The release of The Avengers in Video Games: A Guide to Solo Adventures and Mighty Marvel Team-Ups, with Creator Interviews is finally upon us. Written throughout 2019, it’s a piece of work I’m very proud of and I’m happy I finally get to share it with the public. Covering the games starring Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America and of course the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes themselves, the Avengers, The Avengers in Video Games is a Marvel Comics video game fanatics dream come true and here are five reasons you should consider giving it a look.
5) SUPPORTING SMALL CREATORS
The Avengers in Video Games is not my first book, but it will mark my first collaboration with a publisher, McFarland Books. Should this project turn out to be a big success, there’s nothing I would love to do more than make another – I already have a follow-up mostly complete and another taking form in my head.
If readers hunger for more books based on comic book video games, it could also very much change the course of my life in ways you couldn’t even begin to imagine. One big change I would make right away would be to secure a new PC such that I could stream my vast collection of comic book and superhero video game collection, something that I’ve been building towards in the last few months or so.
To that end, if you have a website, podcast or YouTube channel, I would be more than willing to come on and discuss The Avengers in Video Games. You can reach out to me here, via Twitter, the Comic Book Video Games Facebook group or via e-mail: blairfarrell1984@gmail.com
4) IT’S TRULY ONE OF ITS KIND
On my various shelves, I have many books about comic book video games, from prologue novels, art books, even comic book tie-ins to titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man. While all are terrific in their own right, none offer the comprehensive look at the titles starring the Avengers like The Avengers in Video Games.
I’ve covered some of the games featured in the book on this very website, but every write up is completely original and of a much higher quality to some of the pieces I’ve written in the early days of Comic Book Video Games. There are also countless titles included that I haven’t covered here that I’ll be giving my opinion on in the first time in the book like Avengers in Galactic Storm, a game that will be playable once more thanks to Arcade1up.
If you’re someone who’s passionate about the interactive legacy of these characters, whether as a hobby or content creator, The Avengers in Video Games is also a great guide through the humble beginnings of these heroes in retro PC games to modern outings like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.
3) PRESERVATION
Preservation is an ongoing issue for the video game industry, and there’s perhaps no genre at greater risk than disappearing forever than the licensed game. In the case of the Avengers, rights are tied up among various developers and publishers, not to mention certain titles that were made for antiquated hardware that is tough to emulate or get working properly on modern displays.
The Avengers in Video Games opens up an opportunity to introduce players to titles they may never have heard of and prevents them from fading away completely. Did you know that the NES version of Captain America and the Avengers on NES is radically different from the arcade version? How about the differences between the various home ports of a game like that? These facts and so much more are what you’ll learn by reading through The Avengers in Video Games.
2) CREATOR INTERVIEWS
If you’re familiar with this site, you may have caught the interview I posted with Chad Findley, the lead designer on Neversoft’s Spider-Man, in celebration of that game’s 20th anniversary. What gave me the confidence to reach out to them is the response I received from the talented creators I spoke with for The Avengers in Video Games.
One of the most beloved comic book games of all time is The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, and in The Avengers in Video Games, you can read an exclusive interview with its lead game designer, Eric Holmes. Prepare to also learn many secrets about the development of the underrated gem Thor: God of Thunder for the Nintendo DS from its writer/director Austin Ivansmith.
These are but a few of the games that have accompanying interviews in The Avengers in Video Games, and of everything in the book I’ve been excited to share the most, it’s the wonderful conversations I got to have with members of the development community.
1) WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WITH CLOSE TO A DECADES EXPERIENCE IN THE SUBJECT MATTER
What once started life as Comic Gamers Assemble in January 2012 morphed into Comic Book Video Games this past summer. However, regardless of the name, I’ve been collecting and writing about comic book and super hero game games for close to a decade now. While I’ve slowed down from time to time, I don’t think I could ever see myself stopping.
Rarely does a day go by where I’m either playing, thinking about, or buying another comic book video game for my stuffed shelf. Since this sites inception, I’ve reviewed close to three-hundred games, written almost 1,500 articles ranging from news to features and have had the opportunity to collaborate with incredible creators; I even made appearances on The Electric Playground’s YouTube channel.
All that is to say that you can expect the same level of passion and attention that I’ve given this sub-genre of video games here to the over fifty games featured in The Avengers in Video Games.
The Avengers in Video Games: A Guide to Solo Adventures and Mighty Marvel Team-Ups, with Creator Interviews is available in select regions now. Here are some purchase links:
PRE-ORDER LINKES:
Comic Book Video Games 