Origins marks the series’ first entry not handled by Rocksteady. Instead, Warner Bros. Montreal has been assigned with handling the franchise’s future.

So what should fans expect? Read on below for a detailed summary from Game Informer’s report. You can also find the first screenshots in the gallery.

Batman: Arkham Origins and Blackgate – official announcement

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Arkhamverse Expands with Prequel Story
And New Addition of Handheld Games with BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS BLACKGATE
Burbank, Calif. – April 9, 2013 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Batman: Arkham Origins™ and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™, the next installments of the blockbuster Batman: Arkham videogame franchise. Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 system, the Wii U™ system, and Windows PC. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™ will be available for the Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system, and PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system. Both titles are scheduled to release worldwide Oct. 25, 2013.
Developed by WB Games Montréal, Batman: Arkham Origins features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, the first two critically acclaimed games of the franchise. Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, players will meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2.5-D game developed by Armature Studio that brings the Batman Arkham experience for the first time to Nintendo and Sony handheld systems. A companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins, players can continue the storyline of the console version and discover more details of the Dark Knight’s past.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate coming to 3DS, made by Armature

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

In the same day in which we were talking about Armature’s canned Mega Man first-person shooter, it has been revealed the the company is working on Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. The 3DS and PlayStation Vita title will offer 2.5-D Metroid-style gameplay that is a standalone experience from the upcoming console game.

Blackgate is set after the events of Arkham Origins. Fans of the Batman franchise can expect a mix of exploration and action.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate launches on October 25 – the same day as the console version.

Source

Batman: Arkham Origins confirmed, first details

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Update: Batman: Arkham Origins confirmed for May Game Informer cover. Added in a few more details below.

– Made by Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady
– WB Montreal has full access to Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to capture the look and feel of the Arkhamverse
– Deathstroke appearing for the first time in a core Arkham game
– Creative director is Eric Holmes (lead designer of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype)
– Wii U/PS3/360/PC

Batman: Arkham Origins has been confirmed as the third entry in Warner Bros. new series that began in 2009. First details have been leaked through a product listing on Best Buy, with further information possibly due later today.

Players will explore Batman’s past in Arkham Origins, as the name suggests. The game takes place before the franchise’s first two titles as the hero “faces a defining moment in his early career that determines his fate and leads him to meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships that shape his destiny.”

Batman: Arkham Origins launches on October 29. Look for the full fact sheet from Best Buy below.

Canned Mega Man FPS by Armature Studio revealed as “Maverick Hunter”

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

Armature Studio, the company founded by key Metroid Prime developers, hasn’t produced many games since its inception in 2008. But it did work on one huge project that eventually made its way to the trash bin: Maverick Hunter.

This first-person shooter was a new take on the Mega Man X series. Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune even signed off on the game, but right around the time when he left Capcom, Armature’s work on Maverick Hunter was scrapped.

Tons of details have now emerged on the cancelled Mega Man project through a new Polygon report. For a full summary, read on below.

Capcom’s Svensson says they’ll be re-releasing fewer fighters as they’ve run out

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

“New development in the form of updated versions of SF2, SF3, MvC2, MvC1, Marvel Super Heroes, Darkstalkers, Puzzle Fighter etc. Sadly, I think we’ve probably run the course of feasible titles here given the droppoff we’ve seen in sales with each new introduction.”

“It seems the novelty of such projects is wearing off even within just the fighting game community based upon the sales data of our last two launches. That said, we have been quite prolific in these areas (despite the assertion above that we haven’t) and it’s probably time for us to slow down anyway.”

– Capcom USA Senior VP Christian Svensson

I was always wondering when we’d start to see the drop-off in remakes and HD re-releases of old games, so maybe this news from Capcom is a clue that things will start to tire shortly. After all, we’ve gone through Ico, Metal Gear Solid, Street Fighter games, Resident Evil titles… and so many more! We’re bound to run down soon.

Via Siliconera

Rumor: Nintendo giving away free Wii U dev kits in order to drum up long term support

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

These rumors have been floating around for a while now, but a couple of days ago everyone’s favorite Destructoid editor Jonathan Holmes tweeted that he’s heard that Nintendo is giving away Wii U dev kids, presumably to garner long-term support for the console:

Hearing more and more stories of Nintendo giving developers free Wii U dev kits. I hope devs take advantage of that. Could lead to victories
— Jonathan Holmes (@TronKnotts) April 5, 2013

Honestly, this is one of those things that more people should be doing with their companies. Taking a financial hit initially in order to get more people on board with your console or idea should keep them coming back in the future, ensuring that they don’t just make games in the short term and then abandon you altogether– which happened with the Wii!

Via Nintendo Life

GameStop lists $40 price point for Game & Wario

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Game & Wario may be released at a slightly cheaper price than Nintendo’s first round of Wii U titles. GameStop is listing a $39.99 price point, which may very well be its standard MSRP.

Fans are still waiting on overseas release dates for Game & Wario. It was originally supposed to arrive during the Wii U launch window, but I’d say we’re passed that point now.

Source

Control and switch between three captains in Pikmin 3

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

There’s one other piece from Rolling Stone’s Shigeru Miyamoto piece that we wanted to highlight on the main page.

Miyamoto revealed to the publication that players will be able to take on the role of three different captains/leaders in Pikmin 3 by switching off between them. Each will control a group of Pikmin and will likely offer their own advantages, as Miyamoto said that their inclusion “sort of allows you to approach the game from a much more strategic position.”

Speaking about Pikmin 3, Miyamoto said:

“With Pikmin 3, you’ll have the ability to have three different captains or leaders of Pikmin groups and you can switch between them. So it sort of allows you to approach the game from a much more strategic position. The volume of work that you can get done within the timeframe has increased dramatically. And so that in and of itself really enhances the depth of strategy that’s available to you in that game.”

Source

Miyamoto can see himself possibly working until he dies, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team’s Pikmin comparison

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Over the past couple of years, there’s been a lot of talk about Shigeru Miyamoto’s retirement. Miyamoto himself has confirmed a few times before that he’s already transferred some of his duties to younger staff and has looked to prepare Nintendo for the day when he isn’t around.

When the topic of retirement came up once again while talking with Rolling Stone, Miyamoto delivered an interesting response. Miyamoto said that he’s still enjoying what he does and “this is something that I can still continue to do for a long time.” He added: “You know, possibly until I die.”