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.

Namco delays Inversion like Inversion defies gravity

Posted on January 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

Namco Bandai has some bad news for everyone who wanted to flip their game room upside down in two weeks. The publisher has told Joystiq that Inversion will miss its scheduled February 7 release date:

“The launch of Inversion has been moved to early 2012, and more details will follow in an upcoming announcement. This additional development time will allow the team to polish several key aspects of the game ensuring Inversion is of the highest quality.”

Inversion’s new release window means that the PS3 and Xbox 360 game should be available by the end of March. And if it’s not, we’ll flip!

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Warp will arrive first for the XBLA House Party on February 15

Posted on January 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Before today, we knew that Microsoft planned to throw another ragin’ Xbox Live Arcade House Party and that it would begin on February 15.

Today we learned which order the party guests will arrive in and how much they’ll cost (the metaphor of the House Party being an actual party kind of breaks down at this point):

  • February 15: Warp (800 Microsoft Points)
  • February 22: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (1200 Microsoft Points)
  • February 29: Nexuiz (800 Microsoft Points)
  • March 7: I Am Alive (1200 Microsoft Points)

As in years past, Microsoft plans to reward gamers who purchase every House Party title. This year, 800 Microsoft Points will be yours if you invite every House Party game into your home by March 13.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,

Capcom Digital Collection brings together 8 XBLA games this March

Posted on January 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Capcom is bundling together eight of its Xbox Live Arcade releases as part of the new Capcom Digital Collection retail package. Due for release on March 27 and priced at $39.99, this collection is a bargain for fans of the following games (who haven’t purchased them already that is):

  • 1942: Joint Strike
  • Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
  • Final Fight: Double Impact
  • Flock!
  • Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (includes “It Came From Uranus” expansion)
  • Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
  • Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
  • Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

According to Capcom, the Capcom Digital Collection disc “preserves all the features, online functionality and Achievements from their download versions.”

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Alan Wake coming to PC in February

Posted on January 22, 2012 by John Scalzo

Remedy has released an extensive FAQ for the PC version of Alan Wake that includes a release window, system requirements, control options, and plenty more.

The game will be released in February on Steam (sorry, Games For Windows Live users). No price has been established yet, but Remedy also revealed it’ll include both DLC expansions (The Signal and The Writer). Keyboard and mouse support will also be included, but those who want to plug in an Xbox 360 controller will be able to.

Finally, Remedy released the system requirements, which seem rather reasonable:

  • OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
  • Processor: Dual core processor required (AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz or Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz)
  • Memory: 2 GB
  • Hard Drive: 8 GB
  • Video Card: DirectX 10 compatible or later with 512MB RAM
    • AMD: ATI Radeon 3650, 4450, 5550, 6450 or higher (per series)
    • Nvidia: GeForce 8600GT, 9500GT, GT120, GT430, GT520 (per series)
  • Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
  • Input: Mouse and keyboard, Xbox360 controller also supported
Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: No New Releases, Lots of Release Dates

Posted on January 22, 2012 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…

It’s another slow week for new releases, but that just gives us plenty of time to focus on what’s right around the corner. For example, Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in just nine days. So we thought it was the perfect time to perform a Hands-On Preview to prepare for our return to Gran Pulse. We understand that a lot of people don’t want to make a return trip after the last time, but trust us, it’s worth a shot.

Hit the jump to read the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up and all the latest news about 2012’s next batch of games, like the recently announced Resident Evil 6. (more…)

Posted in News |

Resident Evil: Retribution trailer is full of Sony products, questions

Posted on January 21, 2012 by John Scalzo

Things we’ve learned from the first trailer for this Fall’s Resident Evil: Retribution starring Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Johann Urb, Michelle Rodriguez, and Bingbing Li:

  • Sony really wants you to buy a Vita, Sony Tablet, Sony MP3 player, and Sony cell phone as a fake commercial for Sony electronics (with music from The Who and a voiceover from Patrick Stewart) takes up 33 seconds of a teaser trailer that is only 78 seconds long.
  • Whoa! Ada Wong is in this movie!

Questions that need answering thanks to the last 45 seconds of the trailer:

  • How did Alice and company escape from the cliffhanger at the end of Resident Evil: Afterlife?
  • How did Alice take over the White House?
  • Why are there dragons flying everywhere?
  • How is Michelle Rodriguez’s character even alive?
  • Whoa! How awesome is it that Ada Wong in this movie?

Resident Evil: Retribution opens in theaters this Fall in 3D. Though I think the opening fakeout commercial will become a real commercial much sooner than that.

Posted in Etcetera, News | Tagged

Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 warps into North American stores on February 28

Posted on January 20, 2012 by John Scalzo

For those that are unaware, they make some absolutely insane games in Japan. Case in point: Hyperdimension Neptunia and its sequel, Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2.

Believe it or not, the Neptunia games tell a story about warring game developers who come together to battle the personification of piracy. And it’s all done in the style of a very Japanese relationship RPG. Hyperdimension Neptunia was released in America last year to gasps of shock and NIS America has announced that Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 will be making its way across the Pacific as well. The PS3-exclusive is scheduled for a February 28 release and it sounds just as weird and wonderful as its predecessor:

Return once more to the world of Gamindustri, where the Criminal of the Free World, Arfoire, has defeated the four CPUs of Gamindustri. It is now up to their younger sisters to free them from captivity.

Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune and younger sister to Neptune, sets out on her quest with IF and Compa to regain Gamindustri’s prosperity, stop the syndicate of evil that Arfoire created, and set her sister free! During her travels across the world, Nepgear will encounter friends new and old, meet the other CPU Candidates, and take care of any monsters that stand in her way in this classic JRPG tale of good versus evil!

Even the plot description defies all logic and sense! Thankfully, Wikipedia users have deciphered the madness with a pretty in-depth Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 entry. You’ll probably want to read it a few times before February 28.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Resident Evil 6 infects stores on November 20

Posted on January 19, 2012 by John Scalzo

Capcom executives have been hinting at a sixth game in the Resident Evil main series for a long time now. And thanks to today’s announcement, it looks like we won’t have much longer to wait. The publisher has announced that Resident Evil 6 will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 20. A PC version will be released sometime after that.

Like a BOW, Resident Evil 6 will mix and match pieces from previous games in the series while adding something new. Capcom is referring to the game’s setting as “dramatic horror,” a hybrid of the action horror of RE4/RE5 and the survival horror of the first three games. RE6 will also bring back Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield, playable in the same game for the first time. They will be joined by a new group of characters as the zombie pandemic has reached gloabal proportions:

It has been ten years since the Raccoon City incident and the President of the United States has decided to reveal the truth behind what took place in the belief that it will curb the current resurgence in bioterrorist activity. Due to be by the President’s side is his personal friend and Raccoon City survivor, Leon S. Kennedy, but when the venue suffers a bioterrorist attack, Leon is forced to face a President transformed beyond recognition and make his hardest ever decision. At the same time, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance member Chris Redfield arrives in China, itself under threat of a bioterrorist attack. With no country safe from these attacks and the ensuing outbreaks, the entire world’s population is united by a common fear that there is no hope left.

Capcom has also released a trailer for Resident Evil 6, and you can check it out for yourself by shambling past the break. (more…)

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