Amaterasu, Thor blaze trail for Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Who was there: Both Capcom and Marvel Entertainment representatives took to the stage at the Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds panel. From Capcom, there was Seth Killian (special advisor on MVC3) and Ryota Niitsuma (producer). Representing Marvel were Frank Tieri (writer) and TQ Jefferson (director of games at Marvel).

What they talked about: Seth Killian took to the podium first to give some quick background on the history of the Marvel and Capcom relationship, pointing out previous games in the series of "versus" fighting games. He also mentioned that the same engine--called MT Framework--used to power games like Resident Evil 5 is working its magic on Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The development team at Capcom is making sure that the visual style of the game has some comic book-style flourishes and that special endings, as well as in-game events, appease fans of both sides.

Killian then introduced the members of the Marvel crew. Jefferson said that it's an honor to be able to work on this project and that neither side has been sitting idle in the 10 years separating Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and its sequel. In fact, it sounded like it was a deliberate move so that Marvel could remove obstacles and barriers that initially prevented them from putting specific Marvel heroes in the game.

Tieri--who wrote the script for Marvel vs. Capcom 3--described himself as the "Marvel Cop." He's responsible for making sure that Marvel characters act and say things in a way that's appropriate for their characters. He's written comics for just about every major Marvel character, so fans shouldn't be worried in that respect, but he wanted to reassure Capcom fans that not only was he a huge fan of Marvel Super Heroes on the PlayStation (a predecessor to the Versus series), but also he was taking the time to research the characters he wasn't completely familiar with.

What's particularly interesting is that Tieri said the entire library of characters from both sides were available to him when it comes to the endings for the characters. He even went so far as to say that some characters--like Ghost Rider and Man-Thing--would make cameo appearances but won't be playable.

Capcom's Niitsuma followed Tieri's speech with a little bit of information about the gameplay. The team based the design around Marvel vs. Capcom 2, so fans of that game should find it instantly familiar--"like an old pair of shoes," he said. However, he added that they're not ignoring newcomers. As such, special moves and combinations are easy to execute, and the addition of new characters puts more players on even footing because no one knows them well.

Niitsuma then went onto show trailers for six new characters. Yes, six. In addition to the four (Chun-Li, Dr. Doom, Super Skrull, and Trish) announced at the beginning of Comic-Con, Niitsuma played trailers for two new characters announced today--Thor and Amaterasu.

Thor looks like an absolute beast with combinations that make extensive use of his hammer. Similarly, Amaterasu (from Capcom's Okami) is no slouch either, as she's able to use a sword that springs from her back, as well several different types of projectile attacks that correspond to the elements of nature. The crowd reacted quite positively to both characters, but there were more notable gasps and ogling for Amaterasu.

The panel concluded with a quick tournament that gave audience members a chance to play the game and win Marvel vs. Capcom arcade sticks. Niitsuma then added that the classic music tracks from the previous Marvel vs. Capcom are being remixed for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and that some characters, like Ryu and Chun-Li, are getting entirely new themes based on those from other games.

Quotes:"This will be the greatest fighting game of all time," said an obviously enthusiastic Frank Tieri.

"It will have color," joked Ryota Niitsuma while the projector during the panel showed the game in black and white.

Takeaway: It's clear that this is much more of a collaborative effort between Marvel and Capcom than any previous game in the series and that both sides are quite excited about the project. What's even more obvious is that fans from both sides seem to really enjoy it and get really excited trying to guess and suggest new characters for the game.