Capcom's "Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds" hit stores this week and it's apparently pretty darn awesome. There are fewer characters that the last game and newly streamlined controls, but they change works to the game's benefit, broadening the appeal to a wider range of players. Of course, it can't be a new software release until the tech-minded folk of the world step up to rip apart the code and see what secrets it hides. In the case of "MvC3" it amounts to two characters: "Dead Rising" hero Frank West and "Spider-Man" villain Doctor Octopus.
The are a few ways this could be read. Some believe that it is a hint of new characters to expect from future downloadable content. Others simply chalk up the references in the code to early development plans that changed as the game came together.
The second possibility is supported by the fact that West was, at one point, a confirmed fighter on the game's roster. He was ultimately pulled from the game, and his name being mentioned in the final release's code is likely a remnant of those previous plans. Producer/director Ryoto Nitsuma pegged the character's removal to the "extra work involved, just from the nature of his moves" in a January interview with VideoGamer.
The same is not true of the many-armed "Spider-Man" villain, at least not as far as we know. It is at least possible that Nitsuma and his team were at one point working on a Doc Ock roster spot as well, only to can it to better focus their efforts in other directions. All that said, even if the West and Ock mentions are both just remnants of old code, it certainly doesn't rule out the possibility of seeing them pop up in future DLC. Capcom's first DLC pack for the game has already been confirmed, bringing Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath into the game as well as the new Shadow Mode, which pits players against "ghost" versions of the top "MvC3" contenders.