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.

Telltale will unveil The Walking Dead: The Final Season for the first time at PAX East 2018

Posted on April 1, 2018 by John Scalzo

Telltale Games has announced they’ll pull the curtain back on The Walking Dead: The Final Season at next week’s PAX East convention.

The first episode in the concluding chapter of Clemenstine’s story will launch for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices later this year. But first, the developers want to give fans a sneak peek at the game during a panel on Friday, April 6, at 12:30 PM (Eastern Time)…

If you’re unable to attend PAX East this year, you’ll be able to keep up with all the announcements by viewing a livestream of the panel on Twitch (via the PAX East #2 channel). Fans at home will also be able to tune in to an exclusive aftershow on the Twitch channel for Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time).

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

PAX East 2018 attendees will be able to play Dark Souls, No More Heroes, The Messenger, many more at Nintendo’s booth

Posted on March 31, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo always has a big presence at PAX East, and this year’s show will be no different. The consolemaker has announced plans to bring several highly-anticipated games to Boston, including Dark Souls Remastered, No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition…

Playable Demos at Nintendo’s PAX East 2018 Booth

  • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo)
  • Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Nintendo)
  • Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido* (Nintendo)
  • Dark Souls Remastered* (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus* (Bethesda Softworks)
  • No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again* (Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51)
  • SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy* (NIS America)
  • Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy* (Activision)

* Playable by the Public for the First Time

Nintendo will also play host to a Nindies Arcade at its booth, giving players their first chance to try out a few games that debuted during the Nindie Showcas on March 20. The full Nindies Arcade lineup includes…

Playable Demos in Nindies Arcade at Nintendo’s PAX East 2018 Booth

  • Just Shapes & Beats* (Berzerk Studio)
  • Dead Cells* (Motion Twin)
  • The Messenger* (Sabotage and Devolver Digital)
  • Lumines Remastered* (Enhance Games)
  • Runner 3 (Choice Provisions)
  • West of Loathing* (Asymmetric)
  • Pool Panic (Adult Swim Games)
  • Pode (Henchman & Goon)
  • Garage* (TinyBuild Games)
  • Next Up Hero (Aspyr Media and Digital Continue)

* Playable by the Public for the First Time

PAX East 2018 takes place next week, April 5th through the 8th, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Original arcade release of Punch-Out!! is now available to download for Switch

Posted on March 30, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo released the original Punch-Out!! to the delight of arcade gamers everywhere long before Mike Tyson ever stepped into a digital ring. Featuring a familiar lineup of boxers, a wireframe Little Mac, and a unique two-screen design, Punch-Out!! was a smash hit that later inspired the Tyson-led console conversion, as well as a Super NES sequel and a Wii reboot.

But we can talk about the followups later, because earlier today, Hamster Corporation surprised us all by adding the arcade edition of Punch-Out!! to the Nintendo eShop. Priced at $7.99, Punch-Out!! for the Switch includes the option to display the game’s two monitors side-by-side or in their arcade-authentic vertical orientation.

You can learn more about Punch-Out!! right here…

Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch

Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!! is a sports-action game released by Nintendo in 1984. Watch your opponents’ expressions and moves as you use a variety of punches and defensive moves on your path to become the boxing champion. The game became extremely popular with the double monitor setup, introducing intense boxing with dynamic graphics.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Sengoku 3, Alteric added to Xbox Store

Posted on March 30, 2018 by John Scalzo

A pair of new games are now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store…

Hamster Corporation reached back into the NeoGeo archives once more and pulled out Sengoku 3, a side-scroller originally released by SNK in 2001. And Goonswarm has released Alteric, a side-scroller with “bright minimalistic graphics and hardcore gameplay.”

You can learn more about both games right here…

Now Available on Xbox Games Store – 3/30/18 [Major Nelson]

Sengoku 3
Sengoku 3 is a side-scrolling action game released by SNK in 2001. In order to purge malicious souls, Shinobi travel the world to defeat the undead. Cut, smash, throw, and use weapons as well as Ninja Arts and Ultimate Ninja Arts in this hyper-action ninja game.

Alteric
You are alone. Are you lonely? You’re lost. Or stuck? Somewhere… but where? And most importantly, who are you? Only Yesterday You Were A Man. Today Everything Has Changed. You Died. But your soul is still there. It’s a piece of light energy trapped in the alien space between two worlds. Alteric is a single-player 2D platformer with bright minimalistic graphics and hardcore gameplay with physics, gravity, and logic.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

Lindsay Lohan loses appeal in her lawsuit against GTA5 and Rockstar Games

Posted on March 30, 2018 by John Scalzo

grandtheftautov-bikiniThe beancounters at Rockstar Games can rest easy, the Court of Appeals in New York has firmly shot down Lindsay Lohan’s lawsuit against the publisher.

If you recall, the actress originally sued Rockstar in 2014 over her belief that a character from Grand Theft Auto V named Lacey Jonas was based on her “portrait and voice.” The character was regularly depicted in the game’s advertising as a blonde woman in a red bikini, and she also appeared in an optional in-game mission. After lengthy legal proceedings, Lohan’s lawsuit was dismissed in 2016, but she vowed to appeal.

Yesterday, that appeal came up short as New York’s Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in the earlier case. Judge Fahey wrote that even if Lacey Jonas had been inspired by Lohan’s “portrait,” Rockstar cannot be held liable because she’s a fictional character that’s never identified as Lohan in the game:

We conclude that the amended complaint was properly dismissed because the artistic renderings are indistinct, satirical representations of the style, look, and persona of a modern, beach-going young woman that are not reasonably identifiable as plaintiff.

In addition to shooting down her lawsuit, the Court of Appeals also ordered Lohan to pay Rockstar’s court costs.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Penny-Punching Princess, Toki Tori, Clusterpuck 99, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week

Posted on March 29, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another Nintendo eShop update…

This week, NIS America will bring Penny-Punching Princess, an isometric brawler with a capitalist streak, to the Nintendo Switch on Tuesday, April 3.

If you’re a Switch owner who’s also a fan of JRPGs, you’ll be able to download Koei Tecmo’s Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings right now. And Coatsink Software’s Clusterpuck 99, an insane spin on air hockey (with spikes, speed boosts, and more), is also available to download for the platform now.

Finally, one of Two Tribes’s earliest side-scrolling platformers, Toki Tori, will launch for the Switch on March 30 (AKA, tomorrow).

You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U | Tagged

Call of Duty: WWII’s The War Machine DLC Pack will launch for PS4 on April 10

Posted on March 29, 2018 by John Scalzo

Activision and Sledgehammer Games recently announced the first details of Call of Duty: WWII‘s second downloadable expansion.

The War Machine DLC Pack will launch for the PS4 on April 10 with three new multiplayer maps, a new War Mode mission, and the next cooperative chapter in the Nazi Zombies saga. PC and Xbox One players will be able to download the expansion sometime in May, but here’s what everyone can expect from the new content:

Multiplayer Maps
Egypt: For the first time in Call of Duty: WWII, we’re bringing players to the battlefields of Northern Africa and the Egyptia pyramids. Players fight in and around the ancient ruins at Giza with landmarks that you’re sure to recognize. The map features an interior temple in the center that heats up during intense Domination matches with more open exterior lanes to either side. There’s something for everyone, as all ranges and playstyles have a place to call home here.

Dunkirk: Players face off on the sands and beachfront boardwalk of the French sea-side city of Dunkirk. This map features a lage, open and dangerous beach area flanked by tight interiors through the buildings lining the beach-front. Sniping can be effective here, though aggressive running and gunning can also pay off, so keep sharp and watch your angles and surroundings to win the day.

V2: Welcome to V2… a rocket development and test site located in rural Germany. V2 is a tight, ultra-fast paced map that neve lets up for a moment. The launch tower sits at the map center, providing a focal point and an opportunity to grab an elevated sightline on unsuspecting opponents. Short-to mid-range engagements are dominant here, with fast and furious gameplay throughout… don’t blink!

War Mode
Operation Husky: Operation Husky, whose namesake referred to the Allied invasion of Sicily, is centered on an Allied action to etrieve intelligence on the locations of sensitive German targets in the ports of Palermo and Naples. In this exciting new War mode offering, players will gather intel, transmit it to HQ, and then take to the skies to clear the area of enemy fighter planes in order to make way for Allied bombers.

Nazi Zombies
The Shadowed Throne: The Shadowed Throne brings our heroes into the heart of Nazi Germany to confront a desperate and evil regie. Berlin is burning, and Doktor Straub’s monstrous army is hellbent on purging his city of the Allied invaders. Join Marie, Drostan, Olivia, and Jefferson on their descent into madness in a city warped with terror, blood, and war, as Nazi Zombies steps out from the shadows of history.

A few screenshots from Call of Duty: WWII’s War Machine DLC Pack can be found at CallofDuty.com.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

No Man’s Sky will be released for the Xbox One this Summer

Posted on March 29, 2018 by John Scalzo

Hello Games will bring No Man’s Sky to the Xbox One this Summer. Sean Murray sauntered over to the Xbox Wire to deliver the news today, where he also revealed “Next,” the next major update to the game:

Which brings us to Next, our “next step” on a longer journey for us and the No Man’s Sky community. This is our biggest update so far, and something we’ve been working ridiculously hard on. And after its release, we’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky with significant and free content updates on Xbox One. Next has a lot we’re going to surprise people with and I can’t wait until we can share more.

Hello’s space simulation got off to a rocky start after its initial launch for the PC and PS4 in 2016. But a series of free updates has brought No Man’s Sky closer to the developer’s original vision, and reinvigorated the game’s community. PC and PS4 owners of No Man’s Sky will also receive the “Next” update as a free download this Summer.

No Man’s Sky will be available as a retail release (thanks to 505 Games) and as a digital download through the Xbox Games Store. And Xbox One X owners will be able to play an enhanced version of the game with support for HDR, 4K resolution, and more.

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