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.

Daily Scoop: August 16, 2011 – Another day, another night of Borderlands

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

So, Ryan Littlefield and I were up late again playing Borderlands. Shocking, I know. We collected a bunch of brains, levelled up a few times, and finished all the missions in the first DLC. Woo! Oh, yeah, and there’s also a teaser for Borderlands 2 which has me freaking out. It’s a good day to love treasure hunting on Pandora!

Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Activision’s Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010 with Gun Bundle for the Wii. It’s $19.99 today down from $29.99. Also up is a Lightning Deal in video games – the Nickelodeon Fun N Fit Bundle for the Wii. It’s just $39.99 today down from $75.95, and it works with the Wii Balance Board.

No gaming t-shirts, but there’s another “Game of Thrones” shirt up, this time over at Ript: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Wii |

BioShock: Rapture Review: A Man Chooses… To Not Read This Book

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Nicole Kline

BioShock: Rapture is a prequel novel to the BioShock video game series. Author John Shirley takes us from the inception of Rapture: from an idea blossoming in the mind of Andrew Ryan, to its violent and inevitable descent into madness. Though Shirley has so much material to work from, he doesn’t quite bring it all together in a way that is satisfying; in fact, he does little to bring anything to life that wasn’t already in our imaginations from the games themselves. (more…)

Posted in Etcetera, Reviews, Top Story |

Daily Scoop: August 15, 2011 – PAX approaches!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Oh man, I just realized PAX is next week. Let it be known I am officially freaking out. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Let’s see… Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games is Atari’s Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum which is just $14.99 today for the PC. They’ve also got their new weekly deals up – Dungeon Siege III is $32.99 on consoles and $25.99 on PC, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is $14.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360, and to top it all off, they just announced their Summer Road Trip Handheld Gaming Event. Don’t tell Ryan Littlefield, or he’ll make me buy all the Professor Layton games.

No gaming t-shirts, but I always love references to “A Game of Thrones,” whether I buy ’em or not. Today’s is over at Tee Fury, and it’s called “Game of Crossbones:” (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Daily Scoop, DS, Etcetera, News, PC, PSP |

New comic by Penny Arcade and PvP, “Trenches,” details nightmares of game testing

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Those brilliant minds behind Penny Arcade, Jerry “Tycho” Holkins and Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, have teamed up with longtime-friend-turned-officemate, Scott Kurtz of PvP Online, to create a new comic called “The Trenches.” The comic details the horrors of being a game tester, with added, anonymous commentary from a tester who has lived through it.

Having many friends who have worked or do work as testers, which they’ve mentioned several times in their webseries, this seems like a natural turn for the trio to take. “We’ve covered testing in Penny Arcade before, but the more we talked about it, the more we felt like it really deserved its own comic strip,” Krahulik told Kotaku.

The Trenches will update on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the three have balanced out all the work so their individual strips won’t suffer. After so much that has come from these guys – from PAX to PATV, to their D&D Podcast and Child’s Play – it’s a wonder that they keep churning out more projects, all of which pulse with creative energy. But as I’ve said for years – if they keep bringing it, I’ll keep consuming it.

Posted in Etcetera, News |

New trailer for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon will blow you away

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The trailer for the latest in the Ace Combat series, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, has some powerful moments. In this “Full-Blown Assault,” we get to see some intense gameplay, including a massive battle going on just outside of Washington, DC. The music is pretty catchy, too – “Gotta stay fly, gotta stay strong.” I see what they did there.

Namco’s Ace Combat: Assault Horizon will be out on October 11 for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Operation Rainfall enters Phase Two

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

O Ep Operation Rainfall, the passionate, fan-driven campaign to have Wii JRPGs Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower released in North America, has now entered phase two. Since Nintendo of America announced that they would be watching Xenoblade’s reception in Europe, this is a crucial time for fans of the game.

“As part of Phase Two of Operation Rainfall, we very much want to see Xenoblade Chronicles sell exceptionally well in PAL regions,” the press release stated. “To all residents in the regions of Europe and Oceania, we encourage you to pre-order and purchase it at your earliest convenience. In the Americas, we encourage you to promote awareness of these titles. Good sales abroad will be a strong indicator for the title making it to American shores.”

More details about the letter-writing campaign can also be found in the press release. The group also encourages everyone to purchase Final Fantasy on the Virtual Console on August 19th, and reminds everyone that piracy is neither condoned nor cool. They also explain the perils of purchasing a Wii and games from another region – both for your own sake (Nintendo of America will not fix your Wii if it’s been modified) and for their own (it won’t help sales figures if you’re off importing the games, kids).

Whether it’s futile, ludicrous, heroic, or some mixture of all three, Operation Rainfall is definitely determined.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Cladun X2 release date revealed; NIS reminds you to preorder Disgaea 4, d00d

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Good news has come to us from the Prinnies, d00d! Cladun X2, sequel to the quirky retro PSP RPG Cladun: This is an RPG!, will be coming out on the PSN on August 30. According to the latest Prinny Bomb, “ClaDun x2 comes sporting brand new features and dungeons, so get ready to delve into the mysterious land called Arcanus Cella and rid the world of baddies once again. Increase your chance of survival by leveling your party using the intricate Magic Circle system!” Righteous!

And don’t forget Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten will be out on September 6. The strategy guide can be ordered from NIS’ site once the game launches, or pre-ordered at GameStop.

On top of that, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice will be $19.99 at the NIS store starting August 16th, and the DLC will be discounted on the PSN. Seriously, this is more Disgaea than I can handle! I think I’ll spend the rest of the day trying to finish up Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness while the rain pours down.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged , ,

Rage to jump on Online Pass wagon, but with a twist

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Here’s a tidbit of info that will have more than a few gamers’ panties in a bunch: Rage is going to have some sections only available through an Online Pass redemption code.

Players who buy the game new will have access to hidden sewer hatches, id Creative Director Tim Willits told Eurogamer in a lengthy interview.

Here’s the part of the interview specifically detailing the use of the Online Pass:

Eurogamer: Everyone’s messing around with Online Pass.

Tim Willits: We have the first-time buyer stuff with all the sewers. You’ve played Rage five times. Have you found any sewer hatches?

Eurogamer: I did, out in the Wasteland.

Tim Willits: If you bought the game new, that would be open for you. You still have to download it, but you don’t have to pay for it. Those hatches are all over. Most people never find them. But as soon as you do, you’re like, oh. And then you start to look for it. That’s our first-time buyer incentive.

But as you can tell, most people never even see it. I can tell you, some people will buy Rage, download that, and still never set foot in those things. They just won’t. I think that’s fair. It’s cool. It’s outside the main path. We’re not detracting from anything. But I know some consumers, when you can’t avoid it, then you get a little touchy subject.

Eurogamer: I worry longer-term everything’s just going to get broken up into chunks.

Tim Willits: I don’t see that any time soon. Again, as long as you buy Rage new you get everything free. We’re not taking stuff out.

Another one bites the dust. Rage is scheduled to launch October 4 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

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