Most Recent: News

Excitebike Racer, Captain Toad, Birdo costumes coming to Super Mario Maker

Posted on December 29, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Super Mario Maker course creators get ready, Nintendo is about to add three new Costumes to the game as part of a trio of new Event Courses.

A Costume for Captain Toad, the star of last year’s painfully adorable Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, has already been added to Super Mario Maker. In addition to his explorer’s helmet, Captain Toad stops and holds up a star when crouching.

Meanwhile, Costumes for an Excitebike Racer and Birdo will be added to Super Mario Maker on December 31. Birdo is the same egg-spitting dinosaur you know (and tolerate) from Super Mario Bros. 2. But a platforming Excitebike Racer (complete with a crouching animation that pops a wheelie) is something I never knew I wanted until now.

Mini-trailers for all three new Costumes can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Chart-topping songs from Coldplay, Justin Bieber, One Direction, and more are now available from Rock Band 4’s Music Store

Posted on December 29, 2015 by John Scalzo

Harmonix has decided to spin a few more chart-topping songs onto Rock Band 4‘s Music Store as players of the reborn rhythm franchise can download new songs from Coldplay, Justin Bieber, One Direction, and other popular acts beginning today. The following songs are now available to purchase for usual price of $1.99 apiece (and you can get a preview of each track in the trailer embedded above)…

  • Coldplay – “Adventure of a Lifetime”
  • Ellie Goulding – “On My Mind”
  • Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
  • One Direction – “Drag Me Down”
  • Sam Hunt – “Leave The Night On”
  • Weezer – “Thank God for Girls”

If you haven’t picked up the new-gen game yet, Harmonix is also trying to spread the word about a major Rock Band 4 sale going on this week at GameStop. The Game-Only package has been slashed to a more wallet-friendly $39.99 on the PS4 and $59.99 on the Xbox One for the next seven days. Both instrument bundles have also been heavily discounted as the Band-In-A-Box Bundle is currently priced at $199.99, while the Guitar Bundle is just $79.99.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Rebel Galaxy will be released for PS4 and Xbox One in January

Posted on December 28, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Double Damage Games has announced that Rebel Galaxy, their space combat sim that debuted for the PC earlier this year, will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One in January. The developer took to Twitter earlier today to reveal that PS4 players in North America will get a chance to purchase it on January 5, while Xbox One owners will have to wait until January 13:

As you can see, Double Damage confirmed that Rebel Galaxy will also be available through the European PlayStation Store on either January 12th or the 19th.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Sony themselves will make sure The Banner Saga is released for Vita

Posted on December 28, 2015 by John Scalzo

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With a dwindling trickle of new releases, it’s no surprise the PlayStation Vita isn’t as popular as it used to be. But Sony still wants their handheld to receive a semi-steady stream of new content, so they’re partnering with Versus Evil to help bring The Banner Saga, Stoic’s tactical RPG with a Viking-inspired setting, to the Vita. Gio Corsi, Sony’s Director of Third Party Production, delivered the good news through Twitter:

Stoic has been working hard on a console release of The Banner Saga since its launch for the PC in 2014 and the developer plans to release the game for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 12. It’s unknown when the Vita version of The Banner Saga will be completed.

Posted in News, Vita | Tagged

Steam Store shows a January 2016 release date for Rise of the Tomb Raider

Posted on December 28, 2015 by John Scalzo

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We knew that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be released for the PC in “Early 2016,” but an update to the game’s Steam page has narrowed it down a bit.

According to Valve’s digital storefront, Rise of the Tomb Raider will be available to download for the PC in “January 2016.” Steam wouldn’t (or couldn’t) get more specific than that, and Square Enix has yet to make an official announcement concerning the game’s PC launch, but it seems very likely that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be released for the PC sometime in the next four weeks.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was originally released for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on November 10.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Say Goodbye to 2015 Edition

Posted on December 27, 2015 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…

We’re about to wrap up 2015 and, as usual, the vast majority of the video game industry has taken the week off. But there’s still a few new things to talk about, and our own Andrew Rainnie even filed another entry in his Kickstart This! series. If you’ve got some extra Christmas cash lying around, Andrew suggests funneling it towards Deserted, Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, and Night City Assault.

Or you could read up on the games news from the rest of the week, which is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

GalaxyTrail officially announces Freedom Planet 2

Posted on December 26, 2015 by John Scalzo

GalaxyTrail has announced that they will continue the story of their Genesis-inspired platformer, Freedom Planet, in the upcoming Freedom Planet 2. The scoop on the sequel comes to us via the game’s recently launched official website, which delves a bit into Freedom Planet 2’s story:

An ancient terror has emerged from the depths of the ocean. Merga, a water dragon from Avalice’s oldest and deadliest war, has been freed from her crystal prison as a consequence of the Kingdom Stone’s destruction. Through her acts of vengeance, she holds a dark and terrible truth about Avalice’s leaders that will change the history of the three kingdoms forever.

War is imminent once again, but this time, the heroes are split between sides. As friendships are tested, will the girls stand united when Bakunawa rises?

Main characters Lilac, Carol, and Milla will all return in Freedom Planet 2, which will also feature a redesigned art style, a difficulty modifying system that lets you “change the rules of the game temporarily to make certain stages easier or harder,” and several new special items including a shield block and a quick revival after losing a life.

Executive Producer Stephen DiDuro said these changes will help make Freedom Planet 2 stand on its own: “The original Freedom Planet was modeled as a tribute to Sega Genesis platform games. We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, what’s fun and what’s frustrating, what we should expand on and what we can afford to lose. With all of this in mind, we feel that we are ready to bid farewell to nostalgia and create a sequel that will define Freedom Planet’s identity as a franchise.”

Freedom Planet 2 will be released for PC platforms in mid-2017, with a plan to bring it to Nintendo platforms (the Wii U or, more likely, the NX) sometime after that.

Posted in News, PC, Switch, Wii U | Tagged

Nintendo Download: Super Mario Galaxy

Posted on December 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

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A portly man in red is going to spend tonight flying across the sky on your Wii U… and I’m not talking about St. Nick. One of Mario’s greatest adventures, Super Mario Galaxy, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop.

According to Nintendo, the Virtual Console re-release of the Wii hit is the only new game scheduled to be released as part of today’s Nintendo Download. But if you’re somehow unfamiliar with Super Mario Galaxy, you can learn more about it right here:

Wii U eShop

Super Mario Galaxy – Become Mario as he traverses gravity-bending galaxies, traveling in and out of gravitational fields by blasting from planet to planet. Control Mario with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers, power up to reach inaccessible areas and collect Star Bits to either stun enemies or feed Lumas in this Wii classic – now available from the Virtual Console service on the Wii U console!

However, Nintendo is making up for the lack of new releases with a ton of eShop sales including Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight and a slew of Capcom games.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged