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Skylanders 4 is in development and set for release this year

Posted on February 10, 2014 by John Scalzo

skylanders4-infographicActivision is incredibly proud of the financial success of the Skylanders series. Since its debut in 2011, the publisher has released three titles in the franchise (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force) and it appears a fourth is on the way. Toys For Bob, the developer behind Spyro’s Adventure and Giants, will take the reins on the currently untitled Skylanders 4 after allowing Vicarious Visions to handle Swap Force.

This news comes courtesy of a recently released infographic by Activision (click it to see a larger version), which also touts the franchise’s massive revenue stream of more than $2 billion. A release date for Skylanders 4 (or any other information, for that matter) is currently unknown, but an October release seems likely.

Also, allow me to also speculate that Skylanders 4 will likely appear on every platform imaginable including the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Release Date Update Edition

Posted on February 9, 2014 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…

The NFL’s “Big Game,” the Super Bowl, took place exactly one week ago. EA predicted that the Broncos would win in a snowy overtime thriller, but that is not what happened… at all… not even a little bit. The real life result was almost as terrifying as that Breaking Madden video that’s been making the rounds. EA’s prediction is usually pretty spot on, but maybe we should ask Jon Bois to do it next year.

In non-football news, there were plenty of new release dates announced this week including the news that Master Reboot would be coming to the PS3 this month, Plague Inc: Evolved is coming to Steam on February 20, Hyper Light Drifter will be out by the end of the year, Murdered: Soul Suspect will be released in June, The 90s Arcade Racer is gearing up for a Summe release, Drakengard 3 will be released on May 20, and TitanFall for the Xbox 360 will be released on March 25 (the PC and Xbox One editions are still on track for March 11).

Whew. This week, the Warp Zoned staff also looked back to What We Played in January 2014 and looked forward at The Games of February 2014.

Also, we consulted our crystal ball and found 10 Actors We Think Could Play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted Movie.

You can find more news from last week after the break. (more…)

Posted in News |

New Releases: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, 2K/Bethesda Compilations, More

Posted on February 9, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Lightning returns this week in the accurately named Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The Square Enix-published RPG will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Also this week, the oft-neglected Vita will receive a pair of new games this week: the action-adventure Toukiden: The Age of Demons and the uterrly bizarre DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

And for some reason, 2K Games and Bethesda are joining forces to release an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite Bundle for the Xbox 360 and an The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite + BioShock Bundle for the PS3. The publishers will also pair up to release a Borderlands 2 + Dishonored Bundle for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Why not, right?

Finally, Ubisoft will released a Far Cry Compilation for the PS3. The bundle includes Far Cry 2, Far Cry 3, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

TitanFall’s Xbox 360 release has been delayed two weeks

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Zackery Cote

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Those hoping to get their hands on TitanFall without having to purchase a new console will have to be a bit more patient than their next-gen peers. It was reconfirmed yesterday that TitanFall, developed by Respawn Entertainment, will hit the Xbox One and PC on March 11 in North America (March 13 in Europe). The Xbox 360 version, however, is being developed by a different studio, Bluepoint Games, and it has been given a shipping date of March 25 in North America (March 28 in Europe) so that the team can “put the finishing touches on the current-gen version of the game.”

As exciting as it is to hear that TitanFall is so close to release, it’s a bit of a shady business to have two different release dates. It harkens back to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where the game was released later for the previous generation console as well. Understandably, the Wii version of Twilight Princess vastly outsold its GameCube counterpart. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s sure to be exciting for Xbox 360 owners that they’ll be able to get their hands on TitanFall at all.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Naughty Dog considering The Last of Us 2 or a new IP

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Nicole Kline

TheLastofUsThere’s always something going on at Naughty Dog. Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of The Last of Us, told Eurogamer that the Dogs are considering a sequel to that game or creating a new property as their next project.

“We just wrapped up Left Behind, and Bruce Straley, the game director, and I have been doing this for over four years now. So it’s just time for a break, and to recharge the batteries… We have started brainstorming some stuff. To be honest, some of them are sequel ideas, and some of them are brand new IP – we’ve spent the last few weeks brainstorming new IP. So we have to get some good steps and see… It’s kind of like how we approached Left Behind. Can we tell people a story that’s really worth telling, and that’s not repeating itself? And if we can’t, where can we get inspired – what is something that’s really going to challenge us, and push storytelling in this medium forward?”

The Last of Us: Left Behind, which comes out next week, is the game’s first – and the only – single-player DLC. This prequel will give us more insight into Ellie’s past, focusing on a friendship she had before she met Joel.

I can’t imagine a sequel to The Last of Us, but there have been plenty of times I couldn’t imagine a sequel and I was blown away (Dead Space 2, anyone?). I’m looking forward to seeing what the Dogs have planned for us.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged ,

10 Actors We Think Could Play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted Movie

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Andrew Rainnie

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Seth Gordon has been chosen to helm the planned film adaptation of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted. The director, best known for the Donkey Kong documentary King of Kong as well as Horrible Bosses, steps into the role after it was left vacant by Limitless director Neil Burger, who has since moved onto Divergent, the first installment in the teen franchise. He himself had inherited the role from Oscar winner David O. Russell, who left due to the fan backlash following a leaked storyline that didn’t resemble Uncharted in the slightest.

So now that the film finally has a director locked (again), the big question remains… who will fill the well-tread boots of cheeky protagonist Nathan Drake? Here is a list of ten actors we believe could do the role justice. (more…)

Posted in Etcetera, Features, PS3, PS4, Top Story | Tagged

Daily Scoop: February 7, 2014 – It’s Friday!

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Nicole Kline

I’m not sure if you noticed, but hey! It’s Friday! I don’t know about you, but this has been the longest week ever. I’m excited for the weekend!!

There are plenty of good deals going around today! First up is the Daily Deal at Steam, which is Outlast for $9.99. It’s not quite as good a deal as free on the PSN with Plus, but it’s still a great deal!

There’s also a brand new Humble Weekly Bundle featuring Double Fine! Pay what you want for Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking! Pay $6 or more for Brutal Legend, and pay $16.74 or more and get early access to Spacebase DF-9.

But wait – there’s more! There are some new deals over at the Humble Store as well, including Jazz Punk for $11.99, Space Hulk for $19.99, and SPAZ for $2.49. Plenty of games to scoop up today!

Hit the jump for some t-shirts to put on your bod! Or, you know, wherever. (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us wins ten statues at 2014 DICE Awards

Posted on February 7, 2014 by John Scalzo

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When Santa Claus asks if you’ve been naughty or nice, if you’re a game developer, you might want to answer “naughty.” During last night’s DICE Awards in Las Vegas, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us took home the top prize in ten categories (out of 13 possible nominations). The only other game to win multiple awards was BioShock Infinite, which took home two (Action Game of the Year and Oustanding Achievement in Original Music Composition).

With such a big haul, The Last of Us naturally took home Game of the Year honors. The game also won Adventure Game of the Year, Oustanding Achievement in Game Direction, Oustanding Achievement in Story, Oustanding Achievement in Animation, Oustanding Achievement in Art Direction, Oustanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Oustanding Achievement in Sound Design, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, and Outstanding Character Performance (for Ashley Johnson’s portrayal of Ellie).

A few other games did manage to wrestle a few awards away from Naughty Dog, but that’s mostly because The Last of Us didn’t qualify for every category. For example, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons won Downloadable Game of the Year, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds won Handheld Game of the Year, and Plants vs Zombies 2 won Casual Game of the Year.

The complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,