Tag Archives: Batman

Warner Bros. changes developers for Batman: Arkham Origins, due Oct. 25

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After reviving the idea of the Batman video games with two titles that were both critical and commercial successes, you’d think Warner Bros. wouldn’t want to rock the boat too much for its third Arkham game. That’s apparently not the case, as the publisher announced that the next title in the series, Batman: Arkham Origins, will be developed by WB Games Montreal. That’s the internal studio behind the recent “Armored Edition” update to Arkham City on the Wii U.

Details are still scant on the new title beyond its planned release on the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U worldwide on October 25. However, today’s announcement does confirm that the game will be a prequel to the existing Arkham games and “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.” The game will also be featured in next month’s Game Informer, whose back cover reveals that Deathstroke will be a major antagonist in the game.

“We are very aware of the fact that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. We are playing in the space of some of the most critically acclaimed games of all time,” one WB Montreal developer says in Game Informer‘s cover reveal trailer.

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Reports of the Death of the Movies Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

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For quite some time, the assumption has been that year in, year out, fewer and fewer people would bother seeing movies in the theater. Then a funny thing happened in 2012. Against trend, consumers went back to the movies, in fairly large numbers. What’s more, a repeat performance is expected for 2013. The rise of tablets, home theaters, Redbox, Netflix, and other forms of easy, affordable entertainment that doesn’t involve the cost or hassle of going to the movies has a lot to do with why movie theater attendance had been waning. The number of movie tickets sold annually in the U.S. has largely been on the decline since 2002; in 2011, for example, ticket sales dropped 4.5% compared to the year before. Total box office takes might have been rising during this time period, but that was only because ticket prices had gotten more expensive—thanks largely to surcharges tacked onto films shown in 3-D and IMAX formats. Consumer surveys conducted in early 2012 showed that most Americans said they rarely or never go to the movies anymore. And after an especially bad year in movie ticket sales in 2011, many analysts and executives offered a solution that would surely wind up chasing away even more would-be moviegoers: raising ticket prices yet again. (MORE: 10 Big Retail Trends from the 2012 Holiday Shopping Season) For the most part, studios and theaters didn’t follow that advice in 2012, and it wound up being a strong year in terms of total tickets sold and box office revenues alike. Despite a less-than-stellar summer season—compared to the Memorial Day-Labor Day period 10 years ago, 100 million fewer tickets were sold in 2012—the industry gets to brag that 2012 was its best ever. At least in terms of total dollars worth of tickets sold, that is. As the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and others have reported, domestic movie ticket sales reached an all-time high of $10.84 billion in 2012, surpassing the previous hit set in 2009 ($10.59 billion). What may be more important for the

Colorado Shootings Aftermath: What Will Impact Be on ‘Dark Knight Rises’?

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The masked gunman who opened fire during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises early Friday morning in Colorado killed at least 12 innocent victims and injured dozens more. The vicious actions were far more brutal than anything perpetrated by the villains onscreen. One hesitates to discuss financial matters in the same breath as the [...]

Holy Strategic Partnerships, Batman! A Brief History Of Nokia’s Batman Obsession

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The Nokia Lumia 900 The Dark Knight Rises Edition handset has made its way on the interwebs recently and it’s nothing short of a beauty, with a black polycarbonate unibody frame and a laser-etched Batman logo across the back. Moreover, the phone — which is usually limited to either a black or white background and a handful of color themes like Nokia blue, teal, lime, mango, and pink — will also come with a black and grey theme.

Of course, plenty of Dark Knight Rises content will come pre-loaded as well, including a game called Claim Gotham City and the Dark Knight Rises app. We had gotten a glimpse of the phone in what appears to be official press shots (or renders) a few days ago, but the first hands-on photos of the phone have surfaced, courtesy of Phonerpt.

Take a look:

Now, the Lumia 900 Batphone is far from the first Batman/Nokia collaboration to date. After a little light research, I’ve learned that there are quite a few Nokia batphones out in the world.

Here’s a brief image-tastic history of Nokia’s obsession with Batman:

Nokia 5800 XpressMedia

In 2008, a now-incredibly famous movie hit the silver screen. You may have heard of it: The Dark Knight. It featured Heath Ledger as the Joker, who tragically died before the movie was ever released. But it also featured another shining star known as the Nokia 5800 XpressMedia. The phone appeared in the trailer for the movie and was then blogged by dozens of tech sites. It was the first touchscreen phone Nokia put on the market, complete with stylus and three home buttons. It was nicknamed the Tube, and ended up in a handful of music videos including Britney Spears’ “Womanizer”, Flo Rida’s “Right Round”, and Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Go Bad”.

[Images via TrustedReviews and Phonerpt]

Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition

Then, in June of the same year, Nokia realized the potential of putting actual Batman imagery and design language on the phone itself, and came out with the Nokia 6205 Dark Knight edition. It was a basic flip phone, with a flash-enabled camera and tons of pre-loaded Batman content like ringtones and wallpapers. It had a Batman home screen background, along with a Batman icon along the back of the solid black (rather sleek) flip phone. Verizon sold the device, along with a white version for non-Batman fans.

[Images via Engadget]

Nokia Batman Concept Style N19

Also in 2008, a Finnish Nokia designer named Heikki Juvonen came up with this concept design, likely piggy backing off of the hype from the 5800′s cameo in The Dark Knight. It’s now known as the Nokia Batman Concept Style N19, and it’s said to have a “futuristically transparent” display. There’s no list price for it, nor is there any spec sheet. Essentially, it’s an awkwardly-designed feature phone inspired almost entirely by Batman, from the wing-esque keypad section to the black and goldish coloring.

[Images via ITechNews]

Nckla Batman/Spider-Man phone

About a year later, Shenzhen picked up on the trend. So, this isn’t necessarily Nokia’s obsession with Batman, but rather Nckla‘s (think Prado instead of Prada). This phone hit the web in June of 2009, and seemed to be the lovechild of a Spider-Man fan and a Batman fan. It came in both black versions, and white with red and blue trim. Along the back there is a large Batman symbol, which is a part of the loudspeaker, and the small speaker on the front is also emblazoned with a Batman icon. The phone also happens to light up in blue and red.

[Images via JustAmp]

Nokia Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises

Fast forward a couple years, and you’ll find the Nokia Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises smartphone. It’s nearly identical to the 900 Dark Knight Rises, but without the big brother’s LTE connectivity, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, and front-facing camera.

[Video via NokiaLumiaDownload]

[Images via PC Authority, ITechSources, and PocketLint]