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.

Square Enix CEO says Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still in development

Posted on July 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

The saga of Final Fantasy Versus XIII took another strange turn today as Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada denied reports the game has been canceled. In a post on Twitter, Wada claimed that Kotaku was taken in by “a hoax” and confirmed that the game is still very much in development.

The CEO also revealed that he recently attended a meeting related to the game and praised the “quality of the cityscapes.”

So Final Fantasy Versus XIII isn’t dead, but it still doesn’t have a release date or even a tentative plan for when it’ll make it’s next public appearance.

[Source: Andriasang]

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Lollipop Chainsaw’s Pop Culture Yearbook

Posted on July 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

At first glance, the pairing of game developer Goichi “Suda 51” Suda and filmmaker James Gunn seemed to come out of nowhere. But a shared love of pop culture brought them together and allowed them to create the madcap world of Lollipop Chainsaw‘s resident zombie slayer, Juliet Starling.

Naturally, neither one could resist packing it with as many pop culture references as they could think of… (more…)

Posted in Features, PS3, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Free Penny Arcade 3 DLC to be released in August

Posted on July 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Today’s Penny Arcade news post from Jerry “Tycho” Holkins dropped a few tantalizing teases about the first (free) DLC expansion for Penny Arcade’s On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3.

Zeboyd Games is hard at work on the first piece of DLC, “The Lair of the Seamstress,” and plans are in place to release it next month in close proximity to the Penny Arcade Expo (August 31 – September 2). These are very tentative plans, and things could change, but that’s the current plan.

Holkins also revealed that a second DLC package is in the works, which will reveal the fate of the Player Character from the first two Rainslick episodes. You might want to have a box of tissues handy.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Dance Central 3 coming October 16, includes “Ice Ice Baby,” “YMCA,” “Macarena”

Posted on July 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Harmonix has announced that Dance Central 3 will be popping and locking its way into stores on October 16, exclusively for the Xbox 360.

Dance Central 3 will take players back in time to learn the classic dance steps of the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and today. How classic are we talking here? Just check out the newest additions to the game’s soundtrack, including “Ice Ice Baby,” “YMCA,” and “The Macarena!”

  • 2NE1 – “I Am The Best (Original Version)”
  • Alice Deejay – “Better Off Alone”
  • Backstreet Boys – “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
  • J.J. Fad – “Supersonic”
  • Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low”
  • LMFAO – “Sexy And I Know It”
  • Los Del Rio – “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)”
  • Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”
  • Vanilla Ice – “Ice Ice Baby”
  • Vicki Sue Robinson – “Turn The Beat Around”
  • Village People – “Y.M.C.A.”
Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

EA Sports UFC to be developed by Fight Night team

Posted on July 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

EA Sports has announced that their upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship game, EA Sports UFC, will be developed by the Fight Night team within EA Canada. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but apparently the developers learned about their new project at E3 2012, the same time as the rest of the world.

“When we found out that EA and the UFC would be working together, the team was excited. Most of the team didn’t even know about it until the announcement at E3. We were all watching it together and when Andrew Wilson and Dana White took the stage, everybody starting cheering. It was great,” said Creative Director Brian Hayes.

This quote also confirms that development on EA Sports UFC just started, so it’ll probably be a long time before we step into a virtual octagon again.

Posted in News | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Overshadowed by Batman Edition

Posted on July 22, 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…

We’ll be wrapping up this week’s this Weekly Warp-Up a bit quicker than usual as I think nearly everyone connected to the game industry took the week off because of the impending release of The Dark Knight Rises. I can’t prove it, but it sounds right, doesn’t it?

I’m sure the lack of news is also connected with the annual San Diego Comic-Con cooldown, but you can see it for yourself after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

Square Enix is probably going to announce Final Fantasy XIII-3 on September 1

Posted on July 21, 2012 by John Scalzo

Square Enix will be celebrating the Final Fantasy franchise’s silver anniversary during a special Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event in Japan next month. In addition to the typical celebration stuff, the publisher plans to reveal new details about the future of the Final Fantasy XIII series.

Scheduled for September 1 at 11:30 AM (Japan Standard Time), the announcement will come as part of a panel titled “Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Saga: New Developments Presentation” and will likely feature a Final Fantasy XIII-3 announcement.

A third Final Fantasy XIII game is the most likely outcome for this presentation as Square Enix previously announced the end of Final Fantasy XIII-2 downloadable content with the “Requiem of the Goddess” pack. Adding more fuel to the FFXIII-3 fire is the suspected cancellation of Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Final Fantasy XIII-3 is basically the only FFX13-related announcement Square Enix could be making.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Rumor: Final Fantasy Versus XIII canceled

Posted on July 21, 2012 by John Scalzo

Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been in development for at least six years and in all that time, only a handful of trailers for the game have ever been released. No one outside of Square Enix has ever played the game, which was purported to feature gameplay similar to the Kingdom Hearts series.

And now it looks like no one ever will.

According to a report on Kotaku, Square Enix has quietly canceled the last unreleased game from their “Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy” project.

Kotaku’s tipster went on to say that the publisher has no plans to publicly announce the cancellation, due to fears of what the news will do to its stock price. When asked for comment on the game’s development status, Square Enix replied with this cryptic statement: “We have no information on the status of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but will be sure to update you as it becomes available.”

If you notice, they completely sidestepped Kotaku’s original question, “Is Final Fantasy Versus XIII still in development?”

A second source told Kotaku that “development and resources” behind Final Fantasy Versus XIII have already been folded into the development of Final Fantasy XV. However, exactly what this means for the franchise’s next numbered entry is unclear.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged