Warp Zoned Presents
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- Video Game Research Library
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Most Recent: News
Nintendo will add “Rainmaker” to Splatoon’s Ranked Battle Mode on August 14
Splatoon is getting a “Capture the Flag” mode as Nintendo has announced that the “Rainmaker” match type will be available to play in Ranked Battle Mode beginning tomorrow night (August 14) at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time). Writing on the Squid Research Lab blog, here’s what Nintendo had to say about the new mode:
Introducing…. Rainmaker! In Rainmaker, both teams compete to snag the, uhhh, Rainmaker. Once you’ve got it, the goal is to carry it into the other team’s base!
How’s it work, you ask? As soon as the battle begins, grab onto that Rainmaker! It’s guarded by a shield, though, so you’ll need to bust it out first. Once you snag it, head for the other team’s base. And be quick about it!
If you run out of time or get splatted, the Rainmaker will be dropped and its shield will also reactivate. The Rainmaker is crazy heavy, so you can’t Super Jump while carrying it. Hopefully your teammates will watch your back!
The Rainmaker doesn’t just sit there and look pretty. It can also shoot ink like an Inkzooka and has an extra-powerful charge shot too. It’s also booby-trapped, so if you don’t make it to the other team’s base in time, it’ll blow up in your face.
A batch of new screenshots from the Rainmaker match type are also available at the Squid Research Lab blog.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Charts… Lego Jurassic World is best-selling game of July ’15
July is not typically a very strong month for new game releases, and only a single new title was able to crack the NPD Group’s recounting of the ten best-selling games of the month. But it was Lego Jurassic World, a June release, that sits at the top of the sales food chain this month.
Debuting at #3 in the NPD’s June report, Lego Jurassic World likely got a boost from the tremendous box office support for the film. After nearly nine weeks in theaters, the film has earned more than $636 million. Only Titanic ($658 million) and Avatar ($760 million) have made more money at the domestic box office.
While it’s unlikely that Lego Jurassic World will reach those heights, the game is another hit for WB Games, which had yet another big month in July. Batman: Arkham Knight (#2) and Mortal Kombat X (#8) once again both landed in the top ten.
The only new release to break into the top ten last month was EA’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Before McIlroy, Tiger Woods had been PGA Tour’s pitchman for more than 15 years. As great as Tiger used to be, it looks like EA doesn’t need him to sell their golf game.
Finally this month, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that overall sales of all game-related items (hardware, software, and accessories) is roughly even with July 2014. Both July 2014 and July 2015 produced around $184 million in total sales.
The complete top ten for July 2015 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Jurassic World, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat X, NPD, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, The Elder Scrolls Online
Energy Hook is now available through Steam Early Access
Do you ever wish Spider-Man had a jetpack and competed in a futuristic sport based entirely around webswinging? Jamie Fristrom of Happion Labs has had that dream, and he’s using it as the basis of his next game, Energy Hook. However, Fristrom has a little more experience with this idea than most, as he was the original designer behind the webswinging mechanic in 2004’s Spider-Man 2.
After a variety of delays, we won’t have to wait much longer to play it as the developer announced that Energy Hook will be available through Steam Early Access beginning today.
Happion Labs expects to keep Energy Hook in Early Access for about four months and is also developing a version of the game for the PS4 and Vita. Presumably, we’ll learn more about Energy Hook’s full version (and its console launch) at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Energy Hook
Nintendo Download: Pandora’s Tower, Wind-Up Knight 2, more
One of the last major games released for the Wii, Pandora’s Tower, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop. Developed by Ganbarion, and originally released in April 2013, Pandora’s Tower tells the “haunting tale [of] a cursed young woman’s slow transformation into a hideous beast, and the lengths to which the man she loves will go in order to save her.” Best of all, it’s priced at $20, well below the price tag most online retailers are currently seeking for a new copy.
Over on the 3DS eShop, there’s a pair of new licensed that should keep all the kids out there entertained. Paddington: Adventures in London asks players to guide the titular bear through the streets of London as he does good deeds for its citizens. And in Garfield Kart, players get behind the wheel in a kart racing game that stars the lasagna-eating cat and all his friends. I’ll let someone else make the Toonces joke…
Actually, I might be the only one that still remembers Toonces.
Anyway, more information on all of this week’s new eShop releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Pandora's Tower
Final Fantasy XV will be released in every territory on the same date
Final Fantasy XV is expected to be released sometime in 2016. We don’t yet know the exact date, but we now know that the game will receive a simultaneous global launch… a first for the series. Director Hajime Tabata confirmed the good news to to GameSpot during last week’s Gamescom expo:
“This may be something that we are little bit embarrassed to talk about, but really, this is the first time that we’ve done a packaged, standalone Final Fantasy game with a simultaneous global launch, so we didn’t have the setup to deal with that, really. The first thing we had to do was rearrange our internal structure to create something that could do that. That was the first important work on the project.”
Typically, it takes three-to-six months after its Japanese launch for a game in the Final Fantasy series to make its English-language debut. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the most recent game in the series (not counting Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and its expansion) and it made it across the Pacific in a relatively quick two months and 21 days.
Final Fantasy XV is in development for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy XV, Gamescom 2015
Super Mario Maker “Overview Trailer” tells us everything we need to know about the game
If you speak Japanese, there’s a very good chance you saw this Super Mario Maker “Overview Trailer” a few weeks ago when it was uploaded by Nintendo Japan. But the newly-released English translation now gives the rest of the world a chance to learn all about one of this Fall’s biggest games.
First things first, Nintendo has confirmed that would-be course creators won’t be overwhelmed with hundreds of options right out of the gate. Super Mario Maker will start players off with “the essentials” (bricks, Question Blocks, Goombas, Super Mushrooms, etc) and unlock new items over a span of nine days.
Super Mario Maker will also double as a music maker as players will be able to drop sound effects on any course they create and even record their own. The new Music Block will even allow players to “compose” their own songs that can be triggered by Mario as he runs past.
Finally, gave us a glimpse at more Amiibo-powered guest characters as Nintendo confirmed that “more than 50” figures will be compatible with Super Mario Maker. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Bowser aren’t much of a surprise. But the list also includes Mega Man, Pac-Man, Sonic, Star Fox, Splatoon‘s Inklings, Little Mac, Samus Aran, Pikachu, and many others.
Super Mario Maker will be released exclusively for the Wii U on September 11.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Capcom confirms that a Resident Evil 2 remake is in development
Because the fans asked for it, Capcom is finally ready to announce that a remake of Resident Evil 2 is in development at Capcom R&D Division 1.
Shouting the words, “We Do It!” (and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the same), Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has promised to deliver the gameplay experience fans have been waiting for. However, the project is very early in development and we don’t yet know what platforms it’s coming to or even when it’ll be released. Hirabayashi also said it may be long time before we hear anything else about it.
In the meantime, the developer wants everyone to remember that a remaster of Resident Evil 0 is still on track for an early 2016 release for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Posted in News
Tagged Resident Evil 2
Xbox Store Today: Toy Soldiers: War Chest, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Prototype 1+2
Four new Xbox One games are available to download through the Xbox Games Store today. Though, to be more accurate, only one of this week’s new releases is brand new. One is actually an Xbox One port of an Xbox 360 game, while the final pair of games are newly standalone titles that were originally part of a bundle that has been available for a few weeks.
Today’s lone new release is Toy Soldiers: War Chest for Signal Studios. The third game in the strategic series includes four original toy armies, which can do battle with forces from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (G.I. Joe and Cobra), He-Man: Masters of the Universe, and Assassin’s Creed II. These bonus armies are available from the start in the Hall of Fame Edition, and can be purchased as DLC if you opt for the standard edition.
Also available today is Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons from Starbreeze. Originally released in 2013, the co-op puzzle platformer is now available on the Xbox One.
Finally this week, Prototype and Prototype 2 have been decoupled from the “Biohazard Bundle” and can be purchased individually on the Xbox One for the first time.
More information on all four of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Prototype, Prototype 2, Toy Soldiers: War Chest