Most Recent: News

Xbox 360 Dashboard update is almost live

Posted on December 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

The latest Dashboard update for the Xbox 360 will go live tomorrow on Xbox Live. Marc Whitten, the Corporate Vice President of the Xbox Live division, has decided to commemorate the launch of the Windows 8-inspired design with a letter to the community:

Dear Xbox Live Members,

Today, we’re launching a new Xbox 360 experience that connects you with your favorite entertainment and games like never before and makes finding and enjoying entertainment as simple as it should be.

It’s a vision we shared at E3 and I’d like to thank you for all of your valuable feedback along this incredible ride and share a little more about what we have in store this holiday – from Beacons, cloud storage and Facebook sharing, to our latest entertainment offerings…

The entire letter can be found at Major Nelson’s blog.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

PS3 exclusive The Last of Us to debut at Spike TV VGAs

Posted on December 4, 2011 by John Scalzo

The “World Premieres” at the Spike TV Video Game Awards are usually rife with sequels, but there’s always a few original games to stoke our fever for new stories. This year’s broadcast, which is scheduled for Satuday, December 10 at 8 PM, will include a PS3-exclusive known as The Last of Us.

The teaser trailer above features archival footage of riots and the aftermath of a global pandemic while a voice talks about the world that was before revealing it’s “all gone.” Another video, a 14-second closeup of an ant, is available at the game’s official website.

I’m not quite sure what’s going on here, but I want to find out.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

First Xenoblade Chronicles trailer: “Sorry I kept you waiting”

Posted on December 4, 2011 by John Scalzo

As the US announcement trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles builds to a crescendo, one character tells another, “Sorry I kept you waiting.” It’s possible this is just a random line that fit well with the flow of the trailer, or it’s Nintendo subtley saying “we’re sorry” to all its fans. I prefer the latter explanation.

Either way, the first Xenoblade Chronicles trailer is suitably epic for what may be the Wii’s swan song. It’ll be available exclusively at GameStop stores next Spring.

Posted in News, Wii | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Sharing is Caring Edition

Posted on December 4, 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!
This week, the Warp Zoned staff shared a summary of the games they played in November, in the latest edition of Warpback, or What We Played in November 2011. Descriptive bunch, ain’t we?

But Nintendo of Japan has decided to share something this week as well. Something even better than a “What We Played” list. Nintendo has announced they’ll be bringing Xenoblade Chronicles to the US (exclusively through GameStop) in 2012. After all this time, a fan campaign to bring one of Nintendo’s Japanese properties over to the US has finally worked! Next up, a renewed Mother 3/Earthbound 2 campaign! Who’s with me?

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

Posted in News |

New Releases: Fortune Street, Adventures of Tintin, Just Dance 3 for PS3, More

Posted on December 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

2011 continues to wind down, but a steady trickle of bigtime games continue to make their way onto store shelves.

This week, players will get a chance to try out Nintendo’s board game mashup, Fortune Street (Wii); Ubisoft’s latest movie-to-game adaptation, The Adventures of Tintin (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360); and the PS3 version of Just Dance 3.

Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)

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

Xenoblade Chronicles to hit US shores in 2012

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Brian Bishop

If there’s one thing I appreciate in this world, it’s a good RPG, and according to our Scottish cohort Andrew, Xenoblade Chronicles is a DAMN good RPG. But it was always a point of sadness for me knowing that Nintendo had no plans to bring what was apparently one of the best JRPGs of the year, if not the generation, to US shores. Well, it turns out plans have been made.

Xenoblade Chronicles will hit US shores in the Spring with a retail price of $49.99, and the only place you’ll be able to find it is at your local GameStop (or GameStop.com).

Whether or not Nintnedo’s decision to localize this game is a result of Project Rainfall, which was an initiative from a large group of American gamers who were campaigning for the localization of Xenoblade Chronicles (along with other Japanese/European-only releases The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower). So far, Nintendo hasn’t announced any plans to localize the other two games.

I, for one, am giddy as a Japanese schoolgirl over this news, and I know I’ll be at GameStop for the midnight release of what is apparently one of the best RPGs of our time.

Posted in News, Wii | Tagged

Daily Scoop: December 2, 2011 – A reason for the Skeeson

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

YAY! It’s Friday! We made it to the end of the week, people. That is reason to celebrate! Though I have to sadly admit that my skeeball league team, the Alex Mack Daddies, had our first loss last night during the finals. It was an amazing game, though, and we all rolled well, and the skeeson was awesome, so I can’t really be too sad! And the weekend begins in just a few short hours, so really… what’s there to be sad about?

Certainly not today’s deals, that’s for sure!

It’s the fourth day of Amazon’s 19 Days of Deals, and today they’ve got accessories galore! Thinking about getting that Nerf Armor for your 3DS? Maybe you want some extra, off-brand Wii wheels? Scoop ’em up!

Today’s Yetee is rockin’ like Dokken, if Dokken were Bowser: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Battlefield 3 ships 8 million, Back to Karkand pack coming next week

Posted on December 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown has confirmed that eight million copies of Battlefield 3 have been sold since the game launched on October 25. Insert a “low whistle” here.

Not only has the DICE-developed shooter sold a lot of copies, but a lot more are available in stores for the Christmas rush. According to Brown, an additional four million copies have been shipped to retailers, which explains Battlefield 3’s discounted status (some stores sold it for as little as $30) on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

EA has also revealed that the Back to Karkand map pack will be available to download from the PlayStation Network on December 6. Gamers who purchased the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition will receive Karkand for free, while the rest of us mere mortals will have to pony up $14.99. The DLC pack will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 on December 13 for the same price.

After downloading Karkand, players will have access to four classic Battlefield maps including “Strike at Karkand,” “Wake Island,” “Gulf of Oman” and “Sharqi Peninsula.” The pack will also feature the return of the Conquest Assault mode (last seen in Battlefield 2), three new vehicles, ten new weapons, five new dog tags, five new Achievements/Trophies and “an added layer of persistence where players complete assignments to unlock items and earn rewards.”

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