Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today unveiled details and images for this fall’s hotly-anticipated Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition.  The package will be available in limited quantities for $99 beginning Oct. 18, 2011 in North America for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows PC.

The Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition will include the following extensive bonus content:

•    Custom Batman statue produced by Kotobukiya
•    Collectible art book
•    Early access to the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns skin
•    Batman: Arkham City album from WaterTower Music including original songs by hit artists, available via digital redemption
•    Bonus DC Universe animated original movie, Batman: Gotham Knight
•    Four collectible cards

Batman: Arkham City is out on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on October 18 in the US and October 21 in Europe.

Limited Edition ($79.99 US) – The must-have for fans who want to celebrate the culmination of the trilogy, the Limited Edition includes:

• An Octus Award Box with Octus Service Medal – A 1:1 match in size and weight, this zinc-alloy cog-shaped medal replicates the award given to Adam Fenix in recognition of his work on the Hammer of Dawn.
• Dimensions: 77 mm (3 in.) x 10 mm (0.4 in.)
• Exclusive Unlockable Adam Fenix Multiplayer Character – Each Octus Service Medal replica is engraved with a unique Xbox LIVE code that is the only way to unlock Adam Fenix in multiplayer.
• A fabric COG Flag – Proud colors that once flew above the House of Sovereigns.
• The personal effects of Adam Fenix, including his “Last Will and Testament,” the initial Hammer of Dawn schematic, and other Fenix family mementos.

Epic Edition ($149.99 US) – The ultimate collection for hardcore fans who can’t get enough “Gears of War 3,” the Epic Edition includes:

• A Limited Edition Marcus Fenix Statue – Designed by Epic Games Art Director Chris Perna and expertly crafted by the artisans at Triforce, this fine PVC statue collectible makes the ultimate living room centerpiece for any true “Gears” fan.
• Dimensions: height 285 mm (11.2 in.), diameter 225 mm (8.9 in.).
• Weight: 1.7 kg (3.7 lb.)
• The Art and Design of Gears of War by Tom Bissell – Through unprecedented access to the Epic Games team, acclaimed author Tom Bissell (Extra Lives) gives readers an incisive behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the most celebrated sagas in video game history with 96 pages of interviews, photos, concept artwork and more.
• Infected Omen Weapon Pack — Custom multiplayer skins for the game’s five starting weapons; Lancer, Retro Lancer, Hammerburst, Sawed-off Shotgun, and Gnasher Shotgun.
• All the contents of the “Gears of War 3” Limited Edition.

The “Gears of War 3” Limited Edition and Epic Edition are the only ways to obtain these high-end collectibles and downloadable content.  With production values worthy of the most discerning fans, the “Gears of War 3” Epic Edition is available in very limited quantities and only while supplies last.

Today Microsoft purchased Skype, the popular VOIP company for a cool $8.5 Billion. Billion as in B. Skype boasts 170 Million users as of 2010 and featured 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls. This currently stands as the biggest acquisition in Microsoft history. A new Skype branch of Microsoft will open up featuring the former CEO of Skype, Tony Bates. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised Skype support on several Microsoft platforms, including Xbox Live. Kinect support was promised as well. Will we see Skype text chat support where MSN messenger is in place right now? Time will tell. E3 may be shaping up to be a big one this year.

Today is a sad day for gamers everywhere. One of the most iconic video game franchises of the past hardware generation has been shut down. Guitar Hero is no more, says publisher Activision. Say what you will about the recent games that have come out, but this is the game that made gamers out of millions of people who otherwise wouldn’t have touched video games. Choosing not to emphasize the news too much today during their earnings press conference today, Activision simply mentioned it in passing.

“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011.  The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.”

This news comes as a complete contradiction to what Activision said almost two months ago to the date. True Crime: Hong Kong is also being discontinued as well. No word as to whether either of these two IP’s will be shopped around. Some good news coming out of the bad, Activision still plans on continuing all DLC support for the Guitar Hero franchise as of right now. The game that sparked a revolution in the industry and turned gamers and non gamers alike onto new genres of music has officially played its last gig.

Activision Publishing, Inc. announced today that Beenox, developer of Bee Movie: The Game, has been named the primary developer on all upcoming Spider-Man games.

“We are thrilled with this opportunity to continue our close, collaborative relationship with Activision, Marvel and everyone’s friendly, neighborhood hero, Spider-Man,” said Dee Brown, Studio Head, Beenox. “Being able to map out Spider-Man’s interactive future gives us the creative freedom to really craft the best gaming experience for the fans.”

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was one of the highest rated Spider-Man games received of all time. Shattered Dimensions went on to win Wizard Magazine’s 2010 Game of the Year and the highly coveted VGA for best voice acting.

Beenox’s creative vision reinvigorated the Spider-Man gaming experience among critics and fans in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions,” said Patrick Kelly, Senior Vice President, Activision Studios. “We can’t wait to see where this talented studio will take this franchise in the future.”

“Beenox has done a tremendous job showcasing the essence of Spider-Man while pushing new creative boundaries with Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions,” said Todd Jefferson, Director of Games, Marvel Entertainment’s Global Digital Media Group. “We look forward to working with Beenox on creating new Spider-Man game experiences.”

This is great news for Beenox and Activision. Hopefully a Peter Parker game is already under development. Unfortunately,  this leaves the next developer for Bee Movie 2 wide open.

A new report has been released detailing the most pirated games of 2010. While the usual array of big releases make the top five, the most interesting news here is in which games round out the first and second spots. Dante’s Inferno comes in at first with 1,280,000 total downloads with Alan Wake coming in at a close second with 1,140,000. Pirating of games is of course always troubling news but what is even worse is that two original IPs are in first place. With the budgets of game developers growing more and more each year, companies are less willing to take risks on new untested IPs. When companies do take risks on new IPs it is sad news to see their risks not rewarded properly as they deserve.

(TorrentFreak)

Don Mattrick, the president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft said “We are appreciative of the response we have seen from consumers that has culminated in sales of more than 1 million units in the first 10 days on the market for Kinect for Xbox 360.  This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than 5 million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year.”

Kinect is currently on track to meet Microsoft’s expectation of five million Kinect sensors being sold by the end of the year.

For the full PR, check out the Microsoft Press Center.

The first of the three, Borne Games, gave us the hugely popular browser based flash game, The Fancy Pants Adventures. The Fancy Pants Adventures puts players in the position of hand drawn stick figure on a quest to rescue his kidnapped sister. Now thanks to the new partnership between Borne Games and Electronic Arts, The Fancy Pants Adventures will be released on the Xbox Live Arcade to thousands of new players boosting the 100 million players it has already received.

“The passion that the fans have shown for The Fancy Pants Adventures has been overwhelming and bringing the game to console will give them the best possible platform gameplay experience,” said Brad Borne, Founder of Borne Games who went on to say, “Working with EA allows me to do more than I could have ever imagined. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

We can look forward to seeing the action packed side scrolling game hitting the Xbox live arcade in spring 2011. Meanwhile EA’s second partner, Vanguard games, will also be bringing a new title to the arcade around the same time.

Gatling Gears, a twin stick shooter, comes from the team behind the award winning game, Greed Corp. Gatling Gears features the same setting as Greed Corp allowing players to take on an evil resource hungry company with Greed Corps signature elements such as warring factions, walker units and collapsing ground.

Whilst players may be filling the sky with lead in Gatling Gears, EA’s third partner is set to offer a different, stealthier experience with their game also releasing in spring 2011. Trapdoor have entered into a partnership with EA in order to publish their game, Warp. Warp is a top down stealth action game featuring traps and puzzles all set within a unique sci-fi world.

EA seem pleased with all their new partnerships with Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners saying, “One of our goals at EA Partners is to seek out the leading independent developers within the downloadable games market and publish their titles to a wide audience. We are thrilled to add Trapdoor to the EA Partners family and bring this best-in-class sci-fi stealth action title to gamers everywhere.”

Next spring looks to be an exciting time with many new games and partners from EA, certainly a time I and many others will look forward to.

While digital distribution is nothing new, it hasn’t necessarily worked well for the online retailers supporting the program. Regardless, this doesn’t seem to have stopped Gamestop from attempting to get their piece of the virtual pie. Coming soon, Gamestop.com will begin to sell full retail games, game add-ons, and trial games for Xbox titles.

While an exact start date hasn’t been announced, you can find full details on the program here.

(Joystiq)

Ashlee Vance is reporting over at the New York Times that the first Kinect Prototype cost far more than the $150 price point they’re selling it at retail for.

$29,850 more expensive to be exact.

Of course, this is a miniscule amount compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars that went into the development cost and the robust marketing campaign that will be flooding media outlets everywhere.

The article also goes in-depth on some of the features and technology used to make up Kinect. A fascinating read for anyone even remotely interested in the new device.

For Kinect’s eyes, Microsoft turned to PrimeSense, based in Tel Aviv. It links a standard Web camera with a pair of sensors to offer depth perception. One sensor emits light near the infrared range, giving Kinect its own light source impervious to ambient conditions. The other sensor monitors users’ distance from the device.

THE eyes were nice, but if only Kinect had a brain.

Adding the smarts required Microsoft’s artificial-intelligence experts and thousands of test subjects. Microsoft found people of varying shapes and sizes and recorded how they moved by monitoring 48 joints in their bodies. Over time, the algorithms that digest this data became better and better, allowing the system to work with pregnant women and children in baggy clothes as well as with average-size adults in T-shirts and shorts.

Microsoft upgrades and rewires the Kinect brain every 24 hours and can send updates to Xbox systems via the Internet when it chooses. Kinect recognizes someone it has seen before by body shape, so there’s no need to log into the system each time a game is played. It knows your left hand from your right and can distinguish between two players even when their paths cross.

If players have similar builds, Kinect tries to glean differences in their facial features, haircuts, body movements and clothing color. And if identically dressed twins initially stump the system, it will ask each to say something.

Microsoft is banking huge on Kinect being a success, and so far, all signs point to that goal coming to fruition.

[via NY Times]