@Brad said:

In case it wasn't clear in the story, I don't think the "spoiler" is anything more than an aggressive bait-and-switch on the part of this game's marketing. I see firsthand all the time how protective developers are of their games before they're released, and I can't imagine there's any other way Rocksteady would have let this tidbit out there three weeks before the game is released.

GAWD that's ALSO a spoiler. lol what a fail day this is for gaming journalism. And to assume such things is to make an ass out of you and me.

I'm not familiar with comics a whole lot, but I do hear on podcasts how they kill off X character and they say it's its own cannon so who's to say Rocksteady weren't given such liberties?

Of course all these editors are too suborn to listen to the majority of complaints for the sake of getting the news out there (they don't want to be censored) - NOONE'S SAYING TO CENSOR THIS, just put a warning at the beginning that involves the word "spoiler".

Don't read!!!!

No ever dies in these things...or at least stay dead lol....

This comes out real soon! So excited! I hope it does not disappoint!!!

In case it wasn't clear in the story, I don't think the "spoiler" is anything more than an aggressive bait-and-switch on the part of this game's marketing. I see firsthand all the time how protective developers are of their games before they're released, and I can't imagine there's any other way Rocksteady would have let this tidbit out there three weeks before the game is released.

This will teach me to really keep away from ANYTHING abou a game I'm waiting for.

Everybody needs to stop getting bent out of shape about this. If this was a huge plot point in anyway, shape or form then Rocksteady wouldn't be showing it to the press a few weeks before release and then giving them the go ahead to talk about it, right? Besides, let's be smart here. The Joker isn't dead. It's most likely a bait and switch.

I think everybody having a hissy fit over this needs to relax.

@Brad said:

In case it wasn't clear in the story, I don't think the "spoiler" is anything more than an aggressive bait-and-switch on the part of this game's marketing. I see firsthand all the time how protective developers are of their games before they're released, and I can't imagine there's any other way Rocksteady would have let this tidbit out there three weeks before the game is released.

This. Anyone who sees this as anything but a devious, ingenious ploy on the part of Rocksteady is fooling themselves.

of course, worse than the spoiler / non-spoiler, is this line:

" That's just one more of the many things that are getting me really excited to finally play Arkham City when it hits consoles in just a few short weeks."

ouch Brad, stick that knife in deeper why don't you :( Damn you WB!!!

Who would have thought that pumping yourself full of mutant juice in order to turn yourself into The Incredible Hulk would have any negative effect on the body whatsoever.

Hey ugh should of said SPOILERS before talking about the joker...although im sure hes not actually dead knowing how often they have done this kind of thing in batman.

@iAmJohn said:

@Anwar

What the fuck is this shit? Not spoiling ancient games like Resident Evil during the QL and skipping one of the first cutscenes in LA Noire because 'OMG spoilers', but spoiling this for no fucking reason? You're goddamn right, I'm mad. I saw that Brad wrote it and thought he is one of the most careful person concerning spoilers, but apparently he isnt'. No, seriously fuck you for spoiling this.

Dude, it's two hours into the game, AND WAS SHOWN BY EOCKSTEADY THEMSELVES. Do you not understand what a spoiler is or are you just really stupid?

Uh Quake 4.

These comments are great.

I can just picture patrick in the whiskey media office running in slow motion to hit a big red button that stops stories from autopublishing. he was tweeting about the hate before the story hit.

Video Game Spoiler Mad Libs: (Your favorite character)_________ will (verb) _________ and only you can (verb)________ him/her!

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but it's not that big of a deal. Aerith dies. Plot points happen. It's the how and why that matters.

@seanfoster said:

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

You play as Batman in this game.

If you want to go in blind, don't read "hands on" articles.

YOU SON OF A BITCH

Pretty bummed about not being able to experience that moment for myself as it was intended. But goddamn am I now eager to find out what happens next.

Is it TRULY a spoiler!? IS IT!?

If nothing it's a pretty good twist in the story. Now I and many others will just see it coming and it will have little impact.

@DaBuddaDa said:

Rocksteady intentionally put this out there for the press to write about. What Brad said about bait-and-switch is spot on. It happens at the very beginning of the game. Some of you guys are such obsessive, knee-jerk imbeciles it's downright embarrassing. How's this: if you don't want to be spoiled on websites, or ads, or TV, or message boards, or in podcasts or on the radio, then crawl into a hole and stay there.

It's Mass Effect 2 all over again at GIantbomb.

@PrinceGumball said:

Is it TRULY a spoiler!? IS IT!?

I'm gonna go with "yes". It is definitely something I would have vastly preferred to surprise me while I'm playing the game, rather than see casually mentioned in a preview.

Reading about The Joker actually made me kinda sad, like emotionally... probably down to the Enslaved main theme playing in the background. I could watch the Saddam hanging video and still elicit a tear with this shit playing.

You're all very silly for assuming a story hook is a spoiler, comics announce the death of a character all the time, it wont be permanent and it's to get people in by going 'Holy shit the Joker dies? I gotta see how that happens'.

Well I blame myself. I read an article that Brad 'spoils all games and then gets mad when games get spoiled for him' Shoemaker wrote.

People complaining about the Joker spoiler are probably the same ones that complained about journalists reporting that Assassin's Creed is more scifi than history at the start. If they have anything to be upset about, it's the way the information is presented - Kotaku did it in the wrong, most attention hoarding way possible, so I think Brad handled it much better & I agree that if it's this early on, chances are it's less of a plot point & more of a reason to stir publicity. This is so comic book death-y; he'll be back, guys. Good on you, Mr. Shoemaker.

I won't be buying this at launch because WB charges extra for their games here. So they can go fuck themselves!  
 
As for the spoilers, I've never really been hung up on spoilers and I don't care about them. But the way Brad just kinda puts it out there without any warning at all was a little ignorant and inconsiderate on his part. 

Waahh waah spoilers that aren't actually spoilers, waah waah.

Here's what people should really be crying about—calling Arkham's combat "best-in-class." Unless you don't count this as a 3D action game like Ninja Gaiden or, the real answer, Bayonetta.

I think it boils down to a case of "those who can shouldn't always". So Brad didn't pull a Kirk Hamilton and punch you in the face with it, but just because a developer shows you something doesn't mean it should hit the public, right?

What if a writer got to see Sixth Sense early, and then posted an article headlined "He's really a dead guy" three weeks before the movie was out? What if said writers defense was "It's probably not a big deal because the people who made the movie were excited about it." That's pretty much what was going on here.

At the end of the day though, these guys are just doing their job, it's not their fault. It's just the way the industry is. People who screen movies early know it's understood they shouldn't say certain things. But there are NO surprises in the game industry. By the time a game comes out you know every character, every story beat, every move, upgrade, and enemy. I blame it on the halo 2 switch that freaked out millions of frat boys.

Game developers say "Here's my whole game" to journalists, and journalists say "Here's the whole game" to us. It's the internet, welcome to it.

Why is Batman punching Richard O'Brien?

Good god then just don´t read the fucking article if you care so much about the storyline. Seriously, how is he supposed to write an article without giving any new information at all. Would you really believe for one second that the Joker dies in this game? For me this is more a conformation that they try to make the story more intriguing. Well written article, Brad.

 People are mad about the UNMARKED spoiler. If he had put a warning up, I'm sure most people wouldn't be upset. Now I think Brad's dick is starting to get dry, better get your mouth back to it. 

you know id normally say suck it up ppl, but looking at igns article, they handled the situation much better by using a spoiler tag, you shouldve used a spoiler tag, because there are people that want to read about everything else about the game except story even if its a bait and switch, gotta keep your audience in mind brad

I'm not so much pissed about the spoiler as much as the fact that it was unmarked and just thrown in out of NOWHERE.

So this is basically Sherlock Holmes 7 then, right?

Cool, never got too into the first game and am still looking forward to the second, also everyone crying about spoilers should calm down a bit, i mean, during preview coverage Rocksteady front and center said they wanted people to write about that and it's in the very first 2 hours....

Its almost as if no one read the article.

If the game's developers considered this any sort of truly pivotal plot twist worth keeping hidden, they wouldn't have shown it to the press

At least GB put the spoiler in the article, if you don't want to know about AC, then don't read about it.

Kotaku on the other hand, are buttholes. Sure, it's just a plot hook, but they removed any choice in the matter, would've been nice to be surprised.

Nice article, Brad. I'm pretty sure that Rocksteady wouldn't mess around with the Joker dying so early, unless it was for a good enough reason. Who knows, it could be that the

Idiots. (Almost) all of you.

@Anwar: But that's pretty much the equivalent of Joker throwing a smoke bomb and running out of the room.

It's just a thing he does to get away and if it was super apparent to Brad then obviously it wasn't an important story beat.

Are you telling me that if Brad said that the Joker got away after an early encounter you would still get mad?

No, you're being a fucking moron...

Holy christ Spoiler of the century, what the hell man.

BY THE WAY, DARTH VADER IS LUKES' FATHER, HIS FAAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEEER!!!