Author: Nicole Kline

Nicole Kline is Warp Zoned's Senior Editor. She first began preparing for the job by climbing a milk crate to play Centipede in an arcade. You can find her on PSN under the name toitle or you can email her at nicole AT warpzoned DOT com.

Ed Boon on Mortal Kombat Vita: Touchscreen Fatalities, New Challenge Tower, and more

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Sid Shuman over at the at the PlayStation Blog recently sat down with Ed Boon to get some information about Mortal Kombat coming to the Vita. The game’s got everything from the PS3 version (including Kratos and all downloadable content), plus even more content tailored specifically for the Vita’s unique capabilities.

He wasn’t allowed to discuss how they used the accelerometer or the Sixaxis, but Boon goes into detail about how the touchscreen is utilized: “In terms of gameplay, we’ve always wanted MK to be as accessible as possible. For example, you can touch your X-Ray Meter to execute an X-Ray Attack. For fatalities, you can ‘slash’ the screen with the appropriate inputs — say, away, away, up — to execute the fatality. It makes some of the more difficult fatalities easier and it’s fun to slash at your screen to fire off a fatality. I was surprised by how engaging it is.”

As for the new Challenge Tower, Boon said “there are challenges that are unique to PS Vita’s capabilities. Over the years we’ve had Test Your Might, Test Your Luck, Test Your Sight… well, we’ve added two completely new ones for PS Vita. We’ll be revealing those soon, and they will take advantage of the accelerometer and other features.”

What blew me away the most about the interview was that the Vita version will be running at the same framerate as the PS3 version – 60 frames per second. Talk about smooth!

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Yakuza: Dead Souls “Who’s Got Your Back” trailer is badass

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

I love everything about this trailer. I especially love that there’s a character with a gatling gun arm. Oh, and the music is great. And after teasing us with a March 2012 date for so long, Sega has finally revealed that Yakuza: Dead Souls will be released in North America on March 13. Which is great to know, because I want to pit Yakuza vs. zombies and see who comes out on top.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

The Last Story gets gorgeous limited edition in Europe

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Nintendo has announced a ludicrously awesome exclusive limited edition bundle for the European release of The Last Story. The limited edition will have the game, an exclusive SteelBook cover, and “The Elements Of The Last Story” package, including the soundtrack (seven songs from the game composed by the talented Nobuo Uematsu) and an art book of illustrations.

The Last Story will be available in Europe exclusively for the Wii on February 24. Hopefully an American release is soon to follow.

Posted in News, Wii | Tagged

I Am Alive “Encounters” trailer released

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Ubisoft’s recent trailer for I Am Alive, Tape 2: Encounters, details some of the best ways to survive in Haventon. If you draw your weapon, you’d better have a plan.

I Am Alive will be out for the Xbox Live Arcade on February 22 as part of the 2012 XBLA House Party. No word yet on the PlayStation Network release, but hopefully it won’t be far behind.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Silent Hill: The Terror Engine, an academic analysis of the series, released

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Silent Hill: The Terror Engine both analyzes the first three Silent Hill games as well as takes a look at the series as a whole. It’s the second book in the Landmark Video Game Series, edited by Mark J. P. Wolf and Bernard Perron.

Perron “uses the narrative structure; the techniques of imagery, sound, and music employed; the game mechanics; and the fiction, artifact, and gameplay emotions elicited by the games to explore the specific fears survival horror games are designed to provoke and how the experience as a whole has made the Silent Hill series one of the major landmarks of video game history.”

This sounds absolutely awesome. It’s available right now at The University of Michigan Press. The first book in the series is called Myst and Riven: The World of the D’ni. I love academic gamers.

Posted in Etcetera, News |

Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time announced for PSP in North America

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time will be released in North America by Atlus for the PSP. This enhanced and remastered version is scheduled to arrive on our shores this summer.

This fourth title in the series has never been released outside of Japan, where it is called Growlanser IV: Over Reloaded, and is considered by some to be the best game in the Growlanser series. The game will have many improvements and additions, including “new characters, scenarios, and events [which] are complemented by dramatically improved loading times and a message skip option that allows players to advance the story at a faster pace.” This epic game also has a “40+ hour narrative with over 40 different possible endings, deep tactical RPG mechanics, the character designs of the legendary Satoshi Urushihara, and a host of enhancements over the original release.”

This game seriously sounds off the hook, especially when you consider that they were unable to include voice acting for the entire script, due to the fact that it is “already one of the largest localization projects in the publisher’s two decade history.” At least the anime cutscenes will be voiced.

Posted in News, PSP | Tagged

Dead Rising 2 developer working on new action adventure IP

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

According to a recent job listing, Capcom’s Vancouver studio is working on a new unannounced IP. The new game will be a third-person action adventure game, which is right up the Dead Rising 2 developer’s alley.

The job listing also confirms a second unannounced project at Capcom Vancouver, which is most likely the recently rumored Dead Rising 3.

But It always warms my heart when quality studios branch off into new IPs. Bring us something new! It’s what gamers crave.

Posted in News |

See Mario Kart 7 designs on next episode of West Coast Customs

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Vehicle modification show “West Coast Customs” has taken on an interesting challenge: to bring some of the karts in Mario Kart 7 to life.

Ryan Friedlinghaus, founder and CEO of West Coast Customs, said “When Don James, Executive Vice President of Nintendo America, requested the meeting and he told me he needed us to create some of the Mario Kart 7 cars in real life, I was excited and ready for the challenge. Then he said they need to have a hang glider for flying and a propeller for underwater maneuvering, I thought, he must be joking!”

Tune in to Velocity this Sunday, January 22, at 9 PM; watch and see if they are able to successfully create replicas – to scale! – of the Mario Kart and the Bumble V kart.

Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, News | Tagged