Batman: Arkham City revealed!

The sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum now has an official title -- Batman: Arkham City  -- and will launch on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 in Fall 2011. There go your fears of deleterious franchise annualization! Of course, we might just go mad waiting so long for the follow-up to one of 2009's best games.

As you may have guessed from a handful of internet domain registrations, the sequel will take place in Arkham City, a "heavily fortified" mini-city deep inside Gotham City. Warner Bros. Interactive hasn't offered further details on the game's plot or new features, but a pair of gorgeous Game Informer covers (September issue) hint at a more brutal tone and reveal some of the villains Batman may encounter. You'll spot a very patriotic Two-Face, and a possible romantic interest in Catwoman.

The official Batman: Arkham City website is up now, though it only displays the initial teaser trailer from the VGA's at the moment.

Linkin Park: "The Catalyst" review

I got an e-mail today with a code and a link where I could download Linkin Park's new single "The Catalyst". This is because I pre-ordered A Thousand Suns, I will also get the album the same way when it's released September 14.

Many weeks of waiting are finally over, "The Catalyst" is here! After all the remixes that have been floating around on the Internet, I'm thrilled to have finally heard the original song. And I must say that I really love this song, it's amazing! Even if it's a little different, you can clearly hear it's a Linkin Park song, because they make different and unique song, that's what they are all about. I liked "The Catalyst" immediately, I hope the other song from A Thousand Suns are as good as this one.

I think the song has a great intro, I love the synth playing in the beginning. Mike does a very good job singing and of course Chester, their voices sound really great together. I like how "The Catalyst" builds up and then explodes. I think the best part in the song is when the piano starts playing, and Mike starts to sing "Lift me up, let me go", and then Chester starts to sing, it's very powerful. It gave me goosebumps all over my body, and it actually brought me to tears. I felt that because it really moved me, and because I finally got to hear the song after all those months of waiting. I have finally heard "The Catalyst", I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs on A Thousand Suns!

I would love to give "The Catalyst" a five out of five. However, I haven't heard the other songs from A Thousand Suns, that's why I'm giving it four out of five, that's a very good grade. I mean right now I would give anything new from Linkin Park the best rating!

Overall: "The Catalyst" is an amazing Linkin Park song that is different from what you've heard from them before, it's unique and very good, you can totally hear it's a Linkin Park song. This song represents all the things that make Linkin Park an awesome and unique band. "The Catalyst" is a great song to promote A Thousand Suns with, it's so great that it brought me to tears!

Review: "The Catalyst" XXXX [4/5].

Medal of Honor / Linkin Park - "The Catalyst" trailer

The new gameplay/live action trailer for the video game Medal of Honor directed by Linkin Park's Mr. Hahn was released today. I haven't seen the trailer, I've only seen the preview, I want to wait until tomorrow, August 2nd, when "The Catalyst" is released. I want to hear the original version of the song first, I've heard too much of it in the remixes on YouTube and other places. It's time to build my opinion of the entire song, from beginning to end.

And I must say that Medal of Honor looks awesome, I think I'm going to buy it to PlayStation 3 when it releases October 15, 2010. I think it's cool that Linkin Park is involved in more video game projects, maybe they will make a video game to PlayStation 3, and the other video game consoles?

Even though I haven't seen the trailer, I know that Joe has done a great job, like he always does with Linkin Park's music videos. Watch the trailer of Medal of Honor directed by Joe Hahn, below! "The Catalyst" is coming!

“A Thousand Suns” Track Listing

Mike has posted the track listing for A Thousand Suns. I think it has some very cool and unique song titles. The album starts with two "The" and ends with two "The" track names. The names whom I find most interesting are: "Jornada Del Muerto" which is a place in New Mexico, and the name is Spanish for "single day's journey of the dead man" hence "route of the dead man". I also find the name "Robot Boy" very interesting, I wonder how that song will sound?

Check out the track listing for A Thousand Suns below.

Linkin Park: A Thousand Suns

1. The Requiem
2. The Radiance
3. Burning In The Skies
4. Empty Spaces
5. When They Come For Me
6. Robot Boy
7. Jornada Del Muerto
8. Waiting For The End
9. Blackout
10. Wretches And Kings
11. Wisdom, Justice, And Love
12. Iridescent
13. Fallout
14. The Catalyst
15. The Messenger

Linkin Park - The Catalyst (24Xero Remix)

This is my version of "The Catalyst", and I think I did a great job on this remix. I really wanted to finish my remix before July 25th, and I did, even though I couldn't enter the "Featuring You" contest because I live in Sweden. And I hadn't finished my remix, so I could enter the fan edition contest. I don't want to release something that I'm not satisfied with or done in a hurry.

I made this remix in Magix Music Maker 16 Premium. I wanted to have the static electronic sound that you can hear in the intros of the new Linkin Park videos. I use some of the stems LP released, and I took some from my sound pool collection and made different changes to them with effects and stuff. When I was done with the instrumental, I then used Sony Vegas Pro 9 to sync the vocals with my remix. I know that Vegas is used for video editing. However, It's very great for sound too and Vegas has the same structure as Acid which is more of a sound based software. I have Acid Pro 7 also, but I haven't used that program that much and Vegas does basically the same thing.

When I had finished syncing the vocal stems to my remix, I wanted to create a video for it. I took some clips from the latest Linkin Park videos and used the static interruption parts. I looped the video clips and blended the new photos of the band into the video.

I think the result turned out really cool both the remix and video. Watch it below!

A Thousand Suns (Deluxe Fan Edition Box Set)

First of all, I must say that I'm extremely excited right now, I don't know what to do with myself! All these feelings that I feel in this moment is very powerful. I feel like this every time something fun and new is happening with Linkin Park, especially now when their new album, A Thousand Suns, is just around the corner. And even closer is the release of their new single "The Catalyst", only nine days left! Plus we will get to see a new Linkin Park music video. Everything I'm feeling right now is the proof of how much Linkin Park means to me.

Today, July 24th, I pre-ordered the "Deluxe Fan Edition Box Set" of A Thousand Suns from linkinpark.com. When you pre-order from their site, you will get the single and the album digitally the moment it's ready for download via your e-mail. The box set looks amazing! I bought the "Superfan Edition" of Minutes to Midnight 2007, and I just had to get this albums' version of the "Superfan Edition".

I said to myself that I will only buy two versions of Linkin Park's new album this time, I bought four editions of Minutes to Midnight. I have the CD Edition, which Linkin Park signed with their autographs when I met them at the Meet & Greet before the concert in Stockholm, Sweden on May 25th, 2007. I have the Special Edition with CD & DVD, Superfan Edition and the Tour Edition which I bought because I wanted to have "No Roads Left". Maybe a few albums too much, but I am a hardcore Linkin Park fan! This time I will at least try to buy only two editions of A Thousand Suns.

It feels so much better now when I have written down every exciting, happy and positive feeling I have inside of me. You can watch all the details of the pre-orders below, Mike posted it on his blog.

Alrightee folks. The pre-order for A THOUSAND SUNS is here. I wanted to take a minute to give you some more details about the stuff and answer some questions.

1.) With any purchase, you get the digital version of the album FOR FREE. Yes, even if you buy the skate deck or the tee shirt, you get the album free. You also get early access to concert tickets to our shows (which means you’ll get better seats).

2.) The DVD included in the first two items is called MEETING OF A THOUSAND SUNS. It’s the best documentary of a Linkin Park album ever made. I’m not just saying that. It’s the best everrrrr.

3.) The Deluxe Box Set includes the CD, DVD, the album on two vinyl records, a print of the album art (for your wall, if you so desire), and a HARDCOVER BOOK. The book is NOT just the album booklet, blown up bigger. It’s a special book, designed for and only included with the box set. And by the way…the Regular CD, Mid-level CD/DVD, and the Box Set will all have different art booklets.

4.) Q: “When do I get everything?”
A: The second it becomes available from us to you (aka the earliest time possible in the known universe, as determined by the Sun, Earth, gravity, the speed of light, and Warner Bros. Records). In the meantime, we’ll be sending you guys a couple other things, just for fun: video clips, early snippets, who knows? But the bottom line is, you get more when you order from us directly. All you do is enter your email address when you check out, and we’ll email you a link to the stuff (such as: The Catalyst, A Thousand Suns) the moment it is ready for download.

5.) Q: I’m afraid to give my email address. Is it safe?
A: Ask the members of LPU. We don’t spam, and we treat our members with respect–we don’t sell or give away your info. In fact, my own email address is on the list, so I know the list doesn’t get compromised!

…I hope that clears up the basic questions about the pre-order on www.linkinpark.com. If you haven’t already, feel free to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, and anywhere you go online. Thanks for your support…we can’t wait for you to hear A THOUSAND SUNS.

I leave you with this: the greatest skate deck of all time.

Twitter Pixel Art at Linkin Park.com

Linkin Park.com got a new intro page a few days ago. A message came up and asked if I wanted to connect my Twitter account. After I had done that a text came up that said: "Conversation sets me free". So I wrote that I was looking forward to the new album and send the tweet, and a brief sound plays that could be "The Catalyst" along with the message: "Thank you for helping me. I will arrive soon", with each individual tweet revealing a single pixel of a collective image.

I think the idea that each message sent to twitter became a pixel was a great idea! I was very excited and I was wondering what would happen when all the pixels were in place. My first thought was that the picture would reveal the album art, and that we would hear a preview of "The Catalyst". And today, about two days later, the picture was revealed, and it shows the album art of A Thousand Suns.

I later saw that I had got a direct message from Mike at twitter. In the message, he thanked me for the help and told me to check back to see what happens along with two links. The first link led me to a video where a short clip of "The Catalyst" was played! The second link was just a low res picture of the new LP logo. I liked the short clip of "The Catalyst", it was Mike singing along with Chester in the background, it was different from what I've heard from the stems.

Stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks. "The Catalyst" is almost here!