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Lego: The Hobbit trailer is looking to share in an adventure
Coming just after the second Hobbit film hit cinemas, this trailer reminds us how very much we've seen of the Lego and Lord of the Rings properties in recent years. Then we see the bit with the washing machine and the pig, and we're ready for a bit more. Lego: The Hobbit is based on the first two films in Peter Jackson's trilogy of adaptations, and it ventures onto a teeming fellowship of systems in spring 2014, including the Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Dreamcast*, Vita, 3DS, PC, Mac, and Atari Lynx*. *What, were you expecting a disclaimer saying these ones weren't real? No, they're real. They're really real** **Alright, no they're not.
Lego: The Hobbit confirmed, sets off for lots of systems this spring
Warner Bros. has officially announced the Lego: The Hobbit video game, after promotional material leaked last week. It's based on the first two movies in Peter Jackson's adaptive trilogy, and it's due in spring 2014 on Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Vita, 3DS, PC and (pause for breath) Mac. Lego: The Hobbit looks to follow developer TT Games' much-tried-and-tested formula, with players guiding the film's myriad of characters, large and hobbit-sized, as they solve puzzles and explore some of the "key locations from the films," including Bag End, the Misty Mountains, Hobbiton, Goblin-town, Mirkwood, and Rivdendell. And since he stars in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we get to say that Lego-las will probably feature too.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes to make Xbox One launch in US
The Lego Marvel Super Heroes assemble alongside the Xbox One next week in the US after all, while in Europe they're due a week later on November 29. Warner Bros. told Game Informer the Xbox One version of TT Games' hero-stuffed platformer will hit US retail shelves on November 22. When approached, a Warner Bros. UK representative confirmed the information with Joystiq. Just like its variety of super-people - WB says there are more than 100 playable characters - Lego Marvel Super Heroes is available on an assortment of other platforms, starting today. You can pick it up alongside a super fresh PS4, or on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS, and Vita.
Batman Arkham Collection packs three Batmans into one box
The Batman Arkham Collection will arrive on November 22 in the UK, Warner Bros. announced today. The bundle packs the two Rocksteady-developed Arkham games, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City along with WB Games Montreal's Batman: Arkham Origins into one batsuit. Arkham Asylum and Arkham City will both be included as download codes for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the collection, with the PS3 bundle also receiving the Knightfall DLC pack for Arkham Origins. The PC version of the bundle will feature Game of the Year editions of either game, which grants players bonus DLC like Harley Quinn's Revenge for Arkham City and six additional maps for Arkham Asylum. Those two games are in a bundle of their own, which GameStop unveiled in September. We've contacted Warner Bros. to see if the Arkham Collection will arrive in North America as well.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor takes the Tolkien universe to next-gen systems
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a new third-person action game in development by Monolith Productions, publisher Warner Bros. announced today. As the title indicates, the game is placed in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe, and has players assuming the guise of the "valiant ranger" Talion. Both Talion and his family are killed by series baddie Sauron, leading to Talion's resurrection by a rather vengeful spirit that grants him Wraith-like supernatural abilities. Warner Bros. boasted a "dynamic world" in the game that is expected to remember and adapt to players' choices as well as "craft their own battles, enemies and rewards." While no release date was given for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the game will arrive on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC.
Lego: The Lord of the Rings wants to be found on iOS
Some things that should not have been forgotten were lost - until now(!). That's because Lego: Lord of the Rings ventured onto the App Store today, a year after it was first released. While it's unconfirmed, history tell us the $5 iOS version is probably a port of the handheld fellowship on 3DS and Vita. The App Store notes there are over 90 playable characters, two control systems, and Game Center achievements, but there's no mention of co-op.
Warner Bros. Humble Bundle on the way [update: confirmed, live]
Update: Humble Bundle confirmed it's launching a WB Games bundle that's expected later today, featuring six games: F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, F.E.A.R. 3, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and the Game of the Year Editions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Each game purchase is redeemable through Steam, but you'll have to pay over the average to unlock Scribblenauts Unlimited and Arkham City. Update 2: The WB Games collection is live and kicking on Humble Bundle. It'll run for two weeks, ending on November 19. Original Story: Warner Bros will become the latest big-name company to take center stage in a Humble Bundle, going by an apparently premature update (deleted but screen-capped above) on the Scribblenauts Facebook page. The series' official account listed Scribblenauts Unlimited as one of six games included in a bundle raising money for DC Entertainment's We Can Be Heroes charity campaign, but said bundle isn't live (yet). We've reached out to Warner Bros. for comment. If accurate, Warner Bros. would follow EA, Double Fine, and THQ as one of the rather more recognizable names to get in on the Humble Bundle act. The site partially raises money for charity by featuring downloadable collections of games at pay-what-you-want prices, such as the weekly sale on games by Worms dev Team 17 that it's currently hosting.
Young Justice: Legacy canceled for Wii U, Wii because of 'several factors'
Cartoon Network's Young Justice won't be leaving a Legacy on Wii U or Wii, after developer Little Orbit and publisher Warner Bros. opted to cancel the spin-off for the two Nintendo consoles. According to a statement on the game's Facebook page, the decision was made because of "several factors," including quality issues and low interest from retailers. The cancellation comes in the month before Young Justice: Legacy is due, but the action-RPG remains set for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and 3DS. The game will star the show's league of precocious heroes, chronicling the events between the first and second series.
Bats in the top of UK chart belfry
Batman: Arkham Origins topples GTA 5 to become the UK No. 1, although it does so with only around half the first week sales of Arkham City. Chart Track says Origins' opening week "almost exactly" matches that of first Arkham game Asylum. Some bat-stats: City shipped 6 million units by the close of 2011, and Asylum 4.3 million at last count. We should note those Origins sales do include the Blackgate Vita game, but no other platforms beyond Xbox 360 and PS3; the Wii U, packaged PC, and 3DS versions are all delayed in the UK until November 8. Holy technicalities, Batman! As for the rest of the charts, it's the kind of week where one big name game shifts all of the top 5 down one place - a bit quiet. However, everything changes next month, starting this coming week. We'll soon see the arrivals of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Super Mario 3D World, A Link Between Worlds - and those are just the games coming out on consoles already out. In a word, next month is going to be loco.
Watch 17 minutes of Batman: Arkham Origins on this bat-channel
Warner Bros uncowled (it's a word) a walkthrough video of Batman: Arkham Origins, ahead of the dark knight's new adventure coming to retail shelves this week. WB Montreal Senior Producer Ben Mattes and Gameplay Director Michael McIntyre are your tour guides, taking you through a fulsome 17 minutes of the studio's prequel chapter in the Arkham saga. Spoiler warnings ahoy: The vid introduces iconic elements like the Batcave and Batwing, and takes you through a mission in which the Bat has to deal with a corrupt SWAT team who, like the villains, are also after the bounty placed on the hero's head. Arkham Origins swoops into stores on Friday, October 25, on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, and PC. UK heroes-to-be will have to wait until November 8 for the Wii U and boxed PC versions.
Have an early knight with Batman: Arkham Origins iOS brawler, out now
Injustice dev NetherRealm released its free-to-play companion sidekick app for Batman: Arkham Origins, and it's available now as a free download on the App Store. The iOS brawler precedes the game proper coming to PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U next week. I suited up for a brief go this morning on my iPhone 5, and the app looks to be a mobile adaptation of the combat, albeit in one-on-one scenarios. The controls are simple enough: You tap to punch, put three taps together quickly to pull of a combo, and hold two fingers down to block. There are QTE-like swipes that appear as you put together moves, and you can switch combat stances as you deal with successive goons. Progress along and you can upgrade Batman's skills and stances, as well as unlock Batsuits, some of which are exclusive to the mobile game. The App Store blurb also notes "cross-platform unlocks" to tempt those planning to reunite with the Dark Knight next week. On that note, check out Arkham Origins' TV commercial after the break for some full-on, hardcore Bruce Wayne staring.
WB Games Montreal investment to create 100 new jobs
WB Games Montreal will add 100 new jobs as it continues to grow beyond its original scope, receiving $1.5 million from the Quebec government. Announced in 2010, the studio was positioned to work on social and mobile projects, but is now on the verge of releasing its first triple-A game, Batman: Arkham Origins. "By the end of five years, it'll be 2018, there should be 500 people here and I think we'll be one of the best-known studios in the world," said Warner Brothers Interactive President Martin Tremblay. The studio currently has 325 employees, according to CTV. The WB Games grant comes hot on the heels of another major investment by Quebec in publisher Ubisoft. The $373 million CAD ($362 million USD) Ubisoft investment is expected to add another 500 new jobs to the region by 2020, bringing Ubisoft's employee total in Quebec to 3,500.
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition coming to PS4
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition, which includes last year's critically acclaimed fighter and all its downloadable content, will smash retail walls on November 12 and 29 in the Americas and Europe, respectively. The super-powered spectacle is priced at $59.99 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PS4, $49.99 for PC and $39.99 for Vita. And yes, you saw that right: a PlayStation 4 version but nothing for Xbox One. Curious. The extra DLC, valued at over $120 according to publisher Warner Bros., includes Lobo, Batgirl, General Zod, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna and Jim Lee's reimagined Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. There are also 40 more character skins, 60 S.T.A.R. Labs Missions and – for American copies – a soundtrack to boot.
Scribblenauts Unmasked review: Super speller
Seeing over two thousand comic book heroes and villains drawn in Scribblenauts' distinctive style is bonkers. When the sandbox series debuted in 2009, I remember fans caricaturing hundreds of pop culture figures in the same charming, squat style, imagining their favorite characters dropped into Scribblenauts' colorful world. Aside from a handful of licensed characters in previous Scribblenauts games, there haven't been many cameo opportunities for the famous figures fans have dreamed of, at least not in any official sense. That's why it's nuts to see Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure injected with icons like Batman and Superman, along with thousands of other characters from the DC Comics universe, and all of them drawn just like the game's rooster-capped star, Maxwell. They're flying and swooping around as if it's no big deal, as if it isn't an amazing feat that you can now summon them effortlessly with Maxwell's magic notebook by just typing their name, and then interact with them in ways you'd never see in the comic books.
Batman: Arkham Origins' Deathstroke pre-order punches out a trailer
Pre-order purchases of October's Batman: Arkham Origins will receive the Deathstroke challenge pack as a bonus on all current-gen consoles and PC. The pack includes the assassin Deathstroke as a playable character, along with the "100-to-1" beat-em-all-up mode, two challenge maps and three Deathstroke wardrobe choices.
Injustice: Gods Among Vitas, according to German rating [update: next-gen, PC too]
Warner Bros. may be planning a Vita port of DC fighter Injustice: Gods Among Us, if a new classification is accurate. As Siliconera spotted, German ratings board USK has a Vita version listed as of September 6. This isn't the first time a Vita port has cropped up; as PlayStation LifeStyle reports, Amazon France listed a Game of the Year edition in the summer for PS3, Xbox 360, and the Vita. When approached about the USK rating, a Warner Bros representative told us, "We have no comment." Injustice, developed by Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, landed on Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U back in April. It notched four and a half stars in our review, Jordan saying "its dark thematic overtones and mature ideas explore the psychological dangers of power, the temptations of absolute authority and the effects of grief on the psyche of metahumans, all while delivering a polished, thrilling fighting game experience." Update: Brazil's rating board (via @lifelower) lists Injustice GOTY for Xbox One, PS4, and PC as well as Vita and the three original platforms of PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. Eyebrow raised, Injustice, eyebrow raised.
Scribblenauts Unlimited coming to European Nintendo systems in December
Europe gets its hands on Wii U and 3DS versions of Scribblenauts Unlimited - not Unmasked - some ten months after the game's original release date, and more than a year after North America has had it. Nintendo finally pinned Europe with a December release window this week, but it remains unclear why the game was delayed in the region at the last minute, and why that delay was specifically for the Wii U and 3DS versions; Unlimited was released on PC as planned back in February. If we were to speculate, one possible explanation is the lawsuit filed by the Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat creators, alleging Warner Bros. infringed trademarks by including both those characters in Unlimited. The lawsuit, filed in May, sought injunctions against the sale of Scribblenauts products. Going by a document posted online unofficially and dated June 19, Warner Bros. then sought the lawsuit be dismissed without prejudice, and it seems the matter will go to court. Putting that mess to one side, it's now unclear when next Scribblenauts entry Unmasked will come to Europe. The DC Universe-themed game flies into North America for Wii U, 3DS, and PC on September 24, but there remains no ETA for the other side of the ocean, and it does not appear in Nintendo of Europe's Q4 line-up. Holy continental confusion, Batman!
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%
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%
Lego Movie Videogame is the tie-in to end all tie-ins
Warner Bros. announced The Lego Movie Videogame this week, a video game tie-in to a movie about a toy. We're consequentially expecting the world to end when the toy-movie-video game comes out next year for just about everything - that's PS4, Xbox One, PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, Vita, and 3DS if you're after specifics. The game pits players as Emmet, acted by Everwood star Chris Pratt in the film, the figurine hero of the movie who's mistakenly identified as the Master Builder capable of saving the world. Going by early screenshots, it looks like the game won't deviate far from Traveller's Tales' tried-and-tested formula of platforming, exploration, and construction. There's no news on whether or not the movie's all-star cast, including Will Arnett (as Batman), Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, and Elizabeth Banks, features in the game. We'd have to say excluding Arnett in particular would be a huge mistake. %Gallery-193928%
