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.

Serious Sam Double D XXL blows up XBLA on February 20

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“Serious” Sam Stone is back! Mommy’s Best Games, Devolver Digital, and Mastertronic have announced that Serious Sam Double D XXL, the first 2D side-scroller in the series, will be added to the Xbox Live Arcade on February 20.

Originally released for the PC, Serious Sam Double D has been supersized with “new features, missions, and weapons” as well as a brand-new co-op mode co-starring Sam’s brother-in-arms, Dan “Huff” Huffington.

“The Devolver Digital team has admired Mommy’s Best Games’ games since their releases on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel,” said Fork Parker, CFO of Devolver Digital. “It’s pretty magical to see their first release on Xbox Live Arcade and we’re proud to be a part of it all.”

Serious Sam Double D XXL can be yours for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Nintendo sold $300 million worth of Wii U hardware in 2012

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What do you do when you want to brag about the sales of your latest system, but it sold less than your previous system? First, you stop talking about unit sales of your previous system and, second, you start touting the total amount of money your new system made.

Watch closely…

Nintendo has announced that the two Wii U hardware bundles have generated $300 million in sales during the last two months of 2012. The company’s newest system is now in the hands of nearly 890,000 gamers in the US.

Nintendo also wants you to know that the Wii only managed to generate $270 million in sales during its first 41 days on sale. So you see, the Wii U is clearly more popular! But wait… the Wii’s lower price means that Nintendo actually sold over a million Wii systems in 2006. Or over 100,000 more than the Wii U at the same point in its lifecycle. Whoops.

It’s still way too early to declare the Wii U a failure (or a success), but these kinds of half-truths when it comes to sales numbers never end well.

Oh well, at least New Super Mario Bros. U is a huge hit with over 580,000 copies sold.

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CoD Black Ops II was the best-selling game of December 2012

For the second straight month, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II stands tall as the best-selling game of the month, per The NPD Group’s December 2012 report.

The first person shooter fended off a bevy of sequels including the rest of the top five: Just Dance 4, Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III, and Madden NFL 13. In fact, not a single non-sequel cracked the top ten last month.

Once again, The NPD Group is reporting (via Game Informer) that game sales and console sales are down relative to 2011 (which was itself down from 2010). Of course, the NPD Group’s inability to track sales of downloadable games makes this statistic less than helpful.

The full top ten from last month can be found after the break. (more…)

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

Capcom Vancouver’s next game won’t have any zombies in it

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Capcom Vancouver (formerly Blue Castle Games) has produced four games in the Dead Rising 2 saga since 2010 (Dead Rising 2, Off the Record, Case Zero, and Case West). But, believe it or not, their next game won’t have anything to do with the undead.

The developer announced the game on their official website this morning, but it’s still tightly under wraps. We don’t know the name or even what platforms its in development for. All we know for sure is that Capcom Vancouver is working on a brand new title (not part of any of the publisher’s existing franchises) they consider “Capcom’s next big game.”

If you think you’ve got what it takes, Capcom Vancouver wants to fill out their team with multiple new employees. So head over to their website and apply now.

Posted in News |

Nintendo Download: ZombiU demo, NBA 2K13 demo, more

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Nintendo continues to play catchup to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace when it comes to offering downloadable demos. But today’s Wii U eShop update adds two new try-before-you-buy titles to the service: Ubisoft’s ZombiU and 2K’s NBA 2K13.

This is great for Wii U owners as you really have to try ZombiU’s unique mix of GamePad inventory management and first person shooting for yourself.

You can see what else is available as part of this week’s Nintendo Download (on the 3DS, DS, and Wii) after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii, Wii U | Tagged ,

Omerta: City of Gangsters announced for Mac; PC, Xbox 360 versions set for February 12

Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games have announced that Omerta: City of Gangsters will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 on February 12. I’m sure the publisher plans to make your local game store an offer it can’t refuse to carry it.

The two companies have also confirmed that the turn-based strategy game will be available for the Mac (on the Apple Mac Store and the Steam Mac Store) sometime in early 2013.

Finally, a new gameplay trailer is available for your viewing pleasure. Unless you’ve been prohibited from watching it.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360 | Tagged

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct coming to Wii U too; March release confirmed

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Glenn Gamble, a Producer at Terminal Reality, has revealed that The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Activision’s first person shooter based on the popular AMC show, will be available for the Wii U in addition to the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

So what will the Wii U version bring to Survival Instinct? A more streamlined inventory system, according to Gamble:

“We didn’t want to change the game, because the game had already been established, so we tried to say, ‘What can we augment with the Wii U version?’ That’s where it’s basically a more elegant inventory management system. With the Wii U you have access to your backpack at all times, so you can tap what weapons you want, you can drop stuff. It’s a lot more streamlined.”

Finally, Gamble confirmed that the game will be released in Europe on March 29, just two days before the third season finale. Because of the close tie-in with the TV show, a North American release date is likely to be very similar.

UPDATE: As expected, Activision has announced The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be released in North America on March 26.

[Source: Digital Spy]

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

Telltale will offer free Walking Dead downloads to gamers affected by Xbox 360 bug

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Telltale’s The Walking Dead was initially released in five acclaimed episodes over the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2012. In December, Telltale collected the game’s chapters into a “complete season” compilation on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But some Xbox 360 owners have been unable to play the game as intended as the disc version has suffered slowness and freezing.

Through their internal testing, Telltale has discovered that the glitch is only present for owners of the 4GB Xbox 360 that do not have a hard drive installed. The easiest fix is to simply buy a hard drive. But for those Walking Dead owners who’d prefer not to do that, Telltale is offering an alternate solution.

An announcement on the developer’s official forum has revealed that players who have been affected by the freezing glitch can request a free download of all five episodes of the XBLA edition of The Walking Dead.

It’s a nice gesture, but all five episodes of The Walking Dead add up to 2.85GB, a massive chunk of a 4GB Xbox 360’s internal storage space.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged