Marvel heroes go online
In trading card form, sadly.
Konami has unveiled deeply unsurprising details of its Marvel Trading Card Game this afternoon.
Based on the, um, Marvel trading card game by Upper Deck Entertainment, Konami's virtual version hits PSP and PC at the end of this month - 31st May to be exact. There's a DS version due to follow in July, too.
Cross-platform online play is the game's major feature, and Konami is working to establish a community of players ahead of time. A community website has already launched, with localised European sites expected to spring up closer to release.
The game uses Upper Deck's 'Vs. System' - "a complex game engine much-loved by Trading Card fans, and offering a massive challenge to newcomers to the genre". In other words, noobs beware.
There's a single-player mode in which you pick a hero or villain and battle a series of enemies, with comic-book cutscenes. Multiplayer involves superhero teams, and will work locally through PC LANs or the DS and PSP's wireless connections.
Cross-platform online competition with handheld access has to be the real draw, though.
For fans of trading card games and Marvel, that is.