Stan Lee may be a comic book legend and the creator of several mainstay Marvel superheroes, but game development eludes him – in fact, he thinks it’s “like a miracle.”
Speaking with the Guardian about his involvement in the development of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, the 86-year-old Lee – who oversaw the creation of comic icons like the Hulk, the X-Men and Spider-Man – said that if he had been born sixty years later, he would probably be trying to tell his stories through videogames instead of through comics.
If I were young now and I wanted to do stories, I would very much want to get into the videogame business because it’s the most exciting. Videogames and movies are the most exciting forms of entertainment. But a videogame in a way is more imaginative, it has more variety.
But “would very much want to get into” and “could get into” are two very different things. As far as Ultimate Alliance 2 was concerned, Lee signed off on the project and let the developers at Activision do their thing. Remember, Stan Lee grew up in an era where his tools of creation were ink and graphite, not 3D shaders and particle physics – so he looks at game development with more than a bit of wonder and awe.
“In a movie you stick to the plotline, in a videogame you go in a million different directions. I have no idea how they’re able to do that. It’s like a miracle.”
Consider that two decades ago, in 1989, rendering 16-bit colors was mind-blowing. And then go watch the Final Fantasy XIII trailer from early this morning, and marvel – pardon the pun – at how far we really have come. So you know what, Stan? Maybe you’re on to something.
(Via Joystiq)
Published: Sep 28, 2009 11:06 pm