@Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc: Again, forfeiting some ownership to the license. The reason you had them only on the cube version was to get you to buy multiple versions if you really were that arsed to play all the special characters. A business tactic.

超外人

uh oh, could this mean a lawsuit? (ala hot coffee)

SupaPhly

I can't believe Activision were so stupid, of course Ninty wouldn't allow their most prized characters to appear on a rival system.

Puzzle

@超外人: I don't think there would have been any chance that the characters would have appeared on the non-Wii versions of the game even if Nintendo had approved it. You couldn't play Link in the non-GCN versions of Soul Caliber 2.

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

I do know that the dev kits they used on the Wii version could take PS2 controllers, so that would explain the PS2 buttons.
THIS WOULD'VE BEEN AWESOME. If I had known about it, I would've pestered the folks at Vicarious Visions that hired me to test to make sure this gets done!

Crippl3

@Komrade_Kayce: Licenses and royalties, and the note of it being on PS2 and likely 360. Nintendo doesn't want their characters appearing on rival systems, even if they get a cut they'd have to forfeit some ownership b/c of who published the title.

超外人

@Teh Emo Penguin:

ME To...Hell I Buy Everything That Has Link In It.
**Cough Wii Zapper Cough**

hk458

That's hilarious. And that's all I have to say about this.

FeatherNET

... I so would've gotten this game if Samus was in it.

Teh Emo Penguin

lol before reading i saw the Red O of Playstation controller intresting.

Raziel Dune

OH MY GOD

Why did this not happen!

I am COMPLETELY at a loss for words. Im stuttering and stammering over... how... how... awe... no.

There are no words. WHAT.

Komrade_Kayce

Oh Jeeze Link And Samus!!!
That Would Have Been So Cool!!!
Sigh...One Can Dream Though...One Can Dream

hk458

Sweet God.

crunks

wow that would make me wanna play the game EVEN MORE...even tho I alredy do want to try this game...still havent gotten around to it yet.

nypad5

@超外人: i doubt they would have appeared on any other systems, i just think that it was shown with ps2 buttons for testing purposes,

if_deez

@Komrade_Kayce: Probably because Activision showed it to Nintendo in the PS2 version of the game instead of the Wii version?

Stormrider

@超外人: I don't know what you mean by forfeiting. It's not like Namco can put Link in anything else without Nintendo's permission, or like Nintendo's trademarks on Link will expire any sooner.

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

So wait, I'm the only one glad that this never eventuated?

marmidukestank

Its understandable (assuming it to be true) that Nintendo would not allow their characters running around on a Marvel licensed slightly above average title. It could still be a very welcoem bonus to th eWii version, tough. I would have bought it, I like action dungeoun crawlers (especialy if they have multiplayer), but have yet to find better then Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (Consoles) or Diablo 2 (PC).

Shiryu

would have*

I just woke up ;__;

Bernard McGraw

God I wouldn't been all over this. Silly Nintendo.

Bernard McGraw

I would've bought it.

minorlag

@Shiryu: Yeah, exactly. Nintendo made the right decision - don't license their characters to so-so, generic games*. I mean, appearing with Marvel characters? Way to define your character as a tired, sold-out has-been.

* except Mario and Sonic at the Olympics...

quen

@quen: I think it would be cool to have an "open" character. It's not as if Nintendo is responsible for the quality of the game. Nintendo only has to gain, since people will buy it on the bonus character alone, which means more people buying their console.

Tiber

Sigh....

zzt

Well, Smash Brothers got Sonic and Snake... those license holders were cool like that. Nintendo? Not so much. Didn't they say they were going to be careful not to get arrogant?

Applekid

this would have got me to get the Wii version instead of the PSP. Then my party would be Deadpool, Link, Samus and Wolverine

LuppyLuptonium

So.. Activision was too lazy to make a different version with the characters on the Wii only!? ¬¬'

Nintendo let Namco use Link on Soul Calibur, but on the GC version only, asking to use their characters on a PS2 game is a little too much :P

CockroachMan

Nintendo won't ever let their characters appear on the rival systems. Nintendo first party IPs are the strongest things that they have right now. They will never die out, never grow stale or old. Just look how long they've all been going.

Superstar90

So i see marvel games are starting to follow the Soul Calibur formula.

On a side note, could I make a recommendation to put the actual video links up when you have them embedded. I can't really view many embedded videos where I am during the day. And if the direct web page link doesnt work either then i have to search the source for "youtube" unless it isn't a youtube video. then i am screwed. Pass this suggestion to gizmodo too thx.

theespacepope

@quen: Sonic and Mario was cashing in on a long awaited battle at least, though Brawl did it worlds better.

Yeah, I have a feeling Nintendo probably wouldn't have really liked this, especially if they didn't ask -before- making the characters... still, woulda been awesome. Samus versus Doctor Doom?

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Samus on a PS2 ??
BLASPHEMY I say!

Iceman B.

Well, there's always Marvel UA 2. Even if it's the crap storyline from Civil War.

Eville1

@Applekid: Yes, but that's Smash Bros. vs. Ultimate Alliance. Smash Bros is legendary, Ultimate Alliance.....not so much.

While this would have been awesome, it's completely understandable. Link was an awesome addition to Soul Calibur 2 because it was an incredible game with a very promising future. It makes sense for Nintendo to put Link in the Gamecube version. However, why would Nintendo allow two of their best known legends to be put in another crappy Marvel title? IGN gave Marvel Ultimate Alliance a 6.5 for the Wii version. Even IF Nintendo had allowed them to put their babies in this game, would we as fans REALLY like to see them in a crappy, generic title? I think no.

PaintedMidget

WOO!! PHAZON BEAM!! Surely it would have sold more with Samus in it?
*imagines the Marvel Alliance box with Samus plasetered on the cover*
eww

excel_excel

i remember reading that back in the day nintendo had plans to release a third person metroid on the 64. watching this vid just made me think how cool it would have been to see samus in a game from this view instead of first person (although i like the prime series).

shouryuuken

Watching this and imagining the fun I'd have had (I loved my ranged/shooty style characters) playing as Samus makes me cry just a little. No doubt Link would have been quite awesome as well, though I'd have to agree with a few other comments being made that it might have felt a little cheap for fans of the characters, having them plastered into an admittedly none-too-amazing title... But, oh the fun we'd have had.

Infinite_Monkeys

Ha, that's actually very cool. I wonder if Link is also floating around in there somewhere? Or was Samus the only one completed?

WarlockSoL

@quen: Yeah, because they're like real persons and you'll judge them as sold out 'have been.'

Seriously, man.

Ruglia

Bah, people are still saying "Nintendo wouldn't let it be on PS2." Duh. I'm sure Activision new that. They probably only put on the PS2 for testing purposes, especially since I'm pretty sure the Wii version was pretty much the PS2 version already.

Are we also forgetting Mario, Peach, and Luigi's presence in EA's NBA Street V3?

I think this would've been neat.

Seroth

You could just get the PC version and add them (or whoever you want) in...

H8ff0000

a shame, a damn shame. this would've been awesome

kw4k

@Seroth: and SSX

akilshohen

nintendo is extremely strict with their IP (intellectual property fyi) and i'm sure it's not the 1st time they've killed an idea like that...

iknowkungfu

They should make the next Metroid in this style.

maniacmayhem

It's sad, but I probably would have bought the game if this were actually realized.

Regulus

@SupaPhly: Hot Coffee wasn't footage of unreleased content, it was content present on the disc, shipped to people, that had to be hacked to accessed. This is, from what we at least know now, content that is not on the shipping version of the game. This is beta footage so to speak of something that never made it.

If a lawsuit were to happen it'd be that someone violated an NDA at Activision and they could get fired or even sued for it unless it was of course officially released. Even without Nintendo's consent I don't think Nintendo could do anything about it because it's not for profit and it's not releasing playable content. Playable content has, on multiple occasions, been put under C&D (cease and desist) orders when using IP not owned by the people making the game in mod communities where of course they do not profit anyway.

It's a shame though, cause yeah, I probably would have got the game if it had Samus and Link in it.

Absent Blue

Well there's the problem right there. The stupid guys at Marvel probably proposed to have the characters in the PS2 version as well. Nintendo wasn't cool with that, understandably. So they had the characters removed completely from all the versions. Good, this is the price they pay for not thinking things through, as they would have made more money on the game this way.

Green-clad Gamer Dude

Sad to hear; UA was extremely well suited to that sort of insane mashup, just by nature.
I blame Soul Calibur 3.

cynopt

Nintendo I'm sorry, but you are fricking idiots for not letting this happen, I have been a Nintendo fan my whole life, but you are so stupid to deny this. I cared nothing for this game when it came out, however if Link and Samus were in the game I would have bought it for sure.

You were so so stupid to say no Nintendo.

-WPack911

WPack911

Just to be clear on this, the video is from the Wii port of MUA not the PS2 version. The two versions weren't even developed by the same studios. Samus and Link were *never* proposed as characters in the PS2 version.

Ferrik

Damn, I am severely disappointed this did not make it into the final version, especially seeing as they gave her the Prime 1 arsenal, my favorite of the series. Roasting people with the Plasma Beam never gets old, never.

GhostWhoWalks

@Ferrik:

Is that why the video uses the PlayStation Buttons?

samaine

I think this is fake and user created. Notice how there's no other characters on screen, enemies or allies at all? It also doesn't look exactly like the game. It's interesting though.

kylo4

@samaine: That video portrays a very early version of the hud. Furthermore, the Wii version made by VV was adapted from the PS2/360/PC versions created by Raven. If that doesn't convince you, I showed this to one of the PS2 programmers from MUA, and he affirmed that there were no such plans for the PS2, but he vaguely remembers hearing about something like this from VV.

In short, this is a early dev video used to pitch the concept to Nintendo which explains why the character, hud, and environment look so alpha.

Ferrik

These ARE real. I have been contacted by the artists who worked on these to remove them from YouTube or they could get fired from Activision.

Nintendonly

Hmm... apparently Jason Harlow and Casey Richardson were contacted by Activision to remove their vids or face firing.

Nintendonly

Link footage is now up at this URL:

+ Watch video

Nintendonly

I will post the Link video up shortly on my YouTube account.

Nintendonly