Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise, the eighth installment in the Vs. series, the first to be initially exclusive to consoles, and the second in the Vs. series to use three-dimensional graphics on a two-dimensional battle area.

The game was produced and directed by Ryota Niitsuma, who had previously worked on Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and features the same fast-paced fighting mechanics as earlier games in the series, along with new methods of play designed to make the game more accessible to new players. Capcom promised three-on-three tag team fighting gameplay and a robust plot. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on February 15, 2011 in North America, February 17, 2011 in Japan and February 18, 2011 in Europe. As of September 2013, the game has sold 2.2 million units worldwide. On July 20, 2011, Capcom announced Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which was released in November 2011 and features additional characters, stages, gameplay tweaks and modes for a discount retail price.

Plot
Doctor Doom has assembled the greatest villains of the Marvel Universe and has joined forces with Albert Wesker in order to unite their respective universes in an effort to conquer both. However, this course of action awakens Galactus who could potentially destroy both worlds. It is up to the heroes of the Marvel and Capcom universes to put a stop to Galactus before it is too late.

Playable characters
The game features new and returning characters to the Marvel vs. Capcom series, with accompanying promotional artwork by Capcom artist Shinkiro. The full retail roster features 36 characters. Two additional characters are also available as Downloadable content. Returning characters have distinct changes: Hulk can now perform steady air combos, Captain America's shield hits back on the return after being thrown, Ryu is able to aim his Shinku Hadouken, Iron Man can fire his Proton Cannon at a 45° angle, and Jill Valentine has a new set of moves based on her appearance in Resident Evil 5.



Absent characters
Characters absent from Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds include the monsters Tyrant and Nemesis of the Resident Evil series, who were excluded from concerns that their inclusion would change the game's content rating, as well as the primary members of Marvel's Fantastic Four, who were excluded at the company's suggestion. Dead Rising protagonist Frank West, who appeared as a playable character in the previous Capcom Vs. title, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, was slated to return in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but was removed late during development because of the extra work required due to the nature of his moves. Niitsuma also planned to include the Silver Surfer, but his team could not find a way to incorporate his signature surfboard into the fighting engine; they considered adding him without it, but decided that he would look too similar to Iceman. Mega Man was also ruled out in favor of Zero to represent the franchise as Niitsuma felt Zero had more variation in his moves. Niitsuma stated that original characters would not appear in the game. Marvel allowed writer Frank Tieri full use of their library of characters for storyline purposes; several non-playable characters, such as the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, and Man-Thing would later make cameo appearances in the stages and endings. Despite their initial exclusions, Nemesis, Frank West, and Ghost Rider would later become playable characters in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Release
A special edition of the game includes a steelbook case, an art book including a 12-page prologue comic written by Frank Tieri, a 1-month subscription to Marvel Digital Comics, and codes redeemable for free downloads of the Jill Valentine and Shuma-Gorath Downloadable content, which were made available on March 15, 2011. Ryota Niitsuma stated that fan demand might affect future DLC. However, DLC will not be limited to just characters.

DLC costumes for characters were later announced by Capcom, and were released on March 1, 2011 for $5 USD on the PlayStation Network or 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The first costume pack contained new outfits for Ryu, Thor, Dante, Iron Man, Chris Redfield, and Captain America. The release of the first costume pack coincided with the release of Shadow Mode. The packs released after the first Shadow Mode pack cost 80 Microsoft Points or $1 on the PlayStation Network. Each pack unlocks three new AI opponents. A downloadable Event Mode was also made available on March 25, 2011.

On July 20, 2011, Capcom announced an updated version of the game, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, released in November 2011 at a discounted retail price. The game adds 12 new playable characters, eight stages, and new gameplay modes, as well as improvements to the game's balance and online functionality.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is an update to Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds released in November 2011. The game includes all 36 characters from the original game, as well as 12 new playable fighters. Shuma-Gorath and Jill Valentine, the two characters released as Downloadable content in March 2011, also return as downloadable fighters. Of the 12 new characters, one is a returning character from previous games in the franchise: Strider Hiryu. The other eleven characters are Doctor Strange, Firebrand, Frank West, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Hawkeye, Nemesis, Nova, Phoenix Wright, Rocket Raccoon, and Vergil.

Since the release of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Capcom has released one further major update to the game. On October 17, 2011, Marvel announced the unveiling of a new game mode called Heroes and Heralds. The new mode allowed players to customize their character by using unlock-able cards that could be unlocked by playing the mode. Each card would give the character being used new abilities, such as: super armor, air dashing, invincibility, unlimited x factor, and many more. The mode was released on December 19, 2011 and was available for free digital download to anyone who owned a copy of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.