Take this from a guy whose brilliant mind turned figments of the imagination into glorious cultural icons. No less than the man behind Marvel himself, Stan Lee, has expressed his admiration and respect for gaming development. His exact words: "It's lke a miracle."

Activision has confirmed that retailer listings pegging a September release for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 are indeed right on the money. The game is currently being prepped for release on PS3, PSP, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS. There's also a treat waiting for hardcore Marvel fans who get the game: a cameo from legendary comic book creator Stan Lee.

Sega has finally announced the launch date of the video game counterpart of the upcoming Marvel Studios movie Iron Man (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS, PC). Iron Man the game will hit stores right before summer sets in, and it'll feature some of the best Hollywood talents in the voice cast. For the exact launch date and the voice cast, see the full article up ahead.

BBC News reports that Disney has made a deal with Stan Lee to create an arrangement of new super heroes. The ideas that the Marvel mastermind comes up with will be used by the company to create new films, games, books, and comics, among others. And so far, he has enough ideas to whet Disney's appetite.

"I've got millions of them. I have file cabinets filled with ideas for movies and television shows and all sorts of things. I've been waiting to be associated with someone like Disney so I can start tearing into these things," said the 84-year-old comic creator.

Disney Studio chairman Dick Cook confirmed that the deal they signed was laid out for Lee to create characters and projects that Disney could use as franchises. Other studios have already made US$ 3.5 billion in profit from the X-Men and Spider-Man movies, while the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel and The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Nick Fury movies are expected to do well, too.

Pow! Entertainment, owned by Lee, claimed that they had almost two dozen characters in active stages of development, with names like El Lobo, Chameleon, Thunder Rider, Whirlwind, Doubleman, Nightbird, and Blaze. There are about 20 more in early stages of development, while another 40 will be introduced later on. BBC reports that Disney will not create a Stripperella film.

A few more days. Just a few more days till we can all act like Spider-Man or Wolverine or Elektra. This feeling is probably a lot like how Cartman felt when there were three more days before the Wii was up for sale.

The excitement Marvel fans feel when they hear about Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is proportionate to their love for a particular character. Whether it be acting like a wall-crawling web-slinger, being all angsty like Blade, or breaking the fourth wall in conversations like Deadpool, there's a hero there for everyone. Luckily, Activision knows how to keep us satisfied and leave us wanting for more at the same time.

They've been giving out what could pretty much be the final trailer for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance before Nintendo's new console comes out. There may not be a lot of new footage in there, but they've taken some of the best and funniest parts from some of the previous trailers, added some new stuff and created another teaser for gamers everywhere to think about during the home stretch. As we approach zero hour (yeah, it's a DC reference, go figure), let's keep our eyes on the prize and save our wallets for some Wiimote butt-kicking.

Till then, of course, you might as well watch the launch trailer, right? Now, say your prayers, remember to thank Stan Lee for making so many of those characters in the game, and always remember their old catchphrase: Make Mine Marvel!

Download: [Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Launch Trailer]

If you're a Marvel fan, and you've always wanted to pitch in your ideas on how the stories of the X-Men characters should go, then this might just be your chance, as an opportunity to have lunch with the man behind the creation of about half of the Marvel Universe is up for grabs. That, and a Wii, and a copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, all courtesy of the friendly people over at Activision.

So, how do you grab that one-on-one with Stan Lee over coffee and sandwiches? Simple, just head on over to the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance MySpace page, and add them as your friend, and you instantly become qualified to join the contest. Besides this contest though, the MySpace account also contains several movies, a screenshot gallery, lots of wallpapers, as well as free code which you can use to customize your MySpace account with, using the Ultimate Alliance theme.

Better start logging on to your MySpace account because who knows, maybe you'll finally get your chance to say who Jean Grey should REALLY end up with...

(A big thank you goes out to Neil Wood for letting us know about this contest!)

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

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]