Most Recent: News

Kingdom Hearts 3D coming to US in 2012

Posted on December 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but today, Square Enix officially announced that Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will be released in the US in 2012.

The 3DS exclusive title brings Sora and Riku together as playable characters in the Mark of Mastery exam as well as introduces new Disney worlds like The Hunchback of Notre Dame:

King Mickey and Yen Sid prepare for an impending threat by putting Sora and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam. Sora and Riku are sent into the Sleeping Worlds, where they will face enemies and allies that have never been seen before. If they can successfully complete the task they are given, they will be deemed true Keyblade Masters.

According to series creator Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts 3D is the beginning of the end of “the current Kingdom Hearts saga.” Nomura also said, “The story of this game will serve as the opening chapter of the final conflict, and, as always, will be full of surprises. This title will not only be a bold, exhilarating tale of adventure, but also a first look into the future form of the Kingdom Hearts series.”

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Sony sells 321,000 Vita handhelds in two days

Posted on December 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

The PlayStation Vita is now available in Japan and, according to a Famitsu report (via Andriasang), Sony has sold 321,407 Vita handhelds in two days. Officially, those two days are considered the Vita’s first “week” of sales by tracking firm Enterbrain.

For comparison’s sake, 371,326 3DS systems were sold during its first “week” (February 26 and 27 of this year), while the PSP pushed 166,074 units in its first “week” (actually, a single day in 2004).

The Vita will make its North American debut on February 22, 2012 (or February 15 if you sprung for the First Edition pre-order bundle).

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Alan Wake’s American Nightmare story details, arcade mode revealed

Posted on December 19, 2011 by John Scalzo

A week after officially unveiling Alan Wake’s American Nightmare at the 2011 Spike TV Video Game Awards, Remedy has unveiled the first story details for the downloadable title. Staying true to their promise that it’s not Alan Wake 2, the developer confirmed that American Nightmare actually takes place in “Night Springs,” the fictional TV show from Alan Wake. And due to its “fictional” nature, the story is going to be taking a pulpy turn:

The main story mode in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is part of the “Night Springs” TV show fiction and offers an exaggerated pulp action adventure where the horrors of reality have the all too easy habit of coming true. Alan Wake finds himself stuck in an altered reality filled with dangerous shadows; he must leap into action and pursue his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, across the Arizona mesa towards the town of Night Springs. Scratch, a supernatural serial killer, has his evil plans set on Wake’s wife, Alice. Wake must learn to control reality itself and unravel the secret to Mr. Scratch’s demise while using the power of light to put an end to the darkness.

Remedy also announced the Fight Til Dawn arcade mode today. In Fight Til Dawn, players must “survive a full night of enemy onslaughts while racking up their score.” By loading up on weapons and using safe zones, players will have to survive the night and destroy as many demons as possible to write the highest score possible onto the game’s leaderboards.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will be available exclusively as an Xbox Live Arcade download in early 2012.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Confirmed: Wii U, new Vita games to appear at CES 2012

Posted on December 19, 2011 by John Scalzo

CNET has begun their Consumer Electronics Show coverage with a report detailing two supposed (and very surprising) game-related additions to the show floor.

According to CNET, CES 2012 (which will be held in Las Vegas from January 10-13) will include an appearance by the Wii U and multiple “new” Vita games.

Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment have typically shied away from attending CES, and a quick check of the Exhibitor Directory came up empty for both consolemakers. So it seems unlikely they’ll make an appearance at this year’s show as well.

I’d love to learn more about the Wii U in a few weeks, but it looks like this news is still a rumor for now.

UPDATE: Speaking to Joystiq, Nintendo confirmed that the Wii U will appear at CES 2012 in a special showing hosted by CES management:

Nintendo of America, working with the 2012 International CES management, will offer demos of the upcoming Wii U console to members of the media who did not see the system at the 2011 E3 Expo. Nintendo will not have a booth at CES, nor does it plan to include any games, experiences or information beyond what was available at the 2011 E3 Expo.

Posted in News, Vita, Wii U |

Retailers list February release date for Kinect Star Wars, R2-D2 Xbox 360 bundle

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Is it time to rejoice, my fellow Star Wars nerds? It looks like Kinect Star Wars may just have a release date – which means that ridiculously amazing Xbox 360 Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars Bundle may have one, too! Walmart has a February 7 release date listed for the game and bundle, while Kmart has the same date for the game. I can’t even find the bundle on Amazon right now (it’s actually been pulled), and the game still just says it will be released in December 2012.

I’m thinking February 7 is the date. With the recently released ESRB Rating Summary, it’s clear moving and shaking is happening – possibly literally and figuratively. I’ve been holding out on buying a 360 since this bundle was announced, determined that this will be my first ever Xbox. And with a March birthday, this is pretty awesome timing, Microsoft. Thanks for thinking of me.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars

Posted on December 18, 2011 by John Scalzo

OK, we don’t know for sure that you’ll be dancing for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars, but the recently released ESRB Rating Summary confirms that the game will include a “dancing mini-game” with “revealing outfits.” Sure sounds like the Jabba’s Palace scene from Return of the Jedi to me:

In the dancing mini-game, some female characters perform suggestive moves (e.g., gyrating their hips/buttocks) and wear revealing outfits (partially exposed cleavage/buttocks).

So allow me to amend the headline to say “Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars while your character wears Leia’s gold bikini!” (OK, we don’t know that either, but I know you’re all thinking it).

Yeah, this is going to be the greatest Star Wars game ever.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: March of the GOTYs

Posted on December 18, 2011 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…

Get Warp Zoned!
As the year slowly winds to a close, everyone is picking their games of the year and Time Magazine is no different. The venerable newsmag always has a few surprises in their year-end top ten, but not this year. Sticking to safe subjects, they awarded spots to Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City and other games that’ll grace countless GOTY lists this month. And their number one pick went to Minecraft, which I have a feeling will be this year’s big winner.

But why limit the conversation to just this year’s best games? Rockstar is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III with a new mobile release and the answer to one of the franchise’s greatest mysteries: is Claude a mute?

Hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)

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Rockstar answers your questions: Is GTA3’s Claude a mute?

Posted on December 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

In honor of Grand Theft Auto III‘s release on iOS and Android devices, Rockstar has decided to answer your burning questions about one of the most famous video games ever. They even revealed the origins of Claude’s lack of vocality.

Turn back now if you don’t want to know THE TRUTH…

Rockstar says:
It may now seem obvious that people should all talk in games, but this was not necessarily the case in 2001, certainly not in an open world game. We were making up a lot of procedures as we went along, and we decided that the NPCs (Non Playable Characters) should talk and we would have to figure out how to make them talk (using motion captured cutscenes, something that had never really been done before, at least not on the scale we were doing it). So we decided that the game’s protagonist would not talk, partly to aid people identifying with him, but mostly because we had so many other problems to solve and this did not seem like a major issue. […] Oh and in San Andreas, CJ calls Claude a mute because he does not talk and CJ finds this unnerving.

So there you have it. Claude isn’t a mute, he’s just the original Johnny Tightlips.

Rockstar also confirmed that the three GTA “eras” are completely separate universes and will never cross over. So if you’re hoping to see Claude again, you can forget it:

[T]he “universes” are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not. This is the logic (as far as it could be considered logical) behind it – so no, we don’t believe any GTA3 characters could exist in the GTA4 universe.

But following Rockstar’s logic, this means that Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V will take place in the same “universe.” So who knows, we might get to see Niko one more time.

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