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Batman: Arkham Origins free with select Nvidia graphics cards
Here's a dynamic duo for you: Right now, when you buy a qualifying Nvidia graphics card, you'll receive a copy of Batman: Arkham Origins for free when the game releases. That's good news for PC and Batman enthusiasts, as the PC version of Arkham Origins will boast Nvidia-specific tech like PhysX and TXAA antialiasing, as well as DirectX 11 tessellation and HBAO+ graphics options. It may even make omelettes if you ask nicely. Pick up a GeForce GTX 660, 660 Ti, 670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 to take advantage of the Bat-bundle. Nvidia pulled a similar move last month, when it announced that, as part of an "alliance" with Ubisoft, it would bundle Splinter Cell: Blacklist free with the same cards.
Gamescom trailers and screenshots giga-post
Psst, hey kid. You want some ... trailers? How about some Gamescom trailers? C'mere for a second. Yeah that's right, we got all kinds of trailers. Murasaki Baby, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Resogun, Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs, pretty much any kind of trailer you wanna put in your eyeballs, we can hook it up. Hey, and you know what? Since you seem like a nice kid, we're gonna throw in some screenshots too. Oh no, put your wallet away – the first one's free.
Batman: Arkham Origins drops GFWL, jumps on the Steam train
Batman: Arkham Origins won't use Games for Windows Live to track achievements, as Arkham Asylum and Arkham City both did, IGN Australia reports. Arkham Origins' achievements and multiplayer content will be handled directly through Steam. Arkham Asylum and Arkham City used GFWL to track achievements, though they didn't have multiplayer. Microsoft is closing the GFWL marketplace on August 22, but it says the service will remain active for customers to access previously purchased content. Capcom's coming Ultra Street Fighter 4 is also ditching GFWL for full Steam integration. The game's predecessors, Street Fighter 4 and Super Street Fighter 4, used GFWL for multiplayer, on top of Steam.
Batman Arkham: Origins NA collector's edition stars The Joker
The Batman: Arkham Origins collector's edition for North America, Australia and New Zealand runs $120 and includes a terrifying, yet oddly alluring, statue of The Joker surrounded by LED-lit TVs. The statue is 9 inches tall, 13 inches wide, 11.5 inches in depth and probably a 7 on a "this will scare young children" scale. More physical goodies included in the collector's edition are two pieces of evidence from the Gotham crime lab, an 80-page art book, a Batman "wanted" poster, blueprints of the batwing, an Anarky logo stencil, a glow-in-the-dark map of Gotham City, the Wayne family photo and dossiers on all eight assassins out to get Batman, including Black Mask's contract. Digital items include the First Appearance Batman Skin and the Deathstroke Challenge Pack. North American customers get Necessary Evil, a documentary of DC Comics' most famous villains, and PS3 owners in all regions get the Knightfall pack. The European collector's edition appeared earlier in August, running £80 and including, overall, less stuff, and certainly a less creepy Joker statue. Examine the North American statue in greater detail here.
Batman: Arkham Origins UK collector's edition revealed
Batman: Arkham Origins' collector's edition for the UK swooped out of the shadows this morning. Priced at £79.99, the box includes a Batman and Joker bromance statue, artbook, dossiers, two downloadable skins and a metal case. The PS3 version also includes the Knightfall pack. The Batman: Arkham Origins Collector's Edition for the kingdoms united is only available for pre-order at Amazon UK. The North American collector's edition will be revealed next week.%Gallery-195556%
No multiplayer for Wii U's Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins won't have a multiplayer component on Wii U, a Warner Bros. spokesperson has confirmed to Eurogamer. The decision reflects a desire to focus "on platforms with the largest MP audience." The competitive multiplayer mode, revealed today, features a three-way stand-off between Joker's thugs, Bane's boys, and Batman and Robin. The asymmetrical battle (more details here) is developed by Brink creator Splash Damage. Batman: Arkham Origins launches on Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on October 25. A spin-off game for PS Vita and 3DS, called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, is currently in development at Armature Studio.
Be or beat Batman in Arkham Origins multiplayer mode
Despite holding a career-defining grudge against them, Batman has just gained a few bullets for the back of his game's box. Batman: Arkham Origins will ship with a competitive online multiplayer mode developed by Splash Damage, the studio behind Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Brink. [Update: The multiplayer mode will not be coming to the Wii U.] As entertaining as it would be to see 20 grimace-wielding Batmen swooping around, kicking each other and becoming hopelessly entangled in a flurry of overlong capes, Splash Damage has delivered a more structured and elaborate affair in Arkham Origins with a mode called "Invisible Predator Online." It's an asymmetrical turf war between eight players divided into three groups: three ruffians in Joker's gang, which shoot at three members of Bane's gang, while Batman and Robin stalk and incapacitate criminals on either side. Yes, this means you can kill the bat and watch him respawn moments later, but at least the game is true to the comics in how they treat death.
Copperhead is in Batman: Arkham Origins and this time she's a lady
Reptilian DC villain Copperhead was unveiled for Batman: Arkham Origins at San Diego Comic Con, but not as you may remember him ... because he's a she now. Origins features the character's new womanly guise, as per DC Comics' New 52 revamp. As Newsarama reports, DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns told panel attendees the lady Copperhead is coming to "mainstream" New 52 books shortly after Origins hits shelves. What you're seeing in the trailer, according to Warner Bros. Montreal Creative Director Eric Holmes, is the culmination of a stunt woman, a Cirque du Soleil performer, and a martial artist, combining efforts to capture Copperheads's slithering, venomous motions. Copperhead joins a host of other baddies out to get the young caped crusader in Arkham Origins, which is set to swoop onto PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U on October 25. %Gallery-194127%
Batman: Arkham Origins 'Deathstroke' DLC also coming to Wii U
After being conspicuously absent from the original announcement's press release, confirmation of Deathstroke's playable presence in the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins comes to us from the land down under. Warner Bros. has affirmed in a statement to Aussie Gamer that the pre-order DLC found in other versions, which also bundles extra maps and costumes, is also included on the Wii U, as made evident by the above advertisement. Also made evident: Batman is going to need a new cowl.
Reconstructing crimes in Batman: Arkham Origins
Warner Bros. Montreal is bringing a new side-mission distraction to Batman: Arkham Origins that will pique the interests of those who've enjoyed the forensic focus of Rocksteady's games. At E3 I put on my detective cowl to try out the new "Crime Reconstruction" mechanic. It began, as it so often does, on a rooftop on a cold Gotham night. As Batman, I saw a police helicopter rise from behind the ledge, ordering me to surrender. Even if I wanted to, a gunshot took the helicopter down before I could respond. It spiralled out of control, tailspinning several stories into the icy street below. Confused, I swooped down to look for survivors. The helicopter was wrecked, and I found a body flung a few feet away: the dead pilot. This is where the crime reconstruction began. First I analysed the body in Detective Mode with the Evidence Scanner, which takes in all of the crime scene's data in hyper-quick time to play Columbo within seconds. As I scanned, I saw the helicopter's crash trace back in time, in suitably cool-looking virtual blue bittiness. As it replayed, I saw the copter take out a first-story ledge before crashing into the earth below. Scanning the body, I learned he died on impact, and not from the gunshot. %Gallery-191292%
Batman: Arkham Origins PS3 'Knightfall' content detailed
The Batman: Arkham Origins 'Knightfall' content for the game's PS3 version consists of challenge maps tied to the Knightfall storyline, as well as the Azreal-themed suit and the "early television show skin" revealed in Sony's E3 conference. Origins Senior Producer Ben Mattes told Joystiq the maps are "specific to the Knightfall storyline" and will include "appropriately themed characters and enemies." The piece of Knightfall content developer Warner Bros. Montreal is "really excited about" is the early television show skin, AKA the 60s Batman skin of the KAPOW! and BLAM! era. So, did Warner Bros. Montreal consider bringing in a certain Adam West to provide vocals tied to the skin? When asked about that possibility, Mattes took a long pause before simply restating, "Early television show skin." Holy skirting the question, Batman! On the subject of specific versions, Mattes also confirmed to us the Origins will have specific functionality on the Wii U, but he wasn't prepared to go into details. "We're not talking about specific features but we're encouraging people to imagine," Mattes told us, "We obviously paid to attention to the Wii U platform and what sort of functionality makes sense for that platform." We also asked him about whether or not the Wii U would receive the same DLC as other versions, given the speculation about the system possibly not receiving the Deathstroke content. Mattes told us WB Montreal is "not yet talking about" DLC and its relationship to the different platforms.
Batman: Arkham Origins doesn't feature Kevin Conroy after all
After some confusion, we've clarified Kevin Conroy doesn't feature in Batman: Arkham Origins at all. Origins Senior Producer Ben Mattes told Joystiq, "We've got Roger Craig Smith, he's our Batman. Troy Baker, he's our Joker. Kevin Conroy, he's not part of this game." Initial reports indicated long-time Batman voice actor Conroy wasn't in Origins. He then announced at the recent Dallas Comic Con that he'd been working on "the next Arkham" game. Shortly after, Craig Smith was officially unveiled as Origins' younger Batman, leading to speculation Conroy might be involved in some kind of retrospective role. However, it now emerges Conroy was apparently talking about another Arkham game in development, perhaps at series dev Rocksteady Studios - Warner Bros. Montreal is the studio behind Origins. That would seem to be backed up by Spong's report from last month, which noted a Twitter account ascribed to Conroy tweeted "Confusion in Dallas! I am in new ARKHAM GAME coming soon, NOT ARKHAM ORIGINS coming this fall." The tweet was deleted shortly after being posted - we're not sure if the world's greatest detective is needed for this one.
PS4 media blowout: Driveclub, Knack, Infamous Second Son and more
Sony's lengthy E3 press conference was riddled with lots of game trailers - so many that we have to pile some of them into this little post for your viewing pleasure. While you take a quick break from your freak-out session over the PlayStation 4's $399 price tag, check out this trailer for Infamous: Second Son. Additionally, you'll find the likes of Driveclub, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Knack, Watch Dogs, Transistor and Batman: Arkham Origins after the break, each in trailer form. Grab some popcorn, you have plenty of footage to soak in.
Batman: Arkham Origins PS3 gets 'Knightfall' content
During the PlayStation event at E3, Sony's Jack Tretton announced Batman: Arkham Origins would get some exclusive content on PS3 themed around the Knightfall storyline. In addition to that, a 1960s Batman skin will also be available on PS3.
Batman: Arkham Origins challenge mode has a Deathstroke
A leaked pre-order image tipped us off yesterday and the press release past the break confirms it: Deathstroke is a playable character in Batman Arkham Origins. He'll be unlocked in the game's challenge mode, and all who plunk down cash early will enjoy some exclusive maps and character skins associated with him. Deathstroke is seemingly a leading man in the video game world now, with Batman: Arkham Origins his second role of the year after Injustice: Gods Among Us in April. His real name is Slade Wilson, a mercenary and assassin created by teenage cartoonist Gary Wilson in 1980.
Batman: Arkham Origins stars Roger Craig Smith as Batman, Troy Baker as Joker
Warner Bros. revealed Batman: Arkham Origins is fronted by two of gaming's most prominent voice actors. Roger Craig Smith is confirmed as the caped crusader, and Troy Baker is his nemesis, the Joker. If you don't recognize the names, you'll definitely recognize their previous work. Craig Smith's immense portfolio includes Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed, Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, and he's the current voice of Sonic. While he's never starred in anything Batman related, he does have superhero experience. It is for the other side, however; he's played Captain America in both games and animations. Baker is similarly prolific. While he recently graced our screens as Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, his past work includes Sgt. Matt Baker in Gearbox's Brothers in Arms, Snow from the Final Fantasy 13 line, Kai Leng from Mass Effect 3, and Vincent from Catherine. When we profiled Baker around this time last year, he shared his love for all things Batman on the back of starring in Arkham City. "Being a part of Arkham City was just incredible - because I'm a huge Batman fan," Baker told us, "And to play Two-Face and Robin after growing up watching The Animated Series was a banner moment for me." The news follows apparent confirmation long-time Batman vocalist Kevin Conroy does star in Origins, but how he features remains to be seen. We know Origins deals with Batman's "initiation into that insane world" of the other Arkham games, so perhaps Conroy's role is something retrospective. Even if Conroy doesn't play the dark knight in any sense in Origins, to fans he's still the goddamn Batman. Bat-click here to check out our preview and the new trailer.
Year Wane: The challenges facing Batman in Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins follows the world's most enduring vigilante after just two years on the job. The developers at Warner Bros. Montreal, taking over from Rocksteady Studios and their critically acclaimed construction of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, want to convey a "rawer, scarier Batman." He's all growl and grimace in the cutscenes, dangling squirming henchmen from clock towers until they turn verbose, but in play his rookie temper is more difficult to detect. The prequel is a tricky proposition, especially when it concerns history that's been dissected again and again across comics, movies and games. It's harder to conjure narrative tension while it's colored by the inevitable outcome, and that draws greater scrutiny on mechanical expansion and refinement. Why does this younger Batman make for a better Batman game? %Gallery-188830%
Arkham Origins stars Deathstroke in some playable capacity
A Batman: Arkham Origins pre-order image on Amazon offers Deathstroke as a playable character via DLC. Check it out in a rolling image header here. Batman and Deathstroke went head-to-head in last week's teaser video, but there was no word on how the striker of mortality would be incorporated into Arkham Origins. This could be a Catwoman in Arkham City situation, where she got an entire spin-off campaign, or it might be something entirely new. One aspect of Arkham Origins is confirmed today – Kevin Conroy will return as a voice actor.
Kevin Conroy returns for Batman: Arkham Origins [Update: But not as Batman]
Update: Kevin Conroy will be in Arkham Origins, but not as Batman, despite his storied career with that character. Arkham Origins stars Roger Craig Smith as Batman and Troy Baker as the Joker, Warner Bros. announced on May 20. Original story: Kevin Conroy will be in Batman: Arkham Origins, and he's already spent 10 months in the studio recording those gruff-yet-dulcet tones. Conroy confirmed his involvement at Dallas Comic-Con, but didn't specify if he plays The Bat himself – not that he has to. He opened the panel with, "I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman." Because, you know, he is. NAG magazine reported in April that Warner Bros. had passed on Conroy for Arkham Origins. Conroy voiced Batman in both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, and he was the man behind Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Beyond and subsequent DC universe cartoon spin-offs. Arkham Origins is scheduled to launch on October 25 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U.
Arkham Origins tease features Deathstroke ballet
This Batman: Arkham Origins tease features no gameplay, no real concept of how the game will differ from the excellent Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. What it does feature is grizzled Batman in a CGI fight ballet with Deathstroke, and that's good enough for this morning.
