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.

Nintendo Download: Pandora’s Tower, Wind-Up Knight 2, more

Posted on August 13, 2015 by John Scalzo

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One of the last major games released for the Wii, Pandora’s Tower, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop. Developed by Ganbarion, and originally released in April 2013, Pandora’s Tower tells the “haunting tale [of] a cursed young woman’s slow transformation into a hideous beast, and the lengths to which the man she loves will go in order to save her.” Best of all, it’s priced at $20, well below the price tag most online retailers are currently seeking for a new copy.

Over on the 3DS eShop, there’s a pair of new licensed that should keep all the kids out there entertained. Paddington: Adventures in London asks players to guide the titular bear through the streets of London as he does good deeds for its citizens. And in Garfield Kart, players get behind the wheel in a kart racing game that stars the lasagna-eating cat and all his friends. I’ll let someone else make the Toonces joke…

Actually, I might be the only one that still remembers Toonces.

Anyway, more information on all of this week’s new eShop releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged

Final Fantasy XV will be released in every territory on the same date

Posted on August 13, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Final Fantasy XV is expected to be released sometime in 2016. We don’t yet know the exact date, but we now know that the game will receive a simultaneous global launch… a first for the series. Director Hajime Tabata confirmed the good news to to GameSpot during last week’s Gamescom expo:

“This may be something that we are little bit embarrassed to talk about, but really, this is the first time that we’ve done a packaged, standalone Final Fantasy game with a simultaneous global launch, so we didn’t have the setup to deal with that, really. The first thing we had to do was rearrange our internal structure to create something that could do that. That was the first important work on the project.”

Typically, it takes three-to-six months after its Japanese launch for a game in the Final Fantasy series to make its English-language debut. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the most recent game in the series (not counting Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and its expansion) and it made it across the Pacific in a relatively quick two months and 21 days.

Final Fantasy XV is in development for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Super Mario Maker “Overview Trailer” tells us everything we need to know about the game

Posted on August 13, 2015 by John Scalzo

If you speak Japanese, there’s a very good chance you saw this Super Mario Maker “Overview Trailer” a few weeks ago when it was uploaded by Nintendo Japan. But the newly-released English translation now gives the rest of the world a chance to learn all about one of this Fall’s biggest games.

First things first, Nintendo has confirmed that would-be course creators won’t be overwhelmed with hundreds of options right out of the gate. Super Mario Maker will start players off with “the essentials” (bricks, Question Blocks, Goombas, Super Mushrooms, etc) and unlock new items over a span of nine days.

Super Mario Maker will also double as a music maker as players will be able to drop sound effects on any course they create and even record their own. The new Music Block will even allow players to “compose” their own songs that can be triggered by Mario as he runs past.

Finally, gave us a glimpse at more Amiibo-powered guest characters as Nintendo confirmed that “more than 50” figures will be compatible with Super Mario Maker. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Bowser aren’t much of a surprise. But the list also includes Mega Man, Pac-Man, Sonic, Star Fox, Splatoon‘s Inklings, Little Mac, Samus Aran, Pikachu, and many others.

Super Mario Maker will be released exclusively for the Wii U on September 11.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Capcom confirms that a Resident Evil 2 remake is in development

Posted on August 13, 2015 by John Scalzo

Because the fans asked for it, Capcom is finally ready to announce that a remake of Resident Evil 2 is in development at Capcom R&D Division 1.

Shouting the words, “We Do It!” (and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the same), Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has promised to deliver the gameplay experience fans have been waiting for. However, the project is very early in development and we don’t yet know what platforms it’s coming to or even when it’ll be released. Hirabayashi also said it may be long time before we hear anything else about it.

In the meantime, the developer wants everyone to remember that a remaster of Resident Evil 0 is still on track for an early 2016 release for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Posted in News | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Toy Soldiers: War Chest, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Prototype 1+2

Posted on August 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Four new Xbox One games are available to download through the Xbox Games Store today. Though, to be more accurate, only one of this week’s new releases is brand new. One is actually an Xbox One port of an Xbox 360 game, while the final pair of games are newly standalone titles that were originally part of a bundle that has been available for a few weeks.

Today’s lone new release is Toy Soldiers: War Chest for Signal Studios. The third game in the strategic series includes four original toy armies, which can do battle with forces from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (G.I. Joe and Cobra), He-Man: Masters of the Universe, and Assassin’s Creed II. These bonus armies are available from the start in the Hall of Fame Edition, and can be purchased as DLC if you opt for the standard edition.

Also available today is Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons from Starbreeze. Originally released in 2013, the co-op puzzle platformer is now available on the Xbox One.

Finally this week, Prototype and Prototype 2 have been decoupled from the “Biohazard Bundle” and can be purchased individually on the Xbox One for the first time.

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

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged , , ,

Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 4 will launch on August 18

Posted on August 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Telltale Games and Gearbox Software have announced that the fourth episode of Tales From the Borderlands will be available beginning August 18. The penultimate episode will be known as Escape Plan Bravo (screenshots are available at Telltale’s Blog) and it’s sending the game’s pair of anti-heroes to the frickin’ moon:

In this penultimate episode of the season, captured by Vallory and her goons, Rhys and Fiona are forced to continue the search for the Vault beacon – at gunpoint. The beacon is on the Hyperion moon base – Helios – while our heroes are on Pandora… so there’s the pesky cold void of death known as “space” to overcome. Even with assistance from a familiar face, and with a worryingly helpful Handsome Jack hitching a ride in Rhys’ head, getting on board the ominous “H” is going to take every drop of guile, and quite possibly all the spunk you’ve got. Sacrifices will be made – can you make the tough choices needed to succeed?

As with all of Telltale’s other episodic releases, Escape Plan Bravo will receive a staggered release schedule next week:

  • Tuesday, August 18: PC, PS3, and PS4
  • Wednesday, August 19: Xbox One and Xbox 360
  • Thursday, August 20: iOS and Android

Developers from Telltale will make the trip to this year’s PAX Prime expo to host a special “Crowd Play” presentation of Tales From the Borderlands: Escape Plan Bravo on Saturday, August 29 at 8:30 PM. There will be plenty of giveaways and the entire crowd is expected to help steer the events of the episode.

Telltale’s Job Stauffer says, “Come equipped with your shouty voice.”

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

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Gauntlet, Toy Soldiers: War Chest, more added to PS Store

Posted on August 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

playstationstorelogoSony’s annual PSN Play promotion comes to the end this week with the release of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, a game from The Chinese Room that depicts “very British apocalypse.” But there are plenty of other new releases available this week as well, including…

  • Gauntlet: Slayer Edition brings an updated version of Arrowhead’s franchise reboot (and all its co-op monster-slaying) to the PS4 for the first time.
  • Toy Soldiers: War Chest (PS4) is the third game in Signal’s strategic toy-battling franchise and the first to include armies based on G.I. Joe, He-Man: The Masters of the Universe, and Assassin’s Creed II.
  • Goat Simulator, and its unique brand of open world insanity, makes its way to the PS4 and PS3 for the first time.
  • Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons also makes the jump to the PS4 this week.
  • Finally, the PS4 ports of Prototype and Prototype 2 are now available separately.

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

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

Treyarch reveals more details about the Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta

Posted on August 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

I’m sure you’ve already scoped out the trailer promoting next week’s beta test for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. But late last night, developer Treyarch dropped some additional details about the test on their Community Blog.

Initially, the Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta will feature three maps: “Hunted,” “Combine,” and “Evac.” Others will be available during the course of the test, but here’s what we can expect from the first three:

  • Hunted: This big game hunting lodge is situated beneath a waterfall in the lush mountains of Ethiopia, where rugged terrain opens up to long sightlines and a stealthy underwater pathway.
  • Combine: Set in the remote Egyptian Sahara, this vertical farming and sustainability research facility plays fast and frenetic with tight interiors, an open middle and a dangerous flank path.
  • Evac: An abandoned emergency evacuation zone atop an overgrown rooftop in the middle of Singapore’s flooded quarantine zone.

Treyarch also confirmed the test will include “a range of fan favorite game modes,” such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, Demolition, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, Capture the Flag, and Search & Destroy.

Finally, the developer talked a bit about the eight Specialists, characters with their own “look, personality, voice, and battle-hardened weapons and abilities,” who will be available in the beta. Each Specialist will have a unique backstory and they might even add a kind of narrative to Call of Duty’s often chaotic multiplayer mode.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta test will begin on August 19 for players who’ve pre-ordered the game on the PS4. PC and Xbox One owners will be able to join the fun beginning on August 26.

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