Author: John Scalzo

John Scalzo is Warp Zoned's Editor-In-Chief and resident retro gaming expert. You can email him at john AT warpzoned DOT com.

Mass Effect 3 demo is now available on PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Posted on February 15, 2012 by John Scalzo

Did you spend Valentine’s Day with the one you love? Well, if you one you love is FemShep, then the answer is surely “yes.”

That’s right, as of 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) last night the demo for Mass Effect 3 is now available to download for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 owners. PC users will have to use EA’s Origin service to get the demo while PS3 and Xbox 360 users can just use their system of choice’s built-in online store.

But that’s not all, EA and BioWare will open up the multiplayer portion of the demo starting on February 17. However, players who have purchased Battlefield 3 can battle it out with other Shepards online right now. And if you grab the demo on your Xbox 360, you’ll get free Xbox Live Gold access for the next three weeks and a chance to try out the game’s Kinect features. There’s definitely something for everyone here!

The full version of Mass Effect 3 will be available in stores (and on Origin) March 6.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

The Vita has arrived in this week’s PSN update

Posted on February 15, 2012 by John Scalzo

With the Vita First Edition Bundle now available in stores, Sony has flooded the PlayStation Network with games and content for the handheld system.

A total of sixteen Vita games are now available for your playing pleasure including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Lumines: Elecronic Symphony, Wipeout 2048, and many, many more. PlayStation Store exlcusives Escape Plan and Super Stardust Delta are also now available to download.

But don’t think Sony has forgotten the PS3 (or PSP) just because the Vita is vying for your affection. A Move-compatible version of The House of The Dead III and Worms: Ultimate Mayhem can be had for your PS3 while Hakuoki: Demon of The Fleeting Blossom is available for the PSP.

And let’s not forget that demos for Mass Effect 3 and Binary Domain can be downloaded today as well.

Wow. You can check out all the games available in this week’s update after the break and for a full list of all of this week’s new game add-ons, I refer you to the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PSP, Vita | Tagged , ,

Nintendo of Europe will release Pandora’s Tower on April 13

Posted on February 14, 2012 by John Scalzo

Nintendo of Europe has announced that Pandora’s Tower, an action RPG that was previously only available in Japan, will be released in Europe on April 13. As with The Last Story, a North American release has yet to be confirmed.

Pandora’s Tower stars Aeron, a soldier who must climb the tower and vanquish the monsters within. Defeating the monsters is the only way to find a cure for his friend Elena, who has been bound to the tower thanks to a curse. In a cruel twist of fate, the curse has also caused her to mutate uncontrollably.

Can true love conquer all? If you’re in Europe, you’ll be able to find out in April. We in America will likely have to wait and see if Xenoblade Chronicles manages to sell enough copies to spur on a release for Pandora’s Tower and The Last Story.

Posted in News, Wii | Tagged

Resistance: Burning Skies invades PS Vita on May 29

Posted on February 14, 2012 by John Scalzo

With the PlayStation Vita now available in stores, Sony is hard at work on a second wave of titles that’ll hit the handheld later this year. And the first of those games, Resistance: Burning Skies, now has a release date: May 29, 2012.

Unlike the PSP’s Resistance: Retribution, which was a third-person shooter, Burning Skies will retain the first person perspective of its PS3 brethren. According to Sony, it will be the first portable game ever controlled using a dual-analog stick setup and a “console-quality shooter.”

And if that’s not enough, you might want to know that it also stars a fireman:

Resistance: Burning Skies pulls you into an entirely new dimension of the Resistance universe. Set in a tale of survival during the August 1951 Chimeran invasion of the East Coast, you take control of Tom Riley, an everyday firefighter from New Jersey who is thrown headfirst into the teeth of the Chimeran war machine, forcing him to redefine his notions of duty and heroism.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Majesco announces Girl Fight, because the world couldn’t get enough of Rumble Roses

Posted on February 14, 2012 by John Scalzo

Konami found some mild success in the mid-2000s with the Rumble Roses series, a pair of games that featured scantily-clad women pounding each other in the wrestling ring. They were also pounded from every direction by gamers and critics who saw the tissue-thin premise as an excuse for cheap thrills.

Almost a decade later, Majesco is giving the female fighter genre another go with Girl Fight. Developed by Kung Fu Factory (the team behind Supremacy MMA) and produced by Microprose, Girl Fight will be available to download from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this Spring.

Calling the game “a unique [and] fast-paced spin on arcade-style fighting,” Majesco promises that gamers will be greeted to “hair flying, long legs kicking and the ear-piercing shrill of deadly vixens.” They will also be greeted with a sci-fi story that sounds like a virtual reality take on The Running Man:

Girl Fight allows players to choose from an array of sexy fighters to battle their way out of The Foundation, a shadowy, scientific organization looking to weaponize the psionic fighting abilities of the cast of gorgeous, all-female fighters. With unlimited funding and no moral or ethical compass, The Foundation collects its test subjects from all around the world, often abducting and plugging women into their virtual construct known as The Mainframe. To make it back to reality, the women must utilize their fighting and psionic abilities in an all-out battle for survival.

More information on Girl Fight can be found at the game’s official Facebook page.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Call of Duty: Black Ops voted “Best Ending” by Guinness World Records readers

Posted on February 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

Did you pass on the Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer’s Edition when it was released back in January? Then you missed their list of the “Top 50 Video Game Endings of All Time” as voted by 13,519 Guinness readers. But apparently this information was just begging to get out as Guinness released the full list over the weekend. And the winner is… [drummmmmmmmmmrollllllllll]… Call of Duty: Black Ops.

OK… sure… why not. But I guess that’s what you get when you award “records” based on a popular vote.

Black Ops was followed by Halo: Reach at number two and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at number three.

The Guinness people weren’t too clear on what they considered a game’s “ending,” citing the entire final level for Black Ops, the post credits sequence for Halo: Reach, and the boss fight against Ganon for Ocarina of Time. So when you read the entire list (which can be found after the break), be sure to remember that it was about the furthest thing possible from a scientific poll.

Of course, the inclusion of Super Mario Bros. at number 11 (and four Mario games in total) probably tipped you off to that. (more…)

Posted in DS, Etcetera, News, PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron toyline begins with Bruticus

Posted on February 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is set to roll out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this Fall. And with the addition of Grimlock, it’s got plenty of gamers excited. But there can’t be a new Transformers game without some new Transformers toys. And with an announcement at this year’s American International Toy Fair, Hasbro hopes to get gamers excited about those too.

Over the weekend, the toymaker revealed Bruticus to the masses. For those not up on their Generation One lore, Bruticus is a combiner that merges Blast-Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex into one super Transformer.

Each figure will be sold separately, and will be available in stores this Fall alongside the game. Hopefully that badass new version of Grimlock gets a toy version as well.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Blizzard: Diablo III is now a Spring release

Posted on February 12, 2012 by John Scalzo

After missing a late 2011 launch, Blizzard announced that Diablo III would be released in early 2012. It looks like that release date is also no more as Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that the game’s new launch window is Spring 2012. The devil must have made them do it!

The news emerged from Activision’s most recent quarterly conference call and is likely due to the extensive changes Blizzard wanted to make to the game after receiving feedback from the Diablo III beta. Here’s what Morhaime had to say about the delay:

Given the popularity of the Action/RPG genre and the keen interest in Diablo III, we expect this launch to be a big opportunity for Blizzard. We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III. We expect to announce more details about the release schedule in the coming weeks.

So it’s coming in the Spring now. And this time they really really mean it! I guess we’ll see.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged