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:00:00 MDT

We've touched on the subject before and have even come to the same conclusion, but there's something charming about X-Play's Adam Sessler delivery of the material in this installment of Sessler's Soapbox. Perhaps the best thing about these segments is that this is exactly how a conversation with Sessler goes in real life, only with varying degrees of slurring depending on how late at night it is. I still remember the first time I met him, when he put his arm across my shoulders and said...um. Well I couldn't quite make it out. The point here is Sessler kicks ass, regardless of whether you can make out what he's saying or not.

The Iron Man Trailer Of Cinematics You'll Want To Skip

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:40:28 MDT

The uncanny valley in video games is only made deeper when polygons attempt to recreate celebrities, as illustrated by this Iron Man story trailer. The odd lighting on robo-Terrence Howard isn't helping, but I remain convinced that Sega can make up for the PlayStation 2 travesty that was Astro Boy with the similarly jet-booted Iron Man. The game certainly looks like it could be competent, but we've been burned by movie-to-game adaptations plenty. At the least, the trailer gave me a cheap Halloween costume idea, requiring nothing but a halo of LED lights and a heather blue thermal shirt.

Iron Man Behind-The-Scenes

Mike Fahey — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:40:00 MDT

Developer Secret Level displays a pretty firm grasp on the abilities of Iron Man in this developer diary for the game of the same name. It does an IM fan proud to know that the dev team, purchased by Sega specifically for this project, had to figure out a way to create gameplay that Tony Stark couldn't just waltz through. Not only do Secret Level and Sega understand Iron Man, they also understand that it isn't a real developer diary until it's narrated by Electric Playground's Victor Lucas. It's true!

Sega Details Iron Man Upgrades

Mike Fahey — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:00:00 MDT

Comic book character video games, even those based on comic book movies, love utilizing power upgrades as motivation to perform well, and nowhere is this nearly as appropriate as in Sega's upcoming Iron Man game. In a diary posted over at IGN today, Game Director Jeffrey Tseng explains how the upgrade system works in the game. Completing missions gives you cash, which I suppose is odd for a billionaire playboy, but we'll run with that. The better you perform, the better upgrades you can buy for your armor. Before each mission you can swap out various parts, much like your standard mech combat game...and I suppose that's what Iron Man is - a tiny mech. You can swap out repulsors, core systems, power cores, thrusters, and auxiliary weapons, allowing you to create a suit of armor well-suited to your armor needs. With multiple levels of upgrades available in each category, the Iron Man fanboy in me has actually caught on fire in anticipation of the game. I may even - given the opportunity - girlishly squeal.

Iron Man: The Suit Makes the Man [IGN]

Iron Man Movie Cast Is Iron Man Game Cast

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Hey, Iron Man fans, quit worrying about the voice-acting for Sega's upcoming tie-in game, would you? Everything's going to be OK. Nice and authentic. Sega have announced that the film's three main stars - Robert Downey Junior, Terence Howard and Shaun Toub - will be reprising their roles for the game. If only I could go back to 1990 and place a bet that in 2008 I'd be playing as Robert Downey Junior in a superhero game made by Sega that's appearing on no less than seven platforms...

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (March 20, 2008) -SEGA® of America, Inc., SEGA Europe Ltd., and Marvel Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the Iron Man™ video game, based on the successful Marvel comic book series and the upcoming film by Marvel Studios, will feature the voice talents of Robert Downey Jr., Terence Howard and Shaun Toub. All three actors will reprise their onscreen roles of Tony Stark (Downey), Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Howard), and Yinsen (Toub). The Iron Man video game launches day and date with the blockbuster movie on May 2, 2008.
Iron Man, an explosive third-person action shooter game that pits one of the
world's most renowned Super Heroes against unspeakable odds, draws its story
from the upcoming movie while also incorporating story elements from
original Iron Man comic books. Using the advanced technology in Iron Man's
suits of armor, gamers can take advantage of the wide array of high-impact
weapons to strategically annihilate any enemy force standing in their way.
Before tackling stunning and immense open battlefields, players can
customize their armor suit as they encounter progressively more vicious
enemies, and fight in epic battles that could challenge even the toughest
Super Heroes.

Iron Man is the story of Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and
inventor who had it all. But during a routine weapons test in the Middle
East, Stark was captured and forced to construct the ultimate weapon.
Instead of following his captors' demands, Tony built his own devastating
weapon - a powerful suit of armor that provided the key to his heroic
escape. From this point forward, Tony Stark became more than a man. He
became Iron Man.

Iron Man will be available this spring for the Xbox 360® video game and
entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii™ home video game system, the
PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer
entertainment system, the Nintendo DS™, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)
system and Windows-based PC. For more information please go to www.sega.com.

Iron Man Trailer Evokes Childhood Shame

Mike Fahey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:09 MDT

I recently was reminded of a time when I was little and would act out Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" song with a cardboard box over my head, pretending to be Tony Stark. This makes me question whether my excitement over the upcoming Iron Man film and Sega video game are because I am truly excited about the film version of Iron Man or if I am just relieved to have someone else dancing around robotically with his head covered in cardboard. Become my childhood shame sponge, Sega!

Will GTAIV Hurt The Iron Man Release?

Mark Wilson — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:20:34 MDT

Remember when Hollywood blamed Halo 3 for why they ~~made crappy movies~~ had low box office revenues? Now one analyst is predicting that Grand Theft Auto IV could cause such an effect. Arriving in stores on April 29th, the upcoming planned-blockbuster Iron Man hits theaters just days later on May 2nd and shares GTA's young male demographic audience.

Sure, you may argue that gamers could just see the movie later and Iron Man will still make plenty of money. But studios get higher cuts of ticket sales near a movie's launch, making the loss of Hollywood profits from gaming entities potentially quite real. Will you stay in on Iron Man weekend to play GTAIV?

GTA IV May Carjack Iron Man Ticket Sales [Next Generation]

Iron Man Keeps Pulling Me Back

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:40:16 MST

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my new desktop picture. Granted you can't see it on my desktop due to my nasty habit of downloading single screenshot and video I receive directly to said desktop, but privative prototype Iron Man is rocking it somewhere back there. Another batch of six beautiful Xbox 360 screenshots once again have the comic book geek fighting with the video game skeptic in me, and right now the comic book geek is winning out - I would spend $60 on this game just to walk around in that suit for an hour. Sure Tony Stark is a millionaire playboy who treats women like toys and falls into bouts of rampant alcoholism. That armor shell allows him the anonymity to put aside his shortcomings and be something truly great. Imagine if we used the anonymity of the internet to do great things instead of call each other names! Yeah I know - "Keep dreaming, jackass."

Iron Man In Action

Mike Fahey — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:20:10 MST

This game is going to disappoint me somehow, I just know it. Every new piece of art, screenshot, or trailer for Sega's Iron Man game - like this one from the VGAs - just raises my hopes higher and higher. Was that the black and red stealth armor I just saw? *squeals like a girl* Both the movie and the video game have my fanboy gland kicking into high gear, but not so much that I don't recognize the warning signs of a bad comic book game. First there is the over-dependence on desert and snow scenes. Then there's that one bit where he flies through the ring. I know it's just one ring, but that's one ring closer to Superman 64.

Does Whatever An Iron Can

Mike Fahey — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:20:13 MDT

Between the amazing movie trailer and these spectacularly shiny screenshots of the Xbox 360 version, 2008 could very well be the year that Iron Man gets the fame and recognition he truly deserves. How can they lose? They have a billionaire industrialist who has to find a way to balance saving the world in his high-tech armor with bedding beautiful women and getting drunk. Who can't relate to that? Now I'm sure I've seen these screenshots before, though Sega says they are new. Perhaps I am just having The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction flashbacks.

The Iron Man of Gaming Competiton Crowns a Winner

fdemarco — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:30:00 MDT

This weekend marked the first ever Iron-Man Gaming Competition presented by Video Gamers League and creators Handsome Tom and Stuttering Craig of ScrewAttack.comin Dallas, Texas. Eighty contestants competed in six different games (Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting, Madden '08, Dead or Alive 4 and Halo 2) over three days, but ultimately only one would reign supreme as the Iron-Man of Gaming. The big winner was Chris "Kumachine" Delp who took home the massive Iron-Man belt and a thousand dollars cash and dedicated the victory to his hometown of New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Second place was taken by Louis "Big Lou" Hughes who took home a slightly less exciting prize; a women's tennis championship trophy wrapped in a broken third party PlayStation controller. Stay tuned for details on the next Iron-man of Gaming Competition coming next year.

ScrewAttack Announces Iron-Man of Gaming Tournament

fdemarco — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 11:00:00 MDT

ScrewAttack.com founders and video moguls Handsome Tom and Stuttering Craig are spreading their wings and joining up with Video Gamers League to present The Iron-Man of Gaming Tournament. The competition will take place during the Summer 2007 CPL Championships which happens Thursday, August 30 to Sunday, September 2, 2007 (Labor Day Weekend) at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas. Craig and Tom's take on gaming tournaments is a little different from the usual in that players will compete in a variety of games rather than just one.

Unlike other tournaments where a player is judged on his skills in a single game, the Iron-Man tests a player's skills across all eras and all genres. Player will be awarded points on six games- three classic and three current. Each game is weighted equally and the player with the most total points will be declared the Iron-Man winning $1000 cash and the Iron-Man championship belt.

The games being featured in the competition are:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Pac-Man Championship Edition
• Halo 2
• Madden 2008
• Dead or Alive 4
• Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition

All games will be played on Xbox 360's provided they don't fail during the tournament. To see a couple of videos on the event including a commercial and a breakdown of how the competition will be scored, head on over to ScrewAttack.com

Iron Man Concept Art

Mike Fahey — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:20:17 MDT

Speaking of mishandling Marvel licenses, Sega has released this piece of Iron Man concept art (click for a larger version) from their upcoming game based off of Jon Favreau's Iron Man movie. Perfect for all of you out there that didn't know what Iron Man or tanks looked like. Thank goodness for concept artists. Stop the presses! I found another piece of Iron Man concept art I will post after the jump!

There's even more out there! Do a Google search for Iron Man and you'll find thousands of pieces of Iron Man 'concept art.' Was this really necessary, Sega PR people? Just tell us that Iron Man will be fighting tanks and we'll fill in the rest in our heads. If you'd have sent this out as Iron Man Desktop Wallpaper I would have been much more forgiving.

On a related note, check out Superhero Hype! for a write-up of the preview trailer for the Iron Man movie shown at Comic Con yesterday. Much more exciting than crouching in front of tanks.

Talking Iron Man with SEGA

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:45:15 MDT

So the Xbox 360 Iron Man game looks nice. It's the first third party title that features online Xbox 360 vs. XP and Vista. SEGA's been getting movie assets for its adaptation, and stuff like that helps! But what about the movie? With names like Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau's Iron Man has a A-list cast. And hey, it was even produced by the kid from A Christmas Story! The SEGA team worked closely with Favreau on the title. "You can tell he [Favreau] plays games," says SEGA dev Kevin Boyle. Meaning he didn't try to use the controller with his feet or something. So how's the movie script? "It's really good," says Boyle. "I'm saying that as a fan of the comic book." Let's hope so.

Sega Discusses Iron Man, Hulk Plans

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:40:23 MDT

Gamespot sat down with Sega's Scott Steinberg to talk all about the company's recently acquired Marvel licenses, including Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor. While the last two Marvel titles are a bit too far off to have anything concrete to reveal, Hulk fans will be happy to know that the well received Ultimate Destruction won't go ignored by Sega's dev teams.

With a new more action oriented Hulk flick in the works that focuses less on introspection and familial strife, I suspect we'll have a smashin' good Hulk game on our hands next year. Sega's take on Iron Man sounds a lot like their previous effort on Astro Boy, which may not be such a good thing.

Hopefully Sega won't deliver to us a Superman 64 quality effort. And, hey, what about that Ant-Man license? Get that ASAP! Michael McWhertor

Q&A: Sega's new Marvel portfolio [Gamespot]

Sega Assembles More Avengers

Mike Fahey — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:20:21 MDT

Already having cracked the shell on ol' Iron Man, SEGA has achieved true super villain status, capturing not just one but four of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Their evil plan includes trapping the in a bizarre video game dimension, forcing them to be controlled by an unknown third party like puppets on strings. Diabolical!

On second thought I'm only giving them credit for three, since one of them was dead when they found him. It's really easy to capture dead people, take it from me.

The Incredible Hulk will be getting a game based off of the upcoming cinematic apology in 2008, with Cap and the mighty ~~Assguard~~ Asgardian getting their movie and game twofers sometime in 2009.

Interesting to note that SEGA now has four out of six of the original Avengers in their stable (I know the Hulk left and Cap didn't show up till issue 4, but he was given honorary founding member status - don't try to outgeek me), and how hard can it be to secure the Ant Man/Giant Man and Wasp licenses? Hell, if SEGA doesn't act fast, I might pick them up myself to create a domestic abuse simulator. Michael Fahey

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND SEGA PARTNER TO CREATE CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE INCREDIBLE HULK AND THOR VIDEO GAMES

Relationship between Companies Expands and Builds on Previously Announced Iron Man Game

New York, NY, April 18, 2007 - Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), SEGA Europe Ltd and SEGA of America, Inc. have expanded their relationship to include the rights to develop and distribute games inspired by Marvel's Hall-of-Fame franchises - Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor. Through the exclusive, multi-year global licensing agreement, SEGA will create titles for console, handheld and PC platforms based upon both the classic comic books and planned feature film adaptations of these world-renowned Super Heroes. The deal follows Marvel and SEGA's announcement to create titles based on Super Hero favorite Iron Man, with both game and film slated to be released in Summer 2008.

"Video games are an ideal medium to showcase the appeal and excitement of our Super Hero franchises," said David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Studios. "SEGA is one of the industry's most innovative game developers and we are thrilled to partner with them to bring Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor to the video gaming arena. These franchises represent three of Marvel's most popular characters and lend themselves to captivating game play. We have already seen SEGA's passion for the Marvel Universe through the early development of the Iron Man video game, and we look forward to working closely with them over the next few years to maximize the potential of these franchises in the interactive entertainment space."

Under the expanded agreement, SEGA will develop a title to be based on Marvel Studios' highly-anticipated The Incredible Hulk feature film. The film will return the larger-than-life Super Hero to the roots of the long-running comic series and television show with an all-new action-packed storyline directed by Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Unleashed). The Incredible Hulk video game will be released in the same timeframe as the film. Games based on Captain America and Thor will follow, though the timing of those feature film projects, currently in development, has not yet been determined.

"We are excited to broaden our partnership with Marvel, a recognised leader and innovator in the entertainment industry," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America. "As SEGA continues to create games that are built from the ground up to appeal to Western audiences it makes perfect sense to work with a powerhouse like Marvel. Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor are icons that people are already familiar with and love, so our goal is to give gamers the ability to play out their fantasies by actually becoming these Super Heroes. Fans can now not only watch them in movies and read about them in comic books, but also literally control their actions through the video games we are creating. We look forward to bringing these icons to life like never before and putting the power in the hands of the fans."

Marvel Team-Up - Sega and Iron Man

Mike Fahey — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 09:40:07 MST

Today Sega announced that they have entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with Marvel granting them exclusive rights to develop video games based on Iron Man. The first project in the pipes is a game based off the 2008 Iron Man movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the millionaire alcoholic playboy heart-patient superhero. No details on the movie's plot have been revealed, but I expect it to answer the questions, "Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind?" once and for all.

I'm pretty excited here, being both a huge fan of Iron Man and a Sega enthusiast, at least when they're not viciously sodomizing their Sonic franchise in 3D. The last console title that primarily featured Shellhead was Acclaim's dismal Iron Man XO-Manowar in Heavy Metal for the Saturn and PS1, so the bar isn't set all that high to begin with. I figure as long as they include a man in some sort of armor they're golden. Michael Fahey

Sega and Marvel hook up for Iron Man [Gaming Age]

loopScape Makes Gamers Exercise, Concuss

brownlee — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 08:40:27 MDT

As a gamer, I have no interest in physical exertion. An amorphous blob squirted onto a sofa like a oogy dollop of pulsating liquid flesh, I have gruesomely mutated over the years into a sort of video game Tetsuo: a joystick stands erect from a gash in my thigh, I have DS Styluses implanted underneath my fingernails and one of my eyeballs has been removed and a miniature LCD display implanted in its stretched socket. This is home brew body mod at its finest, aimed to facilitate the perfection of a completely stationary existence, in which my mortal body is merely the disgusting vessel from which I digitally project my pixellated gamer soul onto the nearest television screen.

So I have no interest in loopScape, a game that requires me to run around in a circle for half an hour, dodging lights. It's like a vertigo-inducing LCD shmup. It hangs like a chandelier from the ceiling. It's two player, so there's the excellent chance that while you run around it, you will collide at high velocity with your opponent. If your partner were fat, this might be okay, like accidentally running into a wall of Marshmallow Fluff, but morbidly obese people like me aren't going to play it. That means your opponent is likely to be one of those clattering bags of sharp, rigid bones: running into one of these guys will be like being swatted by an anklyosaurus.

If I want physical exercise, I'll stick with morse code tapping DDR with my state-purchased reaching stick. Florian Eckhardt

If You Hate The Wii, You'll Really Hate This [Metafuture]