Rocksteady Studios
Latest
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.]
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: 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.
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!]
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.
NetherRealm and Rocksteady using Unreal Engine 3 for 'the next few years'
Epic's Unreal Engine 3 will power any games developed by Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham City) and NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat) through 2014 as part of a deal announced today by parent company Warner Bros. Interactive. Sure, the news in and of itself isn't all that exciting, but it does hint at the future of the Unreal Engine and the timeframe for the dawn of the next console generation. Specifically, this news would suggest that we're not going to see Unreal Engine 4 for at least a couple of years. Given that Epic has said UE4 is being targeted "exclusively" at next-gen consoles, it gives us some insight into when Epic -- and developers -- are expecting to be creating games for successors to PS3 and Xbox 360. Sometime around, say, 2014? Of course, there's no saying Unreal Engine 3 won't be used for next-gen games -- one look at the GDC 2011 demo of new UE3 features and it's obvious the engine still has a lot of miles left on it.
Riddler takes on bigger role (specifically Jigsaw's role) in Batman: Arkham City
Though The Riddler remained an off-screen distraction through the duration of Batman: Arkham Asylum, developer Rocksteady Studios is bringing Mr. Edward Nigma to the forefront in this year's Arkham City. But how will they update the puzzle-obsessed villain for Rocksteady's grittier Gotham? Easy: Turn him into Jigsaw from the Saw movies! While much of that Saw comparison comes from the me-too trailer – seriously, imagine a Saw trailer but replace Jigsaw's baritone with Riddler's alto – it would appear Nigma is testing Bat's brains (read: your brains) by creating puzzles to solve. If you fail, an innocent denizen of Gotham dies. WBIE's being stingy with the assets, so all we've got to offer you are these images and our word. We'll update this post, or run another, when Warner's done milking this announcement for all it's worth. [Update: We heard back from the PR outfit handling Arkham City and were told the video – yeah, the one that we saw almost two weeks ago – won't be available until a "later date."] %Gallery-119164%
Batman: Arkham City trailer takes a dive towards crime
The latest Batman: Arkham City trailer has a little bit of everything for everyone: Some clips of Bats' new locomotive abilities, some slow-motion face-kicking, a look at some of the island's most nefarious villains, and a totally dope song about how the city "ain't no place for a hero." Really, background music? Because it looks like Arkham City is in desperate need of a good ol' fashioned sprucing-up at the hands of a caped crusader. Check out the trailer after the jump, but brace yourself: Batman's new aerial diving maneuver is so radical, you might actually faint.
Batman: Arkham City opens up for tourism October 18
Update: Warner Bros. just officially announced the North American release date: October 18. The publisher also confirmed the previously reported release date of October 21 for "Europe and other global territories." The game arrives October 19 in Australia. Eurogamer is reporting that Warner Bros. has announced an October 21 release date for Batman: Arkham City. Given the site of origin (Eurogamer), and without any official news releases from Warner Bros. that we can see, we can only conclude that said release date applies to Europe. We're following up with WB now to try to get more information about when we can expect Batman to come out where. Though if it were that easy to get that information, the Riddler's plans wouldn't have needed to be so convoluted.%Gallery-118892%
Rocksteady confirms Batman: Arkham City will be 'single-player only'
Though rumors (and some slick yet ultimately fake video evidence) to the opposite effect has been circling 'round the internet for some time now, Rocksteady game director Sefton Hill confirms in a recent IGN interview that Batman: Arkham City will be "a 'single-player only' experience." According to Hill, the developer didn't want to lose resources that could have been spent on perfecting the solo campaign. "With the game now coming to the final stages, I can honestly say it would not have been possible to deliver Arkham City the way we wanted to if we'd have added multiplayer." Well, shoot. We were really holding out hope for a Batman and Robin co-operative mode, in which one player does all the crimefighting while the other comments on things that are holy -- until being bound and captured by lower-echelon thugs. Oh, well! For more info on things that are actually in the game (including classic supervillain Hugo Strange), check out Rocksteady's discussion with IGN.
Two-Face wants YOU to see new Batman screens
We'd say chances are 50/50 that you're going to be thrilled by these (three) new Batman: Arkham City screenshots (and some Two-Face art). On the one hand, they don't appear to reveal any new tidbits about the game -- but then, they're also three new Arkham City screens!
Batman: Arkham City environment five times bigger than the Asylum
Though the eerie, psychopath-filled buildings that constituted the titular stomping grounds of Batman: Arkham Asylum were pretty expansive, we felt like we'd completely turned it over during our hunt for the Riddler's secrets. We prefer our in-game locales to be virtually impossible to fully explore -- and it sounds like Batman: Arkham City might just cater to these needs. In an interview with Gamespot, Rocksteady developer Sefton Hill explained, "The footprint of Arkham City is about five times bigger than Arkham Island." Don't fear getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the crime-filled metropolis, though, as Hill explained, "Players will be able to go anywhere at any time, but we have made sure that players will always have a very clear idea of where they are needed most if they want to just stick to the core narrative path of the game." He added that there will be plenty of dark alleys and side streets littered with secrets to uncover. Hopefully, Bats will retain his ability to see through walls.
