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 4, 2011 – Thursday’s here, woo!

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Nicole Kline

It’s Thursday! And Ryan Littlefield and I have off tomorrow! Which means we are going to be playing a crapload of Borderlands. Want to join us? Leave a comment and tell us your PSN name and we’ll add you to the mix! We’re level 27, and we’re running around Earl’s Scrapyard, I think. Come on and take a riiiiiiiiiiiiiide!

Anyway, Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is none other than Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles II for the PSP. It’s 50% off at $19.99 today, and that really is a great deal. This strategy RPG is not just a pretty face – it’s also got a great and complex battle system and a fantastic story. Add in there that you can play with a friend and the potential is almost limitless!

No game related t-shirts, but today’s shirt.w00t is extra cute: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3, PSP |

F.E.A.R. 3 Review: Being Scared Was Never This Fun

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Nicole Kline

F.E.A.R. 3 is the latest installment in the F.E.A.R. series, which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon – although it doesn’t really seem like anyone cares what it stands for anymore, seeing as that hasn’t really been relevant since the first game. While not helmed by the original developers – Day 1 Studios has taken over for Monolith Productions – the latest in the popular horror franchise still has the same spirit as the two original games.

The most interesting addition to the family gameplay is co-op – players can either play the campaign alone as Point Man and unlock his brother, Paxton Fettel, as they go through each chapter, or they can play the game cooperatively with a friend either online or from their couch. Couch co-op has never been so fun – or so terrifying. The main fear I had was that Day 1 Studios wouldn’t be able to deliver, but I’m happy to announce that they’ve given birth to something… well, something more beautiful than what’s about to come out of Alma Wade, for certain. (more…)

Posted in PC, PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Resident Evil Revelations site goes live

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The site for Capcom’s latest Resident Evil game, Resident Evil Revelations, has gone live, and is full of details about the upcoming 3DS title. Taking place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, the game has a new storyline and a new setting but works with familiar characters – Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. Valentine and her new partner, Parker Luciani, are trying to find Redfield on what they think is an abandoned ship in the Mediterranean (spoiler alert: it’s probably not abandoned).

Resident Evil Revelations will also have some gameplay that is… underwater? RE meets Hydrophobia??? Interesting. The site also lists a plethora of other features:

  • All new Resident Evil — New storyline featuring series favorite — Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and introducing BSAA member Parker Luciani
  • Classic survival horror gameplay returns — Explore the dark, sinister areas of the cruise ship; there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide with evil creeping out of the shadows
  • Flexible touch screen functionality — Using the touch screen adds depth to puzzle solving and provides easy access to switching weapons on the fly
  • Use your equipment — Use the Genesis scanning equipment to analyze enemy weaknesses and hidden items that will prove crucial for the player’s survival
  • Brand new threat — A new kind of horror is set to join the legions of Resident Evil; for the first time ever in the series, players will encounter enemies underwater, adding a unique challenge to the mix of gameplay
  • Alternate Aiming Perspectives — Players can choose the shooting style that suits them with the ability to alternate between first and third person views to best pinpoint enemies

Resident Evil Revelations will be out next Spring. Check out the site for more details.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged

Satoru Iwata apologizes to 3DS early adopters for price drop

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Nicole Kline

In a stunning move, Nintendo dropped the price for their brand new handheld, the 3DS, from $249.99 to $169.99. While Warp Zoned Editor-In-Chief John Scalzo expertly detailed the possible reasoning behind this (eat your heart out, Pach!), it still has many early adopters shocked and hurt. Nintendo has announced the Ambassador Program, which will give early adopters access to 20 free downloadable games. But Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s president, went even further, issuing a personal apology and taking a 50% slash in pay after reporting on Nintendo’s heavy losses.

Those awesome fellas over at Giant Bomb posted a translation of the letter Iwata wrote on the company’s website, which you can read after the jump. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: August 3, 2011 – BLands edition!

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Nicole Kline

This might just be the best day ever: Borderlands 2 was announced! And it will be playable at PAX Prime! AND I saw a kitten on my way into work! *head explodes*

Anyway, Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Namco’s ExerBeat for the Wii. It’s $14.99 from $19.99, and I’m just going to go ahead and say that is not a deal, people. $5 off??? Give me a break. Whatever, BORDERLANDS 2 IS COMING OUT OMG.

Also, there’s an awesome t-shirt today that I think our Editor-in-Chief, John Scalzo, might instantly buy. It’s called “I Want Kombat,” and it’s over at Tee Fury: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Wii |

Borderlands 2 announced, playable at Gamescom 2011, PAX Prime

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Well, that didn’t take long. Just after all the leaks and rumors about Borderlands 2, 2K Games and Gearbox Software officially announced that the sequel is in development. It will be coming to the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime in fiscal year 2013 (after April 2012) and is going to have “all-new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment, which come together in an ambitiously crafted story.” Taking place on Pandora once again, it will not only feature new characters, but new character classes.

All of this information and more can be found in the latest Game Informer. Good thing I just re-upped my subscription! The game will be playable at both Gamescom 2011 (from August 17 – August 21) and PAX Prime (Booth #3417 from August 26 – August 28).

This comes on the heels of something I said just last night to Ryan Littlefield as we were blasting our way through Earl’s Scrapyard. Ryan said that he saw the GOTY edition in the clearance bin, and I replied, “Well obviously it’s because they’re making the second game.” DING! We have a winner! Now excuse me while I go change my pants.

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

PlayStation Vita will work as controller for PS3 games, have cross-platform play

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The PlayStation Vita can work as a controller for the PS3, Sony revealed at the Develop Conference 2011. R&D Manager of Sony Europe, Phil Rogers, said, “”PS3 can send data down to Vita and Vita can display it. You could use the unique features [of Vita] – gyroscope, touch front and back – as a control device for a PS3 game.”

Rogers said that games states can be synced on both devices using the network, and why that matters: “you then have the processing power of PS3 doing that work, Vita [doing] fancy graphics – however you want to do it. You’re not sacrificing the PS3’s CPU to be able to have a rich experience on Vita.”

The Vita will also have cross-platform play, which Rogers has confirmed will be available at launch. They demonstrated with WipEout 2048 on Vita and WipEout HD on PS3, and also mentioned that Hustle Kings will support this feature as well.

And, of course, there’s Continuation Play, in which a player can play on the PS3 and then continue their game on the Vita. “We have a system called Title User Storage, which allows 1MB of data on our servers for games,” Rogers said. “You can save your game on PS3, go over to Vita, pull that data back and swap it between them, so you can play a game at home, take it on the train and continue.”

Ruin, which was shown at Sony’s E3 press conference, is the only game confirmed to support this feature so far, but there are more games in the works (at least one by Hideo Kojima, am I right?). This announcement makes the PlayStation Vita seem a lot more similar to the Wii U’s new controller. There’s also the recent price drop announcement of the 3DS that the Vita will have to contend with when it launches. Dramaaaaaa!

[Source: Eurogamer]

Posted in News, PS3, Vita | Tagged ,

Catherine Review: Do Cheaters Dream of Neurotic Sheep?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Catherine is the latest game from the twisted minds over at Atlus, who are responsible for the Persona series as well as a plethora of other bizarre games. An amalgam of strange and uniquely Japanese concepts and story twists, I assumed Catherine would either go down in the history books as a revolutionary game, or fall short and be simply categorized as weird. It turns out to be more of the latter than the former, but still has many redeeming qualities – and compelling reasons to play. (more…)

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