Most Recent: News

Konami delays Silent Hill: Book of Memories again

Posted on March 26, 2012 by John Scalzo

As you may have noticed from the latest new release report, Konami’s Silent Hill: Book of Memories will be a no-show on store shelves this week. A representative for the publisher confirmed the delay to Ripten:

Unfortunately Book of Memories has been delayed. Stay tuned for a more formal announcement.

Many online retailers, including Amazon and GameFly, have given the game a placeholder date of May 31 (which is a Thursday, definitely meaning its not the real release date). So don’t expect to see Silent Hill: Book of Memories for a while.

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Weekly Warp-Up: All About Mass Effect 3… Again

Posted on March 25, 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…

Mass Effect 3 was a major topic of conversation again this week as fan and fanboy alike have turned out in droves to debate the merits of Shepard’s final voyage. First came the news that a Mass Effect 3 player filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about the game’s “terrible” ending. Then came the news that BioWare was actually considering a new ending, which the company’s co-founder confirmed a few days later. So congratulations, Mass Effect 3 is getting a new ending because a small group of people complained loudly enough.

If you’re uninterested in the meta-discussion of the game’s ending, but still love Mass Effect 3, then check out our look at the religious undertones of the series as a whole in The Cross and The Controller: Mass Effect’s Picture of Faith.

And speaking of religious experiences… the “Art of Video Games” exhibit opened last weekend at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and we were there to take it all in including the Pioneers Panel, Hideo Kojima’s panel, thatgamecompany’s meet and greet, and the exhibit itself.

And speaking of game developers, we also reviewed the excellent book Gamers At Work, a series of interviews with some of the biggest names in the development scene, this week.

And speaking of this week, you can read more about it after the jump. (more…)

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Get your first look at the infected from The Last of Us

Posted on March 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells posted the montrosity on the left of your screen to his Twitter feed yesterday.

Mr. or Ms. Exploding Head is what “the infected” will look like in the developer’s next game, The Last of Us. Up until now, the only antagonists we’ve seen for Joel and Ellie have been humans living outside the quarantine zones. But these abominations will be roaming the ruined lands of the USA as well, and it looks like “shoot ’em in the head” won’t be an option.

I don’t think they have any plans to give the bust away to one of their fans, but we can dream can’t we?

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New Releases: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Warriors Orochi 3, More

Posted on March 24, 2012 by John Scalzo

The last week of March has hit a rough patch as only a handful of new releases will be available next week:

  • EA Sports hit it pretty close to the pin with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (PS3, Xbox 360).
  • Tecmo Koei will surely be a good walk spoiled for a bunch of time-traveling warriors in the crossover brawler Warriors Orochi 3 (Xbox 360).
  • And Capcom pulled out a well-worn putter with their Capcom Digital Collection (Xbox 360) of XBLA games.

If you’re like me, you’re probably taking a mulligan on this week. Hopefully, a hole-in-one is in our future, but at least the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Rockstar takes gang warfare to the next level with “Crews” in Max Payne 3, GTA 5

Posted on March 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Rockstar has announced a new feature for their Rockstar Games Social Club platform that’ll make its debut in Max Payne 3: Crews.

Crews are sort of like clans, except that they’ll exist outside of any individual game. Players will be able to join a Crew in Max Payne 3’s multiplayer mode and they’ll still be a member of that same Crew when future Rockstar games like Grand Theft Auto V, and other “appropriate titles,” are released.

In an interview with IGN, Rockstar’s Vice President of Creativity, Dan Houser, laid down some details on what you’ll be able to do with Crews:

How will Crews be able to interact?

Houser: One major way will be with Feuds. In multiplayer games we have a feature called Vendettas – if someone kills you twice, you can initiate a vendetta against them, which lets everyone know that you’re out to get that person. For you, a special X marks their blip when they’re visible to you on the map. If you take that person down, you get extra XP. If they survive your vendetta though, they get that XP.

Crew Feuds are essentially Crew Vendettas: impromptu skirmishes between crews that can spring up in multiplayer matches that quickly spawn a first-to-10-kills battle. You can be playing any team-based game with a completely new set of players, but if you spot two or more members of a crew you’re feuding with on the opposite team, any kills you get against them will count to the overall feud so rivalries will spring up automatically – and when they do, you’ll be notified and the grudge will come to the forefront of the game.

We’ll track who you’re feuding with, how long you’ve been feuding, and who’s winning. You’ll get extra XP for taking down members of crews you’re feuding with, so you’ll be able to remember those grudges for future matches. Again, we want to create more drama out of the interactions that go down in typical multiplayer matches.

And the beauty of this system is that crews persist over time and across future games. Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward, and by creating crews through Social Club the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one. It’s all part of our larger approach to make multiplayer deeper and richer than what’s currently available, much more easily accessible to the newcomer and rewarding for the hardcore.

Whoa. Why didn’t anybody think of this before? Max Payne 3 will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 15 with the PC version following on May 29.

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Ridge Racer Unbounded out in Europe next week; US date still TBA

Posted on March 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Ridge Racer Unbounded was pushed back to “later in 2012” by Namco Bandai earlier this month, but it looks like our friends across the Atlantic will get it much sooner than that.

Check out the speeding supercars, wicked wrecks, and neat create-a-course features in the launch trailer above and gaze on the European release date for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 title: March 30, 2012.

Hopefully, a US release isn’t far behind.

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Epic Mickey 2 sings a song on Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 this Fall

Posted on March 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

The reigning “worst kept secret in gaming” is a secret no longer as Disney has announced Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will be available for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 this Fall. And even though it sports the subtitle “The Power of Two,” Epic Mickey 2 is all about the firsts:

  • Epic Mickey 2 is the first game in the series to be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
  • Epic Mickey 2 is the first game ever to feature Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as a playable character.
  • Epic Mickey 2 will include co-op play, a first for the series.
  • Epic Mickey 2 is the first video game ever to be described as a “musical.”

That’s right, a musical. Emmy-winning composer James Dooley and lyricist Mike Himelstein will create multiple, brand-new compositions that’ll allow characters to advance the plot by expressing themselves in song. In addition to conducting their own personal soundtrack, Mickey and Oswald will speak for the first in the series.

Warren Spector, Creative Director and Vice President of developer Junction Point summed it up best: “As a life-long Disney fan, working with Mickey Mouse in the original Epic Mickey was a truly humbling experience. Millions of fans fell in love with Mickey as a video game hero and I know they’ll experience similar emotions when they get to interact with and actually play as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.”

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

Congressmen propose cigarette-like warning label for games

Posted on March 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

US House Representatives Joe Baca (California) and Frank Wolf (Virginia) have introduced a new bill that would add a cigarette-like warning label to nearly video game on the shelves. Baca tried to introduce similar legislation in 2009.

“The Violence in Video Games Labeling Act” would seek to add a warning label to every game rated Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, and Mature. The only titles that wouldn’t require the label are those that receive an Early Childhood rating. Early Childhood-rated titles are typically educational games designed for children under three.

The kicker is the wording of the label: “WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.” Far be it from me to question the intelligence of our elected officials, but that particular “fact” has been debunked over and over and over again.

But rather than hurl insults at Rep. Baca and Rep. Wolf, the Entertainment Consumers Association is asking gamers to contact their congressmen and let them know that this bill is “misinformed” and “unconstitutional.” All you have to do is visit their site at action.TheECA.com and fill out a short form.

Even though the name-calling would be more fun.

[Source: The Hill]

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