In what will inevitably go down as the worst kept industry secret in recent years, I’m very happy to finally be able to confirm that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network this summer .

The deal took a good while but it’s probably our most requested title to bring back, so Marvel and I and a few other people here at Capcom rolled up our sleeves and got it done.  I can’t stress enough, if you ask for something loudly enough and long enough, we’ll work very hard to make it happen.

So while you may have been able to surmise that something was going on with MvC2, we do still have a few surprises up our sleeves. Let me tell you a little more about how and why this version of MvC2 will be the definitive version.

1.        It’s based on the Dreamcast code base – While the PS2 and Xbox versions of MvC2 were great, there are a few niggling issues in them that have caused the competitive community to continue using the Dreamcast version of the game. We wanted to bring you the very best version of the game, so we listened to the community and started with the Dreamcast.

2.        There is online – With the game being developed by Backbone, we are using largely the same, critically acclaimed net code that we used in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix and with that will come our player match quarter mode/lobby system that has proven so popular. Naturally leaderboards and some form of stats tracking (details to be provided at a later date) will also be in the mix. So on the net code side, you’re pretty much assured the best fighting game net code ever created for consoles.

3.        HD upscaling options – Given that most people play Xbox 360s and PS3s on HD TVs, it’s important to help make the game look better. We’ve refined our real-time sprite filtering to use even more advanced techniques and we’re providing two upscaling options for the sprites… one we’ve termed “Crisp” the other we’ve termed “Smooth”. It’s a matter of personal preference for which one you’ll enjoy more. For purists, if you’d like you can use the “Classic” setting, which leaves the sprites completely unfiltered. Because the filtering is applied in real-time, you can change these settings on the fly, mid-match if you choose. Our producer will be showing you some comparison screenshots in the coming days to better clarify the differences. The backgrounds in MvC2 are all 3D, and when rendered at higher resolutions look fantastic. The original textures and assets from the Dreamcast were actually much higher quality than the Dreamcast could really display at the time and when shown in HD, the impact is really quite amazing.

4.        Widescreen – Again, with most people playing on HD displays, we wanted to figure out how to implement widescreen support. To do so, the camera field of view was widened (which we’re able to do because of the 3D backgrounds effectively running off the “edges” of the 4:3 scenario) and there are a few camera tricks that minimize any impact on the gameplay. Play area is unchanged, and this is not a zoom and crop like HD Remix was.  To put it simply, the gameplay area will be in a 4:3 field, while the viewing area will be widescreen.  At the same time, for purists and competitive play, a 4:3 option (with vertical bars on the left and right) still exists.

5.        No unlocking – While we love giving people unlockables in games, for this outing, there’s not a lot of surprises in terms of what characters are in the game. All 56 characters will be unlocked at the start for immediate play, again great for tournament play where players won’t need to mess with save game data or hacked versions (/shame).

6.        Music Options – We love MvC2 but the original “jazzy” music has long been criticized even by ardent fans. Independent music volume controls and support of custom soundtracks on PS3 and 360 we deemed an important feature. Purists will still have what they love and fans of customization are also served.

And as an added bonus, some of you will get to play it sooner than you think. The US PlayStation network will have the demo available for download this week (Europe’s PSN should follow not far after). Surprise. 🙂

Now that it’s announced, if you’d like to see the trailer in HD or a few other nifty little things, head over to www.tu4ar.com after 6PM PST tonight. Lastly, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Forums , so please do come and participate. I hope you’re all looking forward to it as much as we are.

F the Knicks…

-Sven