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.

Dark Souls III will be released on April 12; Collector’s Edition announced

Bandai Namco and From Software have unveiled a brand new trailer for Dark Souls III, but this one has a surprise at the end… a release date! The publisher and developer have also announced details about Dark Souls III’s Collector’s Edition, which has been priced at $129.99 and will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One. It’ll include a Dark Souls III Game Disc, Collector’s Box, Prima Starter Guide, Official Soundtrack, Official Art Book, Cloth Game Map, and a 10” Red Knight Statue.

Players who pre-order the standard version of Dark Souls III on the PS4 or Xbox One will be upgraded to the special Day One Edition, which will include the Prima Starter Guide, Official Soundtrack, and “Exclusive O-Sleeve Packaging.”

Dark Souls III will also be released for the PC (via Steam) on April 12.

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Double Fine partners with Fig to launch crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2

After years of teasing, Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions are finally ready to announce that development has begun on Psychonauts 2… but wait, there’s a catch.

Like Broken Age and Massive Chalice, Double Fine will partially fund the creation of Psychonauts 2 through a crowdfunding campaign. This time, the development house has teamed up with Fig in an attempt to raise $3.3. million for the game. In addition to the standard crowdfunding reward tiers, backers will also have the opportunity to earn a piece of Psychonauts 2’s profits if they sign up as an Investor through Fig (and if the campaign is successful, of course). Finally, Double Fine has contracted with an external partner to raise the more than $10 million they expect to need for a proper sequel to Psychonauts.

Schafer is quite literally getting the band back together for Psychonauts 2, as multiple members of the original team (including co-writer Erik Wolpaw, artists Peter Chan, Scott Campbell, and Nathan Stapley, composer Peter McConnell, voice actors Richard Horvitz (Raz) and Nicki Rapp (Lili), and voice director Khris Brown) have returned to Double Fine for the sequel. And what a sequel it could be:

In Psychonauts 2, Raz will realize his dreams and visit the Psychonauts Headquarters as a fully established agent. But when he gets there he finds it’s not the perfect place he expected, and he quickly realizes that the Psychonauts need him, more than he needs them.

Psychonauts 2 will feature a new hub world inside Psychonauts HQ. You’ll access new mental worlds as Raz peeks inside the minds of a host of new characters who need his help to combat their inner demons and unravel their deep-seated emotional issues. Raz will hone his secret agent PSI-abilities—and learn new ones too—using them to solve mysteries and uncover evil plots.

If all goes well (and Double Fine has already raised almost a $1 million after in less than a day), Psychonauts 2 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime in 2018.

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The Walking Dead: Michonne is a standalone Telltale Games series that’ll launch in February

Originally announced as a small expansion to The Walking Dead Season 2, Telltale Games revealed that The Walking Dead: Michonne will be released this February as a standalone three-part series during last night’s Game Awards.

Set during Michonne’s previously untold absence from The Walking Dead comic book (issue #126 through #139), Telltale has said that players “will discover what took Michonne away from Rick, Ezekiel, and the rest of her trusted group… and what brought her back.” Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black‘s Poussey Washington) will portray the character throughout the series.

“We’ve been hard at work on this very special exploration of The Walking Dead universe that will further bridge together our game series with the canon of Robert Kirkman’s comic though one of its most complex characters struggling to maintain her own humanity,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “Deeply haunted by the decisions of her past, putting players in the role of a character like Michonne to navigate the broken world around her is an experience that feels uniquely Telltale, and something we simply cannot wait for The Walking Dead fans to play.”

Like Telltale’s other Walking Dead adaptations, The Walking Dead: Michonne is in development for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices.

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Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 includes Leatherface, Xenomorph, Tri-Borg, Bo Rai Cho

NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat X is going to get even crazier in 2016 (and stepping ever closer to Ed Boon’s proposed slasher movie fighting game).

After this year’s Kombat Pack added Jason Voorhees and The Predator to the game, next year’s Kombat Pack 2 is going to double down on horror icons. The new downloadable expansion will see the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Alien‘s Xenomorph burst into the Mortal Kombat arena. Interestingly, the Xenomorph in Kombat Pack 2 will use Baraka as its host, so the Tarkatan’s arm blades made it through the metamorphosis. I’ll give you a moment to get giddy at the possibilities of an Alien with Baraka’s arm blades.

Also included in Kombat Pack 2 will be classic Mortal Kombat characters Bo Rai Cho, the “master of the drunken fist,” and the cyborgs, (Cyrax, Sektor, and Robot Smoke), who have merged together to form Tri-Borg.

All four characters from Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 are expected to be released early next year.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards

gameawards-statueAfter racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.

While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”

Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.

Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.

While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.

A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)

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Nintendo Download: Xenoblade Chronicles X, Pokemon Picross, Dementium Remastered, more

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After a year of surprising new games (Splatoon, Super Mario Maker) and surprising delays (The Legend of Zelda Wii U, Star Fox Zero), Nintendo is finally ready to close out 2015 with what might be their biggest game for the Wii U yet… Xenoblade Chronicles X. The open world sci-fi adventure is packed with mechs, aliens, space battles, and the near extinction of the human race. And that’s just the beginning… the planet of Mira holds many surprises.

Try to forget about next week’s release of Devil’s Third, it causes havoc with my whole intro.

The 3DS eShop is home to a handful of interesting games this week as well. Nintendo is merging their Picross series of picture puzzle games with Pokemon this week in Pokemon Picross. Players will be able to tackle 300 standard puzzles, a “significantly” more difficult Advanced Mode, and Daily Training puzzles. On the opposite end of the cute and cuddly scale is Dementium Remastered, an enhanced remake of Renegade Kid’s first-person horror title.

Finally this week, we swing back around to the Wii U for the release of Trauma Team, a surgery sim from Atlus, and the first third-party Wii game to be added to the Wii U eShop.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)

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FAST Racing Neo will be available for Wii U on December 10

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Shin’en Multimedia has announced that FAST Racing Neo, their sequel to 2011’s FAST Racing League and a spiritual successor to the F-Zero franchise, will be released exclusively for the Wii U on December 10 with a $14.99 price tag:

Nintendo has encouraged the F-Zero comparisons by hosting demo stations of Shin’en’s sci-fi racer at this Summer’s E3 Expo and PAX Prime, helping FAST Racing Neo become one of the most visible “Nindies” in the process.

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Get your fill of aliens, mechs, and monsters in the Xenoblade Chronicles X launch trailer

Nintendo and Monolith Soft will release Xenoblade Chronicles X this Friday, so now seems like the perfect time to dive into a meaty launch trailer for the sci-fi game. Clocking in at more than three minutes, the trailer will give viewers a glimpse at several big moments from the game including character introductions, lush alien locales, monstrous mechs, and several absolutely enormous space battles. There’s also a rather spoilerific stinger at the end, so if you’re the sort who needs to go in fresh, close the video when you hit the three-minute mark.

Xenoblade Chronicles X will be released exclusively for the Wii U on December 4.

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