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.

XBLA Today: Poker Night 2

Posted on April 24, 2013 by John Scalzo

Telltale’s PC-exclusive Poker Night at the Inventory was a strange little game that brought together Max (of Sam and Max), Tycho (of Penny Arcade), Strong Bad, and The Heavy (from Team Fortress 2) for a round of poker and a side order of hijinks. So why not do it again?

Poker Night 2 is available to download from the Xbox Live Arcade today for 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and its cast of characters is bother odder and more normal at the same time. This time, Telltale has hired GLaDOS as The Inventory’s new dealer as Max’s partner Sam, Claptrap (the Borderlands series), Brock Samson (The Venture Bros.), and… I almost can’t believe it… Ash (The Evil Dead trilogy) ante up for a second round of Texas Hold ‘Em (or Omaha Hold ‘Em).

The chips are down and the ante is up in this sentence already bursting with poker clichés! Take the fifth seat in Poker Night 2, at a table featuring Claptrap (Borderlands 2), Brock Samson (The Venture Bros.), Ash (Army of Darkness) and Sam (Sam and Max series). So play to win because winning unlocks unique skins and heads to use in Borderlands 2 and exclusive avatar items! Your dealer is GLaDOS (Portal series), but at no point will you be considered as a candidate for a visit to Aperture Science’s Enrichment Center. Unless you lose.

Poker Night 2 will also make its way to Steam and the PSN next week.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Thomas Was Alone, Dead Island: Riptide, Star Trek, more added to PS Store

Posted on April 24, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Another big day for the PlayStation Store as indie platformer Thomas Was Alone, zombie melee-er Dead Island: Riptide, and movie tie-in Star Trek are now available to purchase with your download dollars. Like the rest of the games in Sony’s Spring Fever promotion, Thomas Was Alone is a Cross-Buy title, meaning you’ll be able to pick up the PSN and Vita versions in the same download.

Also available this week is Ubisoft’s World War II dogfighter, Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII; the latest game in the Soul Calibur series, Soul Calibur V; Capcom’s standalone Dragon’s Dogma expansion, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen; and the retro shooter God Mode.

Finally this week, Sony has added a pair of Vita games, the ninja-riffic Draw Slasher and the ridiculously titled Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R… I mean, seriously now… there are four extra modifiers in that title. Even Capcom won’t go that far.

Hit the jump for more details on all of these games and a few others (including a new PSP game!). And be sure to visit the PlayStation Blog for a complete list of this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)

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

505 Games acquires Drawn To Life license

Posted on April 23, 2013 by John Scalzo

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While Nordic Games came away with the big prize from the second THQ auction, 505 Games managed to sneak in a winning bid for the Drawn To Life series. The Italian publisher bid $300,000 for the 5th Cell-developed franchise and that was good enough to win them the rights to the franchise as a whole as well as the previously released Drawn To Life (DS) and Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter (DS, Wii).

The sale of all THQ properties will be finalized during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing on May 13, 2013.

Posted in DS, News, Wii |

Believe it or not, Deep Silver released the Dead Island: Riptide “torso edition” in UK, Australia

Posted on April 23, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Back in January, the Internet went into complete meltdown after Deep Silver revealed the “bloody torso statue” at the center of the Zombie Bait Edition of Dead Island: Riptide. Normally, a limited edition statue wouldn’t cause much of a stir beyond the hardcore special edition collectors, but the “Zombie Bait Edition” was set to include a statue that depicted a mutilated (read: armless and legless and headless) woman wearing nothing but a Union Jack bikini.

Deep Silver apologized for the statue saying, “We sincerely regret this choice.” The statement also said: “[W]e are committed to making sure this will never happen again.” No matter how much they said they regretted it at the time, the company has gone ahead and released the “Zombie Bait Edition” as originally planned in the UK and Australia. I guess if you promise to make sure something never happens again, it has to happen at least once.

According to CNET Australia, a Deep Silver representative told them that “an extremely limited quantity of the Zombie Bait Edition has been made available to some retailers for those customers who wish to purchase it.”

Show the 'Torso Edition'deadislandzombiebaitedition

[Source: CVG]

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

Nordic Games wins big at THQ auction: Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, more

Posted on April 23, 2013 by John Scalzo

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An unlikely winner has emerged in the second round of the THQ sweepstakes: Nordic Games. The small publisher, located in Austria, bid $4.9 million to obtain the majority of THQ’s remaining properties including Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, Titan Quest, Frontlines, Juiced, Full Spectrum Warrior, and over 150 other titles. A full list of Nordic’s acquisitions will be unveiled soon, probably sometime after the purchase hearing current set for May 13.

But now the question becomes, what happens next? What does Nordic Games, best known for publishing the Painkiller series, plan to do with all of these properties? According to Lars Wingefors, Nordic’s CEO, the company plans to embark on an in-depth analysis of each property and will eventually move forward with sequels to many of them.

“First and foremost we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group. In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles,” Wingefors said.

To that end, Nordic Games has set up a special section in their official forums to solicit fan feedback on how to proceed with their new toys.

The first half of the THQ auction was held in January, with Deep Silver, Ubisoft, Crytek, Take-Two Interactive, and Sega participating.

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

God of War: Ascension, GOW Legacy PS3 Bundle lead interesting Amazon Gold Box day

Posted on April 23, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Are you in the market for a PS3? If so, Amazon has a great deal for today as part of their latest Gold Box promotion. Today only, he retailer has slashed the price of the God of War Legacy PS3 Bundle by $70. Regularly priced at $349.99, it can be yours for $279.99. The bundle, which includes a Garnet Red PS3 with a 500GB hard drive, God of War: Ascension, and the God of War Saga collection, is every God of War fan’s dream. And if you’ve already got a PS3 setup and all the other God of War games, Amazon has also taken 33% off the price of God of War: Ascension today ($39.99).

Ten “Lightning Deals” round out today’s sale, let’s see if we can guess what they’ll be:

EXPIRED 12:00 AM (Pacific) – Gears of War: Judgement
5:00 AM (Pacific) – Halo 4
7:00 AM (Pacific) – Agent 47 he takes on his most dangerous and personal contract to date. (Best Guess: Hitman: Retribution)
9:00 AM (Pacific) – Team up to take down the Necromorph threat. (Best Guess: Dead Space 3)
11:00 AM (Pacific) – Envelop yourself in a richly detailed, 3D sound field as you… (Best Guess: headphones)
1:00 PM (Pacific) – Give yourself an audio advantage! (Best Guess: more headphones)
3:00 PM (Pacific) – What choices will you make to escape alive? (Best Guess: Tomb Raider)
5:00 PM (Pacific) – Race on some of the best driving roads in the world (Best Guess: Forza Horizon)
7:00 PM (Pacific) – Put 13 great sports at your fingertips! (Best Guess: Kinect Sports or a similar minigame collection)
9:00 PM (Pacific) – Experience the LEGO The Lord of the Rings heroes come to life in a… (Best Guess: Lego Lord of the Rings)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Gearbox acquires Homeworld license in THQ auction

Posted on April 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Bidding in the second THQ auction concluded last week and most of the publisher’s remaining intellectual property will find new homes soon. One such property is the real-time strategy series Homeworld, which has been acquired by Gearbox Software.

In the announcement, Gearbox revealed that the Homeworld series is a favorite of Brian Martel, the company’s Chief Creative Officer. Plans for the future of the franchise are still up in the air, but Martel has promised that Gearbox is already in the process of making Homeworld and Homeworld 2 available on leading digital platforms soon.

The company is also actively recruiting new talent to work on their latest acquisition, closing the press release with this news: “[P]lease try to get our attention if you have capability and interest to join the effort in developing or enabling Homeworld’s future.”

Posted in News, PC | Tagged ,

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger draws on PC, PSN, XBLA in May

Posted on April 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Ubisoft has announced that the Wild West return for the Call of Juarez series, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, will be released in May.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a downloadable game and will be available on PC download services, the PlayStation Network, and the Xbox Live Arcade on May 22. If you’re interested in purchasing Gunslinger, the ante is $14.99 (or 1200 Microsoft Points).

You can find the game’s latest trailer, titled “The Code of the West,” after the break. (more…)

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