Release date set for Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is set to be released for PS3 and Xbox 360 videogame consoles and PC in autumn 2011, according to new details from Warner Bros.

This sequel to the 2009 blockbuster Batman: Arkham Asylum once again pits the Dark Knight against the Joker. But instead of taking place in a grim island prison, this new title introduces players to "Arkham City", a "heavily fortified" zone of Gotham City.

The name of the newly announced game is not a total surprise. Publisher Warner Bros registered a huge amount of new domain names in July. Among the 15 websites were ArkhamCity.com, BatmanArkhamCity.com, and CityOfArkham.com CloseArkhamCity.com.

Anything other than what is detailed above is pure speculation. Developer Rocksteady Studios, who were relatively unknown until the wildly successful release of Arkham Asylum, has kept quiet about the project. But that is to be expected since the game is still just over a year from release.

Restless fans may glean more details from the teaser trailer below, and look for the September issue of Game Informer which features a badly beaten Batman and leather clad Catwoman. Meow, indeed!


Batman Arkham Asylum 2 World Premiere Trailer [HD]

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for Xbox 360

In Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, you're a snow pirate - battling for control of the precious thermal energy needed for humans to survive. Navigate your VS (Vital Suits) through hostile ice-covered environments, fighting against the indigenous Akrid creatures for the precious thermal energy they need to survive. For one such pilot named Wayne, death almost seemed imminent until he was fortunately rescued. However, he can only remember a few fragments of his past including the slaying of his father by the monstrous beings. Yet under the veil of ice, a devious plot has been set into motion by NEVEC. What really happened to Wayne and how will his destiny become intertwined with NEVEC's plans? Xbox Live enabled - Enjoy online multiplayer cooperative and versus battles; Download content like additional maps, missions, and weapons

Game Features:

• Alien Encounters- Face off with an array of Akrid, from massive rolling behemoths and long-legged ground-dwellers to fast-flying swarms overhead!
• Xbox Live Enabled- Download additional maps, compete in 16 player cooperative and versus battles!
• On-Foot and In-Vehicle Modes- Command heavily armed bipedal vehicles or switch to more stealthy exploration on-foot.
• Vast and Vivid Environments- Snowstorms, arctic winds, towering buildings, and mountains of ice create cinematic, stunning visuals and breathtaking landscapes!
• Next-Gen Realism- Immerse yourself in the brutal chilling world of Lost Planet as you labor through waist-deep snow, hear the crunch of ice with each step, and fly backward from explosive force during battle!

Gears of War for Xbox 360

Gears of War, an Xbox 360 exclusive game that blends tactical action with survival horror, thrusts gamers into a deep and harrowing tale of humankind's epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. The storyline plays out like a Hollywood blockbuster -- lead character Marcus Fenix pits advanced human technology against the overwhelming Locust Horde. Built around a revolutionary third-person tactical combat system and breathtaking, high-definition visuals from the Unreal Engine 3, Gears of War immerses you in a horrifying tale of war and survival.

The gameplay is focused on a fire team co-op so advanced that your A.I. teammates are indiscernible from human players. Voice recognition and real-time lip synching heighten the absorbing experience. The Unreal Engine 3 technology brings out the smallest details in the largest of battles. With GOW you're sure to experience a rich, dynamic world where characters spring to life. Speaking of life, the battlefield is a lethal place. To survive, you must suppress your enemy with blindfire, take cover in interactive environments, and use weapons and teammates to outwit your dreaded, inhuman foes. And with a title like GOW, it would be shame if you couldn't get online and challenge live gamers. With the next-generation of Xbox Live, you'll be able to experience individualized matchmaking, view player statistics, earn player achievements, customize games, and build personalized gamer profiles.

Gears of War shined bright at Microsoft's pre-E3 press briefing, but a deeper demo at Microsoft's E3 booth revealed many of the game's mechanics. GOW is built with both the hardcore and casual gamer in mind. But, instead of selecting a difficulty level at the start of the game, GOW offers a choice at the beginning of each level. In the vein of choose your own adventure, you can select between a difficult or easy path. And it's not just a simple choice of battling tougher enemies; each path (explained by a comrade) represents additional content that is crucial to the storyline. After easing your way into the experience of the gameplay with the simpler paths, you can go back and test your skills on the more difficult routes and never feel like you've played through the areas before.

Standing around in the open is likely to get you killed in GOW. You must use cover to survive. With a context sensitive A button function, you won't have to sweat memorizing cumbersome button combos. The A button will:

• Slam you into cover. As you approach cover in GOW simply tap the A button to slide and make immediate use of cover.
• Vault you over the cover. Once you're in cover, pressing up and A will vault you over your cover to engage the opponent or next cover opportunity.
• Evade enemy fire. When you're forced to be out in the open, tapping the A button will engage a roll maneuver to evade enemy fire.
• Activate a "Swat Turn." When taking cover on the side of a doorway, pressing the A button will spin your character from one side of the doorway to the other, helping avoid fire.

Ripping a magazine free and replacing it in the midst of bloody combat is no easy task. GOW simulates this difficult action by forcing you to perfect your reloading skills. To be effective in combat you'll need to allot for time to successfully reload your weapon. Do it well and the battle is yours; do it poorly and you may actually jam your gun. Time it perfectly and you'll earn a bonus with a temporary damage boost. Though GOW clearly showcases a sci-fi experience, its roots are in tactical, realistic combat scenarios. Therefore, running and gunning makes for seriously erratic shooting. Think about what you're doing. Unless wasting ammo is your goal, you better stop, aim, shoot, and then move on. Otherwise, the Locust Horde might swarm you and take your life.

Gears of War presents a focused and well-paced cinematic experience, and nothing ruins that faster than a time-consuming exploration of every switch or button to find the elusive trigger to open a door. This game introduces a "point of interest" button that comes up on the screen so you can immediately interact with the necessary item to move forward in your gameplay. GOW certainly offers drool-worthy graphics, but the mechanics have also received equal attention. Keep your eyes and ears on high alert for a release date, as Microsoft hasn't let the cat out of the bag on when gamers will be able to tackle this great-looking and great-playing title.

Product Description
Gears of War thrusts gamers into a deep and harrowing story of humankind's epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. players live and breathe the role of Marcus Fenix. A disgraced former war hero, Marcus seeks personal redemption as he leads his fire team against an onslaught of merciless warrior fiends. Gamers immerse themselves in an experience so intensely emotional and gut-wrenching that playing will be like controlling a blockbuster action movie. Control Marcus Fenix and his fire team as they pit advanced human technology against the overwhelming and horrific Locust Horde. Gears of War unites next-generation technology with classic, emotional storytelling and a revolutionary tactical combat system, engrossing the gamer in a horrifying epic story of war and survival Unreal Engine 3 technology pushes high-definition visual designs and brings out the smallest details in the largest battle. Experience a rich dynamic world with an unprecedented level of detail

Crackdown for Xbox 360

Pacific City is overridden; crime controls the streets. Three powerful gangs have taken the once-great metropolis hostage, and the police have proven powerless in their efforts to regain control. Only the Agency's deploying genetically enhanced agents of justice can provide citizens with some sense of hope. With an open-ended "sandbox" environment, players are free to explore the city and decide on the best tactics for each breathtaking scenario. Brace yourself. Justice is coming to Pacific City.

A next-gen visual and gameplay style Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the first ever truly 3-D playground. Gamers will level up their Agent's strength, agility, firearms, explosives, and driving skills while scaling the fully vertical world. Enforce justice by any means necessary in Pacific City, a crime-ridden urban center primed to explode and ready for you to explore. Enter an interactive world where anything can be used as a weapon as you clean up the streets the only way you know how. Your way. Developed by Scotland's Real Time Worlds exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox 360 console, Crackdown is the brainchild of Dave Jones, the creative genius behind many innovative game titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings.

Harnessing the amazing power of Xbox 360, Crackdown players enforce justice against the backdrop of a crime-ridden metropolis that is massive in scale and meticulous in detail. The game's unique presentation employs a highly stylized rendering technique that turns it into a living, breathing graphical novel. You play the role of an enforcer for the city's "Agency," a law enforcement entity looking to take back neighborhoods and lives from three large crime syndicates. You are part of the new generation of crime fighters- an entirely new breed of genetically superior super-cops, designed to use the enemies' tactics against them.

Multiplayer mayhem
From the initial conception, Crackdown has been built to feature a dynamic and engaging co-op experience for double the action, carnage, and intensity. Never before has a game allowed two players to simultaneously explore and interact with an open-ended game environment. Will you work together to find new ways of detonating your impressive stash of explosives? Or will you race each other to the next batch of collectible ability orbs? The choice is always yours!

An impressive number of weapons and objects are also at your disposal. Low on ammo? Never a problem. Thanks to an amazing amount of props and a deep physics system, you can use whatever you get your hands on as a weapon: Trash cans, vehicles, even people. Set the scene for mass destruction with a game that remembers your actions better than you do. Gather vehicles to assemble barricades, build epic piles of explosives, push it to the limit. Crackdown can take it.

A sandbox full of opportunities
For the first time ever, every inch of an urban playground has been designed for you to explore and exploit. Use any route necessary as you take down the crime syndicates, going under, around, or through the environment however you choose. While previous "sandbox"-style titles have allowed you to merely walk or drive around the environment, Crackdown encourages players to find new routes to and from destinations. Often times, scaling a building or traveling beneath the surface will present new and unexpected challenges to the player- or provide an even more deadly option for the enemy.

Get the job done, no matter what it takes. Any strategy or tactic is acceptable, so long as you re-claim the streets. Unleash the awesome powers of your agent, developing his full genetic potential, becoming faster and stronger, learning bone-crushing moves, using outrageous weapons, and defying certain death at every turn.

Product Description
Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the first ever truly 3-D playground. Gamers will enforce justice by any means necessary in Pacific City, a crime-ridden urban center built to encourage the exploration of the full width, depth and height of the city. Coupled with highly innovative co-op gameplay -- a genre first -- and an interactive world where nearly anything can be used as a weapon, gamers will be able to create a volatile cocktail of judicial oppression as they clean up the streets. More than 100 licensed tracks, spanning a wide range of styles and genres -- with 5.1 sound

Game Features:

• Players enforce justice against the backdrop of a crime-ridden metropolis that is massive in scale, monstrous in scope and meticulous in detail
• Cooperative gameplay for double the mayhem - Real Time Worlds focused on delivering dynamic, engaging cooperative gameplay for double the carnage, action and intensity
• 3D freeform gameplay -- explore and exploit the full width, depth and height of a city, as you face nonlinear objectives in a myriad of wild and creative ways
• All strategies and tactics are acceptable, provided players reclaim the streets -- players will be able to run at dazzling speeds, take death-defying leaps, handle the most incredible weapons, perform impossible vehicular maneuvers, move massive objects and deliver bone-crushing blows
• Use your environment as a weapon - Grab trash cans, vehicles, even people. Take your enemies' weapons, buid barricades, even arrange explosives to set them off later