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.

GTA: San Andreas comes to mobile devices this December

grandtheftautosanandreas-logoGrand Theft Auto III received a mobile re-release in 2011 and it was followed by Vice City last year. Today, Rockstar Games collected the the hat trick by confirming that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will also be made available for mobile platforms in December.

The mobile edition of GTA: San Andreas has been completely reworked to create the best-looking version of the game yet with “newly remastered graphics including dynamic and detailed shadows, greater draw distance, an enriched color palette, plus enhanced character and car models.” This enhanced graphical presentation means that the game will only be released for “select” iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle, and Windows Mobile devices. Rockstar has said that they will confirm exactly which devices will be able to handle the San Andreas re-release at a later date.

However, they were able to announce that in addition to the touchscreen controls, GTA: San Andreas on iOS 7 devices will include support for all “Made For iOS” controllers. Wow, that’s just awesome… you know, maybe there is something to this notion that gamers will abandon consoles for mobile devices.

Posted in Mobile, News | Tagged

Metanet will launch N++ on PS4 in next few months

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Metanet’s Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns recently sat down with GamesIndustry International to discuss N++, their upcoming ninja-steals-gold platformer for the PS4. While N++ missed the PS4’s launch, they had a lot to talk about.

Firstly, the developers revealed that N++ made the jump to the PS4 because of Sony’s willingness to help finance the game through their Pub Fund program. N+ originally appeared on the Xbox Live Arcade in 2008 and the duo said that if anyone at Microsoft had offered up a similar deal, they would have considered taking N++ to the Xbox One.

Sheppard and Burns also confirmed that N++ should arrive on the PS4 sometime in the next few months. They’re hopeful for a December release, but admit that “early next year” could be a possibility.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

Persona 5 will arrive on PS3 in Winter 2014 (in Japan)

Our long wait is both over and just beginning… Atlus has announced that Persona 5 will be released in Japan next Winter exclusively for the PS3. The US release date is currently unknown, but will surely be announced soon.

Aside from the short teaser trailer above, Atlus is being very quiet about Persona 5. We know that it will be directed by Katsura Hashino with art direction by Shigenori Soejima and a soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro, but that’s about it.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Lego The Hobbit announced for Spring 2014 release

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You didn’t think WB Games and TT Games were going to stop making Lego games did you? The publisher and developer announced the latest Lego adaptation, Lego The Hobbit, today. Based on the first two movies in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, the game will is in development for the 3DS, PC (and Mac), PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

In Lego The Hobbit, players will go on a quest with Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, Thorin Oakenshield, and many others as they travel to the Dwarven Kingdom of Erebor. Those many others will include all of the Dwarves (Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori), each of which has their own special ability.

“We are thrilled to depict the characters and environments of Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth in Lego form with the Lego The Hobbit video game,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games. “Our family-friendly take on these thrilling adventures will have kids and parents playing and laughing together as they build and explore in Lego Middle-Earth.”

Lego The Hobbit will be released Spring 2014, probably just in time for Blu-ray/DVD release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: We Now Live in a Next-Gen World

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 is November 24 and the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are both available in stores. Or at least, they have the capacity to be available in stores as both systems are currently sold out. Both Sony and Microsoft have confirmed that their respective next-generation console sold more than one million units.

Hmm, the next generation. With all three “next-generation” systems now available can we start calling this the “current generation” again? Probably not. Especially since the two companies will continue to support the PS3 and Xbox 360 for the foreseeable future. Next-gen, current-gen, whatever. Google made a Doctor Who Doodle yesterday!

Read on for more news from the last seven days. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Ys: Memories of Celceta, Painkiller: Hell & Damnation, Air Conflicts: Vietnam

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The new consoles have launched and the Fall gaming avalanche is over, but here’s a quartet of new games that publishers are pushing out in the days before Black Friday:

See you next week!

Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Play this timey-wimey Google Doodle game to celebrate 50th anniversary of Doctor Who

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We’re just a few minutes away from the worldwide debut of “The Day of the Doctor,” the 50th Anniversary special celebrating Doctor Who, everyone’s favorite two-hearted alien with the delightful British accent. The Doctor’s longevity has also earned him a place in an interactive Google Doodle that is now available on Google’s homepage. The Doodle takes the form of an isometric platform game that allows players to choose their Doctor (choices include David Tennant and ten other guys) and reclaim the letters in “Google” from the Daleks.

After today, the Doodle will be added to the Google Doodle archive soon and “The Day of the Doctor” begins in… checks watch… 18 minutes!

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Xbox One sells more than 1 million consoles on launch day

xboxone-boxAfter their cordial congratulations messages through Twitter last week, Sony and Microsoft have gone right back to competing for the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere. After Sony announced that they sold more than one million PS4 consoles in the US and Canada on November 15, Microsoft has done the same, confirming that the Xbox One is a sellout across the globe. The Xbox One launched in 13 countries yesterday and Microsoft announced that more than one million Xbox One consoles were purchased in less than 24 hours. Take that Sony!

“We are humbled and grateful for the excitement of Xbox fans around the world,” said Yusuf Mehdi, the Xbox Division’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing and Strategy. “Seeing thousands of excited fans lined up to get their Xbox One and their love for gaming was truly a special moment for everyone on the Xbox team. We are working hard to create more Xbox One consoles and look forward to fulfilling holiday gift wishes this season.”

If they haven’t already, I’m sure Sony will point out that their million-selling launch required only two countries. To which Microsoft will surely reiterate that it took Sony a whole day to sell more than a million consoles while the Xbox One did it in about 20 hours.

We done? Good. Prepare yourself for at least another ten years of this.

Posted in News, Xbox One |