DC Universe™ Online Free-To-Play. Your Way.™

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel was an Arkham Asylum psychologist who thought she had a shot at curing Batman's insane nemesis The Joker. Obviously that didn't work out too well.

Harley Quinn is one of the more distinctive super villains to appear in Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online for several reasons. For one, she started life as a character created solely for the animated Batman cartoon, making the leap into comic book continuity later in life.

She's also one of the most cosplayed comic book females of all time. Seriously, look up Harley Quinn cosplay in Google. It's ridiculous.

Players will be able to fight against, alongside, and in some cases as Harley Quinn when DC Universe Online launches next month on the PlayStation 3 and PC.

Sony Online Entertainment transforms PlayStation 3 and PC gamers into superheroes and super villains on January 11 with the release of DC Universe Online. How much will you pay to battle alongside the likes of Batman, Superman, and Lex Luthor?

With the beta well underway on both the PC and PlayStation 3, it was only a matter of time before Sony Online Entertainment revealed the official release date for its once delayed comic book MMO. Now we've got a firm date in January 11 for North America (January 12 in Europe and 14 in the UK and Ireland), along with word on how much we'll need to set aside on a monthly basis to don tights and fight (or perpetrate) crime.

The PlayStation 3 version of the game will retail for $59.99, while the PC version comes in $10 cheaper at $49.99. Both versions come with one month of free play. After that a $15 (€12.99) a month subscription fee kicks in, though PC players will be able to purchase a lifetime subscription for $199 (€179.99).

Hit up the IGN link below for more details on the upcoming launch and beta player rewards direct from DC Universe Online Game Director Chris Cao.

DC Universe Online Gets a Release Date [IGN]

With Sony revealing yesterday that all PlayStation Plus subscribers are getting a download of the DC Universe Online beta for Christmas, it's probably a good time to show you how character creation works in the super heroic MMO.

Crecente talked us through character creation in DC Universe Online last week, and now we're showing you what that looks like. While my creation pales in comparison to his furry tiger guy, you'll see that I already had my own animal champion in Magical Gunwolf, the best super villain ever to cackle menacingly.

What sort of character do you plan on creating?

Kotaku has a proud history of showcasing the artistic intersection of video games and cakes, so it's no surprise who our favorite contestant is "Cake Boss: Next Great Baker." Meet Brian Stevens, senior artist at Sony Online Entertainment.

CB:NGB premiered on Monday and Brian survived the first round, so here's hoping this post isn't a kiss of death. In addition to working on DC Universe Online (and several other games), Brian also owns Crazy Cakes of Austin, Texas.

Asked why he's the next great baker, Brian laid the smack down: "My work is insanely detailed and you just do not see other designers doing what I am doing."

Brian didn't win the first round of the competition, but neither did he have one of the three worst cakes or get booted from the show. Cake Boss: Next Great Baker is an 8-week series airing Mondays on TLC at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST.

Back in grade school my friends tried to convince me that Batman was cooler than Superman. While they were probably right, Gotham City is no Metropolis.

Here's a flythrough trailer for Batman's Gotham City as it is featured in the early 2011 massively multiplayer PC and PlayStation 3 game DC Universe Online. Arkham Asylum is here, as is the police headquarters with the Bat Signal on its roof. Oddly, we get no Wayne Manor and no Batcave. That's too bad.

I don't know much about the game's version of Metropolis, but Superman's town in DC's comics has that great Daily Planet building with the planet sculpture on top. That big orb is always getting knocked off the roof, but Superman always pins it back up like he's topping a Christmas Tree. Metropolis has a gleaming Lex Luthor skyscraper to remind us how great Lex Luthor is and S.T.A.R. labs, where mad experiments go awry. It always seems sunny in Metropolis. I'd want to live there.

Gotham's more of a bummer. Look at the landmarks highlighted in the trailer. Arkham: where the crazy people are locked up. Ace Chemicals: where a man becomes the Joker. Crime Alley: where Batman sees his parents get killed. I don't want to live there.

Because DCU Online is an MMO, I assume Gotham will be more of a potential battleground than a place to work an honest day job. Is it a decent place to fight crime? Virtually? We'll see. The game's out early next year on the PC and PlayStation 3.

The latest raft of screens for the superhero MMO from Sony Online Entertainment depicts beatdowns in the Bat Cave, the Metropolis Subway, and the Temple of Isis. Enjoy!

Future Lex Luthor's ridiculous plan to seed humanity with super powers to avert a coming apocalypse culminates in this character creation trailer for DC Universe Online.

Superman and Wonder Woman would have never allowed future Lex Luthor to seed the Earth's atmosphere with tiny robots that give normal human beings super powers. Luckily for the next generation of superheroes and super villains, future Lex has learned the lesson that escaped his current incarnation for decades: Don't tell the heroes what you're going to do, just do it.

Which leads us to character creation. Once you get superhuman abilities, you're going to have to change out of that musty t-shirt and put on some fancy pants. With everyone transforming into superheroes, one would think a more relaxed dress code would be instituted, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In the epic battle between good and evil, there are no casual Fridays.

Comic-Con comes to New York this weekend, and as the comic books and the video games stick together like Baron Zemo's face and Adhesive X, we'll be there.

If you're also in New York City, the get together will feature tons of gaming stuff, notably playable D.C. Universe Online, and Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare.

Totilo is our man on the scene at the Javits Center providing coverage, and we can assume that to mean at least one cosplay post, so get your pencils ready for that.

If anyone else is planning on attending, tout it in the comments below!

Not even the combined powers of all of DC's super heroes could keep Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online from being pushed back to early 2011, but new beta testing details cast light to the game's blackest night.

A fall release for DC Universe seemed like the sort of unlikely scenario you'd only find in comic books, but fans had hope. Now Sony Online Entertainment dashes those hopes, pushing back the eagerly anticipated MMO until early 2011. SOE president John Smedley says the delay will give developers extra time to "address community feedback in a meaningful way."

He also says this is the first MMO on the PlayStation 3, but if they delay it too far into 2011, Final Fantasy XIV will secure that title in March. Smedley says information on the new launch date will come as the game gets deeper into external beta.

Speaking of external beta, there is good news for hopeful players. Along with the delay, SOE reveals that players with VIP access codes and those registered with the DCUO website should begin receiving beta invites as early as next week. North American fans who preorder the game by November 15 are guaranteed beta access by November 30. Anyone who preorders after November 15 will gain beta access a week prior to launch.

All beta participants will be able to take part in the Battle of the Legends end of beta event, securing them a special emblem available in-game once DCUO launches.

Those wishing to secure a chance at beta access without preordering have until tonight at 11:59PM Pacific to register at the DC Universe Online website.

In other good news, PlayStation 3 owners will get a collector's edition similar to the one revealed for PC earlier this year, complete with the DCUO Batman statue, the limited edition Art of DC Universe Online art book, the DCUO Legends Issue #0 comic book with a Jim Lee variant cover, the DCUO Prestige comic presentation of the DCUO back-story and the limited edition Jim Lee-drawn poster Version of the Issue #0 comic book variant cover.

Fans can use the extra time to drum up the $100 that collector's edition will cost.

So, show of hands - who is disappointed?

It's like you can't go five feet in DC Universe Online's Gotham City or Metropolis without seeing superheroes and super villains duking it out. I bet property values are way down.

This batch of screens for Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online show some over-the-top combat going on in the streets of Gotham and Metropolis. In other words, daily life in these two cities. I don't care if Superman or Batman is around all the time. Odds are they'll be someone else when the evil clown comes a calling, and you'll be the one who dies as the intro to the caped crusader's next big outing.

Why would you want to live in a city like this? Might I suggest reading Kurt Busiek's first Astro City trade for the answer?