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.

At this point in time, you've probably read or heard a thousand and seven-hundred forty three (way to go, Mr. Exaggeration) reviews on Marvel Ultimate Alliance from your friends, relatives, and maybe even from that Captain Planet summoner guy from the comments section. Most of us have a thing or two to say about our favorite superheroes.

This game has been around for quite some time now, and it's available on a whole lot of platforms. So what's going to be different this time around in this review? For one thing, I've been MIA in the Marvel scene ever since they started mixing things up with parallel dimensions, time shifts, and the whole idea of Jean Grey with her now-dead-now-alive-then-resurrected-after-getting-killed-twice (ad infinitum) plot development. Meh.

Tedious thing, trying to keep track of the story line in the comics, and so, this review is coming from the perspective of someone trying to go back to his roots. I'd want to get in touch with the Marvel universe once again and safe to say, I'm pretty much satisfied with this game (developed by Raven - the same guys responsible for X-Men Legends) as a reintroduction to the Stan Lee club.

Before anything though, let's get the usual stuff over with first: graphics, controls, the works. This being in the PS3 blog, do know that we're reviewing the PS3 version here. You can skip this part if you've played the game already... or not. This is where I talk about the stuff that you can either directly see, hear, or interact with.

Superheroes in tights - video games and eye candy:

First impression, of course, would have to be the opening cinematic of the game. By god, it's nothing but a cinematic in every sense. More cinematic than seeing Eric Bana turn green in front of a bathroom sink. Graphics aside, the video pits you right in the thick of things - in media res, as they say - and flip you with all the explosions to get your heart pumping and screaming "C'mon, man! Just let me play already!" But then, of course, exciting as it might be, you definitely wouldn't want to skip the cinematic. It's cool like that: 1080p is love.

More of the review - and the eventual conclusion of my return to my superhero fandom roots - behind the "Full Article" link. And we promise: no parallel universes and iffy time lines.

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]