Right now"The Avengers" is dominating cinema screens twelve ways from Sunday, so naturally, the powers that be would like Nick Fury's super squad to dominate your TV screen, too. To that end, Ubisoft has announced the development of Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, a title specifically geared to the strengths of the Xbox 360 Kinect and Wii U platforms.
Ubisoft Quebec is the studio in charge of bring it all to digital life, working alongside Marvel Entertainment and taking inspiration from the comic's Secret Invasion story arc. All the obvious faces will be present and accounted for - Iron Man, Thor, Captain America - as well as a few others that are, for the time being, kept under wraps tighter than a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's name, rank and serial number.
Naturally, expectations are high on both sides of the contract. Says Ubisoft EMEA's Marketing and Sales Director Geoffrey Sardin: “We are excited to team up with Marvel Entertainment to bring some of the most iconic comic book characters from the Marvel line-up to life in motion-gaming. Fans of the Marvel universe and superhero games are going to love the extensive combinations of characters, motion-controlled moves and competitive game-play.”
Marvel's senior vice president of games and digital distribution, Andreea Enache-Thune, also chimes in with a back-pat. “For the last few years, Marvel has positioned itself to deliver the absolute best in entertainment, be it in film, animation, comics or games. Partnering with Ubisoft is a big part of that ongoing movement. We are confident that Ubisoft’s talent matches Marvel’s own commitment to making the Avengers: Battle for Earth the best in the motion-controlled gaming category.”
To what extent the Kinect and Wii U capabilities will serve Avengers: Battle for Earth remains unknown. Kinect-powered Hulk smashing, perhaps? A chance to fiddle with digital Stark schematics via touchscreen controls? We're not sure. But a bigger question lingers over the whole enterprise: by the game's spring release date (or autumn for you Northern Hemispherian folk), The Avenger's cinema run will be long gone. What's a film tie-in without the momentum from its movie counterpart? Still, perhaps it's a sign that time is being taken to do the whole thing properly.
Keen for an Avengers game? Thoughts on what the Wii U and Kinect platforms will bring to the table? Sound off below.
