Late Night Consoling

Publisher Sega today announced that it has acquired the video game rights to three Marvel comic book characters--The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. Today's news follows last November's announcement that Sega had acquired the Iron Man license. At the time, Sega noted that it would also be announcing a deal regarding "at least one additional Marvel Super Hero property." Speaking on the deal, Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel said, "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."

Games based on all four propertiets will be based on their corresponding upcoming feature films, with The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man slated to be the first released. Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Transporter 2) is directing The Incredible Hulk, due for release on June 13, 2008, while Swingers screenwriter Jon Favreau is helming the Iron Man film set for release in May 2008. Films based on the Captain America and Thor characters, neither of which yet have directors attached, are planned for completion in 2009.

"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," said Sega of America president Simon Jeffery. 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."

Developers for the games have not yet been announced.

Last March, THQ released Worms: Open Warfare for Nintendo DS and PSP, bringing Team17's long-running turn-based strategy-ish franchise to current portables. Today, the publisher announced that Worms: Open Warfare 2 is in the works for both systems. It will feature new themed battles based around common video game tropes such as "Space War," "Pirates," and "World War II." Those disappointed in the lack of online support in the previous release will be pleased to learn that Open Warfare 2 features online multiplayer, with persistent stats and leaderboards tracked via the game's official site. The game will feature new modes including Rope Race, Puzzle, Campaign, and Firing Range, and new weapons such as the Bunker Buster and Buffalo of Lies.

Team17 staff also confirmed that Open Warfare 2 will be developed by a newly contracted studio in conjunction with Team17; Open Warfare was developed by Gamesauce on Nintendo DS and by Team17 on PSP.

Worms: Open Warfare 2 is expected to ship for Nintendo DS and PSP in July 2007.

During a Game Developers Conference lecture this March, Grasshopper Manufacture founder and director Goichi Suda stated that Grasshopper would be remaking its first game, a Japan-only PlayStation adventure game entitled The Silver Case, on Nintendo DS. The game's sequel, released only on mobile phones in Japan, is also in the works for Nintendo DS. At the time, Suda indicated his desire to release the game worldwide, particularly given the more positive reception seen by his polarizing game Killer7 (PS2, GCN) in the West than in Japan, but was unsure if such a release would be possible.

Now, reporting from the GO3 conference in Perth, Australia, Gamasutra claims that Suda has confirmed a worldwide release for The Silver Case and its sequel on Nintendo DS. No release projection for any territory was given.

Veteran Pac-Man players will have the opportunity to display their old-school arcade skills with the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship, presented by Microsoft and Namco Bandai Games. The tournament will run from April 25 to May 9, 2007, and will see the top entrants from each participating country compete in the finals in New York City on June 5. Finalists will be chosen based on leaderboard scores as of May 9, and must be within the 1,000 Pac-Man players globally to qualify. As of April 25, players will be able to sign up at the Xbox Live competition official site.

Namco's Pac-Man, designed by Toru Iwatani and originally released to arcades in 1980, is available via Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points ($5). The game is required for eligibility in the tournament.

Not long after Atlus' announcement that it would be localizing and publishing Vanillaware's hand-drawn 2D action RPG Odin Sphere in North America, the company has assigned the game a release date of May 22. Unusually for niche titles, the game will be released only five days after its ship date in Japan. Atlus also confirmed that players will be able to use either a Japanese or English voice track.