Bevy of Batmen incentivize Arkham City preorders - Retail Radar

Batman-loving gamers pondering their preorder choices for the upcoming Arkham City have a conundrum on their hands worthy of The Riddler himself. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is rolling out the regular and collector's editions of the game with a slew of preorder incentives that vary by store and by country.

As compiled by the fansite ArkhamCity.co.uk, there are five currently revealed Batman skins being used as preorder incentives, most of them exclusive to certain retailers. The one skin available at every store is the Dark Knight Returns skin (based on the classic Frank Miller graphic novel), which is included with every collector's edition purchase of the game.

A pair of cartoon renditions of the Caped Crusader are also in the offing, as GameStop UK offers the futuristic Batman Beyond skin for all preorders, while New Zealand-based Mighty Ape preorders will receive that skin, one based on Batman: The Animated Series, and a third skin based on DC's alternate universe Earth One comic version of Batman. There's one more skin based on a comic book version of Batman, with the Dark Knight sporting his classic blue-and-gray suit, or as British retailer ShopTo.net refers to it, the "1970s Batman suit."

As for non-skin preorder bonuses, Batman sidekick Robin makes his Arkham franchise debut as a playable character for customers who reserve the game at Best Buy (North America), JB Hi-Fi (Australia), or GameMania (Belgium). That bonus also includes a Red Robin skin for the character.

There are still more preorder incentives attached to Arkham Asylum, as North American GameStop customers can get the Joker's Challenge Carnival Map, while Amazon visitors are being tempted with a $10 store credit and a comic book collection of five eight-page stories tying into the game and penned by Paul Dini (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions only). Likewise, Wal-Mart is also offering US customers a $10 gift card with a preorder for the console versions of the game.

As of press time, a WBIE representative had not returned GameSpot's inquiry regarding when or if some of the currently region-exclusive preorder bonuses would be offered on a larger scale.

Batman: Arkham City is set for release October 18 in North America. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.