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.

Blizzard trademarks Mists of Pandaria

Posted on August 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

World of Warcraft players have toppled dragons, demons and the dreaded Lich King, but nothing can prepare them for their next challenge: ninja pandas. Yes, you read that right.

WoW developer Blizzard has filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for Mists of Pandaria, likely making it the title of the next World of Warcraft expansion.

So where do the ninja pandas fit in? Check out this description of Pandaria from WoWWiki:

Pandaren hail from the distant island nation of Pandaria, which non-pandarens have never seen or ever visited to this day. The Pandaren Empire was founded before the Great Sundering of the world, and is believed to be just as old as the kaldorei civilization. It shared and traded resources, goods, ideas and mystic knowledge with the haughty night elves of central Kalimdor in the years before the War of the Ancients. As the night elves’ obsession with the forces of magic drove them to the brink of madness, the gentle pandaren severed ties, withdrew and closed their borders, and left the night elves behind forever.

Obviously, no further details about Mists of Pandaria was revealed by Blizzard.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Wii U release date, price won’t be announced until 2012

Posted on August 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

Nintendo has published the investor’s Q&A that accompanied their quarterly financial report in July. Most of the Q&A relates to the 3DS and its recent price drop, but Nintendo President Satoru Iwata also confirmed that the price and release date of the Wii U won’t be announced until 2012:

“Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific [titles].”

So I guess those of you hoping to get a Wii U surprise at Gamescom, PAX Prime or the Tokyo Game Show will have to find other things to get excited about.

Posted in News, Wii U |

XBLA Today: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Posted on August 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Summer of Arcade continues to light up this dreary season with new Xbox Live Arcade games, but this week’s release is a bit on the somber side.

The almost monochromatic Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet from Fuel Cell Games drops players into the driver’s seat of a spaceship that needs to explore the titular planet. Some early reports even describe it as “Metroid, if Samus never left her ship.”

So if you want to get insane and twisted, you can download Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) now.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Lord of the Rings: War in the North goes forth into stores on November 1

Posted on August 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

Even though most online retailers still list an August 24 release date for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, WB Games has officially announced that the game will be available in North American store shelves on November 1. Australian gamers will get it a day later on November 2 and the game will be available in Europe later in the week on November 4.

While this delay means gamers won’t be able to lead their fellowship into battle anytime soon, it does give them more time to save up for the absolutely insane War in the North Collector’s Edition, which will also be available on November 1.

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

PS Store Today: Dragon Age Origins, Galaga Legions DX, Warhammer 40000 Kill Team

Posted on August 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s Tuesday and Sony has added three new games to the PlayStation Store today.

Leading things off is a downloadable version of BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins ($29.99). Also available this week is Namco Bandai’s Galaga Legions DX and THQ’s Warhammer 40000: Kill Team ($9.99 each).

PlayStation Plus subscribers will also be treated to a good week as the PSN game Crash Commando and PSone Classic Destruction Derby are both available for free.

A complete list of all of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store can be found at the PlayStation.Blog.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged , ,

EA Sports Season Ticket now available

Posted on August 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Leave it to Electronic Arts to take the “online pass” idea to places you never thought it would go. Today, the publisher launched the EA Sports Season Ticket, a new service that’ll provide “premium benefits” in five EA Sports titles (Madden NFL 12, NHL 12, FIFA Soccer 12, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 and NCAA Football 13).

The Season Ticket carries an annual fee of $24.99 on the PlayStation Store (or 2000 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live), subscribers will receive four benefits: the chance to download an EA Sports title three days before the retail disc version is available for sale, a 20-percent discount on in-game DLC, premium web content and membership recognition (a small icon next to your username in the game).

So after EA separates you from your $25, you’ll have access to discounts, a snazzy icon for your PSN username/Gamertag and web content like the premium Creation Center packs for FIFA Soccer 12. According to EA, “these packs provide a deeper set of customization tools and abilities within Creation Center to build your own teams and tournaments.”

But the real meat of the program appears to be the ability to download an EA Sports game three days before the regular folks who have to wait for the disc version. But buyer beware, according to EA, the downloadable version of the game will cease to work after the disc version is available in stores.

Come on EA, what is the point of that?

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

Sucker Punch Productions picked up by Sony

Posted on August 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Sucker Punch Productions has worked exclusively with Sony for twelve years, and it looks like the consolemaker has finally put a ring on that finger. The two companies announced today that Sucker Punch would become the latest internal studio at Sony Computer Entertainment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Sucker Punch Productions is one of the most highly acclaimed development studios in the industry and we have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the company for over 12 years. We are delighted to officially welcome them to the SCE family,” said Shuhei Yoshida, president, SCE Worldwide Studios. “The addition of Sucker Punch to SCE WWS reiterates our dedication to developing world class gaming experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform.”

“We’ve enjoyed an incredible relationship with Sony that has allowed us to combine our creative design capabilities with their guidance to make some of the best franchises to hit the PlayStation platforms. Equally important, the relationship with SCE has provided us the flexibility and trust to take creative risks and invent new properties,” said Brian Fleming, managing partner, Sucker Punch Productions.

Sucker Punch released InFamous 2 in June, but have yet to announce their next project.

Posted in News, PS3 |

Ice-T unveils “Gears of War (Horde 2.0: Five Against All)” music video

Posted on August 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

As promised at E3, Ice-T and Body Count have reunited to bring the world “Horde 2.0 (Five Against All),” a new song inspired by Gears of War 3. The song was released alongside this awesome new gameplay trailer for the game’s Horde Mode.

So listen to the song, watch the trailer and get ready to experience Gears of War 3 on September 20.

Posted in Etcetera, News, Xbox 360 | Tagged