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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.
Rocksteady and Paul Dini on the storytelling in Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City's creators and voice actors steadfastly refused to give out any new information about the game at last weekend's Comic-Con panel, instead just showing a new Penguin trailer. But both Paul Crocker, the lead narrative designer at Rocksteady Studios, and the legendary Paul Dini, Batman writer extraordinaire, kindly sat down to speak with Joystiq beforehand about the story of both Batman: Arkham Asylum and the upcoming sequel. Arkham Asylum's story was mainly about the Joker's takeover of Arkham and how Batman dealt with it, but those who explored the sidequests and secrets of the game got a look at the overarching plot of the series, that of Warden Quincy Sharp and his mysterious ties to Arkham itself. That story is what drives the sequel forward, and Crocker says that it actually appeared right in the middle of the two games' development: The secrets in the first game were "a late addition," put in while development on the sequel was alrady underway. "The biggest challenge for us was taking the game out of Arkham Island and into Arkham City," he says. "As people have seen in the secret room in the last game, we had it planned. I guess it was a rough road back, to a degree, because that meant we had to do it. But the idea of the city has grown into bigger and bigger detail, and really that was the biggest challenge."%Gallery-116887%
PSA: 'Batman: Arkham City #1' prequel comic now available
Writer Paul Dini tweets to remind us that the first issue of his Batman: Arkham City prequel comic is out today. The page-turner is conveniently available in digital format direct from DC Comics, or you can shuffle on down to the local comic shop and nab it for 3 bucks. Initially set to be a six-parter, the miniseries appears to have been shaved down to five issues. Parts 2 and 3 are due next month, with the fourth issue slated for late July. The game will be released on October 18. Dini, who first started ordering Batman around as a writer and producer for The Animated Series, also wrote the story lines for the two Rocksteady-developed games. He's assisted by Arkham City concept artist Carlos D'Anda, who drew all the pretty pictures for the new comic -- and colored them in too. Check out the full-size cover image of the first issue after the break.
Batman: Arkham City prequel comic series fills the gap between games
As a promotion for Batman: Arkham City, DC and Warner Bros. are giving you the chance to read a Batman story in its natural habitat: comic books. A six-issue Batman: Arkham City miniseries will be available in stores and digitally starting in May, linking the storyline of Batman: Arkham Asylum to the new game. Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (and Batman: The Animated Series!) writer Paul Dini is in charge of the comic, while Paul D'Anda, who did concept art for both games, will provide art for the monthly book. In addition, eight-page "digital-first" minicomics will link together each issue of the miniseries, allowing you to experience basically every minute of Batman's life between the first and second games. We look forward to the issue in which he's just sleeping, and Alfred takes the opportunity to do some Bat-laundry.
Paul Dini is back, writing for Batman: Arkham City
With every sequel announcement comes the inevitable fear that whatever made the original worthy of a sequel would be lost in the followup. Perhaps this fear is doubly true in the case of Batman: Arkham City; its predecessor, the less-awkwardly named Batman: Arkham Asylum, stands a giant atop a mountain of mediocre Batman games. Is it possible to capture that same lightning in a bottle? One good formula is to keep the same creative team around. While UK-based Rocksteady Studios is back in the role of "developer," writer Paul Dini is back in the role of, well, writer and spoke with MTV about the project. Perhaps most notably – outside of his very existence in the project – is the information that Arkham City started production right after Arkham Asylum was finished, giving the sequel a solid two years of development time before its Fall 2011 release, MTV reports. While Dini wouldn't drop any hints about the story (spoiler alert: Catwoman's in it ... and on the cover of Game Informer) he did tell MTV, "We're well on our way through production. We're doing recordings all this week here in Los Angeles [...] It's all sounding great and it's looking terrific." When discussing things that didn't make it into the original and may be in the sequel, Dini said there was "perhaps a little more Batmobile action" they would've liked to include in Asylum. We don't know about you guys, but no Batmobile segment in the sequel sounds a-okay to us.
Batman: Arkham Asylum announced, possibly for Wii?
With The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's stellar performance as the Joker still fresh in everyone's mind, who doesn't want to play a new, non-sucky Batman game? Of course, we have LEGO Batman to look forward to, but it's hard to feel like the Gotham bad-ass when you're controlling a plastic and deformed minifigure. The upcoming issue of Game Informer, due August 18th, has the scoop on publisher Eidos Interactive's forthcoming game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and though it hasn't yet been revealed which consoles the title will appear on, we have hopes that one of those systems will be the Wii. Though the game's developer, London-based Rocksteady Studios (Urban Chaos: Riot Response), hasn't yet released anything for the Wii, its founders did have a hand in creating Catwoman: The Game for the GameCube -- that has to count for something, right? According to Game Informer, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an original title following a botched prison transfer which the Joker uses to his advantage, turning the psychiatric hospital's worst patients and Batman's worst enemies against the caped crusader. The game will feature "a dark and gritty setting reminiscent of Bioshock" and a story co-written by Paul Dini, who you'll recognize from his work on Batman: The Animated Series. Jump past the post break for an alternate cover of the GI issue with the Joker!
