Marvel had some big announcements today at SXSW. They are upping the ante with their digital offerings. They finally rolled out their Adaptive Audio feature on their Marvel Unlimited digital subsriprtion program. Adaptive audio, provided by Firelight Technologies(composers of BioShock, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Spider-Man:The Animated Series) , is said to be “a non-looping soundtrack meant to enhance the reading experience with music and sound, but not dialogue.” In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Marvel’s vice president of digital products, Kristin Vincent, discussed the unique challenges, “How do we not make it just looping music in the background? How do we make it an immersive experience that's truly an adaptive score that the user controls, that adds to the storytelling? The collaboration has been eye-opening to me -- it's actually becoming a tool in storytelling, as opposed to just being music looped on.”
Adaptive audio, first announced last year at Marvel’s SXSW presentation, isn’t yet available on all titles. In preperation for Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America is first to undergo the treatment. According to Comic Book Resources, this is specific to issues 8, 9, 11 to 14. The arc is illustrated by Steve Epting.
To try an promote the app and its new features, Marvel is reducing the monthly subscription, normally $9.99 (or $69.99 a year), for only $0.99 this month-provided you join before March 14th. The subsription app does have a 6 month lag to promote purchasing new comics. Marvel is not ruling out a subscription service for release day comics, “It all depends on how the market goes.” Marvel Unlimited will also incorprate AR special features to be accessed mid story when using the app.
Use the code SXSW99 to take advantage of one month of comics for under a dollar!
Marvel also announced new content for their Infinite Comics digital first initiative. They are putting out a free 24 part series titled based on Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man. The release schedule has not been decided on but the series will be showcased in a new kid-friendly app. The writing duties will be divided by Eugene Son, Matt Kindt, Cullen Bunn and Tim Seeley. Art will be handled by JL Mast and Geoffrey Beulieu on storyboards and Luciano Vecchio and Soutchey Leimetry on finished art.
“Not only do I think it's a good opportunity for Marvel, it seems like we have great stories that resonate around the world, and we're really proud of that. That's why in my mind it makes sense to start, especially with kids, with a character like Spider-Man, as opposed to a Captain America -- which hopefully also has worldwide reach, but obviously is a little bit different," says Kristin Vincent. Ultimate Spider-Man will be translated shortly upon release to ten different languages to cater to children world wide.
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