Batman: Arkham City Catch-All

kyrieee wrote:

I liked Batman: AA a lot, but not to make me want to buy this one on day one. However, GMG apparently just allowed people to pay in USD in lots of EU countries. Coupled with their 15% pre-order discout + a voucher the game costs 45% of what I would pay on Steam. The only thing holding me back is that I really don't want another DD app, but damn that's a good deal. If only it were a Steamworks game..

This is a day one perch for me. Mostly because it seems more open world. That and I'm reading the comics and it's pretty good.

I know it's silly, but every voice cast announcement that was not the old cartoon VA killed my enthusiasm more and more (except for North as Penguin, that's hilarious). Richard Moll would have been day one, now I'll wait for a sale or some other opportune moment.

Just realizing this game is coming out quite soon and I think I need it... like pre-order need it. This in in spite of the $69.99 pre-order price tag I see at places at Futureshop and Best Buy.

Not expecting any revelations in terms of improvements to the core mechanics but something about that open world design could make for a very special Batman experience.

It's not that bad. It just means we buy battlefield 3, then in a few months down the track when you want something new for a little break, then you can buy the game for less Works well for anyone who isn't a "day 1 must have" kind of person.

BlackSabre wrote:

It's not that bad. It just means we buy battlefield 3, then in a few months down the track when you want something new for a little break, then you can buy the game for less Works well for anyone who isn't a "day 1 must have" kind of person.

True

WHY IS THERE NO STEAM PRE-ORDER?? AARRGGHHH

Vector wrote:

WHY IS THERE NO STEAM PRE-ORDER?? AARRGGHHH

Dunno, but oddly, it IS on steam. A friend of mine has already activated his code for it that he got for buying a new Nvidia card.

Maybe MS wants to have as many pre-orders as possible from Live marketplace? then again, Greenman Gaming already has it for pre-order, and they have precious few games for sale at all. So, ya got me.

I'd buy this new (which is unusual for me) if I wasn't buying Battlefield 3 a few days later. I understand the reasons for people clustering their game releases around this time of year but it's a pain to have so many games I want to play releasing on top of each other. If B:AC was out now I'd buy it in a heart beat.

Edit: I put B:AA. I meant B:AC

Vector wrote:

WHY IS THERE NO STEAM PRE-ORDER?? AARRGGHHH

I'm sooo ready to give them my money!

I don't think I ever told anyone, but Arkham Asylum is probably my favorite single player game of all time. In the top 5 anyway.

My buddy is currently playing though AA and talking about it has raised my anticipation through the roof. It was a little like randomly meeting that hot ex girlfriend at a party

...

Not that you guys would know anything about that, but anyway... October 18th can't come soon enough.

Unlike you guys.

:p

There's no such thing as "ignore lists" here right?

Mr.Green wrote:

I don't think I ever told anyone, but Arkham Asylum is probably my favorite single player game of all time. In the top 5 anyway.

We had a game of the decade thread here last year, wherein I named Batman AA as my game of the decade for 2000-2009 (or 2001-2010, whatever it is). I'd list it in my top 3 games of all-time, and would have a hard time arguing myself out of keeping it out of the #1 spot.

Jeff-66 wrote:
Mr.Green wrote:

I don't think I ever told anyone, but Arkham Asylum is probably my favorite single player game of all time. In the top 5 anyway.

We had a game of the decade thread here last year, wherein I named Batman AA as my game of the decade for 2000-2009 (or 2001-2010, whatever it is). I'd list it in my top 3 games of all-time, and would have a hard time arguing myself out of keeping it out of the #1 spot.

*cough* Company of Heroes *cough*

BlackSabre wrote:

*cough* Company of Heroes *cough*

I certainly respect that choice. It's very high on my all-time list as well.

I can't wait for this either.

For any Coheed and Cambria fans, IGN premiered their exclusive track from the AC soundtrack, "Deranged":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woPli...

Slyght wrote:

For any Coheed and Cambria fans, IGN premiered their exclusive track from the AC soundtrack, "Deranged":

Sweet. Since you're a coffee grinder, I'll hook you up with some linkage:

Jeff-66 wrote:
Slyght wrote:

For any Coheed and Cambria fans, IGN premiered their exclusive track from the AC soundtrack, "Deranged":

Sweet. Since you're a coffee grinder, I'll hook you up with some linkage:

Coheed is one of my favorite bands, and well Batman...is cool.

Batman AC for Windows -- DELAYED. Console versions still on schedule.

Anyone want to lay odds that it's got something to do with GFWL?

Jeff-66 wrote:

Batman AC for Windows -- DELAYED. Console versions still on schedule.

Anyone want to lay odds that it's got something to do with GFWL?

That it has Deus Ex-like issues that take longer to iron out. Console gaming FTW!

Nooooooooooo!!!

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Nooooooooooo!!!

or better yet ...

IMAGE(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/ziffel66/forum/fuuuuu.jpg)

Jeff-66 wrote:

Batman AC for Windows -- DELAYED. Console versions still on schedule.

Anyone want to lay odds that it's got something to do with GFWL?

I'll bet it's got sweet nothing to do with anything technical and is all political with the publisher and other parties.

Yeah seems like a lot of console/PC releases have delayed the PC one for 2 weeks or so to try to limit the piracy and force people into the console versions.

Now if I have to wait, I might as well just wait until Thanksgiving/Christmas for a Steam sale. :p

Jayhawker wrote:

That it has Deus Ex-like issues that take longer to iron out. Console gaming FTW!

Well I'd give them a pass if the delay was due to them removing crappy boss fights like DX has.

Well, Serious Sam 3 comes out the same day. Maybe I'll console myself with that. Wait .. no ... 'console' ... bad word choice.

Scratched wrote:

I'll bet it's got sweet nothing to do with anything technical and is all political with the publisher and other parties.

You may be right. What's interesting is that, even though you can pre-order it elsewhere, it has not yet appeared on Steam at all. I wonder if that's a coincidence.

That kinda sucks.. I just got a free copy with some Nvidia Cards I ordered and was just about to cancel the 360 version I had on pre-order.. now I guess I'll be double dipping.

Stele wrote:

Yeah seems like a lot of console/PC releases have delayed the PC one for 2 weeks or so to try to limit the piracy and force people into the console versions.

Yet they bald-face lie about the release date well in advance, then jerk the rug out from under us close to release time.

Now if I have to wait, I might as well just wait until Thanksgiving/Christmas for a Steam sale. :p

Thing is, I already paid, just $34 at GMG.

Anyway, RPS says they have contacted Warner Brothers for an official explanation.

Why is the immediate response to this is not "they're delaying the PC release to make sure it's up to standards" but "it's a conspiracy to get people to buy the console version"? Isn't it just as likely that the game has been delayed due to some bugs that they need a bit more time to stamp out? After Dead Island and Deus Ex both had poor launches on the PC, you think people would be happy to see a bit of extra TLC put into the PC version to make sure it's solid from day one. If they can't get it stable by the announced release date, isn't it better to delay it slightly than to push it out the door and leave people waiting for a patch? It's just a couple weeks, and it's not like this is a dry season without exciting games to play.

Stele wrote:

Yeah seems like a lot of console/PC releases have delayed the PC one for 2 weeks or so to try to limit the piracy and force people into the console versions.

The funny thing is when the xbox versions of games get pirated before release (I know, not directly comparable to PC piracy), and that's not funny in a good way.

Without behind the scenes knowledge, it's hard to see many scenarios where this is a good thing for anyone. I always feel like a conspiracy theorist when I think it's some backhander from one of the console makers, but I'm a believer in the phrase "first time an accident, two times a coincidence, three times enemy action". This kind of thing only ever happens to delay a PC port, never the other way around.

I'm awaiting the Assassin's Creed Revelations "optimisation" delay.

My reason for disliking the 2-4 week PC-only delay is that there's only so much work that can go on with a window that small, especially with these two-week delays. Further doubt gets cast on that theory when stuff like From Dust happens, where the PC version gets delayed, and still comes out as a really crummy port. Either it was in an absolutely abominable state before the delay and the time was used to get it to a playable state, or the delay was a political maneuver.

The other thing about Batman:AC is that it's a continuation of work from Batman:AA. There could always be improvements and work I'm not aware of, but it seems to me that most of the work on the new game is content that will be the same across all 3 platforms, on a well known, well supported multiplatform engine, rather than making a brand new PC port.

Occasionally bad things happen, and technical problems occur that delay a port, but not as often as you see from the PC ports of a lot of professional multi-million games. Something like Batman should be a very predictable and 'easy' PC port (there's my internet expert moment).

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Why is the immediate response to this is not "they're delaying the PC release to make sure it's up to standards" but "it's a conspiracy to get people to buy the console version"?

A little explanation from Warner Brothers would have gone a long way.

Btw, it turns out they did the same thing with Batman AA. Promised a simultaneous release, and then delayed PC at the 11th hour.

Eh, I'll get over it, but they won't get a double dip from me. I can wait a month. It just sucks to build up anticipation and then jerk the rug. It's frustrating for PC gamers to see this kind of thing repeatedly.