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.

Spike TV VGAs: Respect my authoritah and watch this South Park RPG trailer

Posted on December 8, 2012 by John Scalzo

I haven’t watched South Park in years. I don’t know why, really, I guess we just grew apart. But man, the 2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards “World Premiere” trailer for THQ’s South Park: The Stick of Truth was pretty entertaining.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is in development at Obsidian and will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 next Spring.

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

Spike TV VGAs: Lara Croft doesn’t raid any tombs in the latest Tomb Raider trailer

Posted on December 8, 2012 by John Scalzo

Lara Croft does a lot of things in the latest Tomb Raider trailer, which was unveiled last night at the Spike TV Video Game Awards. She uses a bow to shoot would-be attackers. She jumps onto a moving helicopter. She sneaks up on a guy and suffocates him. She blows **** up real good. But you know what she never does?

Lara Croft never raids any tombs in this Tomb Raider trailer!

Oh well, at least this reboot looks like a great survival story. And we’ll get a chance to play it ourselves when Tomb Raider is released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on March 5, 2013.

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

The Walking Dead shambles away as the big winner at the 2012 Spike TV VGAs

Posted on December 8, 2012 by John Scalzo

The tenth annual Spike TV Video Game Awards have been handed out and The Walking Dead has come away the big winner, trouncing more ambitious (and expensive) titles such as Halo 4 and Mass Effect 3.

The episodic adventure game based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series won Game of the Year, Best Adapted Video Game and Best Downloadable Game. Developer Telltale Games also won Studio of the Year while Melissa Hutchinson was honored in the Best Performance By a Human Female category for her role as Clementine.

The other big winner of the night was thatgamecompany’s Journey, which nabbed three awards: Best PS3 Game, Best Independent Game, and Best Original Score. Gearbox’s Borderlands 2 also took home three awards: Best Shooter, Best Multiplayer Game, and Best Performance By a Human Male (Dameon Clarke as Handsome Jack). The viewer-voted Best Character award was also given to Borderlands 2’s Claptrap.

Hit the jump for a complete list of winners from this year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards, which also includes XCOM: Enemy Unknown, New Super Mario Bros. U, Sound Shapes, and many others. (more…)

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

BioShock Infinite release pushed back to March 26

Posted on December 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

If Irrational Games had stuck to their original schedule for BioShock Infinite, we’d all be playing it right now. But delays happen and usually that’s for the better. As Shigeru Miyamoto attests, “A delayed game is eventually good. A bad game is bad
forever.”

But today, Irrational’s Ken Levine has revealed that BioShock Infinite will miss its second release date. Previously set for a February 26 debut, the game will now be released on March 26.

According to Levine, the delay was approved to give the team at Irrational more time for final polish and bugfixing. “We know that this is going to ruffle some feathers,” Levine said. “But we’re willing to take the heat to make sure that BioShock Infinite is 100% the game our fans deserve.”

But have no fear, it’s only a month and a new BioShock Infinite trailer will be unveiled during tonight’s Spike TV Video Game Awards.

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

BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider to debut “World Premiere” trailers at tonight’s Spike TV VGAs

Posted on December 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

In addition to honoring the greatest games of 2012, the Spike TV Video Game Awards will also showcase a wide variety of “World Premiere” trailers for some of 2013’s most anticipated games. You can add two more to the list as new trailers from BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider have been confirmed for the awards show.

You can view a teaser of the BioShock Infinite trailer above, but you’ll have to wait until tonight (9 PM Eastern to be exact) to get your next glimpse at Lara Croft’s return.

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

Microsoft reveals what’s being planned for next Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition update

Posted on December 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

Microsoft has used their PlayXBLA blog to reveal the contents of the next Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition update. Without further adieu, the seventh title update will include:

  • Animal Breeding
  • Potion Brewing
  • Experience Points
  • Enchantment Table
  • Mushroom Biome
  • Nether Fortress
  • New Tutorial World
  • Villagers
  • Mooshrooms
  • Blaze
  • Snow Golems
  • Magma Cubes
  • Baby Animals

More details were promised to be made available “soon,” but the publisher did confirm that “The End” won’t be included in this update. Instead, Microsoft and 4J Studios are saving it for the eighth title update.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Movie rights to Ernest Cline’s Armada optioned by Universal

Posted on December 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel, Ready Player One, was a massive gift to nerds everywhere (especially ones who came of age in the 80s). And it sounds like he’s gearing up to do it again with his next novel, Armada. The book has been described by publisher Crown as “The ultimate wish fulfillment to every video game fan on the planet.”

Universal was so impressed by Cline’s 20-page proposal that they’ve already purchased the film rights to Armada… even though the world only found out about it yesterday! The movie will be produced by Scott Stuber’s Bluegrass Films and Dan Farah’s Farah Films. Farah is also hard at work producing the Ready Player One film adaptation.

Obviously, it is much too early to discuss anything about Armada, book or film. But hopefully we’ll learn more soon.

[Source: Variety]

Posted in Etcetera, News |

Call of Duty: Black Ops II nukes the competition in November 2012 NPD report

Posted on December 6, 2012 by John Scalzo

Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 set records in November 2012. The Wii U also opened strong with sales of over 400,000 consoles. And the Christmas rush resulted in big numbers for new releases like Assassin’s Creed III, Just Dance 4, and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. But that still didn’t stop The NPD Group from reporting that retail game sales dropped 11% from November 2011.

“Despite an overall retail video game decline of 11 percent, November had the smallest year-over-year decrease we have seen for dollar and unit sales so far this year. This is a sign of momentum going into the December holiday period,” said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.

You can view the complete top ten from last month after the break, and remember, despite what The NPD Group says, the console game market is still in good shape. (more…)

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