Regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve already pre-ordered Batman: Arkham City at Best Buy in order to get Robin. That’s set in stone. Ain’t nothing changing that. But everybody else has the option now of different pre-order variants in order to get different Batman costumes. These are freakin’ amazing! My God! It’s like a geek drool collection machine! Hopefully these will be available as DLC someday.

It also means that at some point, somewhere in the world, there was a group of people who spent the day deciding what alternate Batman costumes they should include in this game. Those people are the luckiest human beings on the face of the Earth.

So who are we looking at here and how do you get them? Well this picture comes courtesy of arkhamcity.co.uk, and they break it down for us. Some of these pre-order options may change, since I think it’s only the England options have been announced.

From left:

1. Batman Beyond: A popular cartoon show set in the future after Bruce Wayne has retired. A young man named Terry McGuinness discovers Batman’s secret and teams up with the aging Bruce to become a new Batman for a new, futuristic Gotham City. I didn’t watch this cartoon much, but it was alright. Though I absolutely hate a later retcon at the end of Justice League Unlimited that altered the story so that Terry was actually a pseudo-clone of Bruce instead of just a regular guy who becomes Batman, that someone had taken Bruce Wayne’s DNA and injected it into Terry’s sperm so that when he and Terry’s mom had a kid, the dad-half came from Bruce. That’s just DUMB! I will not be bothering with this outfit.

How to get it: Pre-order the game from gamestop.co.uk or MightyApe.

2. The Dark Knight Returns: A beefier Batman from Frank Miller’s classic tale from the 1980s. Again set in a future Gotham City, but this time the aging Bruce Wayne decides to put the costume back on in order to reclaim the beast that resides within his soul – and rescue Gotham City. This was one of the comics that changed Batman from the silly 1960s Adam West variation into the gritty dark knight! And I’m all the happier for it. This would be an awesome costume to play the game in.

How to get it: Pre-order the Collector’s Edition of the game.

3. Earth One: My bad. I thought this was the current Bruce Wayne costume, when in actuality it’s a costume based on the Batman: Earth One series…that hasn’t been released. Superman: Earth One came out, and it altered a few things in the classic origin and made Clark Kent more of a Twilight-esque brooding young man. It sold really well. I have no idea what they plan to do with Bruce Wayne. I’m pretty sure there’s only ever been a single preview image release…which this costume is based on. Lame. But it looks kind of cool.

How to get it: Pre-order at MightyApe.

4. 1970s Batman: Back in the day, before Frank Miller and the ‘Dark Knight’, Batman was the Caped Crusader. He was a member of the Dynamic Duo with Robin. Those names are still used, I suppose, but back then they stood for an entirely different Batman. Back then he wore a light gray suit with a bright blue cape and cowl. That was back when Robin dressed in green shorts and pixie boots. So there, everybody! Batman didn’t dress for the shadows either! It’s an alright costume, and would probably look really funny in Arkham City.

How to get it: Pre-order from Toys R Us.

5. Batman: The Animated Series: Oh my dear and holy Lord. That is amazing! I hope somebody got a promotion for both coming up with the idea and pulling it off so well! I have no idea how it will look in gameplay, but it looks like sheer geek gold in that picture. If you don’t know about Batman: The Animated Series from the 90s then shame on you!

How to get it: Pre-order from MightyApe.

6. Arkham City Batman: That’s just what Batman normally looks like in the game. Not an alternate costume.

How to get it: Just buy the game, fools!