Most Recent: News

The ESA loves LA! E3 Expo to stay in LA through 2015

Posted on July 30, 2012 by John Scalzo

After a tense round of negotiations, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the city of Los Angeles have announced that the E3 Expo will remain in LA through 2015.

“The City of Los Angeles is thrilled to welcome E3 back for another three years,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “My office was committed to doing whatever it took to keep the largest annual conference that the City hosts here for another three years. I personally joined in the negotiations, and we worked with all parties to ensure the needs of E3 would be met. The City is grateful the Entertainment Software Association continues to view LA, the entertainment capital of the world, as the ideal location for the world’s premiere video game convention.”

The ESA also announced that the 2013 E3 Expo will open on Tuesday, June 11 and run through the 13th.

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Weekly Warp-Up: Skydiving Queen Edition

Posted on July 29, 2012 by John Scalzo

No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…

The 2012 London Olympics opened on Friday in particularly bizarre Olympic style. I can’t say I got all of it (how did the teenage boy call the teenage girl if he had her phone?), but I think we can all agree that the Queen skydiving out of helicopter alongside James Bond is pretty awesome. Daniel Craig actually pulled double duty on Friday as Activision announced his participation in the upcoming 007 Legends.

As the nations of the world come together in peace and sport, we asked the question How the PS3 and Vita Can Live Peacefully Together? It’s no secret that Sony’s handheld hasn’t set the world on fire, but is the actual PS3 stealing some thunder from the “portable PS3”? We investigate.

Finally this week, we dug deep into Lollipop Chainsaw’s Pop Culture Yearbook and… oh my god… you wouldn’t believe how many references and allusions we found in there.

So give your best royal wave and hit the jump (don’t forget your parachute) for more of this week’s biggest stories. (more…)

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Pre-order Transformers: Fall of Cybertron from GameStop, receive a G1 Optimus Prime Skin

Posted on July 29, 2012 by John Scalzo

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is less than a month away, but if you pre-order the game from GameStop, you’ll receive exclusive access to the “G1 Retro Pack,” which includes an Optimus Prime G1 Skin, and two G1 Retro weapons: the Megatron Gun and the Shockwave Cannon. You can get a look at Optimus Prime’s new paint job in the trailer above, which has been perfectly cued to “The Touch,” Stan Bush’s perfect rockin’ signature tune from 1985’s Transformers: The Movies.

In addition to the G1 goodies, pre-ordering Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will also net you early access to the game’s demo. The demo will be available to download from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on July 31, but pre-order purchasers will receive a code to download it instantly.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 21.

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

Trion Worlds to publish Crytek’s Warface

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Trion Worlds recently announced that it will be publishing Crytek’s Warface, a free-to-play social first-person shooter, in North America, Europe, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. The game is currently live in Russia with two million registered users, and won awards at the Russian KRI Awards for Best Game and Best Graphics.

CEO and founder of Crytek, Cevat Yerli, had this to say: “Trion is the company spearheading a revolution in gaming through delivering premium online games across big genres powered by a proven, cutting edge platform. The combination of this platform, GFACE and Warface shows Crytek’s commitment to finding innovative new ways to bring superior gaming experiences and AAA titles to gamers. That’s why we are creating strong strategic alliances with the best online publishers across the world.”

Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO and founder of Trion Worlds, said, “Crytek has repeatedly proven their foresight and they are doing that again by leading the shift towards delivering high-quality, free-to-play, online games. We are very impressed with Warface and Crytek’s commitment to polished gameplay, amazing graphics, technical excellence, and real innovation. We very much feel that we are kindred companies and stand strong together.”

Warface features cooperative multiplayer missions as well as PVP all sent in a “player versus environment” which is updated constantly. Add in Cryengine 3, and you’ve potentially got a recipe for success.

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Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition gets a September release date

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is coming to PCs next month, just 14 years after the initial release of the original Baldur’s Gate. The enhanced edition will be running on a version of the Infinity Engine that has been upgraded and improved. There’s a lot of new stuff here, including a new adventure called “The Black Pits,” three new characters: Dorn Il-Khan, Neera the Wild Mage, and Rasaad yn Bashir, and lots more:

  • A new collection of player character voice sets
  • Native support for high resolution widescreen displays
  • Over 400 improvements to the original game
  • Improved multiplayer support, with connectivity between all platforms

The Enhanced Edition will be available for PC download on September 18 for $19.99 and is available for pre-order now. It is also scheduled to be released sometime in September for the iPad and Mac, with an Android release to be announced.

Posted in Mobile, News, PC | Tagged

New Releases: Kingdom Hearts 3D, Risen 2, Growlanser IV, More

Posted on July 28, 2012 by John Scalzo

We’re turning the calendar over to August this week, but that’s not going to put a stop to the Summer games drought. Although this week is a bit more loaded than recent weeks.

A big part of that is the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for the 3DS. Dream Drop Distance is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series for the handheld and Square Enix picked a perfect time to bring it across the Pacific.

Another anticipated RPG makes its way to stores this week. Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time, from Atlus, is a strategy RPG for the PSP that was originally released on the PS2 (as Growlanser IV) in 2003. However, that version of the game never escaped Japan, so Wayfarer of Time is technically a “new” game.

Also available this week is the console version of Risen 2: Dark Waters. The pirate-themed RPG will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Finally, Myst comes to the 3DS with “a brand new age” and PC players will be able to try their hand at the budget minigame collection Nightmares From the Deep: The Cursed Heart.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 | Tagged , ,

Kaz Yamauchi reconfirms Gran Tursimo 6 is in development

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo, has reconfirmed that Gran Turismo 6 is in development, and has been since the completion of Gran Turismo 5. He made the announcement at the China Joy gaming event in Shanghai, according to Kotaku. Yamauchi also told the crowd about bringing the series to the Vita, saying, “If we made it, I’d want it to have this: the ability to play and use 3G whenever.” Well, the Vita sounds like a perfect match, in that case!

This was confirmed back in November of last year, but it’s nice to have reconfirmation. As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with the end of that Kotaku article, where Brian Ashcraft wrote that “now the race is to see how many Forza games rival studio Turn 10 can race out before Gran Turismo 6 is eventually completed in the year 20XX.” Well played, Ashcraft. Well played.

Posted in News, PS3, Vita | Tagged

Daily Scoop: July 27, 2012 – Hellooooooooooo Friday!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Nicole Kline

So there are no new deals going on, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to buy! Amazon is still having all those deals I mentioned Monday, as well as that sale on Wii products, and the other sale on PlayStation 3 games. There’s also that ludicrous sale still going on at Best Buy. Scoop ’em up! All the games.

And, of course, there are shirts to be bought: (more…)

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