Batman: Arkham Asylum

[Jaynestown]

The stealth mode on Gears 2 is easy, honestly, if I've done it and found it easy then everybody else would. If anyone wants a hand on it at the weekend I will assist, I need the co-op achievement on it anyway and it only takes about 15 minutes to do so will be only too happy to help 

[sambo]

I might take you you up on that JT. Are you around on saturday evening?

[Jaynestown]

I should be, yes. If you see me online message me.

[GamerMan316]

Batman Was Great, But Remember, Batman Was Late

Game delays are big news and bad news. But once a game comes out and proves to be good, game delays are often forgotten news. Batman: Arkham Asylum was delayed in 2009. Its lead creator recalled that forgotten moment.

You would think that delaying a game is an awkward process. The game is closing in on its completion date. The studio needs to be finished. Ads are placed. The publisher wants to start selling the thing and making money.

You'd also think that Arkham Asylum game director Sefton Hill of Rocksteady Studios might have had butterflies in his stomach when, earlier this year, he and his team broached the topic to the games publishers that the game, which was planned for a late June release, could benefit from being pushed back.

He doesn't tell the story as if he had much fear at all: "We discussed it with Warner Brothers and Eidos and said, 'Look, we believe we have a really good game here.' What we all agreed to do at the outset was put the time in and make sure we deliver a game worthy of Batman. ... [We] said what we really need to do here is spend this additional three months to make sure we tidy the game and deliver the game that we all set out to do. To give Eidos and Warner a lot of credit, they backed that 100%."

For consumers, the delay turned out to be two months. Arkham Asylum slipped from June to late August, when it was released to rave reviews. It seemed such a short delay, in fact, that some gamers thought they sniffed out a different motivation. "I think there were some rumors that it had just been delayed for more sales, but that wasn't true. We were still working on it like crazy."

What did change in Arkham Asylum while the team labored for a couple of extra months? Hill was unable to specify any notable design changes, no new gadgets or altered levels. "Some of the things we worked on that aren't immediately apparent is things like the [data-]streaming times," he said. "You never see any loading screens when you're playing the game. And that's stuff that takes a lot of time to do." Hill said the delay also helped the team optimize the game's framerate.

Hill made the delay sound so easy. Surely it wasn't that simple? He said it was the product of a team confident in their potential, an attitude that would empower other studios to also get their publishers to give them the extra time their games might need. So to get that delay, he suggested, a development team must have "confidence in the game." They also need "to be able to show that [added] time is going to be well spent. I think if you can do that, any publisher is going to buy into that. I think where it becomes difficult is if you're arguing from a position of weakness, if the confidence isn't there."

It sounds like one of those things that's easier said than done. It sounds like one of those things that requires a publisher and a developer to be working together happily, which is not at all a given. And it sounds like something that, as a gamer, would be awfully hard to take.

It also sounds like something that gets forgotten, because as 2009 recedes what lingers about Batman: Arkham Asylum is how good it was. Not how late it was.

[TaraJayne]

Eidos' Batman: Arkham Asylum is to be reissued under the Game of the Year Edition banner.

According to a listing on the BBFC website, the special edition game has been given a 15 rating. Further details are yet to surface, but it has been speculated that the re-release will contain all previous downloadable content and other extras.

Two Arkham Asylum DLC packs have been issued to date - the 'Insane Night' map pack and 'Prey In The Darkness'. Customers who preordered their copy from US retailer GameStop received the additional 'Dem Bones' map, and those who purchased the Collector's Edition were granted access to the 'Crime Alley' challenge map.

News of the special edition follows reports that a sequel to Arkham Asylum is currently in the works. A trailer for the game revealed that Mark Hamill will reprise his role as the Joker.

Full details of Batman: Arkham Asylum - Game of the Year Edition are expected to be announced soon.

[GamerMan316]

The Game Of The Year edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum due for release later this year will be playable in 3D on PS3 and Xbox 360.

That's according to an official ad for the game in India (which you can see below). The release will include Trioviz 3D technology, with two sets of 3D glasses included.

An accompanying release discloses that the Eidos title will also include six extra challenge maps, some of which have been available as DLC. These include:

* Scarecrow Nightmare Challenge Map: A combat map for expert players set in the Scarecrow's nightmarish world where players will need to fight against hordes of skeleton henchmen.

* Crime Alley Challenge Map: A combat map set in this iconic location from Gotham City that has been overrun by The Joker's henchmen.

* Totally Insane Challenge Map: A combat map set in the heart of Arkham Asylum where players will need to fight against waves of lunatics.

* Nocturnal Hunter Challenge Map: an Invisible Predator map where players will need to seize back control of the Prison Watchtowers from The Joker's henchmen.

The ad lists a late March release - but CVG understands this may have slipped.

[Astrex]

Woot woot!!

The Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY edition will be coming to Europe on March 26th. It will also be coming to Games for Windows Live, and both versions will have a fresh set of achievements. With the existing PC release, a Japanese release and these two new releases, that is now five total versions of Arkham to explore for the truly dedicated achievement whores out there.

Yay!! means I can play the game again and enjoy it and unlock more cheevos! now that's some serious scorewhoring!!!

Also North America will not be receiving the GOTY edition as Warner have no plans to release it in US territories.

Peace!
Rex

[GamerMan316]

I already posted something about this in the Arkham thread the other day, though I didn't post the cool video 

Easily one of the best games I played last year and had it not been for Uncharted 2, it probably would have won Game of the Year.

[TaraJayne]

I already posted something about this in the Arkham thread the other day, though I didn't post the cool video 

Easily one of the best games I played last year and had it not been for Uncharted 2, it probably would have won Game of the Year.

Stop picking on junior members 

[Astrex]

lol I just excited I get to play the whole game again with cheevos!!! and in 3D com'on that's sexy!  


Edit: Just noticed you did post up something!! my bad I didn't search for it I just looked in the news section,

< Bad Rex >    

[NeuroticSarge]

I thought this was a good game til the end,button  bashing and me don't go.Still gotta bite the bullet and finish it though.

[Failed]

i enjoyed exploring, but the fighting was a bit Assassins Creed for me, hit, hit, counter.

[Jaynestown]

i enjoyed exploring, but the fighting was a bit Assassins Creed for me, hit, hit, counter.

I didn't like the fighting much either, after I finished I tried to start again on the Hard setting and got pulverised at the first fight! 

[Publik NME no1]

I love this game, it'll be a must have for me. Still I'm surprised that the Joker pack hasn't become available on the 360 yet, or the Scarecrow bonus challenge that GAME had for pre-orders. I still have it on the PS3 as I don't have the heart to trade it in.

[BigDaddyDaveedo]

I can't seem to get in to it, thinks it brilliant but just something about it makes me play for about 3mins then turn it off.