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Pre-order Batman at Blockbuster, get a month of free game and movie rentals
Next week, the Dark Knight himself comes out from the shadows and into your home -- and if you haven't already pre-ordered Batman: Arkham City, you may want to peep this Blockbuster deal. If you put down $10 on the game at any Blockbuster store, you'll get a free month of movie and game rentals when you go to pick it up. Simple as that! We'd say that's a hard deal to pass up, but then again we think it's probably more difficult to find an actual Blockbuster nowadays.
Catwoman unlocked in Batman: Arkham City through online pass
Within every new copy of Batman: Arkham City resides a code for an online VIP pass, which grants access to Catwoman content. If you pick up the game used, there's an option to purchase the VIP pass for 800 MS Points ($10) on Xbox Live and $9.99 on PSN. But have no fear if you're trying to save a few bucks and want to pick it up used: "Playing as Catwoman is not required to complete the game," a Warner Bros. rep told Eurogamer. Catwoman is just one of the playable characters on offer in Arkham City. Two different DLC packs will also unlock Robin and Nightwing (who is also Robin) for play in the game. Then, of course, there's the fifty different skins for Batman that can be purchased. So rest assured: if you're really against the vanilla Batman, you can purchase the right outfit that fits your needs.
How Batman: Arkham City hopes to avoid villain clutter
Arkham Asylum's expansion into a city has given the Dark Knight a much larger gothic playground, and enough room for an elaborate roster of power-tripping psychopaths. But is Batman: Arkham City's expanded lineup of rogues bordering on bloat? Rocksteady's Lead Narrative Designer, Paul Crocker, confidently shot down my concern over villain clutter in a recent interview. "We're not worried about clutter at all," he said. "The main difference between us and film is that we're 25 hours long [laughs], and everything is in there to give the player more to do, more reason for every action, and to make their actions feel meaningful." In a way, Crocker considers the peril faced by Batman as an elegant, appropriate embellishment of what's really at the heart of Arkham City: a series of objectives that prod you into different areas and challenges. "We want you to feel like everything you do as Batman is meaningful." And when you're Batman, that meaning is found not in advancing to the next stage, but in foiling Joker's schemes or planting a fist in Edward Nigma's face.
Report: GameStop outs Arkham City DLC dates, prices
Batman: Arkham City's DLC launch dates and prices were apparently posted on GameStop.com before somebody came along and ruined the party. The bat-eyed (roll with it!) folks of ArkhamCity.co.uk, who have been ever-vigilant of Arkham City details, captured the information before the web pages were taken down. A "Nightwing character pack" was dated November 1, for $6.99. The site also listed a "Robin bundle" will hit on November 22 for $6.99, with a nondescript "Skins pack" to swoop in on December 6 for $4.99. With the convoluted way Arkham City character skins are being distributed among retailers, it's only a matter of time before all that fashion is consolidated and sold to the ravenous masses. Update: PR confirms some of the details after the break. [Image credit: Fan-made]
Green Lantern Extended Cut Blu-Ray combo pack to include Batman: Arkham City Sinestro Corps skin [update]
Well, that's one way to boost Blu-Ray sales. A devastatingly handsome tipster has sent us pictures of the unreleased Green Lantern Extended Cut Blu-Ray combo pack due out on October 14, and wouldn't you know it, right there on the cover is a sticker proclaiming yet another Batman: Arkham City costume. For those unfamiliar with the Green Lantern mythos, the Sinestro Corps are a team of baddies lead by the ex-Green Lantern Corps member Sinestro (natch). The Sinestro Corps did, at one point, attempt to recruit Batman into their ranks, so we suppose this Sinestro Corps skin isn't entirely non-cannon. No word from our incredibly popular and good-looking tipster on whether or not the promotion is exclusive to a specific retailer, however it is exclusive to a specific console: Seeing as this is a Blu-Ray and all, the included code is a PSN code, and therefore only functional on PS3 copies of the game. Update 1: According to our source, the skin-packed copies of Green Lantern will be limited edition and exclusive to Best Buy, however there's a chance the costume will eventually be converted into DLC. Update 2: Best Buy exclusivity is, according to our source, no longer on the table. While they did not name specifics, "certain other stores" will also be receiving costumed copies.%Gallery-136091%
Batman: Arkham City copies available early at Times Square TRU event
The Times Square Toys R Us location will hold an event on Monday, October 17, where 500 copies of Batman: Arkham City will be available a day early. The first 100 customers who pre-purchase a copy of the game through the store's "Personal Shopping Department" (starting now, we guess?), will receive a ticket reserving their copy, and can have their game autographed by Jim Lee (co-publisher at DC Entertainment), Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) and Sefton Hill (B:AC Game Director from Rocksteady Studios) at the event. The other 400 copies will be available for purchase at the event, which officially starts at 4PM, but who knows when people start lining up? The event will include photo ops with actors dressed up as Batman and Catwoman, and game demos. Obviously, keep your eye on the prize. You could get Batman: Arkham City a day before everyone else, or those with Amazon Prime who longingly stare out the window for any glimpse of the UPS man.
Batman: Arkham City's Robin in new Boy Wonderful footage
A video that appears to have leaked from GameStop UK (it's not on the GameStop site, anyway) shows the Batman: Arkham City pre-order exclusive Robin character in action. He looks a lot like Batman, except with a shorter cape and a big stick.
New Batman: Arkham City villain found in Qore
Batman: Arkham City's character roster is starting to get a little crowded! The new episode of Qore, added to PSN last night, offers a look at yet another villain that will stalk the locked-down streets of Gotham. YouTube user MrKQGaming captured the relevant segment of Qore, which you'll have to watch closely to catch the new villain (amongst all those other villains). We've got a screencap after the break, just for those of you daring enough to see the villain's identity before the game launches later this month.
Achievements reveal playable Nightwing in Batman: Arkham City
More Achievements for Batman: Arkham City have swooped dramatically out of a dark corner, this time for DLC. Two achievements make reference to a "Nightwing Bundle Pack," featuring a playable version of Nightwing (the original Robin, Dick Grayson, all grown up). The (unofficial) reveal of Nightwing brings the playable cast to four, including Batman, Robin, and Catwoman, with Robin and Nightwing exclusive to downloadable content. If you're concerned about too many characters crowding out your brooding time as Batman, you can always ... just not get the DLC. [Image: DC Comics]
Catwoman's Sins in Batman: Arkham City
So, why Catwoman? I know it's something nice and extra for the fans, and in the context of Batman: Arkham City's story, I'm all for Catwoman, but why? Why include just about every Batman character ever this time around? Dax Ginn, marketing game manager for Rocksteady, told me that players nowadays don't always want to be the good guy. "It's not always fun being the righteous arm of justice, so we wanted to explore what it was like to be a criminal within Arkham City, as well. Catwoman became a great option to explore that." But maybe it's simpler than that. "We kind of look around at other games," Ginn said, "and it's obvious that some players like breaking the rules."%Gallery-135245%
Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360 bundle swoops onto Amazon.de
When we first saw this Batman: Arkham City Xbox bundle, outed by Amazon Germany, we assumed it was the fancy custom console given away to one lucky PAX-goer; instead, this bundle includes a 250GB matte black Xbox 360, the usual headset and controller, and a copy of the game. At €279.99, that puts this console at just a €30 premium over the un-Batman'd Xbox offering. Though it may not have a fancy paint job, it respects the fact that we're not all Bruce Wayne.
Batman: Arkham City trailer is no laughing matter
MTV Multiplayer recently got its hands on a trailer showing off the nefarious, no-good-doings of Batman: Arkham City's secondary foe, The Joker. Watch it above, and join us in worrying about the relative malevolence of the sequel's real archenemy.
Batman: Arkham City PC delayed until November
Batman: Arkham City for PC has been delayed until November, Warner Bros. announced this morning. This will not affect the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, which are still scheduled to burst from the shadows and pummel the rogues of Gotham on October 18. No reason was given for the delay ... but if your theory has publisher WBIE and Ubisoft conspiring to diminish potential piracy with 11th hour delays, who are we to argue? Meanwhile, place your bets on the arrival time of that Assassin's Creed: Revelations PC delay.
Arkham City's Animated Series Batman skin is exclusive for GameStop PowerUp Rewards members
That stylish Animated Series Batman skin (complete with the white triangles for eyes) is now officially, and apparently only available as an exclusive from GameStop, according to information on the company's store. Players who have a PowerUp Rewards membership (that card and Game Informer subscription GameStop's employees are always trying to sell you) will get access to the skin, a replica from the classic 1990s Batman: The Animated Series. Of course, Kevin Conroy, who voices the Bat in the games, started his tenure as the World's Greatest Detective in the series, so putting his voice and this costume together again will be a nice homecoming for fans. There was also a rumor going around that the same skin would be a GAME exclusive overseas, but that company is apparently offering Robin as a playable character, a bonus already revealed for Best Buy in the US. In other words, pick your pre-orders carefully out there, people. [Thanks, Alan!]
Batman finds new gadgets, a new villain in Arkham City
New gadgets and violent criminals are flooding Arkham City; the horror! Hide your kids; hide your -- wait. That's good news. Let your babies run free in the streets and take your wife out to dinner, and celebrate the new information revealed for Batman: Arkham City: Gadgets Remote Electrical Charge: A taser beam, the Remote Electrical Charge gun can be used to power machinery, create electrical fields to solve puzzles, and electrocute villains (non-lethally of course, because, well. Batman.) Freeze Blast: Taking a cue from Mr. Freeze, the Freeze Blast is a projectile that creates ice platforms in water and freezes enemies in their places. Batman can then "break" the frozen villains, which doesn't seem to involve any shattering of internal organs or severed limbs, so it's really more like "pushing villains over while they're really cold." In the video, one Freeze Blast hit up to three villains at the same time, making it useful for rowdy crowds. Villain Deadshot: As part of a side-mission, Batman will track Deadshot as he systematically assassinates high-profile people within Arkham City, and then goes after Batman himself. Detective mode will be essential to finding and taking down Deadshot.
Batman: Arkham City aims to add replay value with 'New Game Plus' mode
It's a story we've all heard a million times: you play Game X; you love Game X; you find every single item and do everything you possibly can, yet still you crave more. Tough, there isn't anything left in Game X. You guzzled Game X when you should've sipped Game X, long and slow, savoring every second. It was our problem with Batman: Arkham Asylum, much as we imagine it was a problem for a lot of you. Rocksteady is looking to fix that in Batman: Arkham City with a "New Game Plus" mode, which ramps up the difficulty and modifies a few things for your second go around Crimeburg. Thugs are meaner, boss fights are tougher and Bats will retain all of his XP and gadgets from the first playthrough. The difficulty setting for "New Game Plus" isn't customizable -- whether you make it through on normal or hard, the difficulty of "New Game Plus" will be the same. Also, there won't be any counter icons on thugs, but we imagine that won't be a huge deal after you've spent a whole game punching them in the face.
Batman: Arkham City achievements leaked
Holy leakin' 'chievos, Batman! We may have to wait until October 18 for The Dark Knight clean up the mean streets of Gotham in Batman: Arkham City, but you can check out a list of the cloak and cowl's forthcoming accomplishments after the break.
Batman: Arkham City supports Games for Windows Live
For Batman, capturing criminals and maintaining safe, clean streets in Gotham is its own reward. For those of us lacking giant inheritances and cavernous basements, the incentive to do good just for the sake of being good isn't really enough. We need something we can hold; something we can point to and say, "I did that, here's my proof." Achievements! It was just our roundabout way of saying Batman: Arkham City will support Games for Windows Live on PC, according to a Warner Bros. rep speaking to VG 247 today. We assume, just like its predecessor, the game will also be sold through Steam, though there has yet to be a games page created for it. We've contacted Warner Bros. for clarification. Achievements and DRM for Arkham City will be handled by Microsoft's platform.
The Xbox 360 PAX deserves, but not the one it needs: Custom Batman: Arkham City console
One lucky PAX attendee will be able to walk away with the custom console above. Warner Bros isn't saying much on how you can win this custom Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360 at Seattle's to-do, though the Facebook page announcing the promotion does offer hope to those who aren't Seattle-bound: Xbox will apparently be giving away the same console at an unspecified later time. Feel free to glide on into our gallery below to drool over the thing. On one side, Batman; on the other, Joker. Way in the back, envious that they can't win this thing for themselves: the Joystiq staff. %Gallery-131727%
Amazon.de shows us three ways to skin a Robin
The sharp-eyed Batfans over at ArkhamCity.co.uk have spotted some images of the Batman: Arkham City Robin pre-order DLC on Amazon.de. In addition to the rugged Robin announced earlier this summer (complete with a trendy hood), the images also reveal the Red Robin costume and the Animated Series Robin. Robin is available as a Best Buy pre-order bonus for Arkham City, allowing players to try out the Boy Wonder's moves in the game's challenge mode. The DLC will be made available to all Arkham City owners sometime after launch.
