Gamers everywhere are still reeling from the contradictory quality of the new Iron Man film and video game. Whereas the movie is tasty piece of chocolate cake, definitely among the best comic based films to be released in recent years, the tie-in game is a two month old glass of curdled milk, a half-finished nightmare. Despite all the hype and the slim hope some gamers (like myself) clung too, nobody is really surprised that the game failed to live up to expectations.

Find out what hope there is for future Marvel games after the jump

When it comes to developing a good game, having enough time to do the job right is perhaps the most important thing. All the design talent, resources and great ideas in the world amount to nothing without the time to bring all three together. The new Iron Man game COULD have been amazing. So could have SpiderMan 3, X-Men: The Official Game and even Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. All of them were based on beloved comic book icons, with a slew of good ideas and features, but not one had enough time to do anything more than cash in on their film counterparts. The one exception to this terrible trend is Hulk, which while still a far cry from 5 star status, was at least a decent game.

Speaking to GameSpot, the vice president of Marvel’s interactive business, Justin Lambros, talked about the future of Marvel based video games. Despite saying a lot of things that sounded good, a number of his statements struck me as contradictory, naive and even down right stupid.

Lambros told GameSpot: “We always want to do the best thing for the product and the brand, so there are discussions about [delaying game tie-ins], but we always want to hit when the iron is hot and come out with the film.”

After years of disastrous movie tie-in games, how in the seven layers of the abyss can you still think releasing a rushed game, at the same time as a film is the “best thing for the product?” That doesn’t even make sense. What he really means is that Marvel (and their gaming industry partners) would rather cash in on movie hype to make a nice wad of “sucker cash” from gamers than give a title enough time to be worthy of the comic book legend it’s based on. Rather than thinking long term, by making a quality title that could be turned into a successful franchise, they’d rather sell out and be happy with the money they make from the uninformed, who buy the game before news of it’s pathetic quality reaches the general public.

Lambros told GameSpot: “It’s very rare that you have over two years [to make these games],” Lambros said, “but we’re working hard to get those plans working and get early preproduction work on games way in advance of the movie so we’ve got more than two years to build a stronger game and raise the bar.”

*Standing ovation*

Ok, now THAT is what I want to hear. If that one issue is ever truly resolved I can see future Marvel games being superior in every way to their predecessors. If the game goes into development much earlier than the current standard, there would be no need to miss out on the movie hype sales window. So far this is still a pipe dream, but a nice one. Marvel’s current deal with Sega to work on the Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor movie tie-in games is meant to allow the developer to get things rolling further in advance. Apparently, not that far in advance though, seeing as how Sega’s Iron Man game still turned out to be a rushed pile of scrap metal.

Related Posts: Gamer Night is Friday Next Gen Victory: Who Gives A S***? Playstation Home: How much for that virtual lamp? Sarcastic Gamer rival launched - Sardonic Gamer? Stuff You Don’t Need: Wii TV Guide?

Pages: 1 2