SDCC 2010: The Activision Bits

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is the belle of the brawl

Sad truth: I have never been to the San Diego Comic-Con. It’s like a rite of passage for geeks but, for some reason, I never was in the right place at the right time. So this year…I’m finally going! Unfortunately I did not have time to put together a good outfit, and I’m not even going in my Ghostbusters gear. I am working, so I’m trying to be “professional” — or whatever passes for it at a comic convention. But I will feel naked without a costume. These are my people and I want to be visually counted among them!

There will be plenty of better things to see than me in a goofy outift, though. Activision will have a booth, the accurately named #5045, and I think what you will find there will make you happy. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions is obviously of huge interest to Marvel fans, and members of the Beenox development team will be in attendance, but Transformers: War for Cybertron will also be on hand — after all, it was developed at nearby High Moon Studios. We’re located with several other gaming companies in attendance, between THQ and fellow Marvel game publisher Capcom — so swing by (here’s a big map), as there will be some swag and a few surprises that are worth seeing in person. Here’s some of the Spider-Man swag you can get at the Activision booth:

Some of this stuff requires...a commitment. Some of it's totally free.

There’s a lot going on, and I’ll go into detail after the jump.

Wednesday night, Activision’s hosting a private event for press and industry folks; Kat and I will be there and do our best to bring back interesting stuff. For the public, there will be an autograph session with living legend Stan Lee at the Activision booth Friday at 3pm, and artists will be painting a very cool SMSD mural live over the course of the show. That’ll be on 5th Avenue in the Gaslamp district — walking distance from the convention center. So…plenty of Activision activity, and we haven’t even gotten to the panels yet.

Panels are always a big deal at any convention — it’s your chance to hear from creators and even ask a few questions. Activision is involved in three panels this year, one on Thursday and two on Friday. I plan to cover all three and I’ll bring back details, but here’s what you can expect to be discussed:

Hasbro Transformers (Thursday, July 22, 2:00PM – 3:00PM in Panel Room 25ABC)
Aaron Archer (Hasbro Brand IP Development), Matt Proulx (Hasbro Marketing), and Hasbro Design’s Michelino Paolino, Brian Wilk, Eric Siebenaler, Alan Roach, and Miyaki Tomoya are joined by Activision’s Matt Tieger to talk about what’s new with Transformers. The design and marketing teams will present all the latest toys from the new line as well as details about the Transformers: War for Cybertron video game from Activision.

Marvel Interactive: Marvel Video Games (Friday, July 23 at 11:15AM – 12:15AM in Panel Room 6DE)
Learn all about Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, and other new Marvel games via exclusive trailers, surprise reveals, and Q&A with the game creators, as well as the Marvel writers working on the next wave of Marvel Games from some of the industry’s top publishers, including Thomas Wilson, Creative Director from Beenox, the developers of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Four Worlds, One Story — Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions the Video Game (Friday, July 23, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM in Panel Room 5AB)
Fans will get an insider’s look at the creative thinking and collaborative effort between comic book co-creator, Stan Lee, and the videogame developers at Beenox, along side acclaimed Marvel writer Dan Slott. Voiceover talent Dan Gilvezan (voice of Spider-Man in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends) and Josh Keaton (voice of Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man) will also be on-hand to dive into the rich lore of past and present Spider-Man and discuss bringing Spider-Man to life in four distinct ways in the upcoming game.

And there’s more — including answers to some of those nagging SMSD questions, as well as a contest or two — but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to learn about all that stuff. Check back.