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Ka-pow the 3 Arkhams for $10
Bundle Stars has a zlonking deal going on: $10 for three Arkham games on Windows PC. That's the extras-stuffed Game of the Year editions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, while Batman: Arkham Origins comes with the season pass and the Black Mask and Online Supply Drop DLC. In other words, it's as tight with value as Adam West's Batsuit. (Sorry, Blackgate fans, it's not included)
Three years later, Calendar Man reveals Arkham City easter egg
Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City has an easter egg that even "The World's Greatest Detective" (AKA: Batman) might have struggled to find, players have discovered. A recent YouTube video from the channel "Batman Arkham Videos" (embedded above) has revealed a secret message in Arkham City that not only went undiscovered for three years, but required developer intervention to discover. Turns out, if you set your Xbox 360, PS3 or PC's clock to December 13, 2004 - the day Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker founded Rocksteady - you'll trigger a unique monologue from Calendar Man. After talking about how he's been there "from the beginning," the date-obsessed villain warns that "the end of days is coming." If you think this story sounds familiar, that's because it also took a nudge from Rocksteady to reveal an easter egg hidden in Batman: Arkham Asylum. In that case, the secret was a room stuffed full of references and teases to Arkham City. The uploader of this new video likewise theorizes that Calendar Man's cryptic message is a reference to the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight. You know, if a development team can slip these hidden bits of information past the Dark Knight and his followers so routinely, we have to wonder if Rocksteady might secretly be run by supervillains. [Image: Warner Bros. Interactive]
Amazon discounts over 1,000 digital PC games
Amazon kicked off its Digital Games Mayhem sale, discounting over 1,000 downloadable PC games. Okay, we didn't count to make sure the retailer had that many games on sale; we were too busy adding the Rockstar Ultimate Collection to our online carts. The bundle features 12 games from the developer at 85 percent off ($25.49), including L.A. Noire, GTA 4 and GTA Vice City. The sale also knocks 75 percent off the Metro Franchise Pack ($12.49), Saints Row Franchise Pack ($18.75) and Batman Mega Bundle ($22.50), the latter of which includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Origins in addition to Origins' season pass. As for individual games, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn is 40 percent off ($14.99), Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is 55 percent off ($11), NBA 2K14 can be downloaded at 68 percent off ($9.59) and Civilization 5 is 46 percent off ($16.24). All deals in the Digital Games Mayhem sale are good until May 31. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]
Batman animated film based on Arkham series gets suicidal trailer
The DC Animated film based on the Batman: Arkham series of video games, which we initially reported on back in February, has been given its first trailer. The film will feature appearances from several Arkham series mainstays such as Joker and Harley Quinn, as well as the first Arkham universe appearance of the Suicide Squad, a supergroup of villains who team up for the greater bad. If you know nothing of the Suicide Squad, here's all you need to know: one of the villains in the film calls himself Captain Boomerang. Say no more, we're onboard. While the Suicide Squad was teased and hinted at during both Arkham Origins and Arkham Origins Blackgate, it looks like this will be the first time we see the group as a cohesive whole in the Arkham universe. Kevin Conroy will reprise his role as Batman, while Troy Baker will once again voice Joker. The film is not yet rated, nor does it have a release date. [Image: DC Animated]
Xbox 360 spring sale discounts Batman games, Saints Row 4
Microsoft is cleaning out its digital shelves with a sizable sale on Xbox 360 games and add-ons this week. Ending April 21, the sale spans 11 games and hundreds of pieces of DLC. Five of the games feature popular DC comics superhero Batman in some capacity, such as 75 percent off both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City through Games on Demand ($4.99 / £3.74 / 4.99 euros each). Additionally, Injustice: Gods Among us is half-off ($19.99 / £17.49 / 24.99 euros), Lego Batman 2 is 67 percent off ($6.59 / £4.94 / 6.59 euros) and XBLA game Gotham City Imposters is 75 percent off ($3.74 / £2.49 / 3.59 euros). All of the above deals are valid for those with a paid Xbox Live Gold subscription. Among the other games on sale for all Xbox Live users is Saints Row 4, which is half-off this week ($14.99 / £12.49 / 14.99 euros). Three other games are discounted through Games on Demand: Borderlands 2 is 65 percent off ($6.99 / £6.99 / 10.49 euros), Lego Marvel Super Heroes is 33 percent off ($33.49 / £30.14 / 43.54 euros) and Prototype 2 is 75 percent off ($9.99 / £4.99 / 7.49 euros). Lastly, XBLA games Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ is half-off ($4.99 / £3.37 / 4.74 euros) and Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD is 33 percent off ($13.39 / £10.71 / 13.39 euros) for the week. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]
PS Plus Weekly: Mercenary Kings, Batman: Arkham City free to download
This week's PlayStation Plus lineup has something in store for both longtime PlayStation 3 fans and PS4 die-hards, offering up Batman: Arkham City and the debuting console version of Mercenary Kings free of charge. Mercenary Kings, developed by Wizorb creator Tribute Games, melds the run-and-gun gameplay of the arcade classic Metal Slug with an online cooperative multiplayer mode and an in-depth item-crafting component. Tomorrow's PlayStation 4 release marks the first time Mercenary Kings is available on a console platform, following up on its Steam Early Access debut last year. Batman: Arkham City, originally released in 2011, finds the Dark Knight trapped in a walled-off section of Gotham City filled with classic villains and other miscreants. The downloadable PlayStation Plus version of Arkham City includes the Catwoman Bundle Pack, which adds a series of exclusive story missions and in-game collectibles. Both games will be available for PlayStation Plus members in North America starting tomorrow. Other PS Plus games premiering in April include Castle of Illusion, Stealth Inc, and Velocity Ultra. [Image: Tribute Games]
PS Plus in April: Mercenary Kings, Arkham City, Pixeljunk Monsters
PlayStation Plus subscribers get Mercenary Kings as a PS4 freebie when the Kickstarted run-and-gunner scrolls onto PSN next week. Developed by Wizorb and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World studio Tribute Games, Mercenary Kings makes its Metal Slug-style action interesting by chucking in a weapon crafting system based around hundreds of different parts. The rest of April's Plus line-up in North America features Batman: Arkham City, Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark, and the Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse remake on PS3. As for Vita, Velocity Ultra and Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD are next month's dynamic duo. Except for Mercenary Kings, the roster of PS Plus games in Europe is totally different: On PS3 it's Pro Evo Soccer 2014 and on Vita it's MotoGP 13, while Hotline Miami and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time are unlockable on both platforms as Cross-Buy games. That means if you get the PS3 version of Sly on Plus, for example, you'll also get access to it on Vita. Devolver Digital recently revealed Hotline Miami is coming to the PS4 with Cross-Buy enabled, so if you're planning to get the top-down kill-fest on that platform, be sure to grab it as a Plus freebie this month. The quintet including Mercenary Kings join Europe's Plus collection on April 2. [Image: Tribute Games]
Batman Arkham Knight set one year later, 'five times larger' than Arkham City
The recently-revealed final game from Rocksteady in the Arkham series, Batman Arkham Knight, will feature "traffic-friendly streets" in a map that's said to be "roughly five times the size" of Batman Arkham City. Lead AI and combat programmer Tim Hanagan told Game Informer that "at any given time, there are between three and four times the number of thugs active in Gotham City than there were in Arkham City," and that larger riots in the game will have up to 50 characters wreaking havoc. Arkham Knight is set one year after Arkham City, in which Batman's foes have banded together to tear the Dark Knight's attention away from a crumbling Gotham City. The single player-only game will also include an arch-villain created from scratch by Rocksteady and DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns. Rocksteady's initial announcement focused on another big addition to the Arkham series: Players will get plenty of time in the driver's seat of the Batmobile, which can be fetched at the press of a button, can handle the jumps and boosts expected of the more reckless drivers among us and will eject Batman out of his seat at times. Kevin Conroy will return to voice Batman after Roger Craig Smith lent his voice to the character in Arkham Origins. Additionally, Nolan North will voice Penguin, Wally Wingert will voice Riddler, Tara Strong will continue as Harley Quinn and Troy Baker will voice Two-Face again. Speaking of Harley Quinn, Joker's popular sidekick will be playable via pre-order bonus content that includes four challenge maps. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]
DC Animated to tap Batman: Arkham franchise for 2014 film
Warner Bros. Entertainment will be adapting the Batman: Arkham series of games into an animated film for release sometime later this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Details, much like Riddler trophies and Chronicles of Arkham, are rare, scattered and a bit confusing. For example, we know the name - Batman: Assault on Arkham - and what the adaptation isn't. According to Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is remodeling its DC Animated Movies line so that they share a single continuity - think of how Marvel Studios built up to The Avengers and you've got an idea of how this will work. WB plans to release two movies per year that will fall into this new continuity, as well as a third film that does not tie into the DC Animated Movies continuity. Batman: Assault on Arkham is slated as that third film for 2014. Jay Olivia, director of Justice League: War is set to direct. According to the film's IMDB page, Mark Hamill will not reprise his role as Joker, though Kevin Conroy will once again take up the cowl as Batman. [Image: Warner Bros.]
Batman: Arkham City's Clayface figure shows his ugly mug
A custom Clayface figurine, modeled after the character's portrayal in Batman: Arkham City, has been announced by DC Collectibles. There is no word on pricing or release date as of yet. Clayface is 13 inches tall, making him the biggest figure in the line that pulls from the cast of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. That line includes a 7-inch Batman and other notable characters like The Penguin, Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze and Solomon Grundy. Head past the break for a side-by-side look at the Clayface figure next to the Batman. The latest game in the Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Origins, launched in late October. Origins, which serves as a prequel to the first two games developed by Rocksteady, was created by WB Games Montreal.
Batman Arkham Collection packs three Batmans into one box
The Batman Arkham Collection will arrive on November 22 in the UK, Warner Bros. announced today. The bundle packs the two Rocksteady-developed Arkham games, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City along with WB Games Montreal's Batman: Arkham Origins into one batsuit. Arkham Asylum and Arkham City will both be included as download codes for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the collection, with the PS3 bundle also receiving the Knightfall DLC pack for Arkham Origins. The PC version of the bundle will feature Game of the Year editions of either game, which grants players bonus DLC like Harley Quinn's Revenge for Arkham City and six additional maps for Arkham Asylum. Those two games are in a bundle of their own, which GameStop unveiled in September. We've contacted Warner Bros. to see if the Arkham Collection will arrive in North America as well.
Warner Bros. Humble Bundle on the way [update: confirmed, live]
Update: Humble Bundle confirmed it's launching a WB Games bundle that's expected later today, featuring six games: F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, F.E.A.R. 3, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and the Game of the Year Editions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Each game purchase is redeemable through Steam, but you'll have to pay over the average to unlock Scribblenauts Unlimited and Arkham City. Update 2: The WB Games collection is live and kicking on Humble Bundle. It'll run for two weeks, ending on November 19. Original Story: Warner Bros will become the latest big-name company to take center stage in a Humble Bundle, going by an apparently premature update (deleted but screen-capped above) on the Scribblenauts Facebook page. The series' official account listed Scribblenauts Unlimited as one of six games included in a bundle raising money for DC Entertainment's We Can Be Heroes charity campaign, but said bundle isn't live (yet). We've reached out to Warner Bros. for comment. If accurate, Warner Bros. would follow EA, Double Fine, and THQ as one of the rather more recognizable names to get in on the Humble Bundle act. The site partially raises money for charity by featuring downloadable collections of games at pay-what-you-want prices, such as the weekly sale on games by Worms dev Team 17 that it's currently hosting.
Holy sales, Batman! Arkham series and Metro lead this week's deals
If you're a PC gamer looking forward to Friday's release of Batman: Arkham Origins and have yet to scoop up the previous two entries in the series, now might be a good time to do so, as they're 75 percent off on Steam until Monday, 10 am Pacific. That makes Batman: Arkham Asylum just $5.00, and Batman: Arkham City just $7.50. Both versions are Game of the Year editions, meaning even more batarang for your buck. Not a bat-fan? Amazon has unearthed savings on Tomb Raider and Metro: Last Light, which are both on sale for $19.99 through the week, while Best Buy is helping aspiring gamer musicians get into the groove by taking $50 off the cost of any electric guitar when you buy Rocksmith 2014. Lots of good things on sale, stranger.
Report: Gamestop's Black Friday has exclusive bundles, blue PS3
Gamestop's Black Friday circular has supposedly leaked its thick, viscous deal-goo all over the internet, exposing the retail chain's plans for the most excruciating shopping day of the year – just don't expect any deals on that new PlayStation 4/Xbox One hotness. For everyone staying in this console generation, though, there's some cool stuff going on if you think leaving the house on Black Friday is worth it. You can have your choice of 250-gig PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 for $199.99, the former bundled with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins, and the latter bundled with Halo 4 and a download code for Tomb Raider. Meanwhile, a Gamestop-exclusive Azure Blue 250-gig PS3/Jak and Daxter Collection bundle can be had for $249.99. For 360 owners, there's also a Gamestop-exclusive Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City boxed set, Dishonored and Splinter Cell: Blacklist at $24.99 each. PlayStation 3 owners can snag Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag for $40 and a year of PlayStation Plus for $29.99. The chain is also running a buy-2-get-1 free promotion on all pre-owned items, provided the free thing you pick out is of equal or lesser value. Gamestop is also granting an additional 30-percent in-store credit on all trade-ins, though whether these two offers stack is unknown. There's a lot of other stuff on sale, so while we check on the trade-in value of a human soul, click all up on this to check out the full 12-page circular for yourself.
Batman: Arkham games ditch Games for Windows Live, 75% off on Steam this weekend
Batman's tool belt has always featured the most advanced gear on the planet, so it's always struck us as strange that the World's Greatest Detective would use Games For Windows Live as his PC platform. Today, Warner Bros. has announced that Batman has given up on the soon-to-be-shuttered Games for Windows Live platform in favor of Steam's collection of similar features and copy protection. GFWL copy protection and features (including achievements) have been removed from both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. The upgraded Steam versions now include Steam Achievements, cloud support, Big Picture support, full controller support and Steam Trading Cards. "If you purchased either of the games on Steam all you have to do is let Steam download the latest patch and you will be fine. If you purchased the games somewhere else you will need to enter the code in Steam," an announcement on Steam detailed. Steam users report a free upgrade to the GOTY editions of each title upon registering their CD key in Steam. Switching to a new copy protection system means that players will be forced to restart the game as saves rooted in the GFWL platform are not compatible with Steam. This weekend, both Batman games are available for 75% off to celebrate The Dark Knight's upgrade to the industry's preferred PC platform.
Batman bundle contains Rocksteady's two Arkham games
A new bundle featuring Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City is coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 on September 23, GameStop has revealed. The bundle, available for $50, packs in Game of the Year versions for each game. The Game of the Year version of Arkham Asylum includes a Trioviz 3D mode (a post-processed 3D presentation compatible with any television) and some extra challenge maps. The Game of the Year version of Arkham City tosses in a smattering of DLC packs: Harley Quinn's Revenge, Catwoman Pack, Nightwing Bundle pack, Robin Bundle Pack, Challenge Map Pack and Arkham City Skins Pack. In total, this equates to an additional seven maps, three more playable characters, 12 skins and more. The next installment in the Batman Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Origins, is due October 25 on PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U. The prequel is currently in development at WB Games Montreal and, for the first time, adds a multiplayer component to the series.
Batman: Arkham City is a board game now
Batman: Arkham City Escape is a board game based on the game sequel to the game based on the comics, due in the UK this June (and elsewhere in "Q2") from Cryptozoic Games.In the two-player game, one player controls Batman's villains, using their special abilities to escape from Arkham City with hostages in tow. The other player controls Batman, using his stealth, tools, and impressive glower to prevent their escape. Randomly located gargoyles help him travel around the board, just like in the video game.Start working on your utility-belt style card holster now!
Arkham City Wii U, Far Cry 3, AC3 on sale at Best Buy this week
Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition, the Wii U version, is $20 at Best Buy as part of its weekly deal offer. Also on sale are the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 for $30, or PS3, Xbox 360 and PC editions of Black Ops 2 for $40 each.We found the Wii U version of Arkham City to have some cool features, such as the WiiPad audio function whenever Batman picks up a conversation on his earpiece. Otherwise, it's definitely not the prettiest way to play a Batman game.
Borderlands takes over Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale
The lineup for day five of the Xbox Live Games on Demand sale is a star-studded one, as nine games are at least half-off for today only. Highlighting today's deals are Borderlands and Borderlands 2, available for $9.99 and $29.99, respectively.Other games in today's deal include Fable 3, Dead Island and Fallout: New Vegas for $9.99 each. Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2 and Red Dead Redemption can be downloaded for $14.99 each, while Dishonored rounds out the group at $29.99.The Ultimate Game Sale ends March 4, and while these games are on sale for today only, there's still a sizable list of games at low prices for the length of the promotion.
Xbox 360 250GB Spring Value Bundle includes Darksiders 2, Batman: Arkham City
Microsoft has announced a new 250GB Spring Value Bundle for the Xbox 360, available in "select major retail stores" and shipping out today for $300. In addition to the black Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive, the bundle includes a wireless controller, copies of Darksiders 2 and Batman: Arkham City (the latter in downloadable form), and a free month of Xbox Live.That's a nice deal, though you may prefer to wait until after you've heard about the next Xbox, which is expected to be announced later this year.
