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Gazillion. Up until a couple weeks ago, the word was representative of numerical hyperbole, and now it represents a publisher with massive venture capital backing and the MMO rights to major IPs like Marvel and Lego. We had a chance to interview the company's VP of Marketing Paul Baldwin -- with a fire drill intermission -- during GamesBeat 2009 last week. We asked him pretty much anything we could think of ... you know, considering we knew almost nothing about this new publisher.

Joystiq: We're here with Paul Baldwin, who is the vice president of marketing at the "newly founded" Gazillion Entertainment? What's the deal there?

Baldwin: Newly announced. The company was in stealth mode since 2005, so we've been around for a while, but we are "newly announced."

You guys just appeared on the scene and got the Marvel license. I can tell you, we spent hours the day we first heard of the company, just calling up several journos and PR asking, "Who are these guys?" So, who are you guys?

Good question, I have to first say that I was amazed myself that we were able to keep the company quiet since 2005, additionally when we acquired NetDevil in July of '08 and obviously we were very excited to get Jumpgate and of course Lego Universe, then we also acquired a company in Seattle, and we've been slowly building up the Marvel Universe studio, Gargantuan, in San Mateo, and throughout this period we were able to keep it quiet, which, once again, really surprised all of us. As I mentioned, the company started in 2005. At that point, we had kind of modest goals, frankly. We had an original IP, which is going to be a big client, high production quality -- World of Warcraft-like production quality -- coming out. That was the first product we had actually on tap.

Shane Kim knows (and he know we know) that Microsoft has had some problems in the MMO department, and he even takes the full blame, saying "It's a tough and challenging space that's evolving all the time – a lot of shifting sands. We haven't been able to crack the code." Listen, Kim (can we call you Kim?) we can sympathize. Lord knows we burned through enough cash on our ill-fated lifeguard MMO Endless Deep End. And though we can't help you crack the whole code, we can offer an important first step to MMO success: Release one.

We know, it's a small thing, but you'd be surprised how many miss this important step. Though we're giving him a hard time, we're betting NCsoft wishes they'd had a Shane Kim on staff when Auto Assault was being workshopped. "Everyone please leave the room," he'd say, as he loaded his syringe and slipped on rubber gloves, Auto Assault huddling in the corner. "And for the love of God, whatever you hear, do not come in."

Shane Kim, former Microsoft Game Studios guru and recently appointed VP of the Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business, recently spoke to EDGE magazine on his company's failed attempts at massively multiplayer online games. Specifically, MS canceled Marvel Universe Online earlier this year. Way back on the original Xbox, True Fantasy Live Online, once thought to be the original Xbox's savior in Japan, was also canceled. On Microsoft's trouble with MMOs, Kim said, "I'll admit MGS has not had success in the MMO space," also noting, "We haven't been able to crack the code." Kim says that he believes MS "made the right decision" in canceling Marvel Universe Online but adds that "there's nothing to say those titles can't be successful on 360."

Part of the problem, according to Kim, is the "tension" between what developers want to create and Microsoft's need to maintain a "stable and secure environment on Xbox 360." In other words, it sounds like developers aren't too keen on the controls that Microsoft places on Xbox Live. Kim concludes that Microsoft is "getting very close" to solving the problem, but that the company has been slow to deliver an MMO experience, noting "we feel bad about that."

So do we, Shane. So do we.

Interested in seeing what you'll be playing on your Xbox 360 in the coming months? X3F has compiled the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook for you, a list of this year's exclusive graduating class with a detailed account of each title's current status and the stories surrounding them.

The 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook chronicles the graduates, like the soon-to-be released Ninja Gaiden II, and the titles that didn't make it to grad, like Alan Wake. Yep, he had to be held back for a semester or two. Or maybe three, we just don't know yet.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to introduce the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios graduating class ...

After a solid year for the Xbox 360 in 2007 many thought the system could never showcase the same amount of quality exclusives in a single year.

In the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook, we've compiled a list of this year's graduating class with a detailed account of each title's current status and the stories surrounding them.

From heartbreaking cancellations, surprise feature announcements and expected sequels, the 2008 MGS Yearbook is filled with fun facts and information on your soon-to-be favorite titles. Also included in the yearbook are special joke awards given to each title that releases in 2008 that poke fun at the details most commonly argued about in the comments.

From Ninja Gaiden II to Alan Wake, the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook will have something for everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen allow us to introduce the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios graduating class ...

In our effort to become your official Shane Kim news aggregator comes another tidbit from a DICE Summit interview with the Microsoft Game Studios corporate VP conducted by Stephen Totilo from the MTV Multiplayer blog. In the interview Kim confirmed longstanding suspicions that the announced Marvel MMO, Marvel Universe Online, for the Xbox 360 has been canceled. Strange as it may seem, the reasoning behind this cancellation is probably the smartest move on Microsoft's part. "If you really look at the data," Kim explained, "there's basically one [subscription based MMO] that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success." Of course the MMO he is referring to is Auto Assault.

[via Joystiq]

Shane Kim has been getting a lot of coverage at this year's DICE summit, and it's not just because he's got a thousand-watt smile that lights up a room. Microsoft has been pretty cagey about 2008 so far, and it seems like, thanks to Kim's hinting, the first details of a schedule for the year are just starting to solidify. If you want to know where your favorite upcoming title stands, look no further than MTV's comprehensive interview with Kim on all of the company's big 08/09 guns.

Besides hearing about how great Fable 2 is going to be (answer: very) we were especially intrigued by Kim's reluctance to pin down Alan Wake as a 2008 title. Also, though we were disappointed by the cancellation of the Marvel MMO, we have to admit we agree with the reasoning: In short, Microsoft noticed the dozens of subscription-based MMO carcasses that littered the road and decided that, perhaps, advancement was unwise. We heartily concur.

Ah ha! We think we've come across the unlucky winner of this week's canceled Microsoft game search. And unlike the Price is Right, this winner doesn't get a new dishwasher, car or get to play Plinko. Instead, it's (possibly) getting canceled.

According to whispers into 1UP's ears, the rumor is true and we'll soon find out that (wait for it ...) Marvel Universe Online will be getting axed. This game collaboration between Marvel, Microsoft and Cryptic Studios has been years in the making, but hasn't been openly discussed since an interview way back in 2006. And the odd thing about this Marvel MMO is that nobody (and we mean nobody) is confirming that the game is even in development. Microsoft refuses to talk, Marvel is very hush and Cryptic Studios sidesteps questions when asked. Only time will tell, but even if Marvel Ultimate Online isn't the rumored canceled game, it should still be watching its back. There's definitely some management and development issues going on there. Or maybe they're just being super secret.

[Thanks, EC]

No doubt amused by a ridiculous process of elimination that prompted game developers to rush to their keyboards and confirm the continued existence of their upcoming third-person role-playing whatever-em-ups, 1UP has revealed that the first-party Xbox 360 title supposedly skirting around cancellation is none other than Marvel Universe Online. In an echo of True Fantasy Live Online's demise, the MMO has reportedly run into "serious, potentially stalling, development troubles," the least of which is likely to be the monotony resulting from everyone playing as Wolverine.

Aside from a mysterious source, 1UP cites a suspicious inability by the project's collaborators to outright confirm the game's on-going development. Though Microsoft insists that Cryptic's recent sale of two Cities has no bearing on Marvel Universe Online, the developer hasn't so much as mentioned the game when discussing upcoming projects. Not a particularly convincing chain of evidence, but it does seem a tad quiet when shook.