Weekly Nerd News: April 1

by Haylee Fisher (@haylee_fisher)

Have you fallen behind on your  nerd news? Don’t worry, we’re here to help! Here are a few stories to  bring up at the water cooler this week:

Fans of the Batman Arkham video  games rejoice! Rumor has it Rocksteady is working on a prequel to their successful  series that  will supposedly incorporate other Justice League members like Superman  and Green Lantern. It is allegedly scheduled to be revealed at E3 and  come out at the end of the year.

Speaking  of DC, a MOBA game called Infinite Crisis involving characters in that  multiverse will be released this fall. The game will be online only and free to play; the only charges  will be to unlock characters, boosts, and other extensions. Players  can choose to challenge themselves as multiple versions of characters  like Green Lantern, Poison Ivy, Flash, and Zatanna. You can sign up  to be a beta tester here.

Iron Man 3 will open around the world May 3, except for one place – China. That’s because China will be getting its own version  of the film. Marvel and DMG have announced certain aspects of the movie will be  altered for this China-only version, namely some bonus footage and the  addition of appearances from a few popular Chinese actors.

Could we soon be getting our first glimpse of the box art for Grand Theft Auto V? It looks like Rockstar is painting a mural on a building  in downtown Manhattan, similar to what they did to promote the fourth iteration of the  game back in 2007. Upon close examination, it looks like stenciling  for faces has already been mapped out, in addition to the ESRB’s “Rating  Pending” symbol.

It has finally been confirmed once and for all that  David Tennant and Billie Piper will be involved in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. John Hurt will join them and filming will begin this week. There  have been conflicting reports as to what other former Doctors and companions,  if any, will appear in the special set to air in November.

Not only has Tomb Raider had the biggest opening of 2013, it has also set  records as being the best first week sales of any game in the franchise. Crystal Dynamics heads recently spoke about their pride in the game  at GDC and also said they are on the road to achieving what they wanted  to with it. Twenty-one days after its release, the game had sold 3.4  million copies.

Also at GDC is Sony, who has revealed many new features  about their upcoming PS4. The company’s senior staff engineer explained more about the DualShock  4 and the PS4 Eye peripherals, noting the new DualShock has enhanced  dual vibration over its previous version in addition to other improved  characteristics. He also said the face buttons, L1, and R1 are digital  on the new controller and that it will charge while in standby mode.  Furthermore, he also said each player will have two identities, their  handle and their non-displayed real name (searchable through Facebook),  and that players will now be able to share interesting game footage  online with their friends.