Amidst the usual barrage of less-than-note-worthy DS titles, this week's big release is the sequel to the 2001 FPS Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Hitler's got the usual evil army, and it's gonna be up to you to infiltrate and beat them from the inside. There's a few more you might want to check out, so read on for this edition of On Shelves This Week.

Have you guys seen "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"? I haven't but I hear they totally butchered Deadpool's character in the movie. Be that as it may, Raven Software, the development studio behind the X-Men Origins: Wolverine video game, has expressed interest in making a Deadpool game.

Heads up, Marvel fans! Screaming Mimi is coming to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360)! She's more popularly known as Melissa Gold, or the powerful Songbird. Now the artists of the MUA2 team talk about making the pretty screamstress look pretty in her Ultimate Alliance debut.

Snikt! Unleash those adamantium claws, bub. We're watching the first ever trailer for the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine game. It's in pure CG animation and looks almost exactly like what you see in the trailers for the movie. Man, the only thing lacking here in this trailer is Deadpool. (Well, yeah, him and a whole bunch of gameplay footage too.)

Wolverine's one of the deadliest fighters ever to be dreamed up by Marvel, and his new video game sounds like its going to live up to his reputation. He has influences in God of War, Devil May Cry, and... Super Smash Bros. Well, why not? Kirby kicks butt too, you know.

With Raven Software taking on other projects, the development of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion (DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360) has fallen to Vicarious Visions. Creative Director Dan Tanguay and Art Director Bryan Schutt share their thoughts about the experience, and why they think they're up to the challenge.

There's more than a month to go before Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, DS, Wii, PC) comes out, but Activision's 2009 game lineup has revealed that a new James Bond game is already slated for release next year along with three new IPs. More in the full article.

Look, the game has hit the stores. But some of us don't have it yet. So to tide us over, here's a Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video. Dubbed the "Smash Em Bash Em Gameplay HD", this vid (from October 24) has the smashing and bashing. If you want, we also posted the video after this: the October 25 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance "Behind the Scenes Featurette" (although there was nothing "ette" about that; it was big on action and news and Deadpool and Captain America and Stan Lee goodness).

As for this "Smash Em Bash Em" vid, it's one of the better gameplay videos we've seen, even though it's old.

1. The menu where you select your characters. It's a small auditorium where the heroes are standing (and/or floating) around in dramatic poses. Choose your warriors and head on to the mission.
2. Teamwork in action. Watch the team go in and beat some bad guys. Combo moves.
3. Fing Fang Foom.
4. A whole bunch of our favorite heroes. We were too busy fainting like little girls at the heroes and the amazing way their powers, poses, and coolest moves have been transformed into a good game. Don't believe us? Ask the Xbox 360 people.
   

Come to think of it, even QJ's resident "Justice League Unlimited" fanboy wrote an article about this game.

The Wii fanboys here are getting it for the Wii (launch title, November 19), the PS3 fanboys are getting it for the PS3 (launch title, November 17), and the sweaty-palmed Xbox 360 fanboys are not going to let any of the others play... (if you haven't been paying attention, it already hit the stores). And spread the word to your PSP and DS buddies to expect it, too - Nov. 7 for the PSP and Dec. 4 for the DS.

Finally, since I haven't been lucky enough to get my hands on the Xbox 360 controller, if any of you out there has already tried this game, do share what you're thinking. That's what the comments system is for, hehe.

Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for PS3]
Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Wii]
Buy: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Xbox 360]

What happens when you go behind the scenes to find out more about a superhero's life? If said superhero was still working for the government (*ehemCaptainAmericaehem*), you'd probably die from some well-orchestrated hunting accident. It's a good thing we've got all these heroes under the employ of a giant commercial enterprise now, because you can be sure they won't have anything to hide from us.

So, what's in store for this new video of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance? You get to see a lot of fun gameplay portions, but you also get to hear from the developers about what it took to make the game and who their favorite characters are. Even more exciting is their discussion of some of the characters who aren't as well known in Marvel's universe, as well as some folks you've always wanted to see in a game, such as Deadpool, Blade, Ghost Rider, and the Black Panther. You'll also get a sneak peak at some of the alternate costumes of these guys, though Ghost Rider looked like he was wearing a pink robe in one of them.

Needless to say, if you love comics and action games, then Raven Software and Activision have made something every fanboy can be happy with, whether it be PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii. As for me, I intend to get a copy and play my dream team: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Colossus and Ghost Rider. How about you?



Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for PS3]
Pre-order: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Wii]
Buy: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Xbox 360]

November 16, 2006 just feels like such a long wait, especially now that developers Raven Software and Vicarious Visions along with publisher Activision have released a bunch of high-definition character previews for their action-adventure role-playing game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The one we have available for download below is for our favourite wall-crawling, wisecracking, trash-talking, upside-down kissing, geek turned hero, Spidey!

The video features a few of his moves. Most notable is the one where he kicks an opponent into the air, suspends him from the ceiling via webbing, and then treats him the same way a boxer would a punching bag. Fun stuff, people. It also has a few snippets of cutscenes we might be seeing in the 7th gen versions of the game.

Almost makes you want to sing doesn't it?

Spider-man... Spider-man... Does whatever a spider can. Spins a web any size. Catches thieves just like flies. Look out, here comes the Spiderman. Is he strong? Listen bud, he's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread ? Take a look overhead. Hey, there! There goes the Spider-man!

Watch the video, much coolness.

Download [Marvel Ultimate Alliance Spider-man HD Video]