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The Wii U version of October 25's Batman Arkham Origins will sell for $50, compared to $60 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a rep for the game's publisher has confirmed to Kotaku. Read more...

The Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter isn't even over and there's already a documentary. Made by 2 Player Productions, who you may recognize from similar films for Mojang, Double Fine, Penny Arcade, and Sony, the first episode captures the lead-up to the Kickstarter's launch around a month ago.

If it seems weird to see a documentary for something still being fundraised, bear in mind this is for Keiji Inafune's spiritual successor to Mega Man, and that it's already achieved nearly $2.6 million with four days to go. It's weirder for me to see Inafune in the famous Super Potato retro gaming shop in Akihabara, as only last week I was lucky enough to discover it/nearly lose all the money I have to it.

Talking of all the money, by reaching $2.55 million the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter cleared stretch goals for a challenge mode and an extra end stage and boss. The big stretch goal, however, remains the PS4 and Xbox One versions at $3.3 million. As it stands, Inafune's Comcept is set to bring Mighty No. 9 to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Mac, and Linux in 2015.

The Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter isn't even over and there's already a documentary. Made by 2 Player Productions, who you may recognize from similar films for Mojang, Double Fine, Penny Arcade, and Sony, the first episode captures the lead-up to the Kickstarter's launch around a month ago.

If it seems weird to see a documentary for something still being fundraised, bear in mind this is for Keiji Inafune's spiritual successor to Mega Man, and that it's already achieved nearly $2.6 million with four days to go. It's weirder for me to see Inafune in the famous Super Potato retro gaming shop in Akihabara, as only last week I was lucky enough to discover it/nearly lose all the money I have to it.

Talking of all the money, by reaching $2.55 million the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter cleared stretch goals for a challenge mode and an extra end stage and boss. The big stretch goal, however, remains the PS4 and Xbox One versions at $3.3 million. As it stands, Inafune's Comcept is set to bring Mighty No. 9 to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Mac, and Linux in 2015.

Few bonds are stronger than that of a trainer and his Pokemon. Pokemon Origins, a four-episode anime series, retells the story bound in Pokemon Red and follows the titular boy Red that preceded Pikachu and his trainer, Ash Ketchum. The first episode premieres on November 15 on Pokemon TV.

It's a good week for 3DS-wielding RPG fans, with both Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (which we rather enjoyed) and Rune Factory 4 arriving on the eShop on October 1. If that's not enough for you, Shin Megami Tensei 4 is on sale staring next week for $39.99, $10 off the usual price. The sale runs from October 1 until on October 14 at 9am PT.

The Wii U, meanwhile, picks up the Virtual Console release of Donkey Kong 3 (or, as any gamer over thirty knows it, "that weird one with the bug spray"). That's the only new release on the Wii U eShop this week, though there will also be a sale on the excellent Runner 2 starting next week. From October 1 through October 7 (9am PT), it will be 33 percent off its usual price of $14.99.

Those of you planning to pick up Batman: Arkham Origins may want to earmark an extra $20 for the game's Season Pass, as it includes a host of bonus content and even additional story.

Included are the Millennium and Infinite Earths Skin Packs, which each feature five new costumes for Batman and one for Robin. The Gotham By Gaslight and Brightest Day packs deliver two additional Batman skins, while the Initiation DLC pack allows players to battle the forces of evil as Bruce Wayne. Most notably, the Season Pass also grants access to an as-yet unnamed expansion pack which is said to expand the plotline found in Batman: Arkham Origins.

Batman: Arkham Origins debuts on the PlayStation 3, PC, Wii U and Xbox 360 on October 25. The Season Pass should appear at the same time.

This beautiful game is called Festival of Magic, and it's something that's been on my radar since I saw it at PAX Prime earlier this month.Read more...

Sam Fisher and Fourth Echelon get some new gadgets and missions in Splinter Cell Blacklist today.

The Homeland DLC pack, available for $6.99 on PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U, adds a pair of co-op mission maps, two new sneaking suits for Sam, a crossbow with sleeping darts and some skins for Blacklist's Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer mode. Previously, this DLC content was exclusive to pre-orders and the collector's edition.

Splinter Cell Blacklist launched last month, marking the first entry in Ubisoft's iconic series since the divisive Splinter Cell: Conviction back in 2010. In our review of Blacklist, we lauded the campaign's situational freedom and proclaimed it the best entry in the series yet.

Pre-order purchases of October's Batman: Arkham Origins will receive the Deathstroke challenge pack as a bonus on all current-gen consoles and PC. The pack includes the assassin Deathstroke as a playable character, along with the "100-to-1" beat-em-all-up mode, two challenge maps and three Deathstroke wardrobe choices.

Visiting the arcades of the otaku hub Akihabara, it struck me that beyond the many fighters, rhythm games, and prize collection machines lining their halls, I was seeing a pattern repeat itself. Tucked away in each one were several Puyo Puyo variants, and right by them the Tetris machines. Seeing this, I wondered why Puyo Puyo Tetris hadn't been made before. Maybe, like Sonic and Mario teaming up recently, I wasn't appreciating the rival puzzle games' long history.

Nonetheless, playing the newly unveiled crossover at the Tokyo Game Show a couple of days later, it was immediately clear how much sense this mashup made. Based on time with a seemingly limited demo, Puyo Puyo Tetris looks to offer simple, cute, but engrossing arcade puzzle fun. Quite appropriately, the two play styles just fit next to each other.

The new Scribblenauts is out, so grab your dictionary and go on some wacky adventures with your fave DC heroes, or make some insane superheroes of your own with the game's editor—the PC community already seems to be having lots of fun with that. Above's the launch trailer, and here you can find our impressions.Read more...

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero has been funded. With 10 days left in the game's Kickstarter effort, WayForward Technologies has pulled in $416,360, topping its $400,000 goal.

Thanks to fan generosity, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero will appear on nearly everything, having been confirmed for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Vita, Vita TV, Wii U and PC. There's currently no release date or window for when we can expect to play Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.

Now that the $400,000 goal has been breached, the next rung on this Kickstarter ladder would be the $500,000 stretch goal. If the game can attract $83,640 in the next ten days, WayForward has promised to add a new campaign to Shantae: Half-Genie Hero starring Risky Boots, a pirate captain who is as evil as she is adorable.

Sure, Wind Waker HD is gorgeous—absurdly so! But if the Twitter account Linkstagram is any indication, the best part of playing Wind Waker HD actually is having the ability to take ridiculous and silly selfies (aka self-portraits).Read more...

We've known since June that PlayStation 3 owners will get the "exclusive" opportunity to play the next Dark Knight game, Batman: Arkham Origins, with a Batman wearing either his Knightfall-era costume or the old 1960s TV costume. Today, you can see those costumes in the game, in motion.Read more...

Kick it this week with FIFA 14...

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Grand Theft Auto 5 is taking out sales records with reckless abandon, and now it's officially the UK's fastest selling game across an opening week. Chart-Track notes the PS3 and Xbox 360 game sold almost 250,000 more copies than Black Ops did in its first week, the Call of Duty game shifting around 2 million. The Super Joystiq Super Calculator (patent pending) tells us that means GTA 5 is somewhere near the 2.25 million mark - wowzers!

That's in the UK alone, we stress to underline, where the population is just over 63 million. That's a whole lot of one country people playing a video game. That said, it's not like they're the only ones; GTA 5 sales surpassed a cool $1 billion worldwide at the top of the weekend.

If you need more eye-popping stats: GTA 5 is already the 24th biggest-selling game in the UK, its launch week sales outsold those of GTA 4 by a factor of 2.4, and it's sold more in its first week than all the other GTA games did combined. All done? Good, let's move on.

Topping the other newsbits from the UK charts is Pro Evo 2014, the soccer sim coming in 2nd in its debut week as it looks to beat FIFA 14 to as much of the punch (kick?) as possible - EA's game comes out this week. The rest of the top ten is kind of oddball: The Last of Us moves up from 25th to 3rd thanks to hardware bundles, while Aliens: Colonial Marines re-enters the top 40 in 9th thanks to a retailer offer. Elsewhere, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning starts up in 22nd.

To provide some perspective, four percent of this week's UK sales came from chart entries 2-10. If you'll indulge us on one last GTA 5 stat, Rockstar's game notched 57 percent of this week's sales on Xbox 360, and 43 percent on PS3. It's that kind of week, folks.

Citizens of Earth's Kickstarter campaign began on Friday, and if you've grown tired of saving the world as a young amnesiac or destined warrior, you might want to check it out. The game will follow the Vice President of the World's quest to save the day through recruiting the efforts of everyday citizens in a humor-oriented RPG that's comparable to Earthbound. If you'd like an example, the Kickstarter pitch video shows the Barista, Baker and Conspiracy Guy battling a pair of phone-crowned deer in the woods called Telefawn.

The Kickstarter page states that every person in Citizens of Earth will either be "a recruitable character or an enemy," meaning you'll be amassing an extensive party as you progress through the game. Since these are everyday people, however, they'll be managing their day jobs when they're not helping you in battle. Leveling them up in battle will improve their aptitude towards their work, allowing players to "develop the world at large" by leveling up characters instead of just bumping up stats.

Citizens of Earth's "citizens are optional to recruit and most areas are optional to explore," meaning there should be something to love for both hardcore adventurers and those hoping for a streamlined romp through a bunch of jokes.

Should the campaign's goal of $100,000 (Canadian) be met, Citizens of Earth will launch on the PC, Mac and Linux. Stretch goals include ports to the Wii U, 3DS, PS4 and Vita as well as a slew of gameplay improvements like additional stories and multiplayer battles.

Hail, ye Nintendo faithful! New hardware has appeared and, loyal folk that you are, the Wii U now rests in your home. It's still early in the new console's lifecycle but that doesn't mean there aren't games that will make your latest pledge of fealty to the House of Mario feel worthwhile. Check out the list below for the two-screen offerings that make the Wii U shine.Read more...

Five new toy boxes are available for free in Disney Infinity, Disney announced. One of the toy boxes is Tron Highway, which offers puzzle-platforming and racing action along a blue, neon-lit track. The other four free toy boxes this week are Sugar Mania, Monster Rally, Cosmic Platformer and It's a Trap, all of which are available on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U. The courses can also be accessed by Disney Infinity: Toy Box players on iPad.

Additionally, Disney announced the "Extreme Sports Challenge," in which players are encouraged to submit their best toy box "sports arenas" over the course of the next week. On October 3, the developer will choose a handful of featured creations and make them available for download as well.

As you know, the graphically (and otherwise) upgraded version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker arrives in brick and mortar stores around the US early next month. Good thing there's also a digital download version which comes out today.Read more...

It's kind of a big week for Nintendo's eShop. The obvious headline is that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will arrive on September 20 at midnight. Perhaps even bigger than that is the fact that Wind Waker HD won't be available at retail until October 4. This could be the beginning of a new trend with Nintendo games, as the company has announced a similar staggered release for Wii Fit U. Meanwhile, he Wii U Virtual Console gets another heavy hitter in the form of Super Mario Bros. The 3DS Virtual Console also gets some love with the classic puzzler, Solomon's Key.

Next week on September 24, both the 3DS and Wii U pick up Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure. You know, the one with DC Comics characters in it.

Beyond new releases, there are a few sales going on. Both the 3DS and Wii U versions of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate are 50 percent off until September 22 at 9am PT, putting them at $19.99 and $29.99, respectively. You can also grab Chasing Aurora, from Secrets of Raetikon developer Broken Rules, for $4.99 until October 1 at 9am PT.

If you're in the market for a new game, Toys R Us is offering a tempting deal this weekend on its stock of all released games. Head over to the Toys R Us site, add some games to your shopping cart, input code FRIENDS20 (one time use!) during checkout and you'll get 20% off.

This deal only applies to games that are out now - unfortunately, PS4 and Xbox One consoles and games don't qualify. Still, that'll get you a good discount on Grand Theft Auto 5, Saints Row 4, Madden NFL 25, The Wonderful 101 and many more. The sale, which ends on September 21, not only applies to shipped goods, but in-store pick-up as well.

Platinum Games' sultry witch Bayonetta will make her silver screen debut this November, at least in Japan.

Famed production studio Gonzo has teamed with Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya and director Fuminori Kizaki (Afro Samurai) to create a feature-length anime film centering on the titular heroine. Plot details for Bayonetta: Bloody Fate are scant, but as you can see from the newly-released trailer above, the anime will feature copious cleavage, near-blasphemous angel murder and a swirling mass of strategically-placed strands of hair. So far, this all seems faithful to its source material.

Though Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is slated to hit Japanese theaters on November 23, there's been no word on an English-language localization of the film.

The Disney Infinity: Toy Box app is now available on iPad. Announced with one other companion app in August, the Toy Box app allows players to built and sync worlds to Disney Infinity, unlocking new characters, props and decorations along the way. Players start out with 60 items to build toy box levels with, and any items unlocked in the main game become available to use in the app.

Disney Infinity: Toy Box is compatible with iPad 2, 3, 4 and iPad Mini devices, and is free until October 5. Disney did not specify how much the app will cost afterwards.

In dollars, Skylanders Giants is still the No. 1 selling console and handheld game in the US and Europe - including its toys and accessories, Activision reports.

Activision notes that Giants sold more than 500,000 Starter Packs globally in its first two weeks last year, and the Skylanders franchise has generated more than $1.5 billion worldwide in its lifetime. Activision expects Skylanders figures to outsell the top action figures in the US and Europe during the first eight months of 2013. A new competitor to Skylanders, Disney Infinity, sold 294,000 units in its first two weeks in the US alone and was ranked No. 3 in overall sales for August, according to the NPD.

Skylanders Swap Force, the third full Skylanders game, launches in October for Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 and 3DS, and later this year for Xbox One and PS4.

Update: Activision's two-week sales number of 500,000 refers to global sales, while Disney Infinty's numbers cover the US only. Activision notes Skylanders Giants "remains the biggest kids' videogame launch in the last 12 months in the US and Europe," based on revenue and according in part to Activision internal estimates. The above story has been edited for clarity.

Did you know that the Hero of Time almost shot laser beams out of his eyes?Read more...

An analog version of digitally-distributed DuckTales: Remastered will be available at retail on November 12 in North America.

Capcom announced this morning that physical copies of Scrooge McDuck's remastered 1989 adventure can be yours to treasure on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii U for $19.99. The digital version is $14.99.

Our review of the game said "Remastered serves as a suitable alternative to the NES original, even though its attempts at forging its own identity may ruffle your tailfeathers."

If you've ever had the misfortune of drinking with me and bringing up the subject of video games, you'll have suffered through me telling you how Wind Waker isn't just my favourite Zelda game of all time, it's my favourite game of all time.Read more...

Just in time for the release of Wind Waker in beautiful HD quality, the artists over at Whatisblik added eight superb Wind Waker-themed wall decalls into their selection. And it matches the unique art style of the game almost perfectly.Read more...

Wii Sports is returning, but in high definition, online play, and clubs. Say hello to Wii Sports Club. Read more...