Lego Batman will be along on September 23rd for all your light-hearted Schumacher-esque Batman needs: Robin, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, bright colors, Danny Elfman soundtrack, and so forth (with a little more detail on the character model, we might have even had nippled Batsuits). I was looking forward to it as a Batman-shaped way to enjoy the same basic Lego Star Wars and Lego Indy gameplay. But that was before The Dark Knight blew my mind. Now I think I'd just as soon play Lego Requiem for a Dream.

But Eidos must be tickled that a darker grittier take on the Caped Crusader is such a critical and commercial success. Call it a mandate for a meaner, rougher Batman. And what better time to announce Batman: Arkham Asylum than the weekend The Dark Knight gets within spitting distance of a half a billion dollar box office take? The game won't be out until sometime next year, and it's based strictly on the comic book license instead of the latest movie, but a few details are apparent from the screenshots: Batman will fight Vin Deisel, Niko Bellic will advise the Joker, Rod Steiger will be released from intensive psychiatric treatment, there will be some sort of crossover licensing deal with Gears of War, and Antonin Artaud appears to have done a stint in Arkham Asylum.