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.

XCOM: Enemy Within trailer brings “War Machines” to the fight

Posted on September 2, 2013 by John Scalzo

“War Machines,” the latest trailer for Firaxis Games’ XCOM: Enemy Within, made its debut at this weekend’s PAX Prime. The trailer depicts many of the new abilities your XCOM soldiers will have at their disposal including biological augmentations (such as telekinesis), cybernetic enhancements, and massive mechs. The aliens will counter with two new enemy types including a hulking mech of their own (known as Mechtoids) and the ghost-like Seekers.

The PC version of XCOM: Enemy Within, which requires a copy of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, will be released on November 12. The expansion will also be available as a standalone release for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on the same day.

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

Mass Effect Edition add-on coming to Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition this week

Posted on September 2, 2013 by John Scalzo

Microsoft wants to infuse a little Mass Effect into your Minecraft with a new add-on pack. The “Mass Effect Edition” will add 36 Mass Effect Skins, a “Pre-Built Mars Facility” World, a Mass Effect Texture Set, a Mass Effect-themed UI, and 22 music tracks from Mass Effect 3 to Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. The add-on pack is priced at $3.99 and will be available this Wednesday, September 4.

Microsoft is referring to this add-on as the “first” mash-up pack, so there’s a very good chance that more are in the works. Minecraft: Halo Edition, anyone? Be sure to check out the trailer above and you can view a ton of “Mass Effect Edition” screenshots at Microsoft’s Play XBLA blog.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Gearbox to publish Hardware: Shipbreakers as third Homeworld game

Posted on September 2, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Gearbox picked up the the rights to the Homeworld series during THQ’s franchise fire sale earlier this year. After the acquisition, they quickly announced that high definition re-releases of Homeworld and Homeworld 2 were in the works. And now they can add a third Homeworld game to their development slate… sort of.

At PAX Prime this weekend, Gearbox announced that they’ve partnered with Blackbird Interactive, a small developer that was founded by several members of the original Homeworld team at Relic Entertainment. As part of the deal, their current project, Hardware: Shipbreakers, will be folded into the Homeworld franchise. The game will now be known as Homeworld: Shipbreakers and it will serve as a prequel to the entire Homeworld series.

Gearbox will provide financial support to Blackbird as, in the words of CEO Randy Pitchford, they are not the best team to develop a sci-fi RTS. Pitchford also commented on the production support they plan to offer to Blackbird: “We’ve become expert at production and that’s where we can help. I mean, we shipped Duke Nukem Forever, we didn’t build it but we made sure it came out. And that’s a ****ing miracle.”

[Source: Polygon]

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: There’s Still Two Days of PAX Prime 2013 Left

Posted on September 1, 2013 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…

Normally, Sunday afternoon marks the end of PAX Prime. The publishers and vendors pack up and nerdy conventiongoers dream of Boston in the Springtime or next year’s Prime expo. But not this year. This year, PAX Prime is going a whole ‘nother day and won’t conclude until Monday, September 2.

And here’s what you can see with your remaining two days on the show floor:

  • Nintendo: Pokemon X/Y, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and a lot more.
  • Sony Computer Entertainment: Killzone: Shadow Fall, InFamous: Second Son, DriveClub, Knack, Gran Turismo 6, Beyond: Two Souls, and a lot more.
  • Ubisoft: Watch Dogs, The Crew, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Rayman Legends, and more.
  • Microsoft: Killer Instinct, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and several “surprises.”
  • D3 Publisher: Earth Defense Force 2025, Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby In 8-Bit Land, and Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!
  • Midnight City: New indie publishing label with plans to display ten titles at PAX Prime.
  • Sega: Sonic: Lost World, Total War: Rome II, Castle of Illusion, and more.

And have you entered our PAX Prime Amazon Gift Card Giveaway yet? Because you really should. More news, some PAX Prime-related and some not, can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Diablo III, Rayman Legends, Total War: Rome II, More

Posted on September 1, 2013 by John Scalzo

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The Fall is here! The drought is over! Let’s talk about new releases!

This week, Blizzard’s Diablo III has finally been released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It feels the console of their hack and slash game has been in development for ages, but it was only announced this past February at the Sony’s PS4 reveal.

Also available this week is Rayman Legends. The game was originally scheduled to be released this Spring exclusively for the Wii U, but Ubisoft sent it back to the development team and asked them to also push out additional editions of the game for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Vita.

Finally, we’ve got the PC-exclusive release of Total War: Rome II from Creative Assembly. The developers have claimed the war simulation is their best yet, but you can try it for yourself if you’re attending this weekend’s PAX Prime in Seattle. In fact, all of these games are playable on the show floor today and tomorrow. How ’bout that?

You can find more new releases after the break. (more…)

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

Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to Mega Man, announced by Keiji Inafune

Posted on August 31, 2013 by John Scalzo

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See if this sounds familiar to you…

You play as Beck, the 9th in a line of powerful robots, and the only one not infected by a mysterious computer virus that has caused mechanized creatures the world over to go berserk. Run, jump, blast, and transform your way through six stages (or more, via stretch goals) you can tackle in any order you choose, using weapons and abilities stolen from your enemies to take down your fellow Mighty Number robots and confront the final evil that threatens the planet!

Is this the plot to a lost Mega Man game? No, it’s Mighty No. 9, a new project announced today at PAX Prime by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. His team at Comcept have taken to Kickstarter to fund the 2D side-scrolling title and want to bring the same collaborative design process to the game that Inafune previously attempted with Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3.

Inafune and his team are looking for $900,000 to bring Might No. 9 to PC download services. A console edition of the game (PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U platforms were mentioned) may also be developed if appropriate (but currently unknown) stretch goals are reached. If you believe in Inafune’s vision for a Mega Man spiritual successor, I highly recommend giving Mighty No. 9’s Kickstarter campaign a look. Let’s just hope Capcom doesn’t decide to sue him, because it really does resemble a lost Mega Man game.

If all goes well, Inafune expects to release Mighty No. 9 in the Spring of 2015.

Posted in News | Tagged , ,

Zeboyd’s Cosmic Star Heroine coming to PS4, Vita

Posted on August 31, 2013 by John Scalzo

Back in March, the developers at Zeboyd Games told us they were getting “very friendly” with Sony and hinted that their next project might appear on one or more Sony systems. Yesterday, at PAX Prime, the duo of Robert Boyd and Bill Stiernberg confirmed that their 90s-inspired RPG, Cosmic Star Heroine, will be released for the PS4 and Vita.

The titular Cosmic Star Heroine is Alyssa L’Salle, a famous spy in the Samus Aran mold. She has saved the galaxy more than once and the people in charge have asked her to do it again. But this time, “her own government outs her as a legendary spy and the people’s champion!” So keep that in mind as you watch the game’s opening cinematic above and shelve your Jem and the Holograms: Space Spies fan-fic, because Cosmic Star Heroine got their first.

In addition to 80s/90s cartoons, Cosmic Star Heroine has said to have been inspired by one of the greatest RPGs ever, Chrono Trigger. It’ll be available for the PS4 and Vita as a Cross-Buy title soon, but not until Zeboyd completes a Kickstarter campaign to ensure they have enough funding to finish it.

Cosmic Star Heroine is also in development for the PC.

[Source: PlayStation Blog]

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

New Killer Instinct trailer shows Chief Thunder combos and a NEW CHARACTER

Posted on August 30, 2013 by John Scalzo

Microsoft has released a new trailer for Killer Instinct starring the world’s most second-most third-most popular Native American fighting game character… Chief Thunder. Watch as the Chief puts the smackdown on Jago with his special “Thunder Combos” in the video above.

And be sure to stick around until the end of the trailer, because developer Double Helix has revealed their first original addition to the Killer Instinct lineup. The unnamed female ninja has the fashion sense of Mileena, the dagger arms of Baraka, and the spider powers of Spider-Man.

Killer Instinct is playable on the PAX Prime show floor this weekend. It’ll be officially released for the Xbox One in November.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged ,