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.

Cars 2: The Game races into 3D on PS3

Disney’s Cars 2 will be racing to theaters this Summer and, as expected, the Pixar production will be towing a video game adaptation behind it.

Cars 2 on the PS3 will take things a step further by bursting out of the screen in full 3D. If the game detects a 3D TV, the it will automatically adjust so gamers “experience 3D in every aspect of gameplay” including combat racing, menus and multiplayer.

“The advancement of 3D technology will allow us to immerse the player into the Cars 2 game environment in a whole new way,” said John Blackburn, vice president and general manager of Avalanche Software, developer of Cars 2. “The 3D effects will ratchet up gameplay in ways that will have fans’ hearts pounding when they embark on dangerous spy missions, while our innovative multiplayer with four simultaneous 3D ports will bring a whole new dimension to PS3 gaming.”

Cars 2 will be available for the DS, PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 on June 21st.

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

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City teaser shambles to unlife

Do you pine for the days of Resident Evil 2? If the idea of a city overrun with the undead is your idea of a good time, the recently announced Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City surely tickles your zombie bone. So the newly released teaser trailer above is sure to get your blood pumping (unless you are a zombie that is).

Give it a watch for a glimpse at Leon Kennedy’s appearance in the game and check out the large, trenchcoated figure at 0:41 into the video, which is definitely Nemesis.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this Winter.

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

Rumor: Animator says he worked on God of War IV

The Internet is alight with rumors today that Sony is secretly working on God of War IV. Of course, how secret can it be when the Sony Santa Monica’s Director of Product Development, John Hight, told GamerVision during an interview last year that the studio always planned to create more God of War games.

But the source of today’s rumor is Chanik “Craig” Hwang’s LinkedIn profile. According to Hwang’s LinkedIn resume, during his employment at Motion Logic Studios, he claims to have worked on a “Game Cinematic Test for God of War 4.” The job listing has since been deleted from his resume. A similar claim was made on his personal website, which is also now offline.

Whether or not Hwang was working on God of War IV is pretty irrelevant. Sony Santa Monica has publicly admitted they’re working on a new God of War game and knowing it’ll contain cinematics is like knowing that water is wet. So let’s leave the poor guy alone.

That said, maybe we can hold out hope for an E3 reveal of God of War IV. And Sony is launching a new handheld soon, a portable God of War for the NGP would seem like a no-brainer.

[Source: System Link]

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

“Extreme” deals on Doom II, Crazy Taxi, Halo Wars add-ons this week

If you ever felt the need to take your Xbox Live Marketplace shopping to the next level, does Microsoft have a deal for you. Starting yesterday (and running through April 4th), the consolemaker has discounted 29 items on the XBLM in a promotion it refers to as Extreme Shopping.

I know, I know. “Extreme Shopping” is a terrible name for a promotion. But there are some good deals to be had including sale-priced XBLA titles like Crazy Taxi and Doom II as well as price drops on add-ons for Halo Wars and Red Dead Redemption.

There will also be a few one-day deals on April 1st including deep discounts on Comic Jumper, Deadliest Warrior, the Fable III Understone Quest Pack and Fallout: New Vegas‘ Dead Money add-on.

The full list of discounted games is after the break. Happy shopping and watch out for zombies. (more…)

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Moon Diver, Free Realms, Rush ‘N Attack on PlayStation Store this week

It’s another huge week for PlayStation Store updates.

Yesterday, Sony added seven PlayStation 3 games to the store including Split/Secend, the reality TV racer; Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot, a new take on Konami’s other side-scrolling shooter series; Chime Super Deluxe, an enhanced version of the popular puzzle game; Sonic The Hedgehog, the first game from Sega’s signature speedster; Free Realms, the free-to-play MMORPG; Moon Diver, a new sword-swinging side-scroller from the creator of Strider; and Episode 2, “Get Tannen!”, of Back To The Future: The Game. Wow. That’s quite a list.

The portable PlayStation Store also got a big update this week as four PSP games were added. They include new releases WWE All-Stars, The 3rd Birthday and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky as well as a PSP release of Dragon’s Lair.

More information on all of these games can be found after the break or at the PlayStation.Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

MetaCritic drops aggregate developer scores

Just as quickly as it appeared, now it’s gone. In light of criticism across the Internet, MetaCritic has dropped the aggregate developer scores for individual members of the video game industry.

Metacritic founder Marc Doyle explained the reversal to Eurogamer: “Although our credits database (which is powered by our sister site GameFAQs) is growing, as our users’ feedback has indicated, it is a work in progress and is not nearly as comprehensive as it needs to be to accurately provide a career score for these individuals. As such, we have removed that career score from the pages dedicated to creative individuals behind games on Metacritic.”

While aggregate developer scores may be dead, Doyle still wants to turn MetaCritic/GameFAQs into the IMDB of the video game industry: “We are still very much committed to building a credits database, and welcome your participation in that process.”

I hope the aggregate scores return some day, I thought it was a cool idea.

Posted in News |

L.A. Noire becomes first game selected for Tribeca Film Festival

L.A. Noire, Team Bondi’s upcoming take on the hardboiled detective story, has become the first video game ever to be honored as an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“We’re thrilled that L.A. Noire is being recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival in this way,” said Sam Houser, Founder of the game’s publisher Rockstar Games. “It’s a real honor, and another step forward for interactive entertainment.”

Publisher Rockstar Games will present an exclusive preview of L.A. Noire as part of the Tribeca Talks series. The presentation will take place on April 25 and feature a live interactive screening of a case from L.A. Noire, followed by a Q&A exploring the crossover between filmmaking and “interactive entertainment.”

Geoff Gilmore, Tribeca Enterprises’ Chief Creative Officer was extremely impressed with how L.A. Noire has been coming together: “What Rockstar and Team Bondi have accomplished with L.A. Noire is nothing less than groundbreaking. It’s an invention of a new realm of storytelling that is part cinema, part gaming, and a whole new realm of narrative expression, interactivity, and immersion. We are poised on the edge of a new frontier.”

L.A. Noire will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 17.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Bethesda bringing Rage to bookstores in novel tie-in

Bethesda Softworks and Del Rey have announced they’ll be teaming up to produce a tie-in novel based on id Software’s Rage.

The novel, which will also be called Rage, will be written by Matt Costello. Costello has some experience working with id Software. Not only did he write the game, but he also previously adapted two novels based on Doom 3 (Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom).

The novel will feature a similar story to the game in that a lone human emerges from an Ark and finds the Mad Max-like world on the outside:

When Lt. Nick Raine emerges from his Ark, he finds the human race has not been wiped out. And people, as resilient as they are, are scraping together a new world from the rubble of the old. This was not what anyone in the Arks expected–a new society where might is right, mutants plague the Earth, and “friend” is a term for the person who hasn’t stabbed you in the back.

The novel is scheduled for release on August 30 and will appear alongside a Dark Horse-published prequel comic book series. So there’s plenty of Rage tie-in stories to go around.

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