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.

Next EA Sports NBA sim coming in 2012

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

The cancellation of NBA Elite 11 left a big gaping hole in EA Sports’ release schedule last year. And now it looks like the simulation series will be skipping 2011 as well. In a statement released yesterday, EA Sports announced that their next NBA simulation title will launch in Fall 2012.

Interestingly enough, the NBA Elite title is never used in the statement, meaning that EA’s basketball series may receive yet another rebranding, even though a game bearing the NBA Elite name was never released.

“As planned, our next NBA simulation title is in development at our Tiburon Studio in Orlando,” said Peter Moore, President, EA Sports. “We have top talent on the game, and we’re giving the new development team time to deliver a superior experience. We’re making great strides and looking forward to launching a new game next year.”

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NBA Jam: On Fire Edition burning up PSN, XBLA in October

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

NBA Jam began its life on the PS3 and Xbox 360 as a downloadable bonus for EA’s new basketball sim, NBA Elite 11. After Elite crashed and burned before it was even released, EA went ahead and brought gave the now expanded NBA Jam a PS3/Xbox 360 retail release. But it looks like the download plan is back on for the sequel, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.

The On Fire Edition will be added to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this October (presumably with a pricetag that’s less than $50). According to NBA Jam’s producer, Trey Smith, the game will include a ton of updates, many of them driven by fan feedback:

  • Real AI: Featuring the ground-breaking AI system used in the Fight Night franchise that learns your tendencies and throws them back in your face.
  • Jam Arena: Play solo, or team up with friends and take on the world in a new, dynamic online competition.
  • Road Trip: A cooperative online campaign where you can team up with friends and compete in a series of white-knuckle challenges against the current superstars and timeless legends from each of the 30 NBA Teams.
  • Tag Mode and Team Fire Return!: Swap players “on the fly” and ignite your entire team by performing consecutive cooperative moves!
  • More NBA Jam Hotness: Online roster updates, more NBA superstars, legendary NBA players, over-the-top animations, Jam Challenges, secret teams and unlockable characters than ever before!

I’m thrilled that Tag Mode is back, that was my prime annoyance with last year’s NBA Jam.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

StarDrone, Red Faction Battlegrounds added to PSN

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s Tuesday and Sony has added two new games to the PlayStation Store along with a huge batch of PlayStation Plus content and other discounts.

This week’s featured release is StarDrone, a “high-speed action thriller with a mix of arcade action, pinball, breakout, physics and collect-the-objects — and it supports PlayStation Move.” Whew. The game should win awards just for the awesome description. Also available this week is Red Faction: Battlegrounds, a vehicular combat spin-off of the popular Red Faction series.

PlayStation Plus users will get a free download of one of the greatest games of all time, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. And lovers of discounts can get the excellent Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for $7.49.

More information on this week’s releases can be found after the jump and more details on all the new add-ons added to the PlayStation Store can be found at the PlayStation.Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

Capcom celebrates 15 years of Resident Evil with five games

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

Capcom is resurrecting a ton of games for the 15th anniversary of the Resident Evil series. Not only that, but the publisher is injecting some new blood into the series with a pair of original games. And they want to get that blood pumping with the new trailer above that showcases all of these titles.

First up there’s Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, a multiplayer 3DS game based on the “Mercenaries” mode found in previous games in the series. And speaking of previous games in the series, the trailer also includes another look at the PSN/XBLA HD versions of Resident Evil: Code Veronica X and Resident Evil 4.

Capcom plans to bring out the new stuff later in the year including the return of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Revelations (also for the 3DS). And capping the celebration is a return to the RE2/RE3 era in the brand new Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (which is coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360).

That is a lot of Resident Evil and this is a pretty neat trailer.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

Michael Jackson: The Experience trailer will make you want to dance

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

Trailers featuring teenage and twentysomething models getting super excited about some game they’ve likely never played are often embarrassingly bad. But this trailer for the Kinect version of Michael Jackson: The Experience is actually pretty entertaining. Sure, they’re all faux-excited, but “Smooth Criminal” is still as awesome as ever.

Michael Jackson: The Experience will be released for the Xbox 360 (powered by Kinect) on April 12th. A PS3 version will also ship to stores on the same day.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

PopCap goes experimental with 4th & Battery label

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

As if Plants vs Zombies wasn’t weird enough, PopCap Games has announced 4th & Battery, a new label for “smaller, simpler, and sometimes edgier games.”

“4th & Battery is a pressure valve intended to keep our heads from exploding,” explained Ed Allard, Executive Vice President of Studios at PopCap. “The PopCap brand has become closely associated with ultra-high quality, polish and attention to detail – which is a great thing. But our standard game development process is therefore long and involved, and doesn’t really accommodate all of the creativity pumping through our collective veins. 4th & Battery gives us a way to quickly try really strange or marginal ideas, and to give our designers a safe area to hone their chops.”

“Expect weirdness,” Jason Kapalka, Chief Creative Officer at PopCap, added.

To that end, 4th & Battery has announced their first game, Unpleasant Horse. The iPhone title will be added to the App Store later this month and it definitely brings the crazy:

Players take on the role of – wait for it! – a strikingly unpleasant horse that sports wings and advances through the game by destroying small birds and landing on more pleasant horses from above. Landing atop other horses enables the player to force them earthward into a perpetual meat grinder for extra points and special bonuses.

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Fools! Final Fantasy V being remade on PSN

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

Square Enix’s European arm has announced that Final Fantasy V will be coming to the PSOne Classics Store soon as a special PSN-exclusive edition.

Final Fantasy V on the PlayStation Store will be based on the PSOne version (with its Active Time Battle system) that was released as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology. Even though that version of FFV is playable in your PS3, Square Enix is adding “all-new [and exclusive] CG cinematic sequences” to the game in hopes of encouraging PS3 owners to buy the new PSN version. As with all PSOne Classics, it’ll also be playable on the PSP.

An American release has yet to be announced, but I’m sure one will be announced sooner or later.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

Make time for Spider-Man: Edge of Time teaser trailer

Posted on April 4, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision has unveiled the first teaser trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time. The time-jumping adventure is being developed by Beenox and seems to share a lot of similarities with their last Spider-Man game, Shattered Dimensions (even though Activision said the two games aren’t connected at last weekend’s WonderCon).

We’ll find out just how similar they are this Fall when Spider-Man: Edge of Time swings into stores.

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