Last year Nintendo gamers not only had the opportunity to enjoy Batman: Arkham Origins on Wii U, but also Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate on the 3DS, a 2.5D action game from Armature, a studio setup by former Retro Studios employees. Warner Bros. has now announced that the portable release — it was also on Vita — will have a second lease of life on home consoles.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Deluxe Edition will arrive as a download-only game on the Wii U eShop, as well as on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. It follows events shortly after Arkham Origins, with the press release promising the following:
Previously available only for PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system and Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Deluxe Edition brings the content of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate to console and PC with enhanced high-definition 2.5-D graphics, a new map & hint system for improved navigation and objective tracking, 5.1 surround sound, a fully voiced narrative and a captivating storyline. In addition to all previous released suits, players will be able to unlock the exclusive Zero Year Batsuit skin by registering for or signing into a Warner Bros. ID (WBID) account.
They sound like relatively modest enhancements, though naturally there'll be stronger visuals and performance at a thoroughly decent download price. We weren't particularly keen on the 3DS original, awarding it just 5/10 in our review, but perhaps this title will fare better on the big screen via more powerful hardware.
This arrives in North America on 1st April for $19.99 and in Europe on 2nd April, with a confirmed UK price of £15.99. The announcement trailer is below; are you keen to pick this up?
Comments 74
Ah, suprising! It's a neat game on 3DS, great to see the option to play it on the big screen.
That's cool, and I'll probably get it for Wii U in hope to play in Off-TV mode. It has portable roots so I guess it will feel the best played that way.
YES! I just finished Origins and I loved it. I will certainly be picking this up on the Wii U.
Cool. I'll consider it if it turns out better than it's portable counterparts.
Hm... I wonder what's the deal with 3DS games getting the jump to home consoles?
Resident Evil Revelations got the jump and now Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate? Along with eShop titles like Mighty Switch Force and Mutant Mudds...
Wonder if this is a trend...
Checked the trade in price for the 3DS version... wasn't too impressive. Guess I'll wait for a sale!
Oh! Hopefully it fixes the many problems I heard about the 3DS version.
@kyuubikid213
Quick, cheap and easy sell. That's the gist of it.
@kyuubikid213 Just to get more money, I suppose. Not a lot of third-party games are exclusives anymore.
I'm suprised it's come to the Wii U, not complaining about that! I'll be getting it if the reviews are good.
yes but will this version actauly be fun?
This but no Origins DLC? Mrrrrrgrrrrgrrrrrrr!!!!
I feel really bad for Vita owners. Almost everything they get is already a multiplat, released with cross play with PS3, or eventually gets an HD re-release on the home consoles. And Sony wonders why nobody's buying the system...
@Zach777 my thoughts exactly, tho I am grateful for the refund
shame its download only. Oh well I will get it for Wii U for sure.
Wow, that is surprising! I have yet to play it on 3DS... and I have not played Batman Origins either. I need to buy it on Wii U. I did play and beat Arkham Asylum and Arkham City though... so I need to give these games a shot!
I'll probably get this one, I didn't play it on 3DS and I don't have a Vita so I can't get the prettier version.
@Zach777 I know, seems shady, but the problem seems to be WB Montreal's practices. Being new to the series with the Wii U release of Arkham City, I sort of shrugged at all the worry around WB Montreal taking over the series from Rocksteady...and now I can see what the concern was for.
Now this game was developed by Armature, and while it got mediocre reviews, it's not the same company that's screwing over Wii U (as well as 360 and PS3 owners) with their shoddy patching and porting of Origins.
Will get if reviews are good and a sale. Too many games to beat as it is.
Of course I'm not opposed to more games coming to the Wii U. But I have a feeling this move is based on the fact that Blackgate didn't sell as well as they had hoped.
As a side note: I'd love to see more games on 3DS come to Wii U in HD!
I tend to like the smaller budget games that still allow developers to cater to classic gaming styles and genres, and console gaming is moving so heavily toward the big, bloated budget, Triple A "graphics are everything" model.
I'd love to see 3DS games like Rune Factory 4, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Shinobi, and many of the great Atlus properties be available for Wii U download.
@kyuubikid213 that happened with Castlevania too.
Sounds like a plan.
As has been mentioned before in this thread, it's a shame that the rest of the Origins DLC isn't coming to Wii U.
Awesome! Might give it a try. (I want to get AC and/or Origins but they are still 60 euros on the eShop...)
Honestly I don't care about this release. The gameplay was pretty boring/bad on the 3DS. The framerate on the WiiU will be better so that might alleviate some of the input lag problems from the 3DS but it won't fix the fact shoe-horning in the mechanics from the console Arkham games into a 2D side-scroller is a clunky, bad idea.
Wait, first, they cancel all further DLC packs for the main game on the WiiU and now the rerelease of the handheld title is back in the game ?
I wont complain, but these people are weird...
I guess it was a good thing I waited. I'll definitely be picking this up in April. Should be about $30 in the US right?
i do like how it is some how cheaper in hd, hoping the 3ds version goes on sale
For $20 I could see it getting some Wii U sales based on it's competition - or lack thereof - in the retail market. (Copied from a post I made earlier in the day, the dates are from Gamestops website)
tomorrow - DKCTF
March - nothing, not a single retail game in March
April 8 - Lego Hobbit
May 1 - Bayonetta 2 (news to me)
May 30 - MK8
June 24 - Transformers
June 30 - Watch_Dogs (delayed again maybe?)
That's everything retail, 1st, 2nd and 3rd party. April 1 or 2 seems like a good time to release something on the Wii U, even if it is only available as a digital download. All those indies developers w/ Wii U games coming out the next few months should get some sales as well.
Meh this one doesn't really interest me.
Cool! I'm still enjoying my 3DS version. And i certainly won't complain about Warner Bros. Interactive giving us another release and treating the Wii U equally
Haven't bought it for 3DS yet, so this looks like a great choice. Have to think about getting it. Either way, good choice for April, as there doesn't seem to be too much coming for Wii U.
@Einherjar Yeah i agree, pretty weird.
@audiobrainiac The thing is, DLC support was pulled because "there was no demand" and now there is enough demand to release a new game ? To me, that smells a bit fishy.
But whatever, a released game is a released game, and im quite happy about it since i never picked up any of the two handheld version.
@rjejr
The Bayonetta 2 date seems bogus to me, as it would be releasing first in the US than in Japan, where they said it would release this summer. Besides, it would be in the latest Direct if it was that close.
I know it was said before but man, we get this but not the rest of the Season Pass. Total BS. I guess this is better than no game support at all. :-/
@rjejr That's not entirely complete. There are quite a few eShop releases scheduled for April such as Child of Light (4/30), Piers Solar HD (4/17), NES Remix 2 (4/25), The Fall (March), SQUIDS Odyssey (March), Ballpoint Universe (3/18), Nihilumbra (March). That is not even including titles with a Q1 2014 release announcement like Shovel Knight, A World of Keflings, Forced, and Monkey Pirates.
Hah got thzis for 3ds at the weekend, thinking that it woul come to Wii U.
To those who are undecided, get it, very good game.
@Darknyht
To be fair, @rjejr was just mentioning what will be available in physical stores.
Not interested in this but cool that it is coming to Wii U.
Oh, very cheap! I'll be jumping on this.
Awesome. I assumed it wouldnt come to the eShop after the 360 version leaked considering how WB has more or less abandoned us lately, but yay.
Since I have the 3DS version, I'll wait for a sale.
Is the gaming situation between now and the release of Mario Kart 8 ideal?
No.
However, things are actually starting to shape up for the "drought"...
No, it isn't ideal...but it's so much better then last year's REAL drought. I plan on getting several of those titles I listed as well as DK:TF.
Shut up! You men to tell me the wii u is getting a multiplatform game?? Unbelievable!
Now include the story DLC that didn't come out on Wii U and charge $10 more lol. That would be funny and awesome
That's pretty cool. I didn't enjoy the Arkham series (I know, I know), but as a fan of sidescrollers I may give it a go. Truth be told, I wasn't interested enough to get this for my 3DS (in no small part due to heavy hitters like ALBW and Pokémon being released in the same window), but at that discounted price and playable in my flatscreen TV, maybe.
I hope that the zero year skin is available for the wii u version because we couldn't get the one million skin on the main game through wbid.
TruenoGT i was thinking the same thing when i seen this announcement. A Wii U version of Castlevania MoF seems like a no brainer with the gamepad. On topic though i never got the portable version of this ,and now that it's coming to Wii U ill grab it there.
I've actually even been rebuying Wii U versions of my PS3 games because of the off screen play. Silly i know ,but it makes difference when you have a kid ,and wife that use the TV often.
@kyuubikid213 Castlevania LOS:Mirror of fate is an HD remastered downloadable on XBLA also which I will be getting soon. Although I'd rather have the option to buy it through Wii U eShop and kind of keep it at home with Nintendo instead.
The only reason you gave it a 5/10 was because there was no Mario or DK.
I enjoyed this game on my Vita. The only bad think that is super frustrating is that this game has the worst map ever for a metroidvania game. Seems that they fixed it. Too bad it is not cross-buy. We can assume that no one bought the Vita/3DS version.
This game is way better than what the reviews state IMO and higly recommended for any DC comics or Batman fan.
Excellent this was higly underated by Nlife, im still playing it... as soon as i found out 3 ex employees of retro studios who worked on metroid were involved i was instantly sold. This is a good solid game and i will be purchasing it day one just to show the love to the developers....
DO WANT! I don't have a handheld, so I'd love to check it out.
I like this. Guess 3rd parties don't TOTALLY hate us.
@DerpSandwich
A game isn't devalued just by releasing on multiple platforms.. People buy handhelds because they're portable, mainmy. Last time I checked home consoles didn't fit in my pocket.. And don't worry, the Vita has a great library of exclusive games already anyway. Out of all next gen systems, and relative to the timeframe the Vita is the next gen system with the most wemm received exclusice games.
We should worry about Wii U. :c
Now that Warner Bros have admitted Origins has game-breaking bugs but are refusing to fix them, I just hope this game won't have any.
Hmm for €20 (based off a currency converter) is a good deal to release the game at.
Isn't it funny
I was thinking about this a few days ago and how much I would like to play AOB on the gamepad.
And now I can
Eh I still plan on picking this up on 3DS. Rather have portability and 3D effects
@sinalefa - B2 this summer in Japan? I guess that was in the Japan ND, I never watched that one. I dont think that's a real date but it was the date Gamestop had. There aren't a lot of other websites that even have all of those.
@Darknyht @MoonKnight7 - Yes, I was referring to disc based games when I wrote - "in the retail market.". I suppose the eShop is "in the retail market" as well, I'll try to be a little clearer in the future. Maybe I should stop trying to sound so business like and just go back to using "disc based" games. Which is more accurate but looks stupid to me when I read it.
Sorry, but once the WB dropped the ball on Arkham Origins, I do not plan on supporting this. Besides, I heard this version sucks, so no.
@Superiorspider Now now, you're being silly
I've heard wildly fluctuating opinions on the 3DS / Vita original. Some largely agreeing with Ron's review that it was average, others that like it more; I don't think it was exactly universally loved. I've been keeping an eye out for a cheap copy but haven't seen one, but will certainly give the download a whirl.
And I guess that's the logic of it, rope in those that don't have the handheld systems or hesitated over paying out at retail.
cool liked the look of this one. But seriously nintendo release a OFFICIAL HDD for wii u. To help promote eshop. Make a bundle with it as well. Then just maybee a little idea make a mk2 wii u with one built in.
There is so much on the e shop & you need a hdd to really get the most out of your wii u. (and to get something to bloody play)
Don't like how Warner isn't going to give us the story DLC for Origins, but will pick this up as I am a huge fan of the series.
April 1st....isn't early for an April fool's joke. Well if not a joke I'll be excited to grab this
@NodesforNoids Man, Tearaway is pretty much the only game that makes me wish I had a Vita. It looks so awesome! I feel like Sony is kind of pushing Nintendo out of the game when it comes to genuinely new and delightful concepts, and that makes me pretty sad.
So WB decides not to make the remainder of the Origin's Season Pass but makes this for Wii U and plans to release it on April 1st??? It's gotta be a joke! LOL
@Action51 I agree. Last year all we got in March was NFS:MWU. Besides that I don't remember any major AAA retail game released until August (NSLU doesn't really count as a retail DL, it was a DLC for NSMBU).
Great a HD release. This game has many bugs and game-breaking stucks. But they dont care.... damm them.
Gimme as many good Vita games as possible on the Wii U (or PS3 if there's no other way). Not really interested in the Vita TV console.
Although Arkham Origins definitely has its problems, I enjoyed my time playing it. Never did pick Blackgate up but with a digital WiiU release, looks like I'll be picking it up after all.
Well so much for the "amazing" third-party support that the 3DS received. First Resident Evil, then lack of developer interest, then MIRROR OF FATE HD (complete with original aspect ratio!), now this. Great sales means great software right?
@memoryman3
Well a port doesn't mean that third parties are leaving. I mean the AC game on Vita got the same treatment.
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