arkham-asylum
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Return to Arkham with the remastered 'Batman' games
Batman fans, rejoice! Soon, you'll be making another sojourn back into the Batman: Arkham video game franchise with the upcoming Batman: Return to Arkham remaster collection, releasing July 29th for $49.99.
'Arkham Universe,' 14 more Batman domains registered
It looks like Warner Bros. isn't through with Arkham yet. Domain manager MarkMonitor, which handles Warner Bros. properties, has registered a slew of Arkham-related sites, including "Arkham Universe," "Batman Arkham Arises" and "Batman Arkham Legends."There are 15 domains in total, ranging from the standard fare listed above all the way to "DC Arkhamverse." There's no word if these relate to a film endeavor or a game, but considering the previous two Batman games from Warner Bros. were Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, they certainly fit the gaming pattern.Check out the complete list of domains below.
Free DLC brings Arkham Asylum into Gotham City Impostors
Prepare to be slightly, mildly confused. Gotham City Impostors, the non-Batman Batman game, is getting a free map based on Arkham Asylum, setting for a different recent Batman game. There's probably a way we could present that information that would be confusing, like "Batman game to be set in Arkham Asylum" or "You've never been to Arkham in this Batman game" but really it's not a big deal. Can you tell we started this post planning to play up the confusion angle and then stopped ourselves?Speaking of confusion, this free map launched on the North American PSN last week by accident, in place of the Rodeo Pirate Pack. It will launch as planned on Xbox May 16, and PC at an unspecified date soon after.
The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons
Chillin' in the clink. Spending time in stoney lonesome. Thrown into the slammer. Checking in to the big house. Doing (perfect) 10 to life in the hole. Learning the ropes in juvie. Prison: The only fun thing about it is the slang that people have come up to describe it. And while you may never actually want to spend any time in the crowbar hotel in real life, chances are you've already done so in MMOs. Jails are an ever-popular locale in online gaming, and they almost always deal with an epidemic of escaped -- yet still milling around casually -- prisoners. So in today's Perfect Ten, we talked to the warden and got you a special glimpse into pixelated pokeys, if only to scare you straight. No more exploits and bots for you, young man or woman!
SDCC 2010: Part two of our DCUO panel report
Today we have more from the question-and-answer portion of the DC Universe Online panel at the San Diego Comic-Con last week. (Part one of the panel was posted earlier this week.) Panelists included Creative Director Jens Andersen, Game Director Chris Cao, legendary comic book writer Marv Wolfman, Jim Lee, and the voice of the Joker, Mark Hamill. Will there be a mechanic for switching from hero to villain or vice versa? No. You make the choice of hero or villain at character creation, and it can't be changed after that. This is so it is clear to other players in PvP who is on what team. Will current storylines in the DC comic universe affect the MMO? The game will launch "pristine"; that is, the DC Universe in the game will be the popular, well-known one. Wonder Woman will be in her classic costume; Bruce Wayne will be Batman; etc. From there, storylines from the comics may start altering the MMO universe, but at least from the get-go, the game will start with a clean slate. DCUO will be getting its own bi-weekly comic as well.
Batman: Arkham Asylum ... the action figures!
Holy late money grab, Batman! It appears that in the June 2010 issue of Toyfare magazine will reveal a cadre of the Batman: Arkham Asylum characters in action figure form (as pointed out by Previews). Though the issue will miss the May release date of Bats' Game of the Year edition, it'll arrive on store shelves by early June. June's issue is said to feature "a sneak peek at some of 2010's hottest video games and hottest video game toys," including the Dark Knight, among others. The listing also notes that DC Direct, makers of, well, lots of other video game action figures, will apparently be tasked with putting little Bats and crew together. It probably doesn't hurt that the "DC" in DC Direct is of the DC Comics variety, owners of the Batman IP. All will be revealed on June 9, so get your Bat Credit Card at the ready, folks! [Via Big Download]
VGA 2009: Rocksteady's Paul Crocker talks Batman
This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Paul Crocker at Rocksteady about Batman: Arkham Asylum. So when are we getting real DLC? We can't talk about DLC, I'm afraid. [Note: with the announcement of Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, if that indeed ends up being the name for the sequel, it seems highly unlikely that we'll get any more DLC for the first game. Rats.] Well, that's not a no! What has surprised you all the most about the game since launch? Well, for us we're just really happy that people liked it. We worked really hard to do the brand justice and to try and make a good Batman game. Obviously when you're working on something like that you're really inside a bubble, and you don't know what people really think. And the reaction has been quite cool, so everyone at Rocksteady is really excited. Speaking about that reaction, how does it work for a developer on launch day? Is it like in the film industry where people get the box office numbers coming in right away? Are you getting sales figures? How do you know it's doing well? In all honesty ... we look at websites. [laughs] I mean if some website says it sold X number of copies, we don't even know if that's true. I guess we're the last to find out. But we look at the reviews and read what people are actually saying about the game. The afternoon when all the reviews went live, we were all sitting in the office and it was just really exciting. If you get an 8 out of 10, you're like "Awww, that's bad" because the other ones were 9, you know? But we were seeing scores at 9 or more and it was an interesting afternoon, and quite a nice evening at the pub.
Batman: Arkham Asylum creator focused on quality over quantity, hasn't played BioShock
In a lengthy post-mortem with Gamasutra this week, Rocksteady Studios creative director Sefton Hill spoke his mind on a mess of topics regarding this summer's surprise hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "There are too many games out there that deliver lots of average content," Hill said when asked about the relative "tightness" of Batman in comparison with other games. Personal inspiration for the game's design came from places like Zelda and Metroid, two game series he's been a fan of "for years," as well as Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness. And though Arkham's audio logs and "environment as a character" motif hearken back to 2007's BioShock, Hill claimed he's never played it. "It's on my list of games to get back into ... I can't say for me that was a big direct influence."Truth be told, we're just scratching the surface of Gamasutra's thorough dissection of Batman -- a game we loved with all of our jaded, rancorous hearts -- so do yourself a favor and stroll through the entire five pages. Call it an afternoon treat! You deserve it, dearest Joystiq reader.%Gallery-31781%
Branching Dialogue: Tales of Bat-Mania (or: Why Arkham Asylum is an RPG)
Presenting Branching Dialogue, a weekly, wordy and often worryingly pedantic discussion of video game genres, trends and err ... stuff I didn't think to put in this introductory line. One of the most irritating outcomes of role playing, often exhibited in games far removed from that genre, is when you're forced to play dumb. You'll recognize the phenomenon as the shimmering, insultingly obvious trapdoor that must be trampled in order to trigger the next cutscene or event. You may have outsmarted the game by spotting a literal hole in the plot, but the inflexible narrative can only reward those who blindly play the role -- the role usually being that of a flustered Admiral Ackbar.It's even worse when you're supposed to be Batman. After using one of Arkham Asylum's most integral tools to spot a gang of goons lying in ambush, I was thoroughly annoyed when there seemed to be no alternative route toward the next objective and no acknowledgment of my foresight. I had to knowingly steer the world's greatest detective into a trap -- and he didn't even flinch. Only moments later did I realize that Batman was the one setting the trap, his calm demeanor hiding more intelligence than inattentiveness. In fact, had I not thought to use the all-seeing detective vision, Batman would have likely outsmarted me. And I'm the player, dammit. Though applying a simple label to a complex work such as Batman: Arkham Asylum is unnecessary, it's useful in exploring why the developers at Rocksteady Studios are not only the first to make a genuinely good Batman game, but the first to actually ... make a Batman game. If I have to call it something (outside of "awesome," which I'm sure you're all sick of hearing), I'd call it a role-playing game. And not just because of the turn-based combat and unskippable summon animations!
The Batman remains atop UK sales charts
For a second consecutive week, Batman: Arkham Asylum has countered the incoming blows of Wii Sports Resort, leaving the brooding hero perched at the very top spot of the UK sales charts. Chart Track notes the Dark Knight's sales are down 27 percent in the second week, a slide softened by Sony's PlayStation 3 price drop.The real beneficiary of Sony's slim console is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which shot up seven spots on the charts with a 128-percent increase in sales. The PS3 versions of COD: World at War and Fight Night Round 4 also got a bump after the drop.Source -- Batman hangs on to No1 (Chart Track)Source -- All formats chart (Chart Track)
Canadians get Batman: Arkham Asylum for $40 at multiple retailers
Last week Xbox Live users in Canada noticed a Walmart advertisement on the Xbox 360 dashboard pricing Batman: Arkham Asylum at $38.83 for its first three days of release, this week the deal has extended to nearly every other retailer. Best Buy and Futureshop are now price matching Walmart's original promotion, selling the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Batman's latest crusade for $38.83. EB Games -- a company not known for sale price matching -- is also getting in on the action, offering the game for $39.99 $38.89 during its first day of release.If our review is any indication, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a must buy, and at $40, Canadians officially have no excuse. Not even all that August snow should get in your way.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Buy Nvidia graphics card, get Arkham Asylum free
If you're planning on beefing up your compy's visual capabilities any time soon, you might want to turn your attention to this fairly amazing offer: If you buy a graphics card containing Nvidia's GeForce GTX 260, GeForce GTX 275 or GeForce GTX 285, then you'll get a coupon for a free download of the PC version of Batman: Arkham Asylum.This partnership between Nvidia and Eidos isn't that surprising -- the PC version of Rocksteady's surprisingly wonderful stealth-action title was delayed to September 15 to allow for the implementation of Nvidia's PhysX technology. However, interestingly enough, Bruce Wayne is actually a 30 percent stockholder in AMD. Scan-da-lous.[Via Big Download]
Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Hyperbole can be venomous to a review's credibility. Any insightful merit which a video game critique may possess seemingly goes out the window as soon as the reviewer starts dropping bombs like "best game ever" or "literally mindblowing" or "it will birth you anew in its magnificence." Perhaps it is because we've all heard these phrases -- save for that last one -- so many times that they've lost their currency with us. Rest assured, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that Batman: Arkham Asylum is unquestionably the best licensed game I've ever played. At the end of the day, however, that's a fairly low hurdle to clear -- it better reflects the game's quality to say it's one of the best stealth-action games ever made, and easily the best video game 2009 has had to offer thus far. %Gallery-31781%
Bat-Knowledge! Bone up on your Arkham Asylum history
With Batman: Arkham Asylum's release just around the corner, and a slew of videos introducing the game's cast of characters already available, we didn't think there was much more to say about Batman's upcoming video game adventure (until our review later today!). We were wrong. In the latest and perhaps last trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum, Eidos drops knowledge on something we're (admittedly) not familiar with: the history of Gotham's Arkham Asylum. Listen carefully to a haunting journal from the asylum's founder Amadeus Arkham, as the 1920s-era mogul slides deeper into madness attempting to rehabilitate Gotham's worst citizens. If only Amadeus would have lived long enough to see a giant bat punching the "criminally insane" in the face, maybe things would have worked out better for the good doctor. It really is amazing how much medicine has progressed over the years. %Gallery-31781%
BAM! Batman: Arkham Asylum demo punching faces online
Hello, loyal readers. We should have mentioned this a few hours ago but a demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum is now available for Xbox Live Gold users. Why are we late on the tip? Well, we've been busy playing the demo ... and time flew by. Translation: The demo is good. Yeah, that's right. Soak it in for a moment, a superhero game that doesn't immediately make you want to punch yourself in the face. Feels nice, doesn't it? Of course, the demo's vertical slice could be a mischievous ruse, and only when we play the full version will we realize that half the game is played by a boyish Robin ... or worse, The Arbiter (we're kidding, you're always The Bats). Will the final game live up? According to our other experiences in Arkham, Rocksteady has actually done Batman some justice. It's about time. Do the Bat-Dance, Queue up the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo
Totally batty new trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum's villains
(click to Killer Croc-size) Get it? "Batty?" 'Cause it's a trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Rocksteady-developed, Warner Bros./Eidos-published Bat-brawler? Why aren't you laughing? Hey -- where ya going?! Come back! We just want to tell you about the latest video for the game, showcasing the game's many gruesome villains! Is that too much to ask? Alright, fine, if you must go, at least hit the break and check out the trailer for yourself -- totally pun-free, we promise you. It is not, however, free of Bat-brutalizing villain introductions. No, we can't believe we just typed that either. But seriously, the game looks to be mixing the right amounts of grit and lore together, enticing us all the more for the game's release later this summer. Hopefully we'll be able to contain all our chiroptera excitement until then! (You can go now, we understand.)%Gallery-31781%
New Batman: Arkham Asylum dev diary gives Batman a terrible evening
As Rocksteady's Sefton Hill and Paul Dini eagerly explain in the video above, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a game about torturing Batman. Okay, okay, maybe not directly, but by way of Joker setting up a nasty ruse for Gotham's greatest hero at Arkham Asylum itself. Trapping Mr. Wayne inside with all of his most fearsome enemies, when he thought he was just stopping by to deposit a criminal, leaves him at the mercy of the now-in-control Joker.From what we played of the game's campaign back at E3, we're not sure exactly how Eidos/Warner Bros. plan to keep the game's T-rating, as evidenced by the few gameplay snippets you see in the developer diary above. We are, however, surprisingly excited for the game's release in late August -- and glad we don't have to bring along Mom to buy us the game.%Gallery-31781%
Home ad reveals Joker DLC for Batman: Arkham Asylum on PS3 [update]
Click for big bow tie-sized image There's a very peculiar ad in PlayStation Home right now. As you can see above, it would appear the PS3 is on the receiving end of Joker's brand of funny, as several billboards sprinkled throughout Home advertise "Exclusive Joker challenge maps" for the PS3 version of Batman: Arkham Asylum. We decided to hop on Home ourselves and snapped the pic you see above.We've contacted Eidos for clarification and will update as soon as we've heard back. Oh, and if you're scratching your head at the concept of "challenge maps," then you didn't read about our time with the game back at GDC09. For shame. We're dialing your mother right now.Update: We've added a gallery with another delightfully precarious shot of the Joker, just below. Don't shoot!%Gallery-51010%
First Batman: Arkham Asylum trailer
You know, given the apparent state of Arkham Asylum, it's no wonder that Gotham City's criminals are complete wack-jobs. Honestly, considering the utter disrepair of Gotham's premiere mental health facility, is it any wonder that its patients are never properly rehabilitated? Just look at it. It looks like something out of Silent Hill. Hardly the kind of place that promotes a sense of mental well-being. Oh, and the asylum also serves as the setting for Eidos' upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum, in which the criminally insane trap the caped crusader inside Arkham's hellish walls. Or something like that. Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Confirmed: Arkham Asylum not coming to Wii
Sorry folks, looks like the new game Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't going to be on Wii. It's purely a PS3 and Xbox 360 affair, as well as for the PC. Sorry to crush your hopes and dreams (we felt you needed the closure of knowing, rather than never mentioning the game again), but the title isn't planned for Wii as of right now. That doesn't mean we can't hold out hope that the game will one day be ported to Nintendo's console. Just don't hold your breath on that one. [Via press release]
