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.

Capcom confirms June 25 release date for Lost Planet 3

Capcom has announced that Lost Planet 3 will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on June 25 (June 28 in Europe). The publisher has also released a new trailer for Lost Planet 3, highlighting the Snow Pirates that populate E.D.N. III:

The trailer continues the story of Jim Peyton’s time on E.D.N. III as a NEVEC employee seeking out further sources of the planet’s energy supply T-Eng. During one of these missions, Jim comes under attack from E.D.N. III’s indigenous Akrid, causing his Utility Rig to fall down an icy fissure, leaving him unconscious and injured. Jim wakes to find himself in what appears to be a secret base, hidden beneath the planet’s frozen surface. On discovering he was rescued by one of the base’s inhabitants, Mira, the daughter of Snow Pirate leader, So’ichi, Jim realizes that NEVEC are not the only human inhabitants of E.D.N. III.

And if you’ve got tickets to this year’s PAX East show (March 22-24), you could swing by the Capcom booth to give a demo of Lost Planet 3 a try.

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

New studio Yacht Club Games sails away with a crew from WayForward

yachtclubgames-logoWayForward is responsible for some of this generation’s most retro-tastic games including Double Dragon: Neon, BloodRayne: Betrayal, A Boy and His Blob, and Contra 4. But as WayForward moves forward with a Mighty Switch Force sequel, a large part of the team has sidestepped into a new studio, Yacht Club Games.

Sean Velasco, the former Director at WayForward (and voice of Skullmageddon in Double Dragon: Neon), will captain this new venture with an additional crew of developers marooned from his former studio.

Velasco wants to continue WayForward’s retro tradition at Yacht Club, saying, “Our serious and solemn goal is to make really awesome games that fuse modern and retro game philosophies.”

Velasco continued, “We want to create fun and challenging gameplay with concise and polished mechanics. We want to both tug at your heartstrings and delight you with levity and charm. We want to make games that you play together with friends and family.”

Yacht Club plans to announce their first project in the next few days, and they’ll be attending this year’s PAX East (March 22-24) to greet the public.

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Tomb Raider, MLB 13: The Show, Runner 2, a lot more added to PS Store

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Welcome to this week’s PlayStation Store as Sony has once again flooded their digital marketplace with a wide variety of new games.

This week’s three biggest PS3 releases, Tomb Raider, MLB 13: The Show, and Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk, were all released today as digital downloads as well. MLB 13: The Show is also available for the Vita and Tomb Raider is being sold in a special “Digital Edition” that includes bonus DLC content and a free Quantum Conundrum download. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Platinum’s swordfightin’ new entry in the Metal Gear saga is also available in the PS3 Full Games section today.

The wild platformer Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien and the match-3 puzzler Germinator have been added to the PSN Games section along with the “1985-1 Pack” for the Capcom Arcade Cabinet. Germinator is available in two other packages including a separate Vita download and as a PS3/Vita bundle.

Finally, Rockstar has added two more PS2 Classics to the store, Midnight Club and Midnight Club II.

Find out more about this week’s new releases after the break and visit the PlayStation Blog for a complete list of this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)

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

Dishonored declared Best Game at 2013 BAFTA Awards

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The 2013 BAFTA Awards have just been handed out in merry old England and Dishonored has been named the “Best Game of 2012” by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

However, the most impressive awards haul came courtesy of thatgamecompany’s Journey, which collected five awards (“Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Game Design,” “Online Multiplayer,” and “Original Music”). The Unfinished Swan (“Best Debut” and “Game Innovation”) and The Walking Dead (“Mobile & Handheld” and “Story”) also took home multiple awards.

You can find the rest of the winners after the break. (more…)

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2D action RPG Delver’s Drop will be playable at PAX East

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Pixelscopic has announced that their Zelda-like 2D action RPG Delver’s Drop has reached its Kickstarter goal of $75,000. Seven days remain on the pledge clock, but since reaching their goal, the people at Pixelscopic have plenty of exciting announcements to make.

First, they want everyone to know that Delver’s Drop will be playable at this year’s PAX East show (March 22-24). Second, they’re banging away at the PC/Mac version of the game and expect to have it available in October 2013. A release on iOS, Android, Ouya, and Linux will follow sometime in 2014.

So what exactly is Delver’s Drop? Here’s a more in-depth description and you can find a fantastic trailer after the break:

When indefinitely imprisoned high atop a towering castle complex, escape is the only option for survival and redemption. But few scoundrels will survive the Drop and live to tell the tale. The dungeons are rife with traps, monsters, and sinister secrets, awaiting the next unlucky Delver.

Delver’s Drop is a 2D Action RPG with fluid physics-based movement, snappy combat, shifting dungeons, and a rogue’s gallery of individually leveled character classes. With an emphasis on mystery and dynamic gameplay experiences, the game features randomization for infinite replay, enigmatic puzzle permutations to unravel, multiple narrative paths, customizable character growth, and layers of secrets to unearth.

Now then… onward to the trailer! (more…)

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Rumor: Dead Space 4 canceled due to poor Dead Space 3 sales; EA denies it

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Dead Space 3 has been available for exactly a month but, according to a source within EA that has spoken to VideoGamer.com, the game has sold so poorly that it may spell the end of the franchise.

The anonymous tipster states that because Dead Space 3 “failed to meet its sales targets,” Electronic Arts has dropped the axe on the already-in-development Dead Space 4. Furthermore, the report states that EA used the cancellation as a reason to close Visceral Montreal, which was doing pre-production work on Dead Space 4.

EA has yet to release official sales numbers for Dead Space 3, and likely won’t until their next quarterly financial report in May. For what it’s worth, a sequel to Dead Space 3 was probably part of the plan at some point due to the game’s cliffhanger ending.

When contacted by GameSpot, the publisher went one step beyond the usual “no comment” reply and officially denied the abandonment of the franchise and the cancellation of Dead Space 4. An EA spokesman said, “[The VideoGamer report is] patently false. While we have not released sales data for Dead Space 3, we are proud of the game and it continues to be an important IP to EA.”

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Halo 4: Castle Map Pack will be playable at PAX East

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With 17 days to go before the opening of this year’s PAX East show, the panel schedule has finally been released. This year, in addition to the usual appearances by the team at Rooster Teeth, a smattering of nerdcore artists, and the Dungeons & Dragons developers, the head honchos of 343 Industries will be on hand to talk about the future of Halo 4. Oh, and they’re bringing a playable version of the final map pack, the Castle Map Pack, with them:

Halo 4 Multiplayer: Past, Present, and Future
Friday, March 22 5 PM – 6 PM
Main Theater

Halo 4 delivered a unique set of multiplayer experiences, immersing players in an episodic campaign with Spartan Ops, while delivering more breadth and depth in the expanded War Games sandbox. You’ve played the Majestic Map Pack and may even have had a chance to play Castle Map Pack on the floor here at PAX. Come prepared to hear 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor, Kevin Franklin, Dan Ayoub and David Ellis, as well as Certain Affinity’s Tom Potter discuss where we’ve been, where we are, and what is on the horizon for Halo 4 Multiplayer.

The Castle Map Pack is expected to be released sometime in April, so a March preview (PAX East runs from Friday, March 22 through Sunday, March 24) is a nice surprise. And you never know what other surprises the guys from 343, and map pack developer Certain Affinity, will have for the crowd.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Thief 4 confirmed for PC, PS4, other next-generation consoles

Thief 4 is dead… but say hello to Thief. Game Informer has revealed that the rebranded reboot of the stealth series will grace the cover of its April 2013 issue. The magazine also confirmed the Eidos Montreal-developed game will be released for the PC, PS4, and “other next-generation platforms” (such as the unannounced Xbox 720) in 2014.

Our April cover story is a world-exclusive look at this next-generation stealth title. Series hero Garrett returns to the Gothic, industrial metropolis known simply as the City to steal any and everything that will make him richer. Unfortunately, the City is broiling with social tension as it is ravaged by a plague and lorded over by a political tyrant known as the Baron. In order to survive his adventures, Garrett will have to pay attention to his environment and make use of the many possible paths through each of the game’s levels.

We’ll have to ask Square Enix to be sure, but it sounds like the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Thief 4 have gone up in smoke.

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