Batman: Arkham Asylum. Literally Life-Changing For The Folks At Rocksteady No Doubt.

Good grief Rocksteady. First you were an unknown, developing a game published by Eidos. Then all of a sudden you’re winning awards and being bought by Warner Bros. Just shows what happens when your studio make an amazing game.

That’s right, newly crowned big boys Rocksteady have been bought by Warner Bros, and are currently hard at work on a sequel to Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady’s games director Sefton Hill was delighted about the news, claiming: “The Rocksteady team is very much looking forward to creating more great games based on widely recognized Warner Bros. brands like Batman.”

Crikey. This is great news for British development too as, if you didn’t know, Rocksteady are British.

Game Of The Year Edition Time, Bats.

Well whadda’ya’know? It’s that time of the year again when all those good games from last year start getting repackaged and sold at full price in new, highly valued, Game Of The Year editions.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the first to be outed; with the BBFC holding a classification for a game of the year edition. Usually these packs include some package DLC, but outside of two free PSN downloads and the Playstation’s Joker content; there have only been two scarce challenge maps: the GameStop pre-order bonus “Dem Bones” and the Collector’s Edition’s “Crime Alley”. While it’s very likely the game of the year DLC will pack in such content as standard, we’d expect a little more.

Perhaps something new, a making-of DVD, or some skins for Bats? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

#3: Batman: Arkham Asylum on Playstation 3.

We said: “It’s blissfully evident that developers Rocksteady were not content with crafting the best ever Batman experience. Indeed, Batman: Arkham Asylum is not just the single-most worthy superhero title, it also stands next to Goldeneye aloft the dizzying heights of best ever licensed game too.”

Twiggy’s thoughts: “Talk about out of nowhere: Arkham Asylum came from way out in left-field. Who expected a Batman game (of all) by an unknown developer to end up this highly praised? If you did, give yourself a pat on the back.”

Check out our full Playstation countdown here.

Get Voting For Your Favourite Games In The VGAs.

It’s time to get voting for Spike TV’s annual VGA awards show. The nominees are out and the contenders for game of the year include Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The Playstation 3 exclusive will go up against Batman: Arkham Asylum, Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2.

Naughty Dog are also up for the award of best studio, with Uncharted 2 popping up in tons of other categories aswell. Make your votes known right here folks.

There'll Be More Free Batman: Arkham Asylum Content On The PSN Tomorrow.

Hats off Eidos. Seriously, hats off. Not only did you and Rocksteady Studios deliver a fantastic game in Batman: Arkham Asylum, but your commitment to post release support has been admirable. Sure, everytime you let us know about two new maps that are launching on the PSN you keep your game in the press, but that’s not the point. The point is, consumers get more stuff. And that’s neat.

Hence we’re stoked to see another set of new Challenge Maps on the PSN from tomorrow. The “Prey In The Darkness” map pack has a further two challenge objectives; one where the Bats fights baddies at a pumping station, and another set in the abandoned glasshouse.

No, they’re not the best pieces of DLC ever, but they’re free and will extend your copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum that hour longer. Which is sweet.

When We Said Batman: Arkham Asylum Was Like, Really Good, Seems People Agreed.

This what happens when you have a good franchise and use it to make an excellent game. Take note publishers who rush their developers to release sub-standard tie-ins — if you actually gave everyone involved time to release a fully fleshed out experience — well you might sell more copies.

Like Batman: Arkham Asylum has, having been shipped 2.5million times. That’s a lot of games folks! A lot of games.

“The tremendous critical and commercial success of Batman: Arkham Asylum sets a new benchmark for superhero games,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Rocksteady Studios created an excellent game and the sales numbers demonstrate how a powerful franchise fused with high-quality production resonates with consumers.”

We’d love to see Arkham Asylum see a change in mentality for most publishers. Sure make games out of franchises, but for goodness sake, actually make good ones.

Need For Speed Shift Sits Atop The British Sales Charts This Week.

Need For Speed Shift has jumped straight to the number one spot of the British sales charts, with 52% of the sales attributed to the Playstation 3 version — figures Sony must be pretty pleased with as they’ve watched their software share stakes grow over recent years.

The Beatles: Rock Band surprisingly dropped down the charts from fourth to seventh; with newcomer WET debuting at number six. DiRT 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Guitar Hero 5 rounded out the top four.

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