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.

LittleBigPlanet Karting, Portal 2, ToeJam & Earl, more added to PS Store

Posted on November 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

Sony has added another batch of downloadable games to the PlayStation Store this week, check ’em out.

This week’s lineup includes the PS3 Full Games LittleBigPlanet Karting, Sleeping Dogs, Vanquish, and Portal 2. The Portal 2 “In Motion” expansion is also now available to download from the PS Store as well.

This week’s PSN Games include both ToeJam & Earl titles, Absolute Supercars, Pid, and the PS3/Vita Cross-Buyy game When Vikings Attack!

More information on all of these games (as well as a new PS Mini, PS2 Classic, and PSP game) can be found after the break. And as always, the complete list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)

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

THQ delays South Park RPG, Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light

Posted on November 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

THQ is still in the middle of a financial crisis. The publisher posted their quarterly financial numbers today and revealed that they lost $20 million in the three month period ending September 30. But, this is an improvement over the $92 million loss they suffered in the same quarter in 2011.

Because of their continued money woes, THQ has delayed a trio of titles that would have launched in early 2013. Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light, which were both scheduled to launch very early in the year, will now be released in March. South Park: The Stick of Truth will also miss its planned release date, moving from March 5 to “early fiscal 2014,” which means it’ll be released sometime between April 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013.

THQ President Jason Rubin had this to say about South Park’s delay: “I believe South Park’s market opportunity is significant. It is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles of calendar 2013. It is also an expansive title, encompassing multiple television seasons’ worth of content. We have been working closely with the co-creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, to make sure all of the game’s content performs to the high standards of the TV show, and this takes time. THQ is committed to giving gamers no less than the rich South Park game they have been waiting for and deserve.”

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

Black Friday Game Deals 2012: Radio Shack

Posted on November 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

The most wonderful time of the year is here… that’s right, we’re less than three weeks away from Black Friday! The biggest shopping day of the year takes place on Friday, November 23 and Radio Shack is up with their list of deals first.

The Shack, as they sometimes pretend to be called, usually isn’t very big on game deals and their Black Friday sale is no different. They’ve only got two discounts going this year, but if you’re in the market for a PS3, you can’t do much better:

  • PS3 250GB Console w/ InFamous Collection + Uncharted Dual Pack + $40 Radio Shack Coupon – $219.99
  • Purchase a 2nd PS3 DualShock 3 Controller – $39.99

Radio Shack’s Black Friday sale begins at 12:01 AM on Thanksgiving Day.

Posted in News, PS3 |

Nintendo brings 5,000 Wii U demo kiosks to stores

Posted on November 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

Nintendo has announced that they’ve completed their rollout of Wii U demo kiosks, installing over 5,000 of the machines at Target, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and Toys R Us.

Not every kiosk will feature the same titles, but playable demos of the Nintendo-published Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Sing Party will be included at most kiosks. Some will also feature demos of Ubisoft’s ZombiU and Rayman Legends. Other games will be available in video form. I tried the demo kiosk at my local Target this weekend and the Wii U GamePad was already broken.

The Wii U console and at least two dozen launch games will be available on November 18.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged , , ,

Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn expansion officially announced

Posted on November 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

Bethesda has announced the next add-on expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, “Dragonborn.” The expansion will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on December 4 for 1600 Microsoft Points ($20). PC and PS3 release dates will be announced at a later time.

The debut trailer above gives us our first taste of Dragonborn and the battle against the Dragon Priest who, like the player character, is a Dragonborn.

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

Weekly Warp-Up: Disturbance in The Force Edition

Posted on November 4, 2012 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…

It’s been five days and I still can’t believe that Disney owns Lucasfilm and the entire Star Wars franchise. It feels like the natural order of things has been upended and, yes, that there’s been a disturbance in The Force.

While I’m absolutely giddy to go see Episode VII in three years (really, how bad could it be?), we put the future of LucasArts to a debate in The Good, The Bad, and Disney’s Acquisition of LucasArts. What will Emperor Waltatine do to Lucas’ game development house? We don’t know for sure, but we’ve got some theories.

If all this Star Wars stuff doesn’t interest you, you should check out our other big articles from the week: What We Played in October 2012, our picks for The Games of November 2012, and the fourth edition of Kickstart This

And there’s even more non-Star Wars news after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Halo 4, LittleBigPlanet Karting, NASCAR Inside Line, More

Posted on November 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

You finished the fight, but now he’s back! The Master Chief returns to the Xbox 360 this week in Halo 4, the first game in the series not developed by Bungie (it was actually created at Microsoft’s 343 Industries).

So who will stand against the mighty Master Chief? Believe it or not, a pair of racing games. Sony is bringing LittleBigPlanet Karting to the PS3 this week and Activision will release the multiplatform NASCAR: Inside Line (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).

Also available this week is a quartet of compilations: Namco Bandai’s Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360), the Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1 (PS3, Xbox 360), BioWare’s Mass Effect Trilogy (PC, Xbox 360), and THQ’s Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package (PS3, Xbox 360).

Hit the jump for even more new releases. (more…)

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

Microsoft: Halo 5 is currently “technologically agnostic”

Posted on November 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Frank O’Connor, the Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries, recently sat down with The Seattle Times to discuss next week’s launch of Halo 4. Towards, the end of the interview, the conversation naturally turned to Halo 5. O’Connor was not shy about revealing that development on the game has already begun, but he was less clear on if it’s coming to the Xbox 360 or the (still unannounced) Xbox 720.

Seattle Times: You’re presumably working on the next version — “Halo 5” or whatever it’s going to be called will be the anchor tenant on the next version of the Xbox, right?

O’Connor: We’ve done as much prototyping and storytelling [on] the future arc of the universe as we have on technology. So we’re definitely working on the future but in some ways it’s technologically agnostic at this point.

Halo 5’s existence was first revealed at E3 2011, when O’Connor himself announced that Halo 4 would mark the “dawn of a new trilogy for the Xbox 360.” If Halo 5’s status is truly “technologically agnostic,” it might actually be in development for both the Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s next generation system. A dual Xbox 360/Xbox 720 release wouldn’t be the craziest idea ever and actually makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint.

Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged