Most Recent: News

Daily Scoop: April 17, 2011 – Scoop Sundae

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Writing the Daily Scoop has made me really want ice cream – ice cream sundaes, to be specific. Something huge and gooey, with a warm brownie on the bottom, and maybe some hot fudge and whip cream on top. Maybe piled high with some raspberry chocolate truffle ice cream. YUM.

To start off the scoop, we’ve got Amazon’s sales on two Wii hardware bundles. Not to be outdone by the sale at Toys R Us, Amazon is offering the white Wii hardware bundle and the black Wii hardware bundle for $169.99 with free shipping. It’s looking more and more likely that is the Wii’s new official price.

Amazon’s also having a sale on portable accessories, including $5 off that awesome Nerf Armor for your DS. Add to that the Amazon Deal of the Day in video games, which is the Mionix Naos 5000 Laser Gaming Mouse for $64.99 down from $89.99. To sweeten the pot, there’s going to be an Amazon Gold Box Event in video games this Tuesday, so check back here for that!

Whew. Thank you, Amazon. And we’ve got ANOTHER day with two video game t-shirts, so hit the jump to see those! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Wii |

Weekly Warp-Up: Captivating Stuff

Posted on April 17, 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 marked the end of Capcom’s Captivate 2011 news embargo. With the floodgates open, the famed publisher revealed Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Dragon’s Dogma, the first Street Fighter X Tekken trailer, a new trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and a whole lot more.

Also this week, Warner Bros. and director Kevin Tancharoen have finally debuted the first episode of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. They also unleashed a full-length trailer to whet our appetites for episode 2 and we Dissected the first episode in search of clues for where the series might go.

We also have Episode 8 of the Warp Zoned Podcast this week, which heralds the triumphant return of Mike Gutierrez, Nicole Kline, and Ryan Littlefield. They discuss what they’re playing and reviewing, and give a quick overview of their reactions. They also talk about GeoHot and the Anonymous hacks, with Mike giving an in-depth analysis of the facts from the point of view of an enraged PSN user. Find out about consumer rights and what we really think of hackers!

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

Posted in News |

Nintendo sells almost 400,000 3DS units in first week

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Nintendo hit it out of the park again, selling nearly 400,000 3DS units in its first week on sale. But it couldn’t overtake its little brother as, according to Nintendo, the NPD group announced that the DS family sold over 460,000 units in the month of March, “propelled by sales of more than 1.3 million Pokémon White Version games and more than 1.1 million Pokémon Black Version games.” I guess that smear campaign isn’t working.

But 3DS owners have more to look forward to than just 3DS without the glasses. There’s a free system update coming soon that, besides allowing DSi and DSi XL owners to transfer their DSiWare games, will also give access to the Nintendo eShop. There’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which was finally given a June 19 release date. And, finally, Netflix is coming to the 3DS, reportedly later this summer, which is awesome news for those of us with both an unlimited streaming membership as well as a 3DS.

Nintendo of America’s senior director of Corporate Communications, Charlie Scibetta, said that “Nintendo provides people with the best video game experiences, from 3D visuals without special glasses to a touch-screen interface to motion controls.” Nintendo reps are really heavy on the “3D without glasses” angle. Hey Charlie, I’ve got your new slogan: “No glasses? No problem.” Bam.

Posted in 3DS, News | Tagged ,

PlayStation 3: Over 50 million served

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. has announced that the PlayStation 3 has reached a milestone in sales, pushing over 50 million consoles since it launched in 2006. As Microsoft made a similar announcement just this past January, this means that the PS3 has accomplished the same feat almost a full year faster than the Xbox 360.

Sony released a number of statistics along with the announcement: over 8 million PlayStation Move units have been sold (the same number Microsoft claimed for Kinect in January) and over 75 million PlayStation Network accounts have been registered across 59 countries.

With Blu-Ray support, free online multiplayer, and a solid exclusive lineup year in and year out, it’s no wonder why the PS3 has been such a hit. Since launching with a lofty price tag, the media has constantly derided the console for not being as successful as the 360, an assumption made rather confusing in light of this recent news.

Posted in News, PS3 |

New Releases: Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4, More

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s finally here. All month long we’ve been building up to one of the biggest release weeks ever and it’s finally here.

Starting things off is Valve’s full-priced sequel to Portal, Portal 2. Coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will include co-op play for the first time and a greatly expanded single-player campaign.

Next up is a franchise that needs no introduction, Mortal Kombat is back. The reboot takes the series back to the birth of the MK saga and gives PS3 and Xbox 360 owners their latest 2D fighter fix. And speaking of long-running franchises, Sony and developer Zipper Interactive are finally bring SOCOM to the PS3 for real with SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs.

Believe it or not, these three are just the beginning.

Sega is bringing High Voltage’s first person shooter Conduit 2 to the Wii. Square Enix is continuing to plug their huge franchises on the PSP with Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. And Ubisoft is rewinding the clock to bring Prince of Persia Trilogy to the PS3 in stunning high definition.

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

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

Duke Nukem conquers comic books this July

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Do you really need to drop a deuce and you’re all out of reading material? Well, Duke Nukem is coming to the rescue (even if you’re not a hot babe).

The star of Duke Nukem Forever will headline IDW Publishing’s newest comic book series, Duke Nukem: Glorious Bastard, starting in July. The series will be written by Tom Waltz (The A-Team: Shotgun Wedding) and IDW promises it’ll include “all the game’s trademark humor and over-the-top violence.”

It’s currently unknown if feces flinging will make it into the comic book as a representation of the game’s “trademark humor.”

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

LittleBigPlanet reaches four million levels

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Bret Morace

SCEA PR Manager, Eric Levine, annonced today on the Playstation.Blog that LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2 has had more than four million levels shared by players. To make this number feel more real to the players he explained that, “If you played LBP straight for 12 hours a day and only played each level for 5 minutes, it would take you more than 78 years to play through all of them.”

Media Molecule also released a thank you to players:

“For us the most exciting thing has always been seeing what the community does with a LittleBigPlanet game when they get their hands on the new features and tools. We’re constantly delighted – and amazed – by their ingenuity and creativity, and it’s so inspiring to see the level of affection that exists for LittleBigPlanet amongst fans around the world.”

Also announced was the return of LittleBigPlanet Contraption Challenge and new downloadable costumes from Tron: Evoultion that will be released on April 26th for $2.99. Levine also showed one of the two costumes coming from the Killzone 3 Minipack coming in May.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

L.A. Noire is mature – no, we mean REALLY mature

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Nicole Kline

We all knew L.A. Noire was going to be gritty, but I didn’t realize just how gritty Rockstar was going to get. Cole Phelps, the detective searching for a serial killer, is going to have a lot to deal with as he goes up through the ranks at the police station. According to the ESRB rating information, this is what you have to look forward to:

  • Realistic shootouts, which are “highlighted by gunfire, cries of pain, and blood spirts that stain injured characters and the surrounding environments”
  • Violent cutscenes, including one with “a character being beaten with a crowbar (off screen)—large spurts of blood are depicted in the foreground”
  • Some crime scenes in which you investigate “badly beaten or mutilated corpses” and you have the ability to “examine victims’ bodies close-up, surveying various bruises and bloody cuts for evidence—a few female corpses are depicted fully nude with fleeting images of pubic hair”
  • Investigations involving sexual assaults, in which “details are often conveyed in clinical terms through dialogue or on-screen text (e.g., ‘He’s some kind of sex fiend,’ ‘Woman’s briefs torn at seams, forcibly removed,’ and ‘Head trauma . . . external bruising to genitals.’)”
  • And, perhaps the strangest of the lot: “In one cutscene, there is an implication that a character is engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenager (e.g., ‘You take love where you can find it as you get older, Jack’/That has nothing to do with love . . .’)”

Damn. This is going to make Heavy Rain look like Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Oh, there are also scenes with drugs, and, um, “Language such as ‘f**k,’ ‘sh*t,’ ‘c*nt,’ ‘n**ger,’ and ‘sp*c’ can be heard in the dialogue.” If your stomach is strong enough for you to listen to the Warp Zoned podcast, then you should be safe.

L.A. Noire hits stores on May 17th for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Get your sleuthing skills ready.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged