Spider-Man Swinging Back Into Gaming
By Lucca Salomone
Staff Writer
During 2016’s E3 on the PlayStation panel, Sony officially announced a new game for their First-Party lineup, “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” that is set to release on Sept. 7. However, there is much more to this game than serving as just another edition in the Spider-Man series.
This game is getting significant attraction as it is the latest game starring the fan favorite superhero. Even students who spend little time on gaming consoles are fans of Sony’s move to implement the webbed phenomenon.
“I really appreciated the announcement,” said William Blackstone, sophomore. “I think it is really important for Marvel to expand their media reach into games so we can finally get some high-quality Marvel products like this one. This move really puts Marvel on a level playing field with DC, regarding the quality of their games.”
Like other popular superheroes, Spider-Man has a slew of video games where he is the leading man, many of which are movie adaptations. However, this is probably the first that stands out considering the publishing and developing teams orchestrating it.
“Spider-Man represents a new beginning, a new era for our games,” said Jay Ong, Marvel vice president of games, in an interview with IGN. “This is going to be the most ambition game that we have done, and we wanted to wait until we had the perfect partnership. That happened when Insomniac and Sony came together.”
Sony, with numerous recently released high-quality games including “Bloodborne” and “Uncharted: A Thieves End,” has chosen just one of its studios to work on the game – Insomniac. This section of Sony has been known for making products with high levels of both personality and energy.
This seems like a nice fit for the type of young and energetic character that Spider-Man brings to the table. However, what really makes this game stand out is purely the fact that it is a passion project for the team. Most other Spider-Man games were made in order to tie in with the release of a new movie or solely to make a quick buck, but Sony’s rendition appears to be different.
The many interviews with Insomniac’s creative director Bryan Intihar and writer Jon Paquette thus far have shown the amount of passion they each have for the character. In fact, Marvel came to them offering an opportunity to use a superhero for a video game, and the Insomniac team instantly chose to make Spider-Man their focus.
“We wanted to create our own Spider-Man universe. We didn’t want to tie with a movie or a comic series,” Intihar told IGN. “At Insomniac, we talk about doing our own thing, and Marvel totally embraced that.”
When the action-adventure game hits gaming shops this fall, Marvel fans alike will be on edge to see what the innovators at Insomniac have done to further Spidey’s storyline.
