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Warner Bros media roundup: Mr. Freeze, impostors, Orcs and monsters
Warner Bros Interactive went gritty at Gamescom this year with new screens from Batman: Arkham City, Gotham City Impostors, Lord of the Rings: War in the North and, most gruesome of all, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. We still can't believe they're marketing those fluffy, brightly colored puppets to children. The humanity, WB. Check out all the WB galleries from Gamescom right here -- if you dare.
Batman: Arkham City supports 3D whether you have a 3DTV or not
You won't have to wait for a "Game of the Year" version to play Batman: Arkham City in 3D. When the game ships in October, it'll have two varieties of 3D support built in. The Xbox and PS3 versions will be playable in stereoscopic 3D on compatible televisions, using active-shutter glasses. The PC version will include Nvidia 3D Vision tech to support 3D output on compatible TVs or monitors, if you happen to have a GeForce GPU. In addition, the game supports regular old anaglyph 3D when played on an HDTV with "3D glasses available for the video game." This is likely the same TriOviz tech used in Arkham Asylum. So even if you don't have a fancy 3DTV (and just a fancy HDTV), you can see some cape virtually up in your face.
Batman: Arkham City trailer unveils Mr. Freeze
Nope, we're not doing it. There won't be any lazy, cold-related puns in this post. Whispering even one will summon unbearable memories of Arnold Schwarzenegger, so go ahead and put the whole idea on ... PAUSE.
Batman: Arkham City's Penguin voiced by Nolan North (seriously)
Clearly flexing his vocal chops, voice actor Nolan North is the man behind Batman: Arkham City's most aquatic villain: The Penguin. Rocksteady marketing game manager Dax Ginn revealed as much in an interview with CVG, breaking down the various villains you'll be pummeling as Bats come October. As seen in the trailer above, North's voice acting clearly stretches beyond his most well-known role as pretty-boy adventurer Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. It could be argued that he's already proven that, given his voice acting contributions to, like, every game ever, but we're pretty impressed with the whole Penguin gig.
Arkham City's Batman is a fashionista, rocking six suits in his wardrobe
Batman's a busy guy, sure, but when he's out prowling the streets of Arkham City looking for thugs, he wants to feel pretty just like anyone else. Developer Rocksteady Studios has clearly taken that into consideration, as the caped crusader has a sextet of costumes to don in his upcoming game, Batman: Arkham City -- should you procure all available pre-order and exclusivity offers surrounding the game, that is. As seen above, everything from classic 1970s Batman to Batman Beyond's version of the Bats' suit has made the cut thus far. Fan site ArkhamCity.co.uk rounded up the various bat suits offered in a variety of different means and provided details on how to grab each for yourself. Unfortunately, it's possible you'll have to spend many hundreds of dollars and possibly import versions from other countries. But hey, that's fashion! Update: To be extra clear, the image above is a fan-made amalgam of existing pre-order images and (possibly) non-official game art. We anxiously await an official image from Rocksteady/Warner Bros. [Image credit: Fan-made; Thanks, Regis.]
Batman: Arkham City 'Steelbook Edition' exclusive to Australian EB Games, comes with classic costume
We'll be honest with you, folks -- we want nothing more than to dress as the pastel, '70s-era Batman while we prance around Arkham City. That'd just be tops. Unfortunately, we don't live in Australia, where the EB Games-exclusive "Steelbook Edition" comes with the blue-tinged DLC, along with a few more bat-themed goodies. Buyers of the "Steelbook Edition" also get their game in a fancy metal box, access to the "Joker Carnival" Challenge Map DLC, and a copy of the "Batman: Under the Red Hood" animated film on DVD (or Blu-ray, should you buy the PS3 version). And for $98 AUD ($107 USD), they'll be paying exactly the same price as Aussies buying the regular edition at other game retailers. [Thanks, Brad.]
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%
Penguin invited a guest to this Batman: Arkham City trailer
This Batman: Arkham City trailer has two surprises. The first is right there on the surface: hey, the Penguin is British now! Batman will interact with the diminutive, faux-refined villain in his own Iceberg Lounge. We think we'll leave the second surprise for you to discover. We will say that it's something that comes from outside the confines of the Batman series, from the wider DC Universe. And it's not Woozy Winks.
Batman voice actor says Arkham City will have 'future episodes'
Professional Batman voice provider Kevin Conroy recently spoke to Comic Booked about his illustrious past and apparently infinite future with the franchise. On the subject of Rocksteady's upcoming Dark Knight simulator, Batman: Arkham City, Conroy shared some promising news: "The thing about Arkham City is that it's going to be an ongoing game," Conroy explained. "You're going to be able to download future episodes of it, so it's going to be going on for quite a while. I've been recording it for a while." This news is noteworthy for two reasons: First, we're big proponents of having access to Batman unending, so the prospect of downloadable post-launch "episodes" is attractive, provided we're talking about full-on Gotham adventures and not just challenge rooms. Second, if Conroy's been recording Arkham City vocals for "a while," he must have vocal chords crafted from raw adamantium. Seriously, have you ever tried doing a Batman impression? Have you ever tried doing it every day for two decades?
Batman: Arkham City collectors edition official in UK [update: headed to US too]
Where does he get ... that one wonderful toy? If Batman were a resident of the UK, he'd have access to one in the collectors edition of Batman: Arkham City. WB confirmed the existence of the bundle (due on October 21) for that region in a press release, including the single image above of the layout. The CE includes a Batman statue by Kotobukiya, an artbook, a downloadable soundtrack, early access to the "Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map" and a Dark Knight Returns-style skin, and a copy of the Batman: Gotham Knight animated movie. Americans suffering from envy of that exclusive swag (if not the game disc unceremoniously tucked into a paper sleeve) shouldn't worry; the details of this UK bundle match up with those posted last week by GameStop. We'll just have to brood in our caves for a bit -- we're sure it will be made official for North America soon. Update: Warner Bros. has confirmed that the collector's edition is slated for the US as well.
Arkham City collector's edition details sneak past the Batman
With a new movie and video game finishing development and the recent ego-crushing defeat at the box office by a teenage boy and his stick, Batman must be pretty busy. Busy enough to let listings for the Batman: Arkham City collector's edition be posted, unannounced and without violent yet non-lethal retribution. GameStop and Best Buy both have the collector's edition priced at $99.99, and Best Buy is feeling extra bold with a description of its contents: A "premium" statue made by Kotobukiya, an art book, Gotham Knight animated material and early access to DLC. The collector's edition is listed for Xbox 360 and PS3, and is set to be released October 18 with the standard edition on both consoles and PC, but only if Batman decides to let this little misunderstanding slide.
The Riddler states his case in latest Batman: Arkham City trailer
Take a long, occasionally quizzical look at the villain in the emerald suit in this latest trailer for Batman: Arkham City. This time, The Riddler's placing a few "Jigsaw" pieces into his new, grittier act.
Rocksteady: You can't make your villains super-powered all of a sudden
Batman: Arkham Asylum didn't get much wrong, but its boss fights were a notable exception. In short: They pitted you against monstrous super-thug versions of the Batman villains you know and hate (but also kind of love) rather than more ... relatable incarnations. In a new interview with Gamasutra, Rocksteady marketing manager Dax Ginns circuitously apologizes, but says it'll be better when the asylum expands to Arkham City. "They're humans," Ginns said. "They're mortal. Batman's a mortal guy, but he's a total badass, so we've got to make sure that all of a sudden someone like Riddler doesn't just develop superhuman strength because it makes gameplay sense. No. Riddler is a smart guy but he's not a powerhouse, and so the combat between Batman and Riddler exists on the intellectual level." God, the Crazy Quilt level is going to be messed up.
Watch 12 minutes of Batman: Arkham City, if you dare
There's only one real problem with watching the entirety of this lengthy Batman: Arkham City demo: the game doesn't come out for another bunch of months. For now, you'll have to be sated by 12 full minutes of gameplay, including Catwoman combat.
Holy rugged Robin, Batman!
It seems almost inappropriate to call the Batman: Arkham City version of Robin by his traditional title, "The Boy Wonder." This somber, ultra-tough Tim Drake comes with a set of "unique gadgets and special moves" in Arkham City -- provided you pre-order the game from Best Buy. We doubt his current demeanor allows for a ton of one-liners in his Challenge Room-only appearance later this year, but those looking to make him look a bit brighter will be able to don a bonus red suit. The Best Buy-exclusive "Robin Pack" also adds two maps ("Black Mask Hideout" and "Freight Train Escape") for your beat-down pleasure. Update: Warner Bros. has told Shacknews that the "Robin Pack" will become available as DLC sometime after the release of Arkham City.%Gallery-118892%
Best Buy: Pre-order Batman: Arkham City for playable Robin
Boy, we wonder if we'll be able to play as Robin in any segment of Batman: Arkham City. Best Buy believes so, with the retailer's latest weekly ad touting the feature for pre-orderers. When you pre-order Arkham City from Best Buy, according to the listing, you get a "Best Buy exclusive downloadable Robin character" for use in two challenge maps. This sounds exactly like the Joker challenge maps from the first game, which were offered free with the PS3 version. Well, not exactly, as this Robin offer pertains to PS3, PC, and Xbox 360. Regardless, is a playable Robin any less believable than a playable Joker? Regardless, pending an official confirmation by WB, we're regarding this reveal as a rumor, just like the urban legends of the invincible Dark Knight and his unbeatable partner, a small child. [Thanks, Luke!]
Video: A quick fling with the Batarang controller
We received a hands-on tour with the latest products from Power A today. You'll hear about those soon enough, but there is one peripheral that will not wait. Lurking in the shadows, its LED lights illuminating the night, was the official Batman: Arkham City batarang controller. Power A's John Moore was sure to let me know that these were not the final models, adding that the LEDs will be much brighter and more uniform in the final build. That said, even these hand-tooled builds have some pretty neat features. Check it out after the break.
The Batarang controllers you deserve, but not the ones you need
Where does he get those wonderful toys? From any retailer that carries Power A controllers, this fall. The peripheral manufacturer has announced a Batman: Arkham City-themed "Batarang" controller for both Xbox 360 and PS3, which allows you to pretend you're playing games on the specialized Bat-style game console you know Batman keeps in the cave. Both versions feature LED accents, that can light up in seven different colors. The PS3 version is wireless (with a receiver), with an internal rechargeable battery and motion sensors, and reversed analog stick placement. The Xbox version is wired, but comes with a 10-foot-long cable that may or may not allow the device to be used as a grappling hook.%Gallery-125254%
Playable Catwoman unmasked in Batman: Arkham City
A new video and preview posted by GameSpot reveal that Catwoman is joining the playable cast of Batman: Arkham City. And she's not disguising her face, even though she clearly has goggles for that purpose, and it's driving us crazy. Ahem. The video shows Catwoman using her whip as a grappling hook, sliding under a low obstacle, brandishing sharp claws, and planting a big kiss on a disgusting Joker henchman for some reason before throwing him to the ground. In a video Q&A, Rocksteady marketing manager Dax Ginn mentions that her lack of cape makes her unable to use Batman's glide functionality, so she has her own navigation abilities, which appear to be climbing-based. She'll be leveled up throughout the game just as players improve Batman's skills.
Rumor: The Penguin to terrorize Arkham City, his first picture revealed
Rocksteady has been dropping hints about The Penguin's involvement in Batman: Arkham City for a while now -- the most blatant of which being the appearance of the nemesis' Iceberg Club in the game's first teaser trailer. According to ArkhamCity.co.uk, Rocksteady marketing manager Dax Ginn recently spilled the beans about the portly foe's role in the upcoming crimefighting sequel to the Australian Sunday Herald, revealing the very first image of his in-game visage, seen above. According to the site's transcription of the interview, Ginn explained, "The way that penguin has always been portrayed is as quite an aristocratic, well-spoken gentleman who's got these twisted delusions of grandeur." He added, "So we've made him a really horrible, nasty piece of work - but still with the delusion of grandeur. He dresses well, but in a poor taste, and we've made him this brutish, brutal guy but also key into collection fascination that he's had through out the years." We've contacted Rocksteady to confirm the report, as well as Danny DeVito to see if he's collecting any royalties on the title.
