Maaaaaaybe. At least the number of preorder skins currently available for Batman: Arkham City is certainly pushing the envelope.
A British fan site has put together all of the skins available for customers in the UK (some of them are available outside Europe, others not), and it’s a little bananas. There are five available, most of them from unique, competing retailers, and while many of them look great — the Dark Knight Returns one especially — you should probably refrain from getting any of them.
Why? Because the more people give in to this, the more publishers will know they can get away with it. You want them to can this crap, then stop buying it. Simple!
For the record, the skins are, from left to right, Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns, Earth Zero, 1970′s Animated, The Animated Series and the default skin.
Arkham City Skins Announced so Far and How to Get Them [Arkhamcity.co.uk]
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:01 PMLooking at those it makes me wonder how they managed to make the Batman Beyond suit look so damn crap.
Trjn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:15 PMThey really should have given the Batman Beyond one the same treatment as the DCAU (or Batman: The Animated Series) one. Then it would have looked pretty damned nifty. Especially when you consider that Batman Beyond was originally drawn in that style.
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 7:11 PMIndeed. At the very least they could’ve not made the mouth visible and eased up on the muscle definition (Halfway between 70′s and BtAS would’ve worked)
Trjn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:02 PMI don’t remember Terry McGuinness being so muscly. Is that costume meant to be after he graduated high school and became Batman full time (as in from the comics not the original cartoon)?
Rappo
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 7:50 AMTerry wasn’t the original wearer of that suit… it was made for Bruce… I think the skin is meant to be Bruce in the beyond suit.
Cannon
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:04 PMShould be a comp as to who can name them all from left to right or something lol, there is only 1 i dont recongize which franchise it came from.
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:23 PMBatman Forever, Dark Knight, Earth One, 70′s, Animated and Arkham City.
What do I win???????????????? ;)
Effluvium Boy
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:43 PM*Beyond
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:05 PMOh Effluvium Boy!!! Where would I be without you ;)
I mean seriously, looks nothing like Val Kilmer!!
Moustacha
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:06 PMThe second from left (The Dark Knight Returns) should be re-named Fatman
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:15 PMAre we looking at the same DKR character? Because I’m not really seeing much in the way of fat as I am muscle.
The Insufferable Señor Steengo
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:54 PMGotta have muscle to be able to beat up Superman.
welbot
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:31 PMHahahah you had the same thought I did when I first looked at that pic! He really does look fat!
monkeyd_93
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 11:04 PMBatman’s new enemy…The bulge
Ad
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:57 AMYeah, I thought it was the equivalent of a big-head mod skin…
Blaghman, patron saint of doing it wrong.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:08 PMWow, I thought that standard batman was ridiculously diesel, but uhh… Dark Knight Returns Batman? Wow.
I mean, wow.
Trjn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:14 PMReminds me a lot of Wildcat.
Jordaan
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:16 PM1. No such thing as too many Batmans/Batmen.
2. Terry beefed up. Looks more like Black Panther.
3. Can we get a Red Robin costume for Tim?
4. THERE HAD BETTER BE SOME NIGHTWING IN THIS GAME.
weresmurf
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:30 PMIt’s not Terry McGinnes. It’s Bruce Wayne wearing McGinnes’s suit. Hence the size difference. C’mon guys, really?
Trjn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:36 PMWait, so you’re saying that Batman Beyond costume is pre-retirement Bruce. Bruce from the opening scenes of Batman Beyond?
That makes more sense, but still looks weird.
Blaghman, patron saint of doing it wrong.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:52 PMI’d say it’s more the fact that your character in the game will always be “Bruce Wayne as Batman”, and as such it will just be him wearing the different stuff.
Well, that’s my interpretation, so I’m probably still wrong.
MrTaco
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:21 PMWhy is DKR Batman so fat?
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:26 PMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns
TL;DR
Middle Age Batman
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:30 PMhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns
Go forth, my child. Learn of the glorious return of the Dark Knight.
Wynstyn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:32 PMHe’s fat cause he’s old batman.
Alex
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:02 PMMaybe go read one of the most important Batman stories ever written.
DAN!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:21 PMAnimated Series FTW!
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:24 PMSo I’m up for like five copies huh?
Will
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:51 PMyou could probably do it in 4, get the collectors with DKR and then another as a preorder. If you wanted the Robin DLC you’d need 5 though
weresmurf
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:30 PMI’m sorry, but is this really any worse than any other game and ITS dlc?
To a Batman fan, of which Luke, it’s clear you probably aren’t, this actually IS a fairly big deal. You get to play as your own favorite incarnation of Batman. Personally, my favorite one is 70s Animated or the 90s Animated.
Only thing I’m a teensy bit miffed at is the fact these will all be on the goddamn disc anyhow and be unlocked with fscking codes…
Shaoken
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 6:05 PMIt might not be on the disc. Rocksteady are pretty crafty when it comes to people doing stuff they’re not supposed to (See: their copy protection for the original). I wouldn’t put it past them to actually keep all these skins off the disc. so you’d have to download it instead.
But let’s see, how long did it take for the last game’s pre-order bonuses to go up for sale? I’d say the same thing will happen here, putting all the skins up for $5 along with the Robin DLC.
bookface
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:41 PMEarth Zero? thought it was Batman Inc.
Maybe the Batman Beyond costume is from when Bruce wore it for awhile before retiring from the costumed vigilante scene (first episode of Batman Beyond)
Trjn
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 4:51 PMWhen weresmurf mentioned that above, I thought so. Then I had a closer look at the DCAU costume, which is a younger version of the same Bruce Wayne. Now I’m not too sure.
On the other hand, I may be overanalysing this just a tad.
weresmurf
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 4:55 PMMaybe we’re looking for continuiity where there is NONE. It’s just Bruce Wayne from Arkham City wearing the Batman Beyond suit.
Ben
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:01 PMI don’t mind having a choice of characters, but I mind that you have to pick one of several.
I understand the reasons for doing it, but I miss the days of buying a game and having all options available off the bat – sometimes even having more game modes added by FREE patches! Failing that, the modding community would often add more models/skins for a game, something which you either have to pay for or buy a specific version of a game to get.
I’d mind less if the full range of skins are released for everybody at some point in the future…
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:28 PMActually pre-ordering from MightyApe.co.nz nets you three of those outfits.
Plus we all know they’ll become available as paid DLC and since they’re just costumes and this isn’t a capcom game it’ll probably be for a small price.
Will
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:54 PMYou’d end up with 4 if you went with the collectors edition, but then you’ve got to weigh up whether its worth the extra cost to not have to wait for them to be released as dlc/unlocked in game.
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 7:04 PMToo bad the CE is limited to 360 and PS3 otherwise I’d buy it :S
Penmonicus
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:05 PMThe Animated Series one looks killer!
Jk
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 6:34 PMIKNORITE? Do Want.
Gordon Pedersen
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 5:56 PMLooking at how great these suits look, the default one actually looks crap.
Stevorooni
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 6:06 PMI want the animated series one, but I bet it will look weird against the realistic gritty setting of Arkham City.
I also like the 70′s animated version, but they should really do the camp 70′s TV show version too haha
Hieu
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 6:29 PMSince Arkham City is returning for the PC, I look forward to more glorious mods, this time of these new skins for Batman. Arkham Asylum mods, anybody? http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=92752
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 8:11 PMDude, you can’t mod the full version of AA. Only the demo was able to have mods.
Chazz
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 8:12 PMCorrection, you can mod the full version, it just won’t work properly and most times crash on startup.
Mase
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 7:26 PMI wish I could find somewhere that is selling the 70′s & Animated costumes together as they are the only ones I want out of that lot
BenDTU
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 8:07 PMNo Adam West Batman? No sale.
Mase
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 10:51 PMReally!? What do you think the 70s suit is?
YoWombat
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 11:24 PMMy feelings exactly. I want those hand painted bat eyebrows.
AerintheADEQUATE
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 11:11 PMI won’t preorder for a skin no matter how awesome they look. Though if they make them a free download I’d totally be game.
Chrissomerry
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 11:12 PMI remember having an action figure of the very last one, or something similar to his general aesthetic. He even had a rocket-launcher shoulder. Take that, lego men from no particular set!
EDIT: Oh wait, that’s the actual in-game skin. Now I see why this is problematic!
Anyway, I think I need to play one of these games. They seem extremely polished for games about a guy who dresses up as a small, relatively fragile insectivorous mammal yet has muscles the size of a bear, which on paper sounds like a dangerous idea.
Femto
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 12:56 PMFunny I just bought Batman Beyond box set yesterday and now this!