Batman: Arkham Origins will reportedly be the first game in the series to have a multiplayer component. Kotaku, citing two sources, notes that one mode will place players in Joker or Bane's gang to bring down The Batman and Robin.

"The villains involved - who may be playable and customizable - include Killer Croc, Deadshot, Firefly, Black Mask, Deathstroke, and 'some kind of Electroman character,'" reports the site. "This could be one multiplayer mode, or it could be the only one. We don't know."

Batman: Arkham Origins will launch on October 25 for current generation platforms and PC, alongside a portable version for 3DS and Vita called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.

The Wii U Virtual Console launch list is slim and trim, largely mirroring the initial list of games we got earlier this month: Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong Jr., Excitebike, Ice Climbers, Kirby's Adventure, Punch Out, F-Zero and Super Mario World. A handful of these games were already available on the Wii U, via the Virtual Console's early preview.

If you've forgotten what all of these games look like (it has been a long time, after all), check out some screens on the Wii U Facebook page. Virtual Console is scheduled to launch this week.

Indie developer Moise Breton turns to Kickstarter this week to fund A.N.N.E., a 16-bittish blend of shoot-'em-up action and Metroidvania-style exploration.

Similar in premise to Sunsoft's NES classic Blaster Master, A.N.N.E. features horizontally scrolling shooter levels that bridge smaller-scale, on-foot sequences. The game also boasts physics-based puzzles and a level-up system, further sweetening an already tempting package.

In its first few days of funding, A.N.N.E. has already earned over $10,000 toward its initial funding goal of $70,000. While the project is currently Windows-only, ports for Mac, Linux, PSN, Ouya, and Wii U are under consideration, pending stretch goal support. A.N.N.E. is also up for vote at Steam Greenlight.

Nordic Games picked up most of the IPs in THQ's back catalog auction, dishing out $4.9 million for Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, Titan Quest and a slew of unannounced games from THQ's long list of for-sale properties. Nordic was a surprise to some, especially next to Gearbox, which picked up the Homeworld franchise, and 505 Games, which snagged Drawn to Life and its sequel. But Nordic isn't new.

"We've been in conversation with THQ since January," Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors told Game Informer. "We signed all the NDAs in January."

Wingefors has been in the gaming industry for 20 years, he said, and has handled "a lot" of THQ products during that time. In November 2011, Nordic acquired publisher JoWood, in charge of Painkiller and Torchlight, and also ended up with Canadian publisher Dreamcatcher, spawning Nordic's publishing focus.

Nordic took part in the first THQ auction as well, which sold off properties such as Saints Row and some development studios for upwards of $20 million. That sale was too rich for Wingefors: "Saints Row went for $22 million and Koch bought that development studio with that burn rate on a daily basis. Even though I do have financial resources, I don't have those kind of resources."

Wingefors didn't want a studio. Nordic is a "middle man" looking for the right team to make some new sequels; there's already been plenty of interest in Darksiders, he said.

"We have to be very honest," Wingefors said. "I am a business man within the games industry. We are not the creative, talented developer that brings out new versions in house. I understand the potential of the IPs. I respect the original creators and the creative people who are able to create sequels. In the past 24 hours, we have been contacted and there have been a few discussions (but I can't confirm names)."

Nordic took home more than 50 former THQ games, but has yet to release the full list.

"As we still have some open points with regards to a couple of titles we will not publish a comprehensive list at this stage," a Nordic Games representative told Joystiq yesterday. "However, once everything is fixed and the ink is dry – around mid-May – we will go out with a comprehensive list of titles which we have acquired in the process."

Nordic will hold talks this summer with different developers, during E3 especially. Don't expect any sequels too soon, though.

"You won't see a new Darksiders this year," Wingefors said. "I don't believe in bringing out a shitty sequel."

As scheduled, the 'Redemption' DLC for Assassin's Creed 3 comes today to the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 - tomorrow for European PS3s - but Wii U owners must wait a bit longer to redeem it. The final part of the 'King Washington' trilogy reaches the Nintendo console on May 16.

Before you can stop the madness of King George, you'll have to cough up 640 MSP on Xbox 360, or $7.99 on PC and PS3. If you have the Season Pass then you've already paid for it, so you'd best get going to old New York - just don't forget the straitjacket.

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A few months ago I opined that the Wii U's Virtual Console, with its limited launch lineup, limited platforms, and limited upgrades from the Wii Virtual Console, was less than ideal. A few things have changed since then: some of the games have launched (for 30 cents), we have a solid launch date for the service in earnest, and there's a more detailed launch list. However, none of the basic issues have been fixed; the Virtual Console carries the same inherent flaws it did in January.

But for now, all is forgiven. Because Earthbound.

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Nintendo is performing online maintenance for all its systems today as it prepares the Wii U's spring system update. The update, which will introduce the Virtual Console proper (among other things), may be fully launched by tomorrow according to a Facebook tease by Nintendo of America.

The extended maintenance is scheduled between 1PM PT today (4PM ET, 9PM UK) and 7PM PT (10PM ET, 3AM UK). The eShop and shopping channels for the Wii U, 3DS, Wii, and DS will be affected, so expect them to go down during those hours.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's this week's UK charts! Oh.

But no, it is exciting, because BioShock Infinite's three week reign of terror is finally over, all thanks to the brave efforts of Injustice: Gods Among Us. NetherRealm's superhero brawler becomes the ninth new game to take the UK top spot this year, and ousts Infinite into the runner-up position for the first time.

That means another run comes to an end; Tomb Raider's six week run in the top two is done, although it's still going strong in fourth. Beating it to an impressive third is new release Fire Emblem: Awakening, the 3DS RPG looking to continue the series-best sales it posted in North America. One thing Europe got that North America didn't was the game's snazzy blue 3DS XL, and that seems to be a hit in the UK; 31 percent of the XL's sales this week came from the bundle, boosting the XL's sales by nearly half over the previous week.

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Wii U (and other platform) pre-orders for Splinter Cell: Blacklist are alive and kicking on Amazon and Gamestop, along with some fresh information about those "enhanced gameplay features" Nintendo promised earlier this month.

The WiiPad will display Sam Fisher's OpSat, "allowing the player to operate gadgets such as tri-rotor drones, sticky cam and much more through touch- and motion-based inputs," the Wii U descriptions read. The WiiPad lets players mark and execute enemies, switch weapons and pick gadgets, and displays worldwide stats and friends' progress reports. The Wii U is not a part of the Collector's Edition package available for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist comes out on August 20 for all platforms.

Dishonored slices off half of its price on Amazon this week, available for $30 for Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. Meanwhile, NBA 2K13 and Gears of War Judgment are both $40 as part of the weekly sale.

Outlet deals available now include Madden NFL 13 for PS3 for $29, and Xbox 360 version of Forza Horizon for $44, PS3's Battlefield 3 Premium Edition for $40 and Asura's Wrath for Xbox 360 for $18, plus quite a few more. Check out Amazon's weekly deals and outlet sales right here. Happy Sunday shopping.

In his weekly column, writer Bob Mackey will alternate between two of his passions: the Japanese RPG genre and classic games. This week Mackey discusses his evolving thoughts on Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

It's only been a few weeks, but I can't help but feel a little ashamed of my last Joystiq post about Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Reading it from my current, semi-experienced perspective, the piece feels like an excited first-grader telling a long and involved story about learning to tie his shoes. To be fair, my revised take on things comes from a slightly embarrassing wealth of invested time; I've sunk 30 additional hours into the game since my initial column, and when I sat down to write about learning the ropes of MH3U, I'd barely hunted monster one.

Looking back at the knowledge I picked up since then, and the numerous intricacies I've yet to figure out, it dawned on me why Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate has made every other game in my presence go completely neglected. Capcom has refined its specific brand of action-RPG into a trial-by-fire experience that requires constant hypothesizing and experimenting – pure brain candy for us unlucky folks whose minds crave constant stimulation.

Of course, you don't have to take it from me; real academic-type people have picked up on this same value of playing video games – even if said people haven't necessarily jumped on the Monster Hunter train yet. When I taught a college writing course during my grad school days, I used James Paul Gee's What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (yes, all academic book titles must be this clunky by law) to inform groups of mostly bored 18-year-olds about how gaming can actually increase our problem-solving skills.

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Comic books and fighting games have a lot in common. Both are known for featuring absurd, contrived premises, overly sexualized women and mythology so complicated even Tolkien couldn't reconcile all the pre-Crisis continuity issues. It's strange then, that up until now there's never been a solid fighting game set in the DC universe.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios' alternative take on DC's heroes, hooligans and thieves. Its dark thematic overtones and mature ideas explore the psychological dangers of power, the temptations of absolute authority and the effects of grief on the psyche of metahumans, all while delivering a polished, thrilling fighting game experience. No, really.

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UK high street retailer GAME is selling eShop codes as of today, both in physical stores and through its site. The 3DS and Wii U codes can be bought across Europe outside of Nintendo's eShop, and GAME is pricing them cheaper than the eShop does, at least online.

GAME's website lists six Wii U games priced at £41.99 (except for Sing Party at £32.99). Those include Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Lego City Undercover, which are all priced £49.99 on the eShop proper. There are also similar reductions for the 21 3DS eShop games listed.

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The sales-tracking data hounds at NPD have released their figures for March 2013, which collectively place hardware sales down, physical software sales slightly up, and BioShock Infinite at the top of the best-selling pile.

The physical retail sales sector of the U.S. video game industry pulled in 10 percent less coin than it did during the same five-week period in 2012, amassing a total of $992.5 million between March 3 and April 6, 2013. Hardware sales took the biggest hit out of the three monitored retail sub-categories, bringing in a total of $221.6 million, a 32 percent year-over-year decrease. Microsoft's Xbox 360 claimed its 27th month as the best-selling console in America, selling 261,000 units, down 13.5 percent from last month.

Meanwhile, overall physical software sales (console, portable and PC games) outperformed March 2012 by two percent: $602.4 million in 2013, as compared with last a total of $592.2 million in sales last March.

BioShock Infinite took an immediate victory over the rest of the period's release calendar, with Tomb Raider and Gears of War: Judgment rounding out the podium lineup. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon placed sixth overall; we learned yesterday it has sold 415,000 units. Though that figure's retail-to-digital ratio remains undefined, the "vast majority" of sales took place at retail, according to Nintendo's Scott Moffit.

As always, jump on through for the top 10 best-selling games of March, 2013.

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The Wii U version of Injustice: Gods Among Us doesn't support the iOS companion app. After receiving a copy from Warner Bros., Siliconera couldn't sync up the Wii U game with the iOS app and confirmed with Warner Bros. that the functionality is not present.

The Injustice iOS app launched in April and is available as a free download, a hybrid fighter and collectible card game that allows players to unlock content in the console version of Injustice: Gods Among Us and vice versa. The Wii U version of Injustice: Gods Among Us displays a move list on the WiiPad while you play and also allows players to move the action from the TV to the WiiPad through off-TV play.

That was a particularly meaty Nintendo Direct, even by previous standards, so we've got out the carving knife and cut it up into more manageable bits. Here's a bite-sized version of everything Nintendo announced in this morning's broadcast.

• The 3DS is getting a new Zelda, and it'll be a top-down affair set in the world of SNES classic A Link to the Past. Meanwhile, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons make their journeys west to the eShop on May 30.
• If you like new 3DS games, and you also like a bit of Yoshi's Island and Mario Party, then you're most likely a very happy bunny today.
• Japanese games heading west: Bravely Default: Flying Fairy wings over to North America next year, as does Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy - the prof visits Europe this year first. Meanwhile, Level-5's 'Guild02' is coming to the eShop.
• North America has one over Europe when it comes to Shin Megami Tensei 4, though, thanks to a concrete July 16 release date.
• Game & Wario hops over on June 23.
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team follow on August 11 (Europe gets the jump again on Dream Team: July 12).
• Pikmin 3 finally has a release date, albeit a later than expected one of August 4.
• The Virtual Console proper is coming to the Wii U in a spring system update next week. In terms of upcoming new arrivals, it's hard to beat Earthbound.
• The 'New Super Luigi U' DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U is due in the summertime.
• Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move heads for the 3DS eShop on May 9.
• Oh, and the Animal Crossing 3DS XL bundle is coming west.

[Image Source: Sigil79]

Nintendo's Wii U will receive its Spring System Update sometime next week, president Satoru Iwata announced during this morning's Nintendo Direct event. The firmware update adds several quality of life improvements to the system, including improved load times when changing between software, or returning to the main Wii U menu. Also included is the Wii U Virtual Console.

Additionally, users will now be able to transfer data between USB drives and install background-downloaded software while playing other games. Installed software also has the ability to automatically download and install updates, without requiring the user to run the software first. Furthermore, the Wii U will now continue to download and install software while the system is powered down. You'll also be able to hold "B" at start-up to boot directly into Wii mode, if you're into that sort of thing.

Although Nintendo President Satoru Iwata had no launch date to share on Pikmin 3 during this morning's Nintendo Direct, the company's official press release just sent out notes an August 4 release date. The game will launch in stores and on the Nintendo eShop.

We're following up with Nintendo for confirmation.

Update: Confirmed.