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.

Dirt Rally exits Early Access on Steam; PS4/Xbox One launch scheduled for April 5

Posted on December 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

Codemasters has been quietly offering updates and enhancements to Dirt Rally since its release through Steam Early Access in April. Today, the developer is ready to launch the “full version” of their off-road racing game for PC players everywhere. And they’ve also announced that Dirt Rally will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on April 5, 2016.

“The launch on Steam Early Access has been a resounding success. We want to thank the community for their valuable feedback and support which has guided our development for the past eight months, resulting in a 92% positive user score. We are now ready to launch the final version of the game on PC,”” said Frank Sagnier, the CEO of Codemasters. ““Following this success on PC and a vocal demand from consumers, we are delighted to bring Dirt Rally to console players on April 5, 2016.”

With the update, Codemasters has also added a ton of “Winter Wonderland” content to Dirt Rally. The Varmland region of Sweden, which is covered in snow and ice, is your destination for this rally course. And a new gameplay trailer, embedded above, will give you a taste of this “Winter Wonderland” and the rest of the game.

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

Minecraft is coming to the Wii U on December 17; Nintendo-exclusive add-ons in the works

Posted on December 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

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The whimsical world of Minecraft and Nintendo’s colorful sensibilities seem like a match made in heaven. So the frustration that many Nintendo fans feel at the game’s absence from the Wii U is understandable. But that all changes on December 17 when Minecraft: Wii U Edition will be added to the Wii U eShop.

Priced at $29.99, Minecraft: Wii U Edition will include Off-TV Play and six of the most popular add-on packs (Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack, Natural Texture Pack, City Texture Pack, Fantasy Texture Pack, and Festive Mash-up Pack). A huge number of additional add-on packs will be available for Wii U owners on December 17 too:

  • Festive Skin Pack
  • The Simpsons Skin Pack
  • Doctor Who Skins Volume 1
  • Doctor Who Skins Volume 2
  • Star Wars Classic Skin Pack
  • Star Wars Rebels Skin Pack
  • Star Wars Prequel Skin Pack
  • Mass Effect Mash-Up Pack
  • Skyrim Mash-Up Pack
  • Plastic Texture Pack
  • Candy Texture Pack
  • Cartoon Texture Pack
  • Steampunk Texture Pack
  • Pattern Texture Pack
  • Greek Mythology Mash-Up Pack
  • Halloween 2015 Mash-Up Pack

Finally, Nintendo and Mojang also announced that they will collaborate on at least one Minecraft add-on pack in the near future. Minecraft: Mario? Minecraft: Zelda? Minecraft: Metroid? Neither company is talking just yet, but I can’t wait to find out what they have planned.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released as a “multi-part series”

Posted on December 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

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In addition to revealing a new trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix also confirmed the game will eventually be released as a “multi-part series.”

According to the publisher’s complete statement, “[Final Fantasy VII Remake] will be told across a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience.” That doesn’t give us a whole lot to go on, but it sounds like the game could be released episodically, perhaps similar in style to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.

In anticipation of the PlayStation Experience show, the PlayStation Blog’s YouTube Channel also got a chance to talk with Producer Yoshinori Kitase about the game. While he didn’t offer any new details about the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s release schedule, he did confirm that the real-time nature of the gameplay seen in the trailer will somewhat carry over to the final game:

I can’t say the new game is completely action-based, but it has more of that element and real-time than the previous game. However, what makes Final Fantasy and RPG different from other games is that players have the ability to choose weapons, capabilities, and magic to be strategic minded, so while the new game has more real-time element, it will also maintain that strategy building element, balancing these two factors perfectly to enhance the gaming experience.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released for the PS4 “first,” but when that’ll be and in what form it’ll take is anybody’s guess.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: The Game Awards/PlayStation Experience 2015 Recap

Posted on December 6, 2015 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 end of the year is near and that means its time for Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards to crown another “Game of the Year.” The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt walked away with the big prize this year, while also being surrounded by a number of huge announcements:

If you’re on the lookout for more game recommendations, you’re more than welcome to read up on What We Played in November 2015 and our picks for The Games of December 2015. And maybe you might also want to check out this cool sorting tool to help you determine Your Favorite Game of All Time.

And we didn’t even talk about the 2015 PlayStation Experience yet. You can find news from that show (and the rest of the week) after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Devil’s Third, Earth Defense Force 4.1, Earth Defense Force 2, More

Posted on December 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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We’ll probably never learn the truth about what happened with Devil’s Third‘s. But development on the third-person action game is finally complete and the game will be released for the Wii U this week. Originally announced in 2010 as the first game from Tomonobu Itagaki’s Valhalla Game Studios, Devil’s Third was scheduled to launch in 2012 before a series of development difficulties and THQ’s bankruptcy created a huge bottleneck. No one’s really sure what happened in the intervening years, but eventually, Nintendo stepped up and agreed to publish Devil’s Third exclusively for the Wii U. Even with that relationship in place, the publisher has been extremely quiet about Devil’s Third over the last year.

Also on the “New Release Shelf” this week are a pair of bug-bashing sci-fi games: Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for the PS4 and Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space for the Vita. XSEED Games has stepped in for D3 Publisher and completely reworked Earth Defense Force 2025 for the PS4, while also publishing the second game in the series in North America for the first time.

Finally this week, EA is expanding The Sims 4 with The Sims 4: Get Together.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U | Tagged , , ,

No Goblin’s 100 Ft Robot Golf is exactly what you’d expect it to be

Posted on December 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

One hundred foot robot golf.

Close your eyes and let your imagination do its magic to those words. Are you picturing giant robots running between skyscrapers while smacking golf balls with giant clubs? Congratulations, you’ve perfectly sussed out everything you need to know about No Goblin’s upcoming PS4 game, 100 Ft Robot Golf. Oh, and open your eyes, because No Goblin’s Dan Teasdale used a little golf pencil to write up a post on the PlayStation Blog further describing the game:

I love telling people about 100 Ft Robot Golf, because the name instantly describes what this game is. It’s impossibly huge robots playing golf! The twist is that not only are the robots directly controllable in real time, but they’re playing golf in a fully destructible environment. You can now destroy that pesky obstacle that’s blocking your shot to the green, or even push it in the way of one of your golf buddies!

100 Ft Robot Golf will be released for the PS4 sometime in 2016 and also include four-player splitscreen play, a unique single-player Campaign Mode (that focuses on the “stories behind some of the world’s most famous robot golfers”), and support for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged ,

MLB The Show 16 will be released for the PS4, PS3 on March 29

Posted on December 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

Major League Baseball’s free agency period is in full swing, but Sony has confirmed that the MLB The Show series will be staying put in 2016. Announced today at the PlayStation Experience keynote, MLB The Show 16 will be released for the PS4 and PS3 on March 29, 2016. The development team at Sony San Diego laid out their plans for some of MLB The Show 16’s new features, including the slow motion ShowTime mechanic, at the PlayStation Blog:

In MLB The Show 16, you’ll experience baseball’s most epic moments like never before with ShowTime. Using ShowTime, you can slow down critical moments for maximum control. ShowTime offers gamers a powerful new tool to help them excel in those big baseball moments.

Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays has been selected as MLB The Show 16’s cover athlete. The third baseman won the Anerican League MVP award earlier this year, along with the MLB Players Association’s Player of the Year award and the AL Outstanding Player award. Naturally, this gave Sony the idea to also release MLB The Show 16 for the PS4 in an MVP Edition, which will retail for $69.99 and include the following goodies:

  • Limited Edition Steel Book and Packaging
  • 5,000 Stubs
  • 1 Sponsor Pack
  • 10 Standard Packs
  • 31 PS4 MLB Themed Avatars
  • 1 Opening Day Pack

A Digital Deluxe Edition (priced at $99.99) for the PS4 will bump up the number of in-game extras to 11,000 Stubs, 20 Standard Packs, and three Opening Day Packs.

Sadly, it looks MLB The Show 16 isn’t in the works for the Vita, marking the first time the franchise won’t be released for Sony’s handheld.

Posted in News, PS3, PS4 | Tagged ,

Final Fantasy VII, Nuclear Throne, Bastion Vita, more added to PS Store today

Posted on December 5, 2015 by John Scalzo

finalfantasyvii-boxHave you taken a look at the ridiculous new trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake yet? If not, I suggest you should. And if you’re feeling nostalgic, the planned PS4 port of the PSone original is now available to download from the PlayStation Store. Believe it or not, Sony actually added a huge number of games to the PlayStation Store today, check ’em out:

  • Vlambeer’s roguelike-like top-down shooter Nuclear Throne is now available for the PS4 and Vita. This one has been available through Steam Early Access (and on the convention circuit) for a long time, but it’s exciting that it’s finally complete.
  • Supergiant’s action RPG Bastion, which was previously released for the PS4, is now available for the Vita as a Cross-Buy title.
  • The Bit.Trip, the entire Bit.Trip series collected in a single PS4/Vita Cross-Buy package.
  • Fat Princess Adventures, a “comical co-op action RPG” for the PS4 for one-to-four players.
  • Guns Up!, a free-to-play side-scrolling strategy game for the PS4 that merges “enemy base invasion with tower defense”

More details on all of these titles can be found after the break. And don’t forget about all the new PS2-On-PS4 games, which are also available today. (more…)

Posted in News, PS4, Vita | Tagged , ,