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More tracks announced for Rock Band 4 as Harmonix opens standalone game pre-orders

Posted on August 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

I haven’t had the best track record when it comes to recognizing a lot of the performers Harmonix has picked for Rock Band 4‘s soundtrack. But that changed today as the developer revealed that songs from Cake (“Short Skirt/Long Jacket”), The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (“The Impression That I Get”), Soundgarden (“Superunknown”), and Arctic Monkeys (“Arabella”) will be included in the game when it launches this October. In fact, they’ve announced ten new tracks, which you can find right here:

  • .38 Special – “Caught Up In You”
  • Arctic Monkeys – “Arabella”
  • The Both – “Milwaukee”
  • Cake – “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”
  • Little Big Town – “Little White Church”
  • Lucius – “Turn It Around”
  • The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “The Impression That I Get”
  • The Protomen – “Light Up The Night”
  • Soundgarden – “Superunknown”
  • Tijuana Sweetheart – “Pistol Whipped”

Harmonix also confirmed that players who are uninterested in the $200 “Band In-A-Box Bundle” will have the option to purchase Rock Band 4 as a standalone disc on the PS4 and Xbox One. PS4 players will be able to get the game for just $59.99 because all of their old instruments will work right out of the box. However, Xbox One owners will have to spring for a $79.99 pack that includes the game and a “Legacy Game Controller Adapter” to ensure compatibility with their old instruments. Players can pre-order the standalone version on either platform beginning today.

Rock Band 4 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Kickstart This! Third Anniversary Celebration

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Andrew Rainnie

Three years of Kickstart This! have come and gone, and I thought we would celebrate this milestone in Warp Zoned’s history by looking back at some of the games that have graced the series, from the lucky projects that found success with the help of contributors, to those who missed the mark. (more…)

Posted in Features, Top Story |

Daily Scoop: August 24, 2015 – What did you play this weekend?

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Nicole Kline

I had an amazingly game-filled weekend! All told, we played 16 board games in two days. I also started playing the adorable Alphabear on my phone. I was addicted to Triple Town for a while, so it’s no surprise that Spry Fox’s latest is equally addicting. It’s been keeping me company all day today – I’m home with an awful headache and stomachache that I just cannot kick. So I’m spelling words to try to make me feel better. How about you? What did you play this weekend?

Let’s talk about this week’s deals, shall we? There’s a new Mobile Bundle at Humble, and it’s all about Humongous Entertainment. Pay just $1 for Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Spy Fox in Dry Cereal, Freddi Fish: Haunted Schoolhouse, and Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide. Beat the average to unlock Putt-Putt Joins the Circus, Pajama Sam Thunder & Lightning, Freddi Fish & The Stolen Shell, and Putt-Putt Enters the Race. Pay $10.99 or more to unlock cross-platform Steam keys for every one of these games. And, finally, pay $29.99 to unlock all of that and also receive a pair of Pajama Sam socks and a Putt-Putt air freshener.

There are 118 new Weeklong Deals at Steam starting today. Get Slender: The Arrival for $2.99, Anodyne for $4.99, and Camera Obscura for $0.19. Today’s Daily Deal is Sword of the Stars: The Pit – Gold Edition for $4.54.

Check out today’s new t-shirts! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Madden NFL 16 launch trailer is an insane action movie spoof that forever raises the bar

Posted on August 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of the bar for video game launch trailers being raised. And that sound can only be vocalized as “Hoo-Ah!”

The launch trailer in question belongs to Madden NFL 16, which has been refashioned by EA Sports into a Summer blockbuster known as Madden: The Movie. Taking more than a few cues from the Fast and the Furious franchise, Madden: The Movie features Dave Franco as Blade Johnson, a star of the underground Madden circuit. His girlfriend has been kidnapped and its up to him and his gang of “Playmakers” to bring her back. Thankfully, said Playmakers include Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Janet, Rob Gronkowski as Half Top, Julio Jones as Trick Montelban, Antonio Brown as Sticky Bun, Coach Rex Ryan as Lil Pepper, and Colin Kaepernick as Al Pacino from Scent of a Woman. In addition to its star-studded cast, Madden: The Movie has plenty of deception, intrigue, rampaging dinosaurs, and even a Bollywood-style dance number.

Madden NFL 16 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One tomorrow. Which means you have enough time between now and then to watch Madden: The Movie more than 100 times. You didn’t have anything better to do today, did you?

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Super Mario Maker’s coolest player-created courses include a wild roller coaster, a shooter, a puzzle platformer, and more

Posted on August 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

Super Mario Maker‘s release is about three weeks away, but many press outlets have already gotten their hands on it and created a variety of amazing levels. Polygon collected their five favorites, and if this is just the start of the community’s creativity, I think we’ll all be playing Super Mario Maker for a very long time.

Out of these five, I think my personal favorite is “Super Shmup Bros.,” which transforms Mario’s traditional platforming antics into an auto-scrolling shooter. Apparently, all you need is a Koopa Clown Car for flight, a Fire Flower for ammunition, and a neverending stream of Flying Spinies. It actually reminded me quite a bit of the shooting sections of Super Mario Land, and I love that someone brought the idea back to the Mario series.

Other courses that made the list include “Enjoy Mr. Blue Bones’ Wild Ride,” a wild roller coaster that requires players to stand absolutely still; “The Riddler: Prologue,” a fiendish puzzle platformer take on Mario; “Vertical Bowling,” a level that asks players to kick an enemy into ten other enemies to score points; and “Winners Don’t Do Shrooms,” a course that requires players to stay small.

Super Mario Maker will be available exclusively for the Wii U on September 11.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Nintendo plans to reissue rare Amiibo figures (Little Mac, Villager, Marth, more) this Fall

Posted on August 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

noa-amiibosIt looks like several previously rare Amiibo figures will be reissued this Fall, including Little Mac, Villager, Marth, and many others. A re-release for these figures was confirmed after they were included in a list of “Certificates of Compliance” that Nintendo recently filed in accordance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

The full list of certificates available on Nintendo’s website also includes a number of figures announced as part of the company’s next wave of Amiibo figures. So it’s safe to assume that the restocked rarities will also appear on store shelves sometime in the next two months.

So which figures should Amiibo hunters be on the lookout for in the coming days? Here’s the complete list:

  • Bowser (Super Mario series)
  • Captain Falcon (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Charizard (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Inkling Boy (Splatoon series)
  • Inkling Girl (Splatoon series)
  • Ike (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • King Dedede (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Little Mac (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Luigi (Super Mario series)
  • Marth (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Pac-Man (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Peach (Super Mario series)
  • Pikachu (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Splatoon 3-Pack (Splatoon series)
  • Toad (Super Mario series)
  • Villager (Super Smash Bros. series)
  • Wario (Super Smash Bros. series)

Hopefully, these re-releases will satisfy the demand of Amiibo fans everywhere as a huge number of figures have become impossible to find on store shelves since Nintendo introduced Amiibo figures in 2014. Personally, I’m just thrilled that my own white whale, Little Mac, is on the list. But even with renewed stock, I still might have to dance like a fly and bite like a mosquito to get one.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged , , ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Knocking on Autumn’s Door 2015 Edition

Posted on August 23, 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…

This year’s Fall gaming rush is almost here, but first we’ve got to get the last few weeks of Summer out of the way first. For example, did you know Nintendo held a Splatoon Global Testfire this weekend? It’s still going on and today’s your last chance to get in on a free weekend for one of this Summer’s best games. And speaking of good games that were released this Summer, we recently posted a review of Lego Jurassic World. If you like Lego games, it’s very likely worth your time.

But it’s hard to think about the Fall without looking even further afield to this Winter, when Sony plans to host the second annual PlayStation Experience. The two-day expo moves to San Francisco this year and will likely be just as jam-packed full of demos and announcements as the 2014 edition.

More news from the week that was is available after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Madden NFL 16, Disney Infinity Star Wars, Until Dawn, More

Posted on August 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

newreleases082515

Do you feel that nip in the air? And surely you’ve noticed that kids are gearing up for “back to school” time. And that can mean only one thing… the Fall gaming rush is upon us! While these tell-tale signs of the Fall are out there, the Summer’s not over quite yet. It’s still pretty warm in most of the United States and a majority of kids get to enjoy a few more weeks of Summer vacation.

And even though it’s still August, I think the Fall gaming rush has officially begun…

Everything begins, as it always does this time of year, with the release of Madden NFL 16 (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One). The latest entry in EA’s long-running football simulation series features Odell Beckham on the cover and improved passing/receiver controls.

One of this Fall’s biggest “all ages” titles, Disney Infinity: Star Wars, will also be available this week. As the title says, Star Wars characters have been absorbed into the Disney Infinity universe for the first time. If you’ve already got a shelf of Disney’s popular figures, prepare to build a second one. And if you haven’t caught the Disney Infinity bug yet, you’re probably going to need a sturdy shelf to hold all your Star Wars figures.

On the complete opposite end of the age appropriateness spectrum is Sony’s Until Dawn. Available exclusively for the PS4, Until Dawn is one of the first games that attempts to recreate the horror (and excitement) of watching a slasher flick. Until Dawn’s star, Hayden Panettiere, even has plenty of experience running from crazed killers on screens both big (Scream 4) and small (Heroes).

Finally this week, a pair of remasters will give a new generation of players the chance to check out (or revisit) two PS3/Xbox 360 era classics. Dishonored: Definitive Edition brings its stealthy steampunk aesthetic to the PS4 and Xbox One, while Gears of War: Ultimate Edition upgrades the popular Xbox 360 shooter for the Xbox One. Microsoft will also release an Xbox One 500GB + Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle if you haven’t picked up an Xbox One yet.

A complete list of all of this week’s new releases (which also includes the PS3/Vita debut of the SteinsGate visual novel) can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , ,