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: Skylanders SuperChargers, FIFA 16, Blood Bowl II, more

Posted on September 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

skylanderssuperchargers

Today is the first day of Fall and that means that Activision and Vicarious Visions are back with another entry in the popular Skylanders franchise. This time, the Skylanders will hop into a variety of different vehicles in Skylanders SuperChargers, which is now available to download through the Xbox Games Store on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. “Epic adventures over land, under sea, and through the sky” are promised, but you’ll need to own a Portal of Power from a previous Skylanders game to experience it all.

Also available to download this week is a pair of sports titles that use a football field in two very different ways. EA’s FIFA 16 (Xbox One, Xbox 360) is a traditional soccer simulation that features hundreds of teams from across the world. And in a first for the franchise, it also features 16 women’s teams that were part of this year’s World Cup. However, the other side of the pitch is occupied by Blood Bowl II, a turn-based strategy game that melds American football with the fantastic characters found in the Warhammer universe.

Finally this week, two arena fighters will battle it out for your gaming dollar. In this corner, Golden Ruby Games will release Extreme Exorcism, a supernatural single-screen arena fighter, for the Xbox One. And in this other corner, Self Made Miracle will release Penarium, an arena game set in a sinister circus, for the Xbox One.

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

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

Skylanders SuperChargers, FIFA 16, Blood Bowl II, Soma, more added to PS Store

Posted on September 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

skylanderssuperchargers

The Skylanders are back, and if you already own a Portal of Power, you can download Skylanders SuperChargers for the PS3 and PS4 from the PlayStation Store right now.

If Activision’s game/toy hybrid isn’t for you, there’s plenty of other new releases available this week including FIFA 16 (PS4, PS3), EA’s latest soccer simulation; Blood Bowl II (PS4), Cyanide’s second crack at “fantasy” football; and Soma (PS4), Frictional’s horrific follow-up to Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

The PlayStation Store is particularly stacked this week as further down the new release list is Extreme Exorcism (PS4 + PS3 Cross-Buy), a supernatural single-screen arena fighter from Golden Ruby Games; Laserlife, the latest game from Bit.Trip developer Choice Provisions; and Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma – Volume 1 (PS4), another ultra-violent martial arts saga based on the anime series.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And you can check in with the PlayStation Blog to take a gander at this week’s new game add-ons and discounts. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita | Tagged , , , ,

Hyrule Warriors Legends won’t offer stereoscopic 3D option on older 3DS models

Posted on September 22, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Hyrule Warriors will be released on the 3DS sometime next year, but it looks like Nintendo and Koei Tecmo have been forced to make some compromises to get it to run on the handheld.

Speaking to 4Gamer, Producer Hayashi Yosuke revealed that the handheld version of the game, which will be known as Hyrule Warriors Legends, will only support stereoscopic 3D on the New 3DS or New 3DS XL. This limitation was imposed on the game due to the extremely high number of enemies and graphical effects that Hyrule Warriors throws at players in every level. Thankfully, the processor found in the New 3DS is able to sidestep these limitations due to its beefier hardware configuration.

Yosuke also confirmed that Hyrule Warriors Legends will include every previously-released downloadable expansion on the cartridge, as well as Amiibo support (which was available on the Wii U version as well). It should be available in stores sometime in early 2016.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged ,

Extreme Exorcism Review: This House Was Cleaned… With a Twelve-Gauge Double-Barreled Remington

Posted on September 22, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Golden Ruby’s Extreme Exorcism is what you get when you combine the single-screen baddie-bashing of something like Mario Bros. with the pattern memorization requirements of the most chaotic Treasure shoot ’em up. Toss in a throwback retro look and an Army of Darkness-style arsenal, and you’ve got yourself a game.

But there’s got to be more to Extreme Exorcism than that, right? Of course, and the power of Christ compels you to read on… (more…)

Posted in PC, PS3, PS4, Reviews, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox One | Tagged

Dontnod will release the final episode of Life Is Strange on October 20

Posted on September 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

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The world of Life Is Strange will come to a close on October 20. Dontnod Entertainment announced the release date for the finale of their episodic game series on Twitter today, which hints at an apocalyptic end for Max, Chloe, and the rest of Arcadia Bay:

In keeping with the game’s photographic theme, the final episode has been titled Polarized by Dontnod. Once again, if all goes well, it’ll be available to download for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 20.

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

A launch trailer for Lego Dimensions jumps into view ahead of next week’s launch

Posted on September 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

Lego Dimensions is just a week away and WB Games has given us one final look at it in the launch trailer embedded above. It features a lot of the same stuff we’ve seen from the game before including various scenes of Batman, Gandalf, and Scooby-Doo being awesome. But we also get two seconds of Bart Simpson on a Hoverboard… so that’s definitely something new!

Lego Dimensions will be available this Sunday, September 27, on the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Bandai Namco adds Fire Emblem, Xenoblade characters to Project X Zone 2 in TGS trailers

Posted on September 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

To prepare fans for Project X Zone 2, Bandai Namco unveiled two new trailers for the game during last week’s Tokyo Game Show. The nearly four-minute “Brave New World” trailer, embedded above, delivers an extended look at many of the game’s characters and a good chunk of gameplay. But its the second trailer, available after the break, that will definitely get gamers talking.

New challengers enter the arena as characters from a fourth company will join Bandai Namco, Sega, and Capcom in the massive crossover event. Nintendo will lend Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles and Chrom and Lucina from Fire Emblem: Awakening to Project X Zone 2. Bandai Namco also confirmed that KOS-MOS, from Xenosaga, will make a return appearance in the strategy franchise.

Project X Zone 2 is all set to be released for the 3DS on February 16, 2015. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Tokyo Game Show 2015 Recap Edition

Posted on September 20, 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…

It’s Tokyo Game Show time and a number of big announcements were made in Japan this past week.

However, the biggest news this week happened in the most American of places. Walmart revealed that they will offer a store-exclusive Deluxe Edition of Star Wars: Battlefront that comes packaged with a mini fridge depicting Han Solo frozen in Carbonite. My says mind says, “Thank the maker,” while my wallet complains, “I’m going to be empty again, aren’t I?”

Finally this week, Andrew Rainnie interviews Director Neal Laurenza of Skymap Games about his upcoming platformer, Bacon Man.

More news from the week that was can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |