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.

Weekly Warp-Up: The A-Z of E3 2015

Posted on June 21, 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 time to put a lid on yet another E3 Expo. But this year’s show wasn’t an ordinary E3, it was a like a fan-fiction version of the big show where fans got everything they ever wanted including a Final Fantasy VII remake, The Last Guardian, Shenmue III, Earthbound Beginnings (AKA Mother), Gears of War 4, a Rare compilation including Battletoads and Conker, something new from Rare, and on and on and on. I still feel like I missed something after an entire week of E3-mania.

That said, our own Andrew Rainnie has some advice for Nintendo after their lackluster showing in his editorial, 5 Things Nintendo Needs to Hear After Negative E3 Reaction. But there isn’t anything negative to say about the Nindies@Home offer, that was brilliant.

Anyway, our annual alphabetical rundown of everything E3-related is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in News | Tagged

Ubisoft’s For Honor asks the most important question ever… Knights, Vikings, or Samurai?

Posted on June 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

The fighting prowess of historical societies is one of those great lunchroom debates that will never go away. During this year’s E3 Expo, Ubisoft revealed For Honor, a melee fighter that will put all those theories to the test:

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, For Honor drops gamers into the chaos of a raging battlefield during an ongoing war between three Great Factions: the bold Knights (the Legions), the brutal Vikings (the Warborn) and the enigmatic Samurai (the Chosen). For every battle, players can choose which warrior they want to embody amongst the unique Heroes from this pantheon and use their distinct skills and weapons to fight for land, people and honor, decimating all soldiers, archers and opposing Heroes who stand in their way.

For Honor includes both a thrilling multiplayer and an engaging, single-player campaign, letting players conquer their foes alone or with friends. Tense gameplay mixes the skill and ruthlessness of a shooter with the quick, heat of the battle decision-making of team-based tactical games.

For Honor will include a very unique control scheme, allowing players to have maximum control over their weapon. Dubbed the “Art of Battle” system, Ubisoft’s Jason Vandenberghe dove into the nuts and bolts of the control scheme in a development blog at For Honor’s official website. A second trailer, which discusses the control scheme, as well as gameplay from For Honor’s 4v4 “Dominion Mode,” is available after the break.

For Honor is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. No release date was announced. (more…)

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

Jason Derulo, Mark Ronson, Lady Gaga, and more will dance all night in Just Dance 2016

Posted on June 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

I’ve lost count of the exact number of titles in Ubisoft’s Just Dance series, but like clockwork, the publisher announced another one at this year’s E3 Expo. Just Dance 2016 will include more than 40 new songs when it launches on October 20, 13 of which were announced during the show:

  • The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”
  • Buraka Som Sistema – “Hangover (BaBaBa)”
  • Calvin Harris (Featuring John Newman) – “Blame”
  • David Guetta (Featuring Nicki Minaj, Afrojack, and Bebe Rexha) – “Hey Mama”
  • Equinox Stars – “Let’s Groove”
  • Hatsune Miku – “Ievan Polkka”
  • Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
  • Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”
  • Mark Ronson (Featuring Bruno Mars) – “Uptown Funk”
  • Martin Garrix – “Animals”
  • MAX – “Gibberish”
  • Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
  • Rossini – “William Tell – Overture”

For the first time, players will also be able to subscribe to Just Dance Unlimited, a service that will provide access to the “best tracks” from previous Just Dance games, as well as a variety of exclusive songs. Just Dance Unlimited will launch with more than 150 songs and more will be added to the service throughout the year. The subscription service will be available only on the PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One, alongside three new game modes:

  • Dance Party Mode: In the Dance Party mode, players can dance along with their friends and family in the classic rival mode or dance together to get the highest collective score as a group in the first ever co-op mode.
  • Dance Quests Mode: Players can unlock dance quests for a chance to “beat the game” for the first time ever. In each quest, players will play a series of three songs for a chance to advance to the next set of dance quest challenges.
  • World Video Challenge: The all-new World Video Challenge allows players to send videos of their performances to challenge friends from all around the world and dance to their scores as if they were in the same room!

Just Dance 2016 is also keeping the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 alive as the game will be released for those platforms in addition to the PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One this October.

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

Ghost Recon series returns with reveal of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Posted on June 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

The Ghost Recon series will soon make its return as Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands during this year’s E3 Expo. Wildlands will take place in an open world environment, a first for the series, and tasks players with dismantling the Santa Blanca drug cartel:

Set a few years from now, Ghost Recon: Wildlands lets players lead a team of Ghosts, a four-player U.S. Elite Special Operations unit, on a covert mission to eliminate the Santa Blanca drug cartel, an underworld power and growing global threat within Ubisoft’s imagining of an incredibly beautiful, yet dangerous Bolivia. Ghost Recon: Wildlands takes place in the largest and most diverse action-adventure open world Ubisoft has created to date. With hundreds of villages and well-known landmarks, local legends and various factions and regions, players venture into a vast world with which to interact and explore. The Ghosts’ upgradable skills, along with a vast arsenal of weapons, vehicles and drones, will help them take down their almighty enemy.

The trailer embedded above gives you a good idea how the game’s open world will work. The four members of the team (solo players will get AI companions) can approach the hideout of “White Hat” in many different ways. They can do it quietly with a long range sniper shot, get in close and take him hostage, or go in guns blazing. Other options will surely be available as Ubisoft is promising “complete flexibility” in how players execute missions and complete objectives.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is in development at Ubisoft Paris for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. A release date wasn’t announced, but the publisher recently gave us a quick peek at the inner workings of the game’s open world on the UbiBlog.

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

New Releases: Batman Arkham Knight, Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward, Ride

Posted on June 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

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“As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol… as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting.”

Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight, the final chapter in the Arkham saga, is finally here and if the rumors are true, it might be the final chapter of The Dark Knight’s crimefighting career. But Batman is a symbol and Batman is forever. He will live on. He will return.

Batman: Arkham Knight will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And in case you haven’t upgraded to a current-generation system yet, a PS4 + Batman: Arkham Knight Console Bundle is also available this week.

In non-Batman new release news, Square Enix is finally ready to release the first major expansion for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Titled Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, the MMO will recruit players to fight in the thousand-year Dragonsong War on the PC, PS4, and PS3. If you’re new to the Final Fantasy XIV universe, Square Enix will also release the Final Fantasy XIV: The Complete Experience package, which includes A Realm Reborn and Heavensward, on the PC, PS4, and PS3.

Finally this week, Bandai Namco and Milestone will release the motorcycle racer Ride for the PS4 and Xbox One.

But you know who loves to ride a motorcycle? Batman, that’s who.

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

Activision thinks “a lot” about developing Call of Duty remasters

Posted on June 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

callofduty-logo-header

Remasters are all the rage these days, but one of the world’s biggest game publishers, Activision, has mostly stayed away from their back catalog. Activision has dabbled in the remaster market (producing Call of Duty Classic in 2009, GoldenEye 007/GoldenEye 007: Reloaded in 2010/2011, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD in 2012), but they haven’t made that big push into their past like Capcom, Sony, Square Enix, and several others.

However, that attitude might be up for a reevaluation as fans have begun to request remasters of Call of Duty titles from the PS3/Xbox 360 era. Rather than shut down such speculation, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg is encouraging it, and confirmed that the company thinks about doing a Call of Duty remaster “a lot.” Speaking to Game Informer, the executive specifically cited Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops as two games he’d like to see remade:

“If done well, I think [remasters] can be great,” Hirshberg says. “You talk about nostalgia, and people have such connection to the games they love from the last cycle. They want to see what it would look like if someone did it right for this cycle. It’s always the opportunity cost, meaning we need every body we can get to make the content we’re already committed to for our new games. It’s always a matter of finding great people to do that work. I would love to play Modern Warfare 1 or the original Black Ops. There’s certainly a deep well there. No announcements, but it’s something we talk about and think about a lot.”

Activision has aggressively expanded the Call of Duty franchise over the last decade, building it up into one of the biggest franchises of all time. If I had to guess, I think Hirshberg sees a Call of Duty remaster as a matter of “when,” not “if.”

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

Rock Band 4 will be released on October 6; Pre-order to receive 30-song DLC pack

Posted on June 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

Earlier this week, Activision announced that Guitar Hero Live will be released on October 20 for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Rock Band 4 won’t be appearing on as many platforms (just the PS4 and Xbox One), but Harmonix plans to push it out the door a few weeks earlier on October 6.

Unlike Guitar Hero Live, Harmonix plans to make your previous-generation instruments compatible with the latest entry in the Rock Band franchise. But it’s not just the same old game as players will be able to pull off Freestyle Guitar Solos, Drum Fills, and Freestyle Vocals during songs. And speaking of songs, over 60 songs will be available on the game disc with more than 1,500 songs available to download through the revamped Rock Band Music Store.

And even more songs will be available to those who pre-order the game as Harmonix will gift a special set of Bonus Tracks (30 in all) to players who put their money down before October 6. However, this won’t come cheap. Rock Band 4’s “Band-In-A-Box” Bundle carries a $249.99 price tag, while the Guitar Bundle will be priced at $129.99.

The full list of Bonus Tracks is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Technical problems have forced Nintendo to postpone Splatoon’s first Splatfest

Posted on June 19, 2015 by John Scalzo

splatoon-header

Bad news for Splatoon fans, technical problems have forced Nintendo to postpone the game’s first Slatfest event in North America.

The “Cats Versus Dogs” Splatfest was originally scheduled to take place tomorrow, June 20, but Nintendo has revealed that a “matchmaking issue” during the first Splatfest in Japan resulted in lengthy wait times and restricted players from joining matches. The consolemaker said they are “working on a solution,” but a little more time is needed to get it working perfectly. The Splatfest will be rescheduled for a later date, which will be announced “soon”:

Even though tomorrow’s Splatfest has been postponed, Nintendo still plans to add the Bluefin Depot map to the game at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time).

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged