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.

Xbox Store Today: Hyper Void, G Prime: Into The Rain

Posted on January 6, 2016 by John Scalzo

xboxgamesstore-logoTwo new games were added to the Xbox Games Store today, and both are available for the Xbox One.

Hyper Void is a space shooter that offers more than 25 levels of wave-based action and “dangerous big boss encounters.” Elsewhere on the digital storefront, G Prime: Into The Rain is also available to download. Described as a “slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser,” G Prime asks players to successfully navigate a series of obstacles in space.

More information on both of these games can be found right here:

Xbox One Games

Hyper Void ($9.99)
Punch your way through waves and waves of enemies from all races in the universe as you travel through volatile and crazy wormholes, all rendered in high-quality 3D with a heart-pumping progressive soundtrack! Over 25 levels are awaiting you, filled with challenge and dangerous big boss encounters. And if that wasn’t enough, three EPIC boss showdowns will test every space combat skill you have.

G Prime: Into The Rain ($14.99)
Explore the vast uncharted mystery of The Rain, a solar-system spanning shock wave of gas and dust from far, far away. In your role as sounding officer onboard Ptolemy Station you configure and drive sub-etheric reconnaissance rockets into increasingly challenging fields where Iceteroids, theophosphorus, and quicksand clouds make your mission much more work than your employers led you to believe. A gravity gripping, Steampunk styled, moody-beautiful, slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam launch trailer has GIANT PAPERCRAFT BATTLES

Posted on January 6, 2016 by John Scalzo

Nintendo will kick off 2016 with the release of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam for the 3DS on January 22. Paper Jam is the latest “Mario RPG,” but it’ll go above and beyond that moniker by merging the handheld-exclusive Mario & Luigi series with the Paper Mario series for the first time. And, according to the launch trailer embedded above, it’ll also feature… GIANT PAPERCRAFT BATTLES.

I’m not sure it gets said enough, but I kind of love how goofy Nintendo can be.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged

PlayStation Store Today: Amplitude, Rebel Galaxy, Volume for Vita, more

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

amplitudehd-header

Sony has delivered the first PlayStation Store update of the new year and fans of Harmonix’s brand of music-based button-mashing should be very pleased, as the developer released Amplitude for the PS4 today. And in case you were wondering, the trippy visuals support an even trippier story… “Take a trip through the expansive human mind as you seek to awaken your comatose patient and expand her perceptions.”

Also available this week for the PS4 is Rebel Galaxy, Double Damage’s “swashbuckling space adventure” that’s filled with space combat, extraterrestrial exploration, and a bounty of space pirates.

Finally this week, Vita owners can look forward to Mike Bithell’s Volume. If you’ve already purchased the stealth game on the PS4, the Vita version can be yours for free.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new release) can be found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts are available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS4, Vita | Tagged ,

EA Sports UFC 2 gets a March 15 release date and a new gameplay trailer

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

EA Sports announced today that EA Sports UFC 2 will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 15. With a release date in place, the publisher is also ready to open pre-orders for EA Sports UFC 2. Players who purchase the game before March 15 will receive access to a trio of additional fighters including Bas Rutten, “The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba, and a “Mystery Fighter” to be named later. A Deluxe Edition, priced at $69.99, that includes up to $60 of UFC Ultimate Team Premium Packs will also be available.

“Whether fans want to play upcoming cards, recreate the outcome of recent fights, or go back to fight with MMA legends, we’ll help them do that in the most authentic and exciting way ever in an MMA simulation,” said Brian Hayes, the Creative Director at EA Canada. “Our first two pre-order fighters, Bas Rutten and Kazushi Sakuraba are perfect additions to what is already the biggest roster ever for an official UFC game. Adding them is huge, and fans are going to go nuts when we reveal who the mystery fighter is. I can’t wait.”

EA Sports also released a new gameplay trailer to get gamers excited to step into the Octagon once more this Spring. It’s been embedded above.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Platinum confirms that Scalebound will be released in 2017

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Scalebound, an action RPG in development at Platinum Games, was noticeably absent from the “snapshot” of 2016 Xbox One exclusives that Microsoft released yesterday. And now we know why. A post on the developer’s official website has revealed that the game has been delayed into 2017:

Development on the game is going well and we’re really happy with how it’s coming together. Scalebound is one of the biggest games PlatinumGames has ever created: an epic adventure filled with exploration and fantasy gameplay, inventive multiplayer, and action-packed battles on an unbelievable scale – all set in a beautiful and evolving world. It’s the game our team has always dreamed of making.

In order to deliver on our ambitious vision and ensure that Scalebound lives up to expectations, we will be launching the game in 2017. This will give us the time needed to bring to life all the innovative features and thrilling gameplay experiences that we have planned.

Microsoft originally announced Scalebound during their E3 2014 Press Conference and unveiled the first gameplay trailer this past August during their Gamescom Briefing.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged

Rise of the Tomb Raider will officially be released for the PC on January 28

Posted on January 5, 2016 by John Scalzo

riseofthetombraider-header

Square Enix has finally made it official after Steam leaked the news a week ago… Rise of the Tomb Raider will officially be available for the PC on January 28. Lara Croft’s latest will make the jump to the PC with a number of improvements over the Xbox version released in November, including Windows 10 support and a 4K resolution display option.

Players interested in purchasing Rise of Tomb Raider for the PC will get three different bundles to choose from:

  • A $59.99 Standard Edition will be available in stores and online.
  • A $89.99 Digital Deluxe Edition, available only online, will include the game’s Season Pass.
  • A $149.99 Collector’s Edition, available exclusively from the Square Enix Online Store, will include the game, a 12-inch Lara Croft Statue, Replicas of Lara’s Journal and Jade Necklace, a copy of 2013’s Tomb Raider, the Season Pass, and a Collectible Steel Case.

In other Rise of the Tomb Raider news, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has confirmed (via Twitter) that “well over” one million copies of the game have been sold on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 to date.

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

Microsoft offers a “snapshot” of their 2016 Xbox One/Windows 10 exclusives

Posted on January 4, 2016 by John Scalzo

microsoftgamestudios-logo

Microsoft loved to promote their 2015 release schedule as the “Greatest Games Line-Up in Xbox History,” but the publisher plans to continue to use that tagline in 2016. Mike Nichols, the Xbox Division’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing, has posted a look back at some of Microsoft’s achievements from the previous year on the Xbox Wire, but the executive also gave us a “snapshot” of Big Redmond’s 2016 lineup of Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusives.

Most of these release dates are well known, but it’s nice to learn that the Windows 10 version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will be released this Spring. And it looks like Keiji Inafune’s ReCore will also be released for the PC in addition to the Xbox One, though its release date has been changed from “Spring 2016” to “TBA 2016”:

Greatest Games Line-Up in Xbox History Extends to 2016

  • Cobalt (Xbox One / Xbox 360 / Steam) – February 2
  • Killer Instinct: Season 3 (Xbox One / Windows 10) – March
  • Quantum Break (Xbox One) – April 5
  • Fable Legends (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Spring (Open Beta)
  • Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Windows 10) – Spring
  • Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Spring
  • Crackdown 3 (Xbox One) – Summer (Multiplayer)
  • Gears of War 4 (Xbox One) – Fall (Launch) / Spring (Multiplayer Beta)
  • Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One / Windows 10) – Fall
  • Gigantic (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016
  • ReCore (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016
  • Sea of Thieves (Xbox One / Windows 10) – TBA 2016

Microsoft has several other unannounced titles on track for 2016 and will make further “new title reveals” in the coming months.

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

Weekly Warp-Up: Welcome to 2016 Edition

Posted on January 3, 2016 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

The Christmas tree has been taken down and the New Year’s confetti has been cleaned up. Yup, we are officially in the dead zone of video game news. Might as well strike up another round of “Auld Lang Syne” and take in another showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($625 million already, can you believe it?).

Believe it or not, one of the biggest stories from this past week is the announcement that another game in the Bases Loaded franchise is in development in Japan. For someone who played a ton of Bases Loaded back in the NES days, this is definitely big news. But it’s not exactly going to set the world on fire. “Auld Lang Syne” and Star Wars it is.

But before I go, I want to thank all our readers for sticking with Warp Zoned over the last five years. We love what we do and we’re going to keep doing it for as long as possible.

A small batch of news from this past week can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |