Crossing over with Andrew Albacia

People are suckers for crossovers. Think about it. You love one thing and you love another and you hope for a crossover. Spaghetti with bolognese sauce and macaroni with cheese are two very popular crossovers but if there are places where crossing over is vogue these days, it's comics and (more recently) gaming.

With Marvel vs Capcom 3 on the horizon (launching this Feb) and the recent announcement of Deadpool nemesis, Taskmaster and yet another bloody Street Fighter veteran in the tanned form of the murderous Akuma I've been coming down all crossover-y. Not quite to the DC level of crossovers. For example, I'm not going to start causing some cataclysm that will effect everyone who reads this while deleting several of you that seem stupid or extreme (Like Ace the Bat-Dog). I'm not into crises.

What is the ultimate crossover though? I mean, Batman and Super Man teaming up to make the former seem ineffectual has been happening for decades and when we have crossing-over all over the place with the likes of the Teen Titans, The Avengers or the JLA it all seems a little boring and the norm.The ultimate crossover is the Amalgamation of two IPs that you really struggle to see. None of that internal company bollocks... we love some cross-company love.

So this here will be dedicated to a few things that are currently up in the air, it's been a while since my last post or my last anything and so, I'm fixing that right now. Let's talk comics, games and movies instead of word limits and such.

MvsC3 is due in mid-Feb

Firstly, Marvel vs Capcom 3 is two characters away from its final on-the-disc roster with last night's reveals. Who is up for the last two slots? Well, it will be one character from Marvel and one from Capcom as you would expect but who could fill that role? Could we be seeing Frank West or Chuck Greene stepping up to the plate again? Fresh from Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Dead Rising 2: Case West, hands filled newly obtained combo cards? It would be great but our final roster is also down Mega Man, instead opting to send his ally Zero into the breach - which is odd considering Mega Man's standing that he would be dropped in favour of adding more Street Fighter stars but Zero does have a considerable fanbase.

On Marvel's side of the road we have a fair few fresh faces already, including the bizarre M.O.D.O.K and the arse-kicking Canadian that isn't Wolverine Deadpool. While we also have some characters that seem a touch underwhelming like X-23 (who is essentially James Howlett with an exposed midriff) we have some interesting characters creeping in like Phoenix (Not Wright) and Dormammu. However, Marvel's side for the most part, plays it safe with very well-known characters returning. What could change that? Howard the Duck?

Just to clarify, here's a list so far:

Capcom side

Akuma (From Street Fighter)
Albert Wesker (Resident Evil/Biohazard)
Amaterasu (Okami)
Sir Arthur (Ghosts and Goblins/Ghouls and Ghosts)
Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
Chun-Li (Street Fighter)
Crimson Viper (Street Fighter)
Dante (Devil May Cry)
Jill Valentine (Resident Evil) - As DLC
Mike Haggar (Final Fight) \O/!
Morrigan Aensland (Darkstalkers)
Nathan Spencer (Bionic Commando)
Ryu (Street Fighter)
Trish (Devil May Cry) - Also, THE LIIIIGHT.
Tron Bonne (Mega Man Legends)
Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe)
Zero (Mega Man/Mega Man Zero)

Marvel:

Captain America
Deadpool
Doctor Doom
Dormammu
Hulk
Iron Man
Magneto
M.O.D.O.K
Phoenix
She-Hulk
Shuma Gorath - As DLC
Spider-Man
Storm
Super-Skrull
Taskmaster
Thor
Wolverine
X-23 (See Wolverine)

Looking a decent and rounded enough line-up at the moment. Though the smattering of character announcements stretched out over a large period of time as a tool of advertising is becoming increasingly common. Marvel vs Capcom is also offering DLC characters in the future, starting with Jill and Shuma who will be released after the discs ship. Why aren't they on the game? Well... that's becoming increasingly common also.

In Marvel vs Capcom 2, I used Jill Valentine, Cammy White and Captain America but from the lists currently, I'll be swapping the Cap for Deadpool and Cammy (as she isn't present) with somebody else entirely.

Kotobukiya have also begun bulking up their comic book merchandise with a severe increase in their Marvel x Bishoujo line. These PVC figurines feature familiar characters from Marvel's comic books reimagined in the stylings of Shunya Yamashita (former Square-Enix designer amongst other plaudits). If you need to catch up, here are the first three girls that opened the line in 2009.

The girls that started the line

While the line was initially mostly members of the X-men family, this year sees the line expand to incorporate some of the other comic houses in the Marvel Universe. The most notable being the upcoming Ms. Marvel (There's an image of the Ms. Marvel in my last blog post from November) and Susan Storm.

Not content with letting Marvel have their runaway success though, another high-profile company decided that they too would allow their characters to join the ladies of Marvel on your shelf with the release of the first in the DC x Bishoujo line: Bat Girl. This will not cover up the disaster of DC's own AmiComi line of character statues but they are certainly of better quality and Yamashita's artwork is just great for these characters.

Barbara Gordon is due this January and is responsible for not only launching the new DCU line-up but also an increase in scale for the whole series - including Marvel's released after January 2011. This is a mixed blessing however because while big is always better, the scale difference between them and the previous figures could be jarring or awkward for display purposes.

The Marvel characters available as of now are:

Kara El - Cousin of Superman

#1 Black Widow
#2 Rogue
#3 Scarlet Witch
#4 Psylocke
#5 Phoenix
#6 Emma Frost
#7 Black Cat
#8 Ms. Marvel
#9 Invisible Woman

Announced for the new DCU line:

#1 Batgirl
#2 Cat Woman
#3 Wonder Woman
#4 Supergirl

Thoughts? Your favourites there or not? I know my girlfriend is hanging on for the DC line to incorporate more of the Batman family. Most importantly Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy because she has a thing for Harlequins and itchy plants. Even her xbox live avatar is draped in a hellequin outfit - her murderous character of choice in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's online multiplayer.

They would probably be stupid to not include Bruce Timm's sidekick to the Joker in the line honestly though as she is ridiculously popular. So popular that the comics rolled her into ther continuity from the cartoon series. Something that you would never imagine happening most of the time.

Preferably with her hammer or an oversized comedy gun. Just what you'd expect from the Joker's girlfriend.

So who's up for Watchmen vs Teletubbies?

If you're into gaming, then you are probably looking forward to March. Several things are due to launch then. Firstly, the western versions of Pokémon Black and White arrive then and they are supposed to be the best games in the series so far going on Japanese reviews but we shall see how they are recieved here later. Dragon Age 2 also lands in March which will follow the exploits of a Commander Shepard-like character named Hawke who will be customisable in the typical Bioware fashion and enter a world shaped by your actions in the previous game. The issue people are having is that Hawke is racially restricted to be Human to aid the storytelling while the previous game offered numerous races to play as with its "Warden" lead character. March also hides the launch of the 3DS and its pricepoint is due for release soon. Expect something a bit more expensive than the DS was at launch though...

Andy out, for now!