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.

Mega Man 11, FIFA 19, Dragon Ball FighterZ, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week

Posted on September 27, 2018 by John Scalzo

The might Mega Man will return for the first time in a decade this Tuesday, October 2, with the launch of Mega Man 11. The Switch platformer will feature eight new Robot Masters, a brand new graphical style, and the never-before-seen Double Gear system.

Elsewhere on the Nintendo eShop, Switch owners will get the chance to slide into EA Sports’s latest soccer simulation, FIFA 19, this Friday. Also this Friday, Arc System Works will bring Dragon Ball FighterZ, their critically-acclaimed anime-inspired fighter, to the Switch.

But if you’re looking to download something today, Tencent’s Arena of Valor, a free-to-play MOBA, will make its Switch debut. Also today, Sega will kick off their Sega Ages series of re-releases today with Sonic the Hedgehog. And a trio of beloved indies will make the move to the Switch, including side-scrolling shooter Rise & Shine, roguelike Risk of Rain, and archery battler TowerFall.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop (including Wandersong, Armello, Alwa’s Awakening, the arcade edition of Excitebike, and more) after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged , , , ,

FIFA 19, Life Is Strange 2, Hollow Knight, more coming to Xbox Store this week

Posted on September 26, 2018 by John Scalzo

A big batch of new Xbox One games will be available to download through the Xbox Games Store this week…

EA Sports will kick off another soccer season this week with FIFA 19, their latest simulation of the sport that everybody else calls futbol. Also available to download this week is the first episode of Dontnod’s Life Is Strange 2, a new narrative adventure that takes the story beyond Acadia Bay.

For Xbox One owners looking to play something new today, a few publishers have responded with some big games. Team Cherry will release Hollow Knight for the Xbox One after its successful launch on the PC and Switch, and Sega has given strategy RPG fans something to look forward to with the next Valkyria game, Valkyria Chronicles 4. Crytek’s free-to-play online shooter, Warface, has also made its Xbox One debut.

On Friday, Frictional Games will bring the terrifying Amnesia Collection (a bundle containing The Dark Descent, A Machine For Pigs, and Justine) to the Xbox One for the first time.

And finally, Microsoft will release Forza Horizon 4: Ultimate Edition as an Xbox Play Anywhere title for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. The Ultimate Edition will launch this Friday, four days ahead of the Standard Edition of the game, and it’ll feature a ton of bonus content including the Car Pass, VIP Membership, Best of Bond Car Pack, Formula Drift Car Pack, and access to two additional expansions when they’re released.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break. (more…)

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

FIFA 19, Life Is Strange 2, Hollow Knight, more coming to PS Store this week

Posted on September 26, 2018 by John Scalzo

“The Beautiful Game” gets updated for a new year as EA Sports is back with their latest soccer simulation, FIFA 19. The game will be available to download for the PS4 this Friday in a Standard Edition, a Champions Edition, and an Ultimate Edition.

Also set to launch later this week for the PS4 is Dontnod’s Life Is Strange 2 – Episode 1: What Doesn’t Kill Us. Leaving Acadia Bay behind, the second Life Is Strange adventure will follow two brothers, Sean and Daniel Diaz, who are on the run from the police.

Elsewhere on the PlayStation Store this week, Team Cherry will launch Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition for the PS4. Originally released for the PC in 2017 and the Switch earlier this Summer, the new Voidheart Edition includes the full game, as well as all previously-released downloadable content.

Finally this week, a pair of strategy RPG sequels for the PS4 will give players two very different viewpoints into the genre from Sega (Valkyria Chronicles 4) and Weappy Studio (This Is the Police II).

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)

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

Kosmic completes a nearly perfect Super Mario Bros. speedrun of 4 minutes and 55.96 seconds

Posted on September 26, 2018 by John Scalzo

The speedrunners competing to complete a “perfect” Super Mario Bros. run got a little closer earlier this week when “KosmicD12” set a new world record of four minutes and 55.96 seconds.

Thanks to pixel-perfect platforming and a series of glitches (including running through the wall to find the Warp Zone in World 1-2), this “Any Percentage” run is nearly identical to the “Tool Assisted Run” of four minutes and 55 seconds. In a “Tool Assisted Run,” a computer calculates the optimal path through the game using all known glitches, so to see an actual human person nearly match it is rather astounding.

“KosmicD12” was rather tongue-tied after his record-setting feat, but he did manage to croak out, “I don’t know what to say.” This run definitely speaks for itself, so I’m not sure anything else needs to be said.

Congratulations to “KosmicD12” from the entire Warp Zoned staff, and you can look here, here, here, here, and here to find previous record-setting Super Mario Bros. runs.

Posted in News, Retro | Tagged

Telltale is “working towards a solution” to release the final two episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season

Posted on September 25, 2018 by John Scalzo

The shocking announcement of a “majority studio closure” for Telltale Games came as a surprise to everyone on Friday… and that includes Telltale’s employees, who were unceremoniously escorted from the their desks without any notice. Company executives also canceled all of their in-development projects except for a version of Minecraft: Story Mode that would be playable on Netflix through their app.

Those same executives have yet to address why the “majority studio closure” was announced in this way, but late last night, they confirmed that they’re “actively working towards a solution” to release the final two episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season:

It’s important to note that even if the developer is somehow able to restart development on the game, it won’t be the same. The entire “Walking Dead” team was let go on Friday, so the final two episodes would end up being someone else’s vision for how Clementine’s story should end.

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

New Retail Releases: FIFA 19, Valkyria Chronicles 4, This Is the Police II, More

Posted on September 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s Monday, and that means another big batch of new games will be available at your favorite retail establishment this week…

Leading the way is the latest iteration in EA Sports’s annual series of soccer simulations, FIFA 19. The game will launch its way towards the goal on the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in a Standard Editions and a Champions Edition. FIFA 19 will also be available to download for the PC through EA’s Origin service.

Sega is bringing back a beloved franchise this week as Valkyria Chronicles 4 will also make its way to the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Featuring hand-drawn visuals and gameplay that melds together a turn-based strategy RPG and a third-person shooter, fans will also be able to download Valkyria Chronicles 4 for the PC.

Strategy RPG fans might also be interested in This Is the Police II for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Players will manage a Sheriff’s Department in the “cold border town” of Sharpwood in a “harsh story where no one is completely innocent.”

Elsewhere on the shelves, Bandai Namco will re-release Dragon Ball FighterZ and Namco Museum Arcade Pac (which comes bundled with Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus) for the Switch. And Nintendo themselves will launch new Starter Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey.

Finally this week, Gun Media will resurrect the Friday the 13th: Ultimate Slasher Edition for the PS4 and Xbox One, which includes the original game and all previously-released downloadable content.

A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , ,

Troy Baker is “The Man in the Golden Mask” in the latest Death Stranding trailer

Posted on September 23, 2018 by John Scalzo

Hideo Kojima closed out this year’s Tokyo Game Show by adding another famous name to Death Stranding.

In the game’s latest trailer, Kojima has introduced Troy Baker as “The Man in the Golden Mask.” Even though he has only a scant few seconds to make an impression, we quickly learn that he’s quite unhappy with Norman Reedus’s character. “The Man in the Golden Mask” then proceeds to use his gleaming facial appliance to create a snarling monster out of Death Stranding’s infamous black goo before teleporting away.

So it’s gonna be like that, huh? Like every other Death Stranding trailer, all I can do is stare slack-jawed at the screen and ask, “What exactly did I just see?”

Sadly, answers will have to come later, as Kojima still isn’t ready to announce a launch date for Death Stranding, which is currently in development for the PC and PS4.

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

The Walking Dead: The Final Season will likely never be completed as Telltale Games institutes a “majority studio closure”

Posted on September 22, 2018 by John Scalzo

A series of social media posts from recently laid-off developers lead many to believe that Telltale Games was shutting down yesterday morning, but the lights will remain on for now according to an official statement from the company’s executives.

Writing on Twitter, Telltale CEO Pete Hawley confirmed that a majority of the company’s employees would be let go:

“It’s been an incredibly difficult year for Telltale as we worked to set the company on a new course. Unfortunately, we ran out of time trying to get there. We released some of our best content this year and received a tremendous amount of positive feedback, but ultimately, that did not translate to sales. With a heavy heart, we watch our friends leave today to spread our brand of storytelling across the games industry.”

Hawley would go on to say that “further comments regarding [Telltale’s] product portfolio [will be announced] in the coming weeks,” but sources within the company told USgamer that the majority of their in-development projects have been canceled.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season‘s second episode, Suffer the Children, will launch next week as originally planned, but the remaining two episodes will likely go unfinished, marking an abrupt end for the season and the franchise. A further list of cancellations includes Game of Thrones Season 2, The Wolf Among Us Season 2, and the recently-announced Stranger Things game.

The 25 employees still under Telltale’s employ will stay on to complete the Netflix-powered port of Minecraft: Story Mode, but it is currently unknown what will happen to them after that.

It’s our hope that all of Telltale’s former employees will be able to quickly find better employment opportunities in the future.

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