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Daily Scoop: December 21, 2015 – Last day for big Humble Bundle

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Nicole Kline

I played so much Fallout 4 this weekend it was kind of embarrassing! I just can’t put it down once I start playing. I can’t wait for the holiday break!

You’ve got just one more day for the Humble NeoGeo 25th Anniversary Bundle! You can “celebrate NeoGeo’s 25th Anniversary with a bundle of games making their PC debut!” Pay what you want for Art of Fighting 2, Fatal Fury Special, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug 2, Samurai Shodown II, Sengoku 3, The King of Fighters 2000, and Baseball Stars 2. Beat the average to unlock The Last Blade, Pulstar, Metal Slug, Metal Slug 3, Shock Troopers, Neo Turf Masters, The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, and Twinkle Star Sprites, as well as the newly added Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, The King of Fighters 2002, Blazing Star, and Ironclad. Pay $10 or more to unlock Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Samurai Shodown V Special, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Metal Slug X, and The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match. Finally, if you want all of that and a limited edition Metal Slug t-shirt, it’s just $40.

There are 15 brand new Weeklong Deals at Steam. Flotilla is $4.99, Rush for Glory is $5.09, and Thirty Flights of Loving is $2.49, among others. The Daily Deal is Organ Trail: The Director’s Cut, which is on sale for $1.99.

There’s only one t-shirt today, but it’s a great one! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Bandai Namco officially announces a US release for Tales of Berseria

Posted on December 21, 2015 by John Scalzo

Six months after the debut of its Japanese announcement, Bandai Namco is finally ready to confirm that Tales of Berseria will also be released in North America for the PC and PS4. There’s still no release date for the next Tales title, but we do know it’ll be the first game in the series to feature a female main character:

In Tales of Berseria players embark on a journey as they assume the role of Velvet, a young woman whose once gentle nature has been replaced and overcome with a festering anger and hatred after a traumatic experience three years prior to the events within Tales of Berseria imbued her left hand with a special ability. Velvet will visit a wide range of breathtaking environments as she travels the world in an all-new adventure developed by the celebrated team behind the Tales of series. Along her journey, Velvet will meet a whole cast of characters, including a young boy named Laphicet. If Velvet is the embodiment of “darkness,” then Laphicet is created in the image of “light” and will be an important ally to Velvet.

While Bandai Namco is being rather secretive about Tales of Berseria, the publisher did reveal a new trailer at this weekend’s Jump Festa, which has been embedded above. They also said that they’ve recruited several Tales veterans (Mutsumi Inomata, Kosuke Fujishima, Minoru Iwamoto, and Daigo Okumura) to create the characters and creatures for the game.

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Remastered re-release of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is now available to download on the PC

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

“I… Am… Turok!”

Night Dive Studios has reached into the past once again and pulled Turok: Dinosaur Hunter into the present. The first person shooter, originally published by Acclaim, was all the rage back in 1997 and this PC re-release adds a number of improvements for modern day players including support for high resolution and widescreen displays, improved gameplay and level design, and Steam Achievements.

Stephen Kick, the CEO of Night Dive Studios, is very proud of his studio’s latest remaster: “When Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was first released it was nothing short of revolutionary. To that point, no game had ever offered the combination of graphics and an open world environment that Turok featured. We are very excited to have had the opportunity to bring this great franchise back to life and to be able to share this great title with today’s gaming audience.”

A launch trailer for the remastered version of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter has been embedded above, and you can download it now from Steam, GOG.com, and the Humble Store.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

New Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC teaser focuses on Nikolai Belinski and Zombies Mode

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

Treyarch has released a new teaser trailer for the Awakening DLC Pack, the first expansion in development for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The teaser is more specifically focused on “Der Eisendrachen,” the next entry in the franchise’s Zombies saga. Starring a very weary Nikolai Belinski, the teaser asks players to take a seat at his campfire and contemplate his many regrets, his belief in destiny, and his hope for the future.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Awakening DLC Pack will be available to download for the PS4 sometime in February. PC and Xbox One owners will get a chance to purchase it a month later.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Sefton Hill hints that Rocksteady might have at least one more Batman game in their future

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

Rocksteady recently released a new episode in their Arkham Insider video series ahead of next week’s launch of the Season of Infamy expansion for Batman: Arkham Knight. In addition to giving players a sneak peek at a quartet of returning rogues (Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter, and Ra’s al Ghul), Brand Marketing Producer Dax Ginn also sat down with Game Director Sefton Hill to discuss the studio’s work on the Arkham series as a whole. But their pleasant chat may have inadvertently lead to a hint about the franchise’s future at Rocksteady:

Ginn: Sefton, for you, it must be a very emotional time. because this isn’t just the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, it’s sort of the end of Rockteady’s time with the Arkham trilogy. What’s going on in your head at the moment?

Hill: It’s been a very emotional and exciting journey for us. I’ve always said it’s a tremendous privilege and honor to be the custodians of the Batman universe and to live this for nearly ten years To be thinking about the big guy and all the adventures and coming out with new and exciting things we can do in that world. That huge period of time has been amazing, energizing, emotional… it’s been incredible. I really hope the fans are happy with the work we’ve done… that we’ve been able to let people become the Batman and really enjoy his world for such a long period of time.

Ginn: So Sefton, are you saying categorically that this is the end of the road for Rocksteady and Batman?

With a hopeful lilt in his voice, Hill began to reply, “Well…,” before being cut off by a supposed camera malfunction.

Ever since Arkham Knight’s initial announcement, representatives from Rocksteady have always asserted that it would be their final Batman game. While Hill’s “Well…” isn’t proof the studio will stay tuned to that “Same Bat-Channel” on future projects, it is certainly an interesting statement to make.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Hideo Kojima Leaves Konami and Other Stories

Posted on December 20, 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…

It was a big week for Hideo Kojima as the legendary developer officially (and finally) parted terms with Konami. Kojima then immediately turned around and announced an alliance between his newly reformed Kojima Productions and Sony Computer Entertainment. The deal will allow the developer to produce a “console-exclusive” PS4 game in a “new franchise” for the company. That’s about all we know right now, but this is a huge get for Sony, and a huge opportunity for Kojima.

No other news from the week that was compares (unless you want to talk about how amazing Star Wars: The Force Awakens is), but you can find more articles after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Posted on December 20, 2015 by John Scalzo

legendofheroestrailsofcoldsteel-header

Unless next week offers up a surprise game launch or two, this will most likely be the final New Release Report of 2015. But fans of turn-based Japanese RPGs should definitely stand up and pay attention.

After teasing its release for a very long time, XSEED Games is finally ready to launch The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel in North America for the PS3 and Vita. Originally released in Japan in 2013, Trails of Cold Steel is the first game in the “Erebonian Arc” and includes story beats that’ll be easy to jump into for newcomers, while offering a deeper story for veterans of the Legend of Heroes franchise:

Taking place on the same continent as the fan favorite Trails in the Sky offshoot of Nihon Falcom’s storied The Legend of Heroes franchise, Trails of Cold Steel (Sen no Kiseki in Japanese) is the first in the series to tread Erebonian soil and explore the inner political conflicts of this oft-mentioned powerhouse nation in detail. With a standalone story that also delves into the expansive lore that has become synonymous with the series, players can enjoy school life and bond with fellow students to earn new abilities in battle, take advantage of speedy, tactical turn-based combat with the newly-developed “ARCUS” system, and uncover dramatic events that stand to change everything these two opposing social classes stand for.

Posted in News, PS3, Vita |

Next Super Mario Maker update adds more course parts and web-based course search

Posted on December 19, 2015 by John Scalzo

Nintendo will release another free Super Mario Maker update this Tuesday, December 22, and it’ll come packed with three new course parts:

  • Fire Koopa Clown Car: This volcanic vessel is capable of shooting fireballs as well as a powerful charged shot that can even destroy Blocks. It’s perfect for creating shoot-em-up-style courses.
  • P Warp Doors: Unlike regular Warp Doors, these are only visible while a P Switch is active – perfect for creating truly devious Ghost House courses.
  • Bumper: This bouncy donut-shaped object sends Mario bounding away when touched.

P Warp Doors are an essential part of the franchise, so I’m thrilled that Nintendo is finally adding them to Super Mario Maker. And I love that the publisher took some inspiration from one of my favorite player-created courses, “Super Shmup Bros.,” in creating the Fire Koopa Clown Car. In addition to three new toys to play with, Nintendo is also adding a “World Records” leaderboard to each uploaded course so players can fight for the best times.

But next week’s update is even more important because of the launch of Super Mario Maker Bookmark, an online web portal that players to use to search the game’s many courses:

Players can access the Super Mario Maker Bookmark portal site from their computer, tablet, or smartphone, using their Nintendo Network ID to log in. The portal will let players browse recommended courses or search for courses with filters like difficulty, game theme, or course style. Players can also search using a selection of tags, making it easier to find courses that fall into a specific category such as automatic, puzzle, or music. Appealing levels can then be bookmarked for instant access the next time players fire up the game.

A trailer highlighting the new course parts has been embedded above, and another trailer that’ll walk you through the Super Mario Maker Bookmark site is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged