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New Batman: Arkham Asylum dev diary gives Batman a terrible evening

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 2nd 2009 at 10:45PM }

As Rocksteady's Sefton Hill and Paul Dini eagerly explain in the video above, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a game about torturing Batman. Okay, okay, maybe not directly, but by way of Joker setting up a nasty ruse for Gotham's greatest hero at Arkham Asylum itself. Trapping Mr. Wayne inside with all of his most fearsome enemies, when he thought he was just stopping by to deposit a criminal, leaves him at the mercy of the now-in-control Joker.

From what we played of the game's campaign back at E3, we're not sure exactly how Eidos/Warner Bros. plan to keep the game's T-rating, as evidenced by the few gameplay snippets you see in the developer diary above. We are, however, surprisingly excited for the game's release in late August -- and glad we don't have to bring along Mom to buy us the game.

Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Man your download stations for Battlestations: Pacific DLC

by David Hinkle { Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:20PM }

Click image to fire a volley of screens at your eyeballs

Eidos just fired off a press release, scoring a direct hit on our inbox, informing that Battlestations: Pacific will receive two resupply convoys in the form of the Mustang Pack and the Carrier Battle Map Pack. The first pack is available for download today and offers six new units (including the P-51 Mustang bomber, US Navy Alaska Class battleship, and Japanese Yamato Class battleship), along with 18 different pieces of nose art to be used online or off, and will set players back a cool 160

($2).

A more substantial DLC offering will come with the Carrier Battle Map Pack, a collection of four new maps that will be playable across all five multiplayer modes. These maps consist of locales such as the Philippine Islands, the Leyte Gulf, and Aleutian Islands, and will fetch a premium price of 800

($10) when the pack releases on July 23.

Gallery: Battlestations: Pacific Mustang and Carrier DLC packs

Here are your Batman: Arkham Asylum cheevos

by Justin McElroy { Jun 29th 2009 at 11:00PM }

The Batman: Arkham Asylum Achievements (a full list of which is available right here) are already pretty pedestrian. (Complete a combo of 5 moves? Snore.) But the problem is compacted by the complete absence of:

1. Do A Really Soulful Batusi
2. Fight Off A Shark with Shark Repellent Bat Spray
3. Reconstitute All World Leaders from Colorful Piles of Dust
4. Spot Three Different Girls Playing Catwoman

Honestly, we're not even sure how the thing is calling itself a Batman game.

[Thanks, TheDarkWayne]

Tomb Raider creator designing mysterious new game at Crystal Dynamics

by Randy Nelson { Jun 18th 2009 at 5:10PM }

Toby Gard, creator of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft, is the lead designer at Crystal Dynamics. Well, actually, he has been since January 2009. But the transition from "game consultant" (on Tomb Raider: Legend) to "director of cinematics" to this new role went unnoticed until today, when a member of the unofficial Tomb Raider Forums noticed the change in Gard's LinkedIn profile.

Gard lists his current responsibility as "leading a design group for an unannounced project." Now, this could be pretty much anything; but it's probably the next Tomb Raider. The series is getting another reboot, Crystal Dynamics has been staffing up to develop a new game in "one of the most prestigious AAA franchises in the industry" and, well, who'd honestly be better suited? But, as of now, we must simply go with "unannounced project" (a.k.a. Tomb Raider).

[Image]

Crystal Dynamics hiring for an 'AAA' game

by JC Fletcher { Jun 16th 2009 at 9:40AM }

Current Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics hasn't had much good news to report, with much of its workforce laid off, and disappointing sales of Tomb Raider Underworld. However, a job listing posted on Gamasutra's job search site reveals that the company is still at work, bringing in at least one new hire for something big.

"Crystal Dynamics has a rare opening for a Senior Art Director on one of the most prestigious AAA franchises in the industry," the listing opens. The obvious, exciting conclusion to be inferred from the fact that Crystal Dynamics is working on a new big-budget franchise game: Gex is coming back. We suppose there's also the remote possibility that it could beTomb Raider.

[Via Develop]

Gauntlet DS found on ESRB website with Majesco as publisher

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 13th 2009 at 10:00PM }

After being potentially canceled as of a few months ago, Gauntlet DS has re-emerged from purgatory with a new publisher in Majesco. At very least, that's our best guess based on an ESRB rating for the game found by a Gauntlet-lovin' GoNintendo reader.

Once announced as being developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by now Square Enix-owned Eidos, the title was delisted from GameStop's website as well as Amazon back in February. Does this mean we'll finally be able to try our very best not to shoot food on the DS in the near future? One can only dream.

Square Enix and Eidos announce first collaboration

by Justin McElroy { Jun 12th 2009 at 4:15PM }

Now that Eidos lives under Square-Enix's crystalline, spire-laden roof, it makes sense that we'd see the two companies collaborating on something. We just didn't think it'd be this soon. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada recently told Gamasutra that it was "possible" a Square team could work with an Eidos IP "but what's more important is that the two companies, for example, are going to be creating a new IP together."

Not the Lara Croft RPG we were hoping for, but interesting nonetheless.

Crystal Dynamics lays off another 25

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 10th 2009 at 12:30PM }

Eidos has confirmed that another 25 employees have been let go from Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics. The publisher told Kotaku that the decision is a "reflection of the continued drive to focus resources at the studio."

This latest round of layoffs follows the confirmed forced departure of approximately 30 employees. At that time, the belief was that the firings had to do with Eidos' dissappointment with Tomb Raider Underworld's sales. This latest round likely has more to do with Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos and the publisher trying to figure out what to do with Crystal Dynamics, which currently has no announced titles.

Impressions: Just Cause 2

by Xav de Matos { Jun 8th 2009 at 6:30PM }

After sifting through the hyperbole of other previews for this game, we walked into our eyes-only preview of Just Cause 2 as professional skeptics. Well color us pleasantly surprised. After spending a few minutes watching Just Cause 2 in action (running on the Xbox 360) we cannot wait to see more of the game. Developed by the team at Avalanche Studios and now planned for a 2010 release, Just Cause 2 picks up where the original left off -- players once again take on the role of Rico Rodriguez, this time forced to hunt down his friend and former mentor Tom Sheldon.

Sporting a completely overhauled engine and intelligent design decisions, Just Cause 2 isn't your average sandbox action game -- it's what Grand Theft Auto would be if it made sweet love to Bionic Commando.

Gallery: Just Cause 2

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Hands-on: Batman: Arkham Asylum

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 3rd 2009 at 1:20PM }

After we got to get an eyes-on with Batman: Arkham Asylum's single-player campaign last week, we were hankering for our first hands-on with the game. Luckily, Eidos brought the title to E3 this year, offering more than just the challenge rooms (available for play on kiosks at your local big box store) but also a slice of gameplay from the single-player campaign. Twenty minutes later, we had silently "not murdered" a slew of baddies employing the game's Detective Mode, and found ourselves smiling ear to ear.

A cinematic guided us through the intro to the game -- essentially dropping off Joker at Arkham Asylum and witnessing the subsequent takeover of the facility. And that's when we started sluggin' dudes. Lots of dudes -- with big veins popping out of their arms. Each punch felt surprisingly satisfying and various on-screen commands helped to fluidly guide Batman's blows from one enemies' face to another.

Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Continued →

Square Enix and Eidos dropping Warner Bros. publishing

by Majed Athab { Jun 1st 2009 at 4:10PM }

Although the ink has dried on Square Enix's buyout of Eidos last month, there still remains a few issues to iron out before the handover is complete. One of these issues is the publishing rights of currently scheduled titles. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Mini Ninjas were originally under Warner Bros. Interactive before the takeover and will continue to go under that name; however, all future titles will return in-house.

Kane & Lynch 2 and Just Cause 2 can be counted among those titles donning the Square Enix logos, though thankfully the influence stops there as Eidos will continue to run as an independent company. Don't worry, Kane & Lynch will be androgyny-free.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Joker DLC will be free

by Jason Dobson { Jun 1st 2009 at 9:00AM }

What's with the goofy grin? Did you dip into the jar of Smilex, or are you just giddy that playing as the Joker in Batman: Arkham Asylum won't cost you a dime?

Eidos has confirmed that the PS3-exclusive DLC will be free, allowing players to frolic about in the game's challenge maps as the Clown Prince of Crime when Batman: Arkham Asylum swoops onto store shelves this August.

E3 2009: Entering our bedcaves with Arkham Asylum room keys

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 31st 2009 at 3:58PM }

click to embiggen

Riddle us this: What insane card will let many E3 attendees find their way to a bed each night?

Answer: The Batman: Arkham Asylum room keys that apparently all associated hotels of the show will receive. Yeah, we're definitely taking this as a souvenir. Sorry, Hyatt.

PS: Eidos spent all that money on these cards and they were printed backwards (the arrows point the wrong way). Clearly, the Joker teamed up with The Riddler in the production.

[Thanks, Sam Houston]

Impressions: Batman: Arkham Asylum

by Kevin Kelly { May 29th 2009 at 12:15PM }

Unlike the character it's based on, Batman: Arkham Asylum has been prancing about in broad daylight quite a bit as of late. We've seen walkthrough videos, tons of screenshots, and we've gotten our hands on it. In fact, if you really find yourself itching for some quality time with the Caped Crusader, you can head down to your local Target and try out a combat demo on the PS3 for yourself. Even PlayStation Home broke news via an in-game ad that players will be able to control the Joker, only in the PS3 version (video just after the break). Seriously, the game has been everywhere.

So how did Eidos and WB decide to whet our appetite even more? By showing us another gameplay demo, of course. This time, it was all about showing off Batman's CSI skills, which should come as no surprise (he is the World's Greatest Detective, after all). Get the details after the break, and dust the brand-new screenshots below for fingerprints.

Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum (05-29-09)

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Batman: Arkham Asylum committed to retail Aug. 25 in NA, Aug. 28 in Europe

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 29th 2009 at 10:43AM }

The Dark Knight is finally ready examine the bats in Arkham Asylum's belfry on August 25 in North America and August 28 in Europa. The game had previously been delayed to "late summer" from its June 23 release date, so the wait doesn't appear to be much longer, but it's already felt like a Ra's al Ghul lifetime.

Remember that if you're not looking to play so seriously, that the Joker will be an "exclusive" character in the PS3 version of the game. Batman: Arkham Asylum will be playable at E3 next week and we'll be sure to give our updated hands-on impressions of the game that might actually do Batman justice.