Warp Zoned Presents
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Warp Zoned Presents
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Author: John Scalzo
See the Halo 4 trailer again
While it’s still over a year away, the announcement of Halo 4 has overshadowed pretty much everything to come out of Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference. In case you missed the trailer during the show, here it is again.
Halo 4 is in development at 343 Industries and will be released in late 2012.
Halo CE Anniversary priced at $40, includes “Classic” graphics mode
Microsoft’s announcement of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary may not have surprised anyone, but some of the newly announced details just might.
The good news is that Halo Anniversary won’t be sold as a full-priced game. Recognizing the fact that the majority of the Xbox 360 userbase already owns the game, Microsoft has slapped a $39.99 MSRP on the re-release. And according to Frank O’Connor, the Halo Franchise Director, the game will also include a layered graphics engine that recreates the fell of Halo: Combat Evolved while layering the high definition makeover on top of it. Players will be able to switch back and forth between the graphics filters on the fly with a single button press, as we see in the trailer above. The game will also include links to the upcoming Halo 4 in the form of unlockable motion graphics that will tell the backstory and “foreshadow new mysteries” of the fourth game in the series.
Six multiplayer maps from Halo: Combat Evolved will be remade in Halo Anniversary using the Halo: Reach engine with a seventh redesigned as a Firefight map. “Damnation” is the first confirmed map and Microsoft promises to reveal more during HaloFest at the PAX Prime this Summer.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is being developed by 343 Industries, Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity and will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on November 15.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2011, Halo: Combat Evolved
Summer of Arcade 2011 begins July 20; Toy Soldiers 2, Bastion, Fruit Ninja, more included
Microsoft has announced they’re bringing back the Summer of Arcade for a fourth go around this Summer.
Beginning July 20th, the promotion will last for five weeks and feature five of the biggest Xbox Live Arcade games in development. The full lineup includes:
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War, the sequel to the popular Toy Soldiers, but now with a “G.I. Joe” twist
- Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, a side-scroller that reminds me a little of last year’s Limbo with a UFO
- Fruit Ninja Kinect, the popular iPhone game comes to the Xbox 360 and your whole body becomes a slicing and dicing machine
- Bastion, an action RPG that really impressed us at this year’s PAX East.
- From Dust, a god game from the creator of Out of This World
Microsoft hasn’t nailed down the Summer of Arcade release schedule yet, so nobody knows what order the games will be released in just yet. Hit the jump for more details on all the games and be sure to check out the Summer of Arcade E3 trailer at Xbox.com. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Bastion, E3 2011, From Dust, Fruit Ninja Kinect, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Toy Soldiers: Cold War
Brothers In Arms: Furious 4 is full of basterds
There’s a thin line between “delightful homage” and “copyright infringement” and Gearbox’s next game, Brothers In Arms: Furious 4, dances right along it. Furious 4 brings the Duke Nukem Forever developer back to World War II with a squadron of soldiers who use some rather… unorthodox… methods when fighting Nazis behind enemy lines.
The game will offer a four-player co-op allowing you and all your friends to play as Stitch, a crazed guy who employs a tazer; Crockett, a Texan who carries a six-shooter and a cattle brand; Chok, a Native-American who throws a mean hatchet; and Montana, the big bruiser with the minigun (every game’s gotta have one). Their mission is to track down Hitler himself while battling a “secret” army full of Nazi “experiments.”
So yeah, it’s basically Inglourious Basterds: The Game.
Ubisoft will release Brothers In Arms: Furious 4 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.
Ninja Gaiden III E3 trailer is bloody awesome
Tecmo Koei has released the E3 trailer for Ryu Hayabusa’s next adventure and it looks like the ninja will be emerging on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in early 2012. This is the first time the series has debuted on both HD consoles at the same time.
Oh, and this trailer is not for the squeamish. Tomonobu Itagaki may have left Team Ninja, but the trailer is full of blood and guys and some absolutely awesome ninja action.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2011, Ninja Gaiden 3
MS @ E3 11: Halo 4 announced, coming in 2012
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary isn’t the only Halo game Microsoft was ready to announce at this year’s E3 Expo. The publisher has just confirmed that Halo 4 is in development at 343 Industries and will be released near the end of 2012.
The teaser trailer is short, just a few seconds of Cortana waking the Master Chief from cryostasis before his ship explodes. Halo 4 is described as the “dawn of a new trilogy for the Xbox 360,” so you can be sure the Xbox 360 will be around for a long time. And, if you think about it, this is also an announcement for Halo 5 and Halo 6.
But that’s the end of the show. Hope you enjoyed the 2011 E3 Press Conference from Microsoft.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2011, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite
MS @ E3 11: More Kinect announcements include Kinect Sports 2, Dance Central 2
More Kinect announcements continue to escape from Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference.
Now up is Kinect Sports: Season 2. Developed by Big Park, the second Kinect Sports title will include skiing, baseball, golf, darts, tennis and football.
And as was hinted at earlier, Harmonix’s Dance Central 2 was announced with multiplayer dancing. Oh yeah, it’s a party now!
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Dance Central 2, E3 2011, Kinect Sports Season 2
MS @ E3 11: Star Wars, Disneyland Adventures, Sesame Street come to Kinect
Just like last year, the 2011 Microsoft E3 Press Conference was all about Kinect.
Microsoft has partnered with Disney to bring Disneyland Adventures to Kinect. Minigames based on Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and other Disneyland attractions will keep the kids busy for a good long time.
More for the kids came from Tim Schafer, who showed off Double Fine’s Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. A storybook-themed romp through the Sesame Street world. He also apparently has the cutest daughter in the world and is very proud he finally gets to make a game for her.
An extended look at Kinect Star Wars makes the gesture controls used in the game look pretty spectacular. For those that didn’t jump on the Dance Central bandwagon, this may be the Kinect’s killer app for a lot of people. Fighting battledroids involves blocking blaster bolts with a Lightsaber and then counterattacking. But the demo got good when it ended with the promise of a duel with two dual-Lightsaber wielding Sith.
And speaking of Dance Central… rumor has a sequel is coming up soon in the Microsoft Press Conference.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2011, Kinect Star Wars, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster