batman-arkham-city
Latest
New Batman Arkham game coming this year
A new Batman Arkham game is being released this year, although it's unknown if series developer Rocksteady Studios is behind it. The news comes courtesy of the Time Warner Q4 2012 earnings call, as posted by Yahoo! Finance."And we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise," said John K. Martin, Time Warner chief financial officer and chief administrative officer.Warner Bros. Interactive and Rocksteady Studios released Batman: Arkham Asylum in 2009, followed by Arkham City in 2011. In that sense, a new Arkham game in 2013 adds up.According to a Variety report from last year, Rocksteady is developing another Batman game, but it's set in the Silver Age of comic history, and isn't expected to be released until 2014. Maybe Variety and Warner are talking about the same game, but it sounds like they may not be. In any case, we've reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive for more info.
Toy Fair 2013 features such wonderful toys
Toy Fair 2013 is happening up in New York this week, and in addition to those Tomb Raider minimates we spotted earlier, there are a bevy of various playthings, action figures, and replica items available from a number of famous video game franchises and settings. Just down below, we've compiled a few galleries of the video game-related toys on display for you to browse through at your leisure.Thrill, for example, at the newly revealed Motorized Patriot figure from Bioshock Infinite. Gaze upon the (still boxed!) figures from Batman: Arkham City, including Talia, Deadshot, and Bats himself. Or if full-sized replicas are more your thing, you can see some closeup shots of the Gears of War Judgement "Taxi Lancer," as seen above. Sure, your significant other may exclaim that you're too old to play with these toys, but they didn't say you couldn't look through a few galleries of them, right?
Batman: Arkham City lands in Mac App Store
Perhaps the most popular Batman video game ever has now landed on the Mac App Store. Batman: Arkham City sees the Caped Crusader fight some of his worst super-villains in the heavily fortified slums-prison of Gotham City known as Arkham City. This release of Batman: Arkham City for the Mac is the Game of the Year Edition, which includes all of the downloadable content from the console editions of the game including the Harley Quinn's Revenge story mission. It also includes the Nightwing, Catwoman, Robin, Arkham City Skins and Challenge Map packs. The game itself weighs in at a whopping 10.67 GB download and has some relatively high system requirements, so make sure your Mac can handle it before buying. The minimum system requirements are: 2.0 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, 256 MB graphics card, and 16 GB of free space. Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition is US$39.99 in the Mac App Store.
Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition review: Wonderful toys
For Wii U re-releases of existing games, we're republishing our original reviews with added evaluation of the new material. Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition brings a little bit more to the excellent 2011 game than some action figure-looking armor. For what is supposed to be the marquee feature, the B.A.T. armor isn't really a big deal – except for the nice side effect of covering up Catwoman appropriately for cold weather. Poor Catwoman.A meter fills as you punch people, representing stored kinetic energy. This can be released by tapping an icon on the GamePad or clicking both analog sticks, temporarily increasing your strength. It's a nice feature for big fights, but not really a big deal.What is a bigger deal is the GamePad integration. This ranges from the usual "DS port" stuff like a persistent map screen and a touch menu interface to upgrade Batman's abilities, both of which are very appreciated, to AR tweaks like tilt-controlled Batarang aiming. I found these additions, and the use of augmented reality to search crime scenes in Detective Mode, pretty useful and natural. Aiming in particular augments analog stick targeting with tilt fine-tuning in the same way Uncharted: Golden Abyss did, and it's welcome.The coolest use of the GamePad, however, is in the environmental audio. When Batman receives radio transmissions from Oracle or overhears a conversation with his surveillance equipment, the audio comes in over the GamePad, simulating Batman's earpiece. As you get close enough to a conversation that Batman would be able to hear it unassisted, it shifts over to the TV audio. It's cool.You can also play the entire game directly on the GamePad, which is an absolute boon for absentminded Riddler trophy searching while watching TV.These extras – along with the presence of all previously released DLC – would all be fine reasons to opt for the Armored Edition over the normal, uh, Spandex Edition on other consoles, but there is one Bat-Caveat that must be noted. The framerate is nowhere near as smooth as it is elsewhere. Armored Edition doesn't really have slowdown – instead, there's a consistent choppiness to animation. I hope this is a problem Unreal Engine 3 developers get sorted out quickly. In any case, it's not a reason I would avoid Armored Edition (it still looks great), but be aware you're not getting the best-looking version.Original Batman: Arkham City review by Griffin McElroy:
London Games Festival exhibition art being auctioned for charity
Organizers of The London Games Festival's large exhibition of video game-related art, which concluded in October, are going to auction off all of the pieces on display for charity's sake. There are over 100 works going out, covering games like Batman: Arkham City, Fable 3, and Dishonored. All of the profit from the auction will go to support SpecialEffect, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for anyone with disabilities.You can browse through the gallery of art on the Festival's website right now, and they're also taking bids on all pieces at this time. Not all of the art is available for auction right away, but eventually it'll all be up for offer, with new weekly pieces up until December 3. If there's something in there that floats your boat and you feel like paying a little bit of money to charity for some great art, bid away.
Guilty Gear hits XBLA next week, Arkham City on sale this week
Surprise! Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is coming to Xbox Live in North America on October 24. We previously learned only its Japanese release window, and had no confirmation of western release at all. But you'll be able to engage in vintage metal-inspired 2D fighting next week for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).Before that, however, you can enjoy sales on Batman: Arkham City and its DLC. From today through October 22, the game is on sale on Games on Demand for $29.99 (prices vary regionally), with all DLC half off. It's joined by a half-off deal on XBLA Kinect game Wreckateer. And next week, starting October 23, Bioshock, Bioshock 2 and related DLC will be on sale.
Batman: Arkham City GOTYE now on Steam, 20% off until Tuesday
Now and then I think of buying games on PC,like maybe something with some action or some stealth?But how to know which game is right for me? So many different gaming companies,Been burned before and it's an ache I still remember.You can get addicted to the purchase of games on Steam, especially when there's a sale, always a sale. So when I found Batman: Arkham City, including every piece of DLC,well I'll admit that I was glad it was 20 percent off. But you didn't have to kill them both!Shot them dead behind the theater and now I'm an orphan.I've still got my butler though,The Joker tries to kill me and it feels so rough. No you didn't have to stoop so low, try to poison all of Gotham just to find your answer.But I guess I need that antidote, now I've spent some money that I used to own.On Batman: Arkham CityOn Batman: Arkham CityOn Batman: Arkham CityNow I've spent some money that I used to own.
Catwoman is also armored in Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition (plus: Wii U boxes are blue!)
The tablet technology included with the Wii U allows Batman to have fancier armor in Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition. We don't understand how it works either – just go with it. A new image released by WB today shows that Catwoman will also benefit from this increased armor tech. Now she's more covered up.Speaking of Wii U and being covered up, the box art image sent by WB reveals something interesting: not only do Wii U game covers have a blue bar on top – the actual boxes appear to be light blue. That'll be hard to miss on the shelf.%Gallery-162636%
Paul Dini explains absence from next Batman game
Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City writer Paul Dini isn't working on the next Batman game from Rocksteady, but we already knew that much. However, other than some vague tweets, we didn't know why that was the case. The reason turns out to be much less thrilling than any of his Batman scripts: "The last talk I had with Warner Interactive about future games was while I was doing promotion for Arkham City last September. Naturally as there was such a rush of interest about Arkham City, everyone was asking me about a third game, and frankly, I had been wondering about that myself. When I asked about the possibility of working on a third game I was told that as Rocksteady had just finished wrapping the second one, it would be a while before everyone was ready to sit down and discuss future plans. That said, it was intimated that for future games, Warner and Rocksteady might not be looking as much to freelance writers, the message being, that if I had something else interesting coming my way, I might want to take it."Dini says he wasn't included in Arkham City's DLC projects, and he hasn't been tapped for work on the rumored Silver Age-themed Batman game, said to be Rocksteady's next project. He's since taken on other work that makes him "unavailable to take on anything new until 2013." He's not bitter, though, even noting that "If we wind up working together again at some point, that would be cool, too."
Paul Dini not returning to Rocksteady's Batman universe
Paul Dini, famously known for writing and producing the classic Batman Animated Series, will not continue his work with Rocksteady on the Batman Arkham franchise. Dini was credited with penning the story of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City."Kinda hoped I'd be doing another Arkham game in London during the Olympics. Esp, as I had a good source for tx. Ah, well," Dini tweeted late last month. In response to questions on Twitter, Dini said that, while Arkham City was slated to be his last writing gig in the Rocksteady franchise, he would love to return. "I would if I could," he wrote, "It's not my call."According to a recent Variety report, the next Rocksteady-developed Batman game will take place during the hero's Silver Age.
Steam Summer Sale, Day 10: Batman Arkham City, Torchlight, Quantum Conundrum and more
Whew, we did it. It's finally the last day of the Steam Summer Sale and we ... what's that? There's another day of this madness? That's just great. Well, hopefully you didn't budget your lemonade stand money the way we did this year in order to account for tomorrow, the final day of the sales promotion.It's hard to keep up when today's sales include Quantum Conundrum and Arma 2: Combined Operations, both at 40% off. Also, Batman: Arkham City stands alone at 66% off, plenty of reason for us to pretend July 22 isn't even on the calendar. While we're at it, Prince of Persia, Evochron Mercenary, Torchlight, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, and Fable 3 are tempting us with a 75% discount. Finally, the indie bundle for today includes Bit.Trip Runner, Eufloria, and Machinarium.Enough about games, who wants to buy some delicious lemonade so we're ready for tomorrow's sales?
The last Catwoman Riddler trophy is exclusively at Comic-Con
You might think you've collected all of Catwoman's Riddler trophies in Arkham City, but you're wrong! It turns out the Riddler has crafted one more puzzle, hiding one last trophy at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. There's only one way to unlock these 8-pound, LED-lit replicas, and that's to put down a $100 pre-order at the TriForce booth. Granted, that's not really much of a riddle, but there's certainly an element of challenge associated with opening your wallet.Only 100 of these puppies (kittens?) will be manufactured and, to make them even rarer, Comic-Con will be the only opportunity to place a pre-order. The full price to throw one of these real trophies onto the pile of digital trophies you've already collected? $400. Me-yow.Check out a high-resolution image of the trophy in the gallery below.%Gallery-158600%
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition takes us on a virtual tour
You may be wondering what exactly is so special about Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, the Wii U port of Rocksteady's excellent 2011 game. Well, this video overview should be able to answer most of your questions, so long as you're asking whether you can control a batarang with the WiiPad or not.Yes, young ward, you totally can.%Gallery-157243%
Batman: Arkham City 'Armored Edition' headed to Wii U [Update: Includes all DLC]
We already knew Bats was headed to Nintendo's Wii U, but we didn't realize that Arkham City would get a full re-treatment care of Warner Bros. Batman: Arkham City "Armored Edition" is headed to Nintendo's Wii U with a set of new WiiPad-specific controls. WB didn't give the game a date or detail how much extra content (if any) will come with it, but we'll be sure to bug WB for more info this week.Update: Warner Bros. has sent out a press release confirming that all DLC for Batman: Arkham City will ship with the Armored Edition for Wii U, in addition to the fancy armored duds for Bats and Cats seen during the Nintendo E3 press conference.
PSA: Harley Quinn's Revenge begins today on PSN and Xbox 360 [Update]
Harley Quinn's rampagement begins today on PSN and Xbox 360, and runs through PC in early June. The DLC is part of the Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, which includes previous packs featuring Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin.Harley Quinn's Revenge is a plotty affair, beginning with players as Robin as he tracks down Batman, who has gone missing after Arkham City's final moments. Control shifts between Robin and Batman, but is contained to the DLC's world and any previously released challenge maps.We assume the closed-world setting is a metaphor for the psychological cage that Harley constructed during her time with The Joker, but hey, we're not the psychiatrists here. She is.Update: Yes, it looks like Harley has made her way to Xbox 360 today as well. Also, Spoiler: There are clownish thugs in Harley Quinn's Revenge.
Watch Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy record for Arkham City, destroy the fabric of reality
This voice acting-oriented episode of Inside Rocksteady Studios is the first time we personally have ever seen either the Joker or Batman's voices come out of real human bodies, and suffice to say that oh man is it weird.It's almost like Batman and the Joker are providing voiceovers for Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, instead of the other way around. Seeing the Joker's spooky laugh come out of a hunched-over Mark Hamill is an image that'll stick with us for a while, and his cheshire cat grin didn't help much either. The video also features Stana Katic (Talia in Arkham City and Detective Becket on Castle), but seeing her perform isn't so much of a head trip, considering that it's basically just Detective Becket with an undercover accent.
Harley Quinn is still really upset in the latest Arkham City DLC trailer
Poor Harley Quinn. First the Joker breaks her mind, and then The Batman breaks her heart. It's nice to see that she's not wallowing in self-pity, though, and that she's got the initiative to get back out in the world and make a name for herself. Granted, she's using homicide to do so, but still, good for her.This latest trailer for Ms. Quinzel's starring role as an Arkham City DLC antagonist gives us a look at the various brow beatings Batman and Robin will dispense to the citizenry of Gotham's beating lunatic heart, as well as somewhat unsettling introduction from the man in white himself.
Play as both Robin and Batman in Harley Quinn's Revenge
The Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC coming to Batman: Arkham City has been detailed, and it sounds like a departure from the game. Instead of an open-world affair, the DLC is story driven, initially placing you in Robin's boots and tasking you with finding Batman, who's been lost chasing Harley Quinn after the final events of the main game. The story time-shifts, explaining where Batman is and what he's been up to by switching viewpoints a few times.Robin still doesn't have the chance to wander Arkham in full - he'll only be able to explore this content and any previously released challenge maps. Harley Quinn is scheduled to get her revenge on May 29, for $9.99 on PSN, or 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live.%Gallery-155232%
Harley Quinn's Revenge to commence on May 29
You may have noticed that April 30 came and went without so much as a peep from the young Miss Harleen Quinzel, and that her purported plans for vengeance have yet to procure reparations for, well, you know.That's because the original date we had listed for the Batman: Arkham City add-on, Harley Quinn's Revenge, was incorrect. The tweet that originally gave us the April 30 date has been amended, listing May 29 as the content's correct worldwide release date. In hindsight, that makes a bit more sense considering that the Game of the Year Edition also hits that day.Though our minds know another month isn't that long of a wait, our hearts are just as broken as Harley's. Come, ease the pain with this absurdly high-resolution version of the cover art seen above.
Big Batman deals on Steam this weekend, small Batman not on sale
The Steam signal burns in the night sky and Batman answers the call, probably because he isn't wearing his glasses and the clouds make the Steam logo look like a diagonal bat if he squints. Batman: Arkham City is half off ($15) and Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition is 66 percent off ($7) this weekend on Steam, sale ending Monday, May 7. You'd think Bruce would have the money to get Lasik, wouldn't you?
