Going bat-shit crazy yet?

Yet another trailer has been released for Batman: Arkham Asylum (I think that makes six or seven) and naturally, Preparations For Birth will report it. But the more pressing issue seems to be the Australian release date. Since Eidos and Rocksteady delayed it to 'late summer', an actual day and date had been hard to pin down. I've done a bit of research so let's go through the list:

The game's official website (http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com) - Has nothing. Either the release date is not there or hidden somewhere in the forums. And I'm not shovelling through that shit.

EB Games Australia (http://www.ebgames.com.au)  - These bastards can never be trusted but their list has TBC 2009. So add ignorance to sleaziness and BOOM, you have Australia's biggest game retailer.

GAME (http://www.game.com.au) - Relatively new weirdo retailer GAME (always all caps) had the game listed as 30th June 2009. Starting to get a little confused here, huh?

Gametraders (http://www.gametraders.com.au/#game?ID=29954) - These guys have the game listed at a much earlier date of 1st June 2009. That's like, a couple of weeks away folks.

EB Games New Zealand (http://www.ebgames.co.nz) - In Middle Earth, things are a little more pessimistic. They have the game coming out on the 30th August 2009.

To summarize, what the fucking holy hell is going on? What exactly is 'late summer' anyway? That's the American summer, mind you, so who knows when that ends. Maybe it ends when they shoot it dead and then mount it above their televisions. I don't know.

Another thing to take note of is the collector's edition. In addition to a copy of the game for either Xbox 360 or PS3, you also get:

Waynetech Batarang Storage Box

14" In-Game Design Batarang (stand attached).

Dr. Young’s Journal (50 page full color character encyclopedia)

2 Sleeve DIGI-Pack Including:

- Game

- Behind the scenes 5 chapter series DVD, including: interviews with Mark Hammil    and Kevin Conroy.

Exclusive Collector’s Edition Challenge Map DLC.

Manual.

And it's 150 fucking dollars.

This game is shaping up to be the next big purchase on the games calendar. It will probably have a big presence at the Los Angeles E3 Expo in June, so we will probably have to wait until then to get confirmation of anything. If the game isn't already out by then.

Was there something else? Uh,...I don't think...oh right! The new trailer! Sorry. It's a walkthrough of how the 'free-flow' combat is going to work in the game, again narrated by game director Sefton Hill. And again, it is mind-bendingly awesome-looking. Enjoy.