I didn’t know the press release was going to go out before Wonder Con, but apparently it did. So:
The next Spider-Man game from Activision will be “Spider-Man: Edge of Time” which will feature the Amazing Spider-Man teaming up on a decades-spanning adventure with Spider-Man 2099. And yes, I wrote the script.
I’m out at Wonder Con right now where I will be on a panel at 4:30 PM Saturday to talk about the game and show footage from it.
PAD
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What else is on your Wondercon schedule? When do you plan to be at the Marvel booth?
My only scheduled appearance is at the panel, and that’s deliberate on my part. Since Activision is bringing me out, I wanted to make it so that anyone who wants to see me–whether it’s to sign books or ask about X-Factor or whatever–has to attend the panel. Which isn’t to say that I won’t be around. I will.
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PAD
Well, dang. I’ll bet you anything I won’t be able to run it…
I saw this news on Gamepro.com and I must say I’m pumped. Until a few years ago most comic based video games were either extremely difficult or just plain bad. The Spider-Man games and the new Batman Arkham Asylum look like they’re signaling a serious upswing in quality.
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Spider-Man 2099 was one of the comics that got me into the medium (and writing in general). It always bummed me how 2099 was left in the dust. I’d love to see a new take on 2099 with the resources modern artists and writers have for comics today. Maybe Ultimate 2099?
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Anyway, I can’t wait! Did they ask you for any input on gameplay, such as weapons or moves? Did you write any Spider-Man in-fight quips?
Awesome news. Now if we could only get the Jem and the Holograms game off the ground.
The use of Spidey 2099 is interesting to say the least, as this will be the second game to feature the character. Yet, since the series ended years ago, I believe PAD is the only person to have used the character in any fashion with appearances here and there.
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Considering how much it costs to make a video game, one would think there would be more support for the character from the Marvel side in order to try and boost interest in the games. Or, on the flip side, that Marvel wouldn’t want the character used in games in the first place because Spidey 2099 isn’t a major character that has seen a lot of use/has his own series and so on.
Actually, the series “Exiles” made extensive use of Miguel.
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PAD
Ahh, I guess I completely missed that then. I never read Exiles, but I don’t recall seeing the character in any of the promo stuff – it was mostly Blink, Mimic, and a couple of others.
He wasn’t in the early promo material by virtue of not joining the team until issue #75 or so.
“Actually, the series “Exiles” made extensive use of Miguel.”
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that Miguel an alternate version? The group wound up warping in to stop the villain (Legion I think), who went and possessed Hulk 2099 before a key event in the original 2099 meta-plot.
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Only 88 years to go until I can join a Hulk cult… and have a holographic maid.
There was also the Timestorm miniseries that set out to revamp the whole 2099 concept. Of course, you could probably argue that it’s a completely new Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man.
I attended a great panel at I-CON about video games and comics. One of the problems these games often face is that they’re released to coincide with a related movie — and the #1 goal is to have the game out about the same time as the film, regardless of quality. The assumption is that enough fans of the movie will also be interested in the game, no matter how it is. So when the Fantastic Four movie got released, there was an FF game where only two players could play at once. When the Iron Man movie came out, the game was flying and hitting. (An interesting exception is GOLDENEYE (not comics, but James Bond), which came out long after the movie — and is considered one of the best Bond video games ever.)
The advantage games like ARKHAM ASYLUM and SPIDER-MAN: EDGE OF TIME is that they aren’t tied into a movie, so they can be tweaked and worked until they’re really good games — as opposed to “the movie comes out July 20th, so the game *must* hit the shelves by July 13th.” Sometimes it takes more time to get it right. (And having PAD do the story is a definite sign of quality.)
I like to think that this double use of the character is a sign that the comic might return someday.
Miguel can just wake up sometime before the catastrophe and say something about the world ending being all just a dream. Thus starts a new 2100 line of comics.
Not being a gamer, my first reaction was to idly wonder if this was some April Fool’s post. Only for a moment, though. Even before reading the follow-ups I knew it didn’t have enough style for a PAD-type prank.
Please tell me that there will be print adaptation of the story at some point. Any PAD Spidey 2099 is a must-purchase for me.
Not to my knowledge. There wasn’t one for “Shattered Dimensions,” so I doubt there will be one for this.
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PAD
Great news! I liked Shattered Dimensions and thought Spider-man 2099 was neat in it, but he seemed a bit different from the comic you did. I’m glad you’re returning to the character PAD! The Amazing Spider-man & Spider-man 2099! It should be an awesome game. Looking forward to it.
I was a big fan of the story and production values of Shattered Dimensions, esp. the voice talent which was a nerdfest cobbled together of various Spidey vocalists from various series. Check out the cast list on IMDB, and all 4 Spider-vocalists were top-notch. The gameplay was pretty good too but there were some points where the controls got a tad wonky (I played the Wii version) and I swear to Jebus the Mysterio / Spidey 2099 free-fall level in the final boss fight almost made me cry. (anyone who played it will know what I’m talking about)
I’ll pick this one up if only because I liked the Spidey 2099 levels from Shattered Dimensions and PAD is writing it. In fact, if you go through the writing talent for the Spider-Man games, the better ones, you’ve got Bendis, Slott and now Peter David which I think is pretty cool. But if this is the Spidey 2012 game (assuming it doesn’t come out 2011) does that mean there won’t be a game for Amazing Spider-Man? I have way a few too many Spidey games, I got hooked on ’em with that fantastic Spider-Man 2 game years and years ago.
I still hope there’s an Amazing Spider-Man game, if only because Activision has been smart about assembling the voice talent from the movies to complement it which is a big selling point for me. But, that aside, this announcement just sold one copy of Edge of Time fo shizzle.