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.

The Secret World MMO to be co-published by Funcom and EA

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Nicole Kline

EA has teamed up with independent developer Funcom to release their new MMO, The Secret World. This upcoming MMO on the PC is set in the modern days, and allows players to become members of one of three secret societies – the Illuminati, the Dragon, and the Templar. The struggle for power will cross many locations, including Egypt, London, Seoul, and New York, and will include monster battles. Sounds like National Treasure meets World of Warcraft, if you ask me.

Funcom has previously developed more than 20 games, including MMOs Anarchy Online and Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. There’s no release date yet on The Secret World, but the community currently has hundreds of thousands of beta players, according to a new press release. Seems like a smart move for all parties involved.

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Nintendo considers reprinting sold-out Super Mario All-Stars

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Nicole Kline

While video game companies don’t usually understand the concept of “Limited Edition,” one company does for sure: Nintendo. Their limited run of the 25th anniversary Super Mario All-Stars that came out for the Wii on December 12th is impossible to find. That is, it’s impossible to find at its original suggested retail price of $29.99 and goes for as much as $80 right now on eBay (it’s currently hovering between $68 and $90 on Amazon). But we have good news – you can save all those coins you painstakingly collected. Nintendo’s director of public relations Marc Franklin told Wired.com that the company is considering “bringing this item back at a later date.”

It’s easy to see why the collection sold out so quickly – it’s not just an updated version of Mario’s first four adventures. It also came with a history booklet and an audio CD full of those nostalgic tunes. If you missed out the first time around, definitely get on this when it comes back. It’s a lot of bang for your buck – or I guess you could say it’s a lot of fire power for your coins.

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Games and deals coming soon to the Xbox Live Marketplace in January 2011

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Nicole Kline


The XBLA has some deals coming up in the next few days. From January 11th through the 17th, players can save up to 50% on Activision DLC, including Call of Duty Map Packs, Guitar Hero Add-ons, and Arcade titles, just to name a few. Details will be available on the Xbox Live Dashboard on January 11th. From the 18th to the 25th, EA will be having a sale as well – 50% off Arcade games and more. Details for the EA sale will be available on the Dashboard on the 18th. Xbox Live members can also try out Gold for free from January 28th to the 31st.

For more deals and additional available content, hit the jump. Thanks, Major Nelson! (more…)

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Duke Nukem Forever in EGM’s February issue

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Electronic Gaming Monthly’s February issue exists to let fans of Duke Nukem Forever know that more information is coming in late January or early February. What’s with the gaming industry making announcements about when they’re going to be making more announcements? In the meantime, you can satiate your lust with an interview with Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford. He also mentions that the developer’s other game, Aliens: Colonial Marines, probably won’t be released this year.

Oh yeah, and in other news, Red Dead Redemption was EGM’s GOTY. And they gave Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded a 5.0. Ouch. More details at NeoGAF.

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Hudson Entertainment bringing TurboGrafx-16 games to Playstation 3, PSP

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Hudson Entertainment recently announced that they’ll be releasing some of the original TurboGrafx-16 games for the PlayStation Network to be played on the PlayStation 3 and PSP this winter. The ten games are Alien Crush, Bomberman ’94, Bonk’s Adventure, Dungeon Explorer, Neutopia, New Adventure Island, Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, Victory Run, and World Sports Competition. Hudson – who originally developed the TurboGrafx-16 with NEC in 1987 – will be announcing even more games in the coming months.

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EA shuts down a buttload of servers, actually seems sad about it

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Nicole Kline

EAlogoEA recently made an announcement about changes to their online services – specifically, they announced the servers they’ll be shutting down. The Lord of the Rings games are being shut down due to an expired licensing deal with Middle-earth Enterprises. Fans can say goodbye to The Sims Carnival after January 16th. A long list of older EA Sports games will no longer be running, either – EA cites the need for their engineers and techies to be dedicated to their more popular games as their reason. Their goodbye does seem genuinely tearful.

Hit the jump for the full list of EA games you won’t be able to play online anymore.

(more…)

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Capcom releases details on upcoming titles

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Ah, CES. We love you because you always bring us new information. Capcom has joined the legion of companies making major announcements about some of their most anticipated titles of 2011 – Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Mega Man Legends 3 Project, MotoGP 10/11, and my personal favorite: Okamiden.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 is coming to the North American PSN on February 1st for 14.99 and the XBLA on the 2nd for 1200 MS points. We also got some box art as well as some screen shots, which can all be found here.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will be released in North America for the DS on January 11th. Players take on the role of Sissel’s ghost to try to solve his murder. You can solve puzzles by possessing and manipulating items in the real world from the spirit world. Did I mention Sissel has amnesia? Part detective story, part soap opera.

Mega Man Legends 3 Project’s new female heroine, Aero, was created in the Dev Room by fans, who can contribute to multiple aspects of the game through its development. To get involved in this unique project and to read the latest news, click here.

MotoGP 10/11 has just introduced a new customizable player assist feature. This allows both simulation and arcade racing fans to play the game in the style they’re used to. Also announced was a new splitscreen co-op gameplay. Fans of the genre should be sure to check it out this coming March, when it releases for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. More details can be found here.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: information about Okamiden! Capcom announced a brand new Wind mini-game in which Chibiterasu can team up with a friend named Kurow. Together they will use the Galestorm brush technique to get to Thundercloud, where they can later learn another brush technique called Thunderstorm. Chibiterasu will need all the help he can get to bring color back into the world. March 15th is when Okamiden lands for the DS, so get your painting hand ready. More information on this story can be found here, and you can become a fan of Okami on Facebook here.

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