Monthly Archives: January 2016

Daily Scoop: January 25, 2016 – New sales

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Nicole Kline

I played a lot of games this weekend – everything from board games to video games to tabletop RPGs. It was a great time!

And, of course, there are lots of new sales this week, for anyone who wants to make their backlogs even longer! The winter sale is still in full swing at the Humble Store. You can get Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate for $35.99, Pillars of Eternity: Hero Edition for $17.99, and Ark: Survival Evolved for $17.99, among others.

There are 226 new Weeklong Deals on Steam right now. Doom & Destiny is $4.99, Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is $9.99, and Fort Meow is $3.99. The Daily Deal is Hacknet, which you can get on sale for $6.69 for the regular edition or $10.04 for the deluxe.

There are some great shirts today! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Street Fighter V Story Mode detailed; First DLC character to be available in March

Posted on January 25, 2016 by John Scalzo

In a first for the franchise, Capcom has announced that Street Fighter V will be getting individual Character Stories and a full-fledged Story Mode.

Street Fighter V’s Character Stories will feature artwork by Bengus, an illustrator who has worked on a number of Capcom titles in the past, and will serve as a prologue to the Story Mode, which will be released as a free expansion this June. According to the Capcom-Unity blog, the Character Stories will include “background information on what drives them to fight, and what their relationships are to the other characters.” As for Story Mode, it’ll offer cinematic cutscenes that bridge the gap between the events of Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter III. And if the teaser trailer above is anything to go by, it looks like M. Bison is planning some kind of massive terrorist attack on the citizens of the world.

Capcom also confirmed the first downloadable character will be available in March. Best of all, the publisher said that players who complete all the Character Stories should earn enough “Fight Money” (Street Fighter V’s in-game currency) to unlock the new fighter for free. Downloadable characters will also be able to purchased with “Zenny,” which can be obtained by spending some real money.

Finally, Capcom wants to give players one last chance to test out Street Fighter V’s online modes before the big launch on February 16. A beta test will be available on January 30 and January 31 for everyone who has already pre-ordered the game for the PC or PS4.

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Mighty No. 9 delayed for a third time… will now be released in Spring 2016

Posted on January 25, 2016 by John Scalzo

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There is no joy in Mudville… Mighty Keiji has delayed again.

Keiji Inafune and his team at have Comcept have informed Kickstarter backers that Mighty No. 9 has been delayed again. The platformer won’t be able to meet its planned release date of February 9 and will instead now launch sometime in the Spring. Once again citing bugs in the network code as the reason for the delay, all the developer could do was apologize:

The reason for the delay is rooted in bugs inside the network modes, and specifically problems with matchmaking. There are two large reasons for this problem, one of them being the large number of platforms supported (the solution for each platform is slightly different) and the other stems from the fact that the engine we are using is no longer being updated which means adjustments for matchmaking and online code are being made manually (actually reprogramming parts of the engine by the dev team themselves).

Unfortunately, this is all a result of miscalculations on the part of us, the development staff. As a result, our fans who have been looking forward to Mighty No. 9 have been forced to wait for over half a year longer than expected, and for that we are sincerely sorry. I want to take this chance to apologize personally, and on the behalf of the development staff.

Inafune added that the development team “has been working on these issues non-stop without break” and that “the end is in sight.” If that’s true, Mighty No. 9 will finally be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Spring.

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

See Tri-Borg’s variations (including Cyber Sub-Zero) in the latest MKX Kombat Kast

Posted on January 25, 2016 by John Scalzo

The second season of ESL Pro League competition for Mortal Kombat X came to a close yesterday with Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean tasting victory, and more importantly, retaining his championship belt. But in between matches, NetherRealm’s Tyler Lansdown and Derek Kirtzic held a special Kombat Kast (beginning at 7:17:00 in the video embedded above) to introduce viewers to Tri-Borg.

Tri-Borg is an amalgam of Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke, so it’s not surprising that the kombatant splits neatly into “Sektor,” “Cyrax,” and “Smoke” variations. And don’t worry, it loks like players who honed their skills with these characters in 2011’s Mortal Kombat will feel right at home with Tri-Borg. Sektor returns with his missiles, Tele-Punch, and a brand new air dash. Cyrax gets his bombs, a teleport, the Buzz Saw, and the awesome Energy Net. And Smoke wafts into view with his trusty Trident Spear, Smoke Bombs, teleport, Smoke Away/Smoke Towards, and invisibility.

Best of all, these practice fights all take place in “The Pit,” giving viewers a closer look at the rebirth of the famed MK arena. Actually… I was wrong… the best part of the Kombat Kast is the reveal that Tri-Borg will include a special fourth variation based on “Cyber Sub-Zero.” Lansdown only teased the cold steel of Cyber Sub-Zero for a few seconds, but it was enough to make the crowd go bonkers.

Tri-Borg will be available as part of Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2, which will be available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 1. And if you’re new to the game, the character will also star in Mortal Kombat XL, a retail re-release that’ll include the 2015 game and every downloadable character and costume.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

PC requirements revealed for The Division, which Ubisoft considers “more than a port”

Posted on January 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Ubisoft has revealed the minimum and recommended requirements for Tom Clancy’s The Division… do you think your PC can handle it? You can find the system specifications after the break, but don’t forget that Ubisoft will also launch a closed beta for The Division very soon. Opening on January 29, you can signup at Ubi.com now for a chance to play the multiplayer shooter early.

In addition to revealing the system specifications, Ubisoft also discussed the PC version of The Division in some depth at the UbiBlog. The first thing they want PC players to know is that The Division “more than a port” on Windows machines:

“The main goal during the development of the PC version of The Division was to give players the version of the game they wanted. We didn’t want to just port the console version for them, but to instead craft an experience that felt native to PC from the start. A key feature we particularly wanted to address was the navigation through the UI. If you have a mouse and a keyboard, the way you navigate is very different than the navigation with a controller.”

Tom Clancy’s The Division will be released on March 8. (more…)

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Splatoon’s final new map, Ancho-V Games, is now available to download

Posted on January 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Nintendo aped Steam’s Early Access model when they launched Splatoon nearly nine months ago. During its first few weeks of availability, the game had relatively few maps and an even fewer number of game modes. But Nintendo slowly and steadily added new content to the game through a series of free updates… ultimately offering more weapons, more modes, and more maps at regular intervals. But that all came to an end this week with the release of “Ancho-V Games,” Splatoon’s final new map.

Here’s what the always-entertaining Squid Research Lab had to say about the map:

The setting this time around is inside the offices of the developers of hit indie games like “Squid Jump.” Keep an eye out for some of the jellyfish development team, hard at work (and under a strict NDA!) on their next title. Hope they don’t mind the mess!

One feature of this stage are the PC-fan shaped propellers that can be inked to move portions of the floor. Use these to exploit the stage’s verticality and gain the high ground over your opponents. What role do these things play in game development, anyway?

It’s been quite a ride for Splatoon and the many players who populate its ink-filled arenas. I’m sure the game’s lobbies will stay crowded for a long time, and it looks like the consolemaker will continue to offer monthly Splatfest events for the foreseeable future.

Nintendo has a fantastic new franchise on their hands with Splatoon, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Let’s Talk About This Year’s Biggest Games…

Posted on January 24, 2016 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…

Let’s talk about this year’s biggest games. What d’you say? There wasn’t a whole lot to excite the gaming population in January, but there’s plenty of interesting stuff scheduled to be released during the rest of the Winter months, which we talk about in A Day-By-Day Guide to All of 2016’s New Video Games (January – March). We’ll get to the rest of the year soon, and it looks just as packed, trust me.

However, if you’re still digging through last year’s most-acclaimed titles, might we suggest SteamWorld Heist. If you need more convincing, please direct yourself to a review by Staff Writer Mike Ryan.

What else happened this week? Read on to find out… (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC

Posted on January 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

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This might get said every January, but January 2016 was an abnormally slow period for new game releases. The first month of the year closes out with the launch of a trio new games and a promise of much more to come in the remaining eleven frames:

  • Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) is a multiplayer action RPG from Square Enix that resurrects “legendary” Final Fantasy characters to battle with a horde of monsters guarding a cache of crystals. Yup, sounds like a Final Fantasy game.
  • Lego Avengers (3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) is the latest Lego-ization of some pop culture favorite by the geniuses at TT Games. This time, they’ve set their sights on the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe and created a brick-filled adaptation of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, and Thor: The Dark World.
  • Finally, Square Enix comes back around again to bring Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Rise of the Tomb Raider, to the PC.

As always, we’ll be back later this week to shine the spotlight on the latest digital releases available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.

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