Monthly Archives: October 2014

Relive the retro awesomeness of Excitebike with Mario Kart 8’s Excitebike Arena DLC

Posted on October 28, 2014 by John Scalzo

Fans have really taken to Nintnedo’s decision to expand Mario Kart 8 into “Super Smash Kart” with downloadable content. The announcement that Link would get a kart of his own was met with huge applause from the Mario Kart community. And the return of the B Dasher and Yoshi Circuit certainly revved up the franchise’s fans as well. But I think Nintendo’s next announcement might top them all. The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 Pack, which will be available in November, will include “Excitebike Arena,” a course based on the NES edition of Excitebike.

Excitebike was famous for including one of the first track editors in gaming history and Nintendo will channel that spirit by randomizing the layout of Excitebike Arena with every race. Jumps, oil slicks, grass hazards… if you remember it from Excitebike, it’ll be included in Excitebike Arena. Check out the trailer above for a look at how the randomization will work.

In retrospect, mixing Mario Kart with Excitebike seems so obvious that a part of me is amazed that Nintendo never tried it before.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Star Wars: X-Wing, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, other LucasArts titles added to GOG.com

Posted on October 28, 2014 by John Scalzo

lucasarts-logoBefore today, Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: TIE Fighter had never been made available for purchase through any digital download service. But that changes now as GOG.com has announced that both games (along with several other LucasArts favorites) are now available to download for the first time ever.

Considered by many critics to be two of the greatest space combat simulators ever, X-Wing and TIE Fighter were originally released in 1993 and 1995, respectively, on floppy disks. Both games would eventually be released on CD-ROM by LucasArts as an enhanced “Collector’s Edition” in 1998, the last time before today both games were officially in print.

The GOG.com Special Edition of each game (priced at $9.99 apiece) includes the original floppy disk version as well as the enhanced CD-ROM edition. Both games also come bundled with their expansion packs (Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing for X-Wing and Defender of the Empire for TIE Fighter).

Four other LucasArts titles were also added to GOG.com this morning: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, and Sam & Max Hit the Road. Additional games published by LucasArts will be available to download from the digital download service soon.

Posted in News, PC |

Daily Scoop: October 27, 2014 – Monday again

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Nicole Kline

I know it keeps happening every week, but here we are – it’s another Monday! Anthony Amato and I spent the weekend playing a lot of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, showing our games off at South Jersey Geek Fest, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. How did you spend yours?

As always, I’m here to bring you the most current deals! John Scalzo already told you about one of the most exciting ones, which is Microsoft’s $50 discount on Xbox One consoles. That’s right – starting November 2 and running until just after the New Year begins, you can get discounted consoles. I’m actually really considering picking one up now – especially that sleek, sexy Sunset Overdrive one!

Steam has another 71 games on sale this week, including Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $2.99, Super Sanctum TD for $0.59, and Nethergate: Resurrection for $0.99, among others. The Daily Deal is Music Creator 6 Touch, which is on sale for $12.49.

Humble has a new bundle, too – the Humble Flash Bundle Boo!. Pay what you want for Claire and Zafehouse: Diaries. Pay $6 or more to unlock Deadly 30 and Haunt the House: Terrortown. And pay $10 or more to unlock Doorways: Chapters 1 to 3 Collection. Scoooop them up!

There are quite a few wonderful shirts available today!

(more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Nintendo will release a Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire bundle on November 21

Posted on October 27, 2014 by John Scalzo

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You gotta catch ’em all, right? But what if feel the need to literally CATCH ‘EM ALL? Thankfully, Nintendo’s got you covered on that front with the announcement of a special Dual Pack for the next Pokemon game.

Beginning next month, Nintendo will release Pokemon: Omega Ruby and Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire as two distinct releases for $39.99 a piece. But the publisher will also offer a special bundle that contains both games for $79.98 (so don’t expect any kind of discount if you purchase both games). The Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Dual Pack (which will only be sold through Best Buy, BestBuy.com, and Amazon) will also include two download codes that can be redeemed for 100 Potions in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

Pokemon: Omega Ruby, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire, and the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Dual Pack will all be available on November 21, exclusively for the 3DS.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged

Microsoft will reduce price of all Xbox One consoles by $50 until January 3, 2015

Posted on October 27, 2014 by John Scalzo

xboxone-logoWere you thinking of adding an Xbox One to your Christmas List this year? If so, it’s going to be $50 cheaper thanks to a temporary price cut by Microsoft. Beginning November 2 and running through January 3, 2015, all Xbox One consoles will see their retail price slashed by $50. This offer even applies to all of this Fall’s limited editions, including:

  • Xbox One Console – $349
  • Xbox One Sunset Overdrive Bundle (Includes Sunset Overdrive and White Xbox One Console/Controller) – $349
  • Xbox One Assassin’s Creed Bundle (Includes Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed: Unity) – $349
  • Xbox One Assassin’s Creed Kinect Bundle (Includes Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and Dance Central Spotlight) – $449
  • Xbox One Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Bundle (Includes Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, CoD-Styled Xbox One Console With 1TB Hard Drive and CoD-Styled Controller) – $449

Both Assassin’s Creed bundles will be available on November 2, followed by the Advanced Warfare Bundle a day later on November 3. The Sunset Overdrive Bundle is available now.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged , , , ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Hyper Light Edition

Posted on October 26, 2014 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

There’s still one more week left in Heart Machine’s pre-release beta for Hyper Light Drifter. The overhead action-adventure game will be released in early 2015, but the beta is available now to all who pre-order it and our Nicole Kline is enjoying it quite a bit. This year has been a bit lacking when it comes to groundbreaking new releases, but if Hyper Light Drifter is any indication, 2015 will more than make up for it.

In other unreleased games news, Andrew Rainnie has filed the latest entry in his Kickstart This! column examining some of the best Kickstarter campaigns to launch in the last few weeks. If you’ve got some extra coin and are looking to support an independent developer or two, do check them out.

Finally this week, Nintendo continued to prime the gaming populace for the November 21 launch of Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. In a brand new “50-Fact Extravaganza” video, the publisher has revealed that the multiplayer fighter will support 8-player brawls and confirmed that downloadable characters will be available beginning next year. And just think, there are 48 more facts where those came from!

Looking for more news? Then I suggest you look for it after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Sunset Overdrive, WWE 2K15, Lords of the Fallen, More

Posted on October 26, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac’s wild hipsters vs mutants shooter, leads this week’s new release report. With no new Halo or Gears of War game in the pipeline, Microsoft is promoting Sunset Overdrive as one of the biggest Xbox One exclusives of the Fall. To that end, they have also teamed up with Insomniac to offer the Sunset Overdrive Xbox One System Bundle which will include the game itself and a snazzy all-white Xbox One.

Also available this week is WWE 2K15 (PS3, Xbox 360), the first game in the series fully produced by 2K Games; Lords of the Fallen (PS4, Xbox One), Bandai Namco’s attempt at entering the medieval hack and slash market; and NBA Live 15 (PS4, Xbox One), EA’s latest entry in their basketball simulation series.

More new releases from the upcoming week can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , ,

Australian Classification Board outs US release of Attack on Titan 3DS game

Posted on October 25, 2014 by John Scalzo

attackontitan3dsAre you an Attack on Titan fan? If so, you’ll be pleased to learn that a 3DS game based on the wildly popular anime series will likely be released in America sometime soon.

According to a rating issued by the Australian Classification Board, an Attack on Titan game developed by Spike Chunsoft will soon be published in Australia by Atlus USA. It stands to reason that Atlus USA will also the game in America as well (and possibly Europe too).

The game, Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind, was originally released in Japan last December. Spike Chunsoft plans to release an updated version of the game, Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind CHAIN, in Japan this December. It’s unknown which version of the game is being localized by Atlus, though only the CHAIN edition includes online play and “online connectivity” is included in the Australian Classification Board listing.

Hopefully, Atlus makes an official announcement soon.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged