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: April 25, 2011 – Credit cards: CANCELLED!

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Nicole Kline

It’s a happy Monday, or at least, it was a happy Monday, until I had to cancel all my credit cards because Sony still doesn’t know what the hell is going on with the PSN and btw, our secure information may have been compromised. Great! Just what I want to hear.

Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is all about Blizzard. World of Warcraft is on sale for $9.99 from $19.99, and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is on sale for $29.99 from $39.99. If you’re depressed about the PSN being down, or you’re frothing at the mouth for Diablo III, maybe this would be a good way for you to pass the time.

Nothing else today, except my earbuds are broken. I think I might replace them with a pink pair. That is all.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Daily Scoop: April 24, 2011 – The Easter Bunny did not fix the PSN

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The only thing I wanted in my Easter basket today was a functioning PSN, but apparently, that’s not in the cards just yet. Sony is busy re-building the PSN right now, while the rest of us are gorging on candy and getting ready to have dinner with the fam. Hopefully this means no more external intrusions will mess up my online play. Was it Anonymous? Microsoft? Someone hacking through the shiny new Steam functionality? No one knows.

At least Amazon’s still got plenty of deals for us. Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is MadCatz’s “Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby True 5.1 Gaming Headset – Powered by TRITTON,” which is just $179.99 down from $249.99. “Featuring 8 precision-balanced speakers which accurately reproduce the 3D gaming environment,” these headphones will allow you to “mark your enemies’ location long before they sense your presence.” It’s also got “individual backlit volume controls allow you to fine-tune each channel (front, rear, center, subwoofer)” as well as “gold-plated connectors enhance acoustics to amplify stealthy footsteps.” If I didn’t already have my heart set on other headphones right now, I might be tempted to buy these!

Amazon’s got a lot of Easter deals as well, including savings of up to 75% on select game downloads. This includes Battlefield Bad Company 2 for $9.99 and Medal of Honor for $14.99. Playing an FPS would be the best way to celebrate this holiday!

And don’t forget the Amazon list of Bonus Offers, which includes a $50.00 promotional credit if you buy a 4 GB Xbox 360 with Kinect. It’s perfect timing for everyone annoyed with the PSN outage. Does this mean I’ll finally be getting an Xbox 360? Not after reading this. That’s the last straw for me, Microsoft.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 |

Daily Scoop: April 23, 2011 – PSN outage edition

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Looking forward to a day catching up on Uncharted 2‘s multiplayer while earning triple cash? Me too! Except the PlayStation Network is down, thanks to an “external intrusion.” Thanks a lot, jerks! I guess now I’ll just have to read a book or something. Gosh.

At least hackers can’t stop the signal deals, which include today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games: Anarchy Enterprises’ Hide & Secret 3: Pharaoh’s Quest for the PC. This game download is $1.98 down from $9.99, and lets you “Return Stolen Treasures,” “Solve Challenging And Deadly Puzzles,” “Reunite Ancient Spirits,” and “Unlock The Secrets Of Eternity.” That’s some Indiana Jones speak right there!

We’ve also got a cool game-related t-shirt today, which is Tee Fury‘s “Peace in Space:”

I guess now that there’s peace in space, Space Ghost will have to go back to his wife, Bjork.

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

“External intrusion” responsible for PlayStation Network outages

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Nicole Kline

We reported yesterday on the PlayStation Network outages and even speculated that it may have been self-righteous hackers seeing us as collateral damage yet again. It looks like we might be right: a new message, posted last night on the PlayStation Blog, cites an “external intrusion” as the interruption to services on both the PlayStation Network and Qriocity. Sony shut off both services in order to conduct a full investigation, calling us their utmost priority, and asking for our patience.

“Hacktivist” group Anonymous has come out with a statement of their own and announced “For Once We Didn’t Do It.” The group was responsible for the previous PSN outages and promised their next attack on Sony would be much bigger and grander.

But if it’s not Anonymous, then my guess is it’s most likely a copycat. They assured the public that we wouldn’t be in the line of fire anymore. But there’s really no honor among thieves, and that’s all hackers really are. And yes, that reference is to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, because I am super pissed that this weekend’s Hammer-only Lab event and Triple Cash were both postponed due to the outage. Thanks a lot.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

Check out this picture of every Pokemon ever

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Every wonder what a drawing of every single Pokemon would look like? Well, wonder no more, because Japanese artist Jippe has made the dream a reality by drawing all 646 existing Pokemon in one place – including those from Pokemon Black and Pokemon White. In addition to this crazy depiction of all the pocket monsters you gotta catch, he has more Pokemon art on his website.

Urge to go catch Pokemon all night…rising…

Posted in DS, Etcetera, News | Tagged

PlayStation Network outages have seriously bad timing

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Nicole Kline

The PlayStation Network is down, and some people are really pissed off. Namely, all the people who purchased Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, and SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs and expected to be able to actually play those games online. While the PlayStation Blog says they’re investigating the outage, it also says it might take a full day or two before they fix the problem. Could this be Anonymous striking again, considering us to be collateral damage, taking advantage of crushing online capabilities during a peak time? I sure hope not, because I know that whether or not those kids are ever unmasked, they’re going to Internet hell. It’s a special hell for people who troll on 4chan, prevent people from playing video games (Microsoft timed exclusivity deal writers are on this list), and the people who convinced me Damnation was a good game before it shipped.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

Daily Scoop: April 22, 2011 – Happy Earth Day!

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Nicole Kline

It’s Earth Day, yay! Celebrate Earth Day by planting a tree, getting a free cup of coffee at Starbucks, or performing a fatality on one of your friends. My Earth Day celebrations will include trying to solve puzzles with a portal gun and considering baking a cake. Which one of those was a lie?

Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is Sega of America’s Football Manager 2011 for the PC and Mac. It’s half price at $19.99. If you picked up Madden NFL 11 yesterday and you think maybe you need to up your managerial skills, this sounds like the right kind of deal for you!

Nothing worth noting on the daily t-shirt circuit today, but I did find this gem over at Shirtoid:

It features Chell as the patron saint of portals, and goes well with all the other references we’ve made to Valve’s super hit this week.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PC |

Portal 2 has levels with motion control… on the PC?

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Even though Valve was adamant in their stance on not making Portal 2 compatible with the Move – let alone the Kinect – it is compatible with new motion-sensing controllers for the PC. The Razer Hydra, by Razer, can be purchased standalone or in a bundle with Portal 2, and there are six special levels created just for the new controllers.

Razer collaborated with Sixsense and Valve to make this power happen. Gabe Newell said that the controller “is a significant step forward for the PC gaming industry because it not only affords an almost-physical experience for gamers, but also presents developers an opportunity to innovate and significantly push the boundaries on new forms of gameplay and entertainment.”

It’s also already compatible with over 125 PC games, including World of Goo and another of Valve’s hits, Left 4 Dead. Sixsense’s CEO, Amir Rubin, feels that this collaboration has “established the PC as the best platform for motion gaming” and that the levels made for Portal 2 “allow gamers to fully experience the possibilities of motion gaming.”

I don’t know if jumping onto the motion controller bandwagon will establish the PC as the best platform. Now that the PC has caved and joined the fray, gamers who desperately hoped that motion gaming was a fad will now have to embrace the grim reality: it’s here to stay, and now it’s even on your computer.

The Razer Hydra will be available in June for a price of $139.99 (and that includes a copy of Portal 2).

Posted in News, PC | Tagged