Most Recent: Mobile

Shovel Knight is getting a series of tie-in kids books this January

Posted on May 20, 2016 by John Scalzo

shovelknightbookShovel Knight lives by the Codes of Shovelry, and the teachings of this ancient art helped him topple the Order of No Quarter in Yacht Club’s excellent side-scrolling platformer of the same name. Capturing the hearts and minds of nostalgic gamers everywhere after his 2014 debut, Shovel Knight will take on his greatest challenge next year… the Children’s Literature section of your local bookstore.

Yacht Club Games has partnered with Grosset & Dunlap to publish a series of Shovel Knight-themed books targeted at kids 8-12 years old. The four books announced so far include:

  • Shovel Knight Guidebook, a 176-page strategy guide that includes all of Shovel Knight’s secrets and tips to defeat the Order of No Quarter.
  • Shovel Knight: Codes of Shovelry Handbook, which will teach readers more about the characters from the game, “as well as tips for enhanced gameplay.”
  • Shovel Knight: Digger’s Diary, a journal filled with “fun activities, challenging mazes and puzzles, and writing prompts.”
  • Shovel Knight Mad Libs, which promises 21 silly stories from the world of Shovel Knight.

Yacht Club expects to release Shovel Knight’s final two expansions by the end of the year, which nicely matches up with the January 10, 2017 release date for the game’s first four tie-in books.

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

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will be available for mobile devices this Summer

Posted on May 16, 2016 by John Scalzo

PS4 and Xbox One owners are preparing themselves for this Fall’s release of Final Fantasy XV, but Square Enix plans has more to come from the long-running series in 2016. Set to launch this Summer, Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will be the first “full-scale” Final Fantasy adventure designed exclusively for mobile devices (iOS and Android).

Adventurers will follow two knights of the kingdom of Grandshelt, and a young girl who suddenly appears before them, as they begin their quest to pursue a highly sought after crystal. Players will make their way through various types of dungeons to search for items, collect gil, uncover hidden paths, and venture new routes.

Already available in Japan, Brave Exvius is a traditional turn-based RPG that features “streamlined battle mechanics and intuitive touch controls” designed to work well with mobile devices. To make Final Fantasy fans feel more at home, Square Enix has also filled the game with familiar characters (The Warrior of Light, Cecil, Vivi, and Terra) and summons. To see just how developer Gumi shrunk the Final Fantasy series down to mobile size, you might want to check out the Announcement Trailer embedded above.

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will be free-to-play and interested players can pre-register at the game’s official website to receive special in-game items at launch. The game will also be playable at this year’s E3 Expo, so expect to learn more about it next month.

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Disney shuts down all console development and cancels Disney Infinity franchise

Posted on May 11, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Two months ago, the Disney Infinity franchise was put on hiatus by Disney Interactive. Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company announced the end of Disney Interactive with the cancellation of all console development and the closure of the entire division.

Speaking during the company’s quarterly financial report, Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said, “During the quarter, we took a charge of $147 million in connection with the shutdown of our Infinity console games business. Going forward, our console games strategy will focus solely on licensing our great portfolio of content.”

This closure extends to developer Avalanche Software, and Disney Interactive General Manager John Blackburn thanked them for all their hard work on the publisher’s official website:

Our goal for Disney Infinity was to bring the best of Disney storytelling to life in homes around the world, and with your support we accomplished that. We hope you had as much fun playing the game as we had making it.

And as we turn to the next chapter in our story, I want to thank everyone who helped bring Disney Infinity to life, particularly Disney’s Glendale-based production and publishing teams, our external development partners, and of course the incredible Avalanche team for their tireless dedication to this project.

Avalanche will complete work on the remaining Disney Infinity content that is currently in development, including three figures from Alice: Through the Looking Glass (which will be available later this month) and a Finding Dory Play Set (coming in June).

With Disney’s console development future tied up in licensing deals, we should probably expect to hear about more third-party partnerships, like the one the company struck with EA to create Star Wars: Battlefront, soon.

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

Handicapping the 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame Finalists

Posted on May 3, 2016 by John Scalzo

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We’re just a few days away from learning which games will be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year. In 2015, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., Pong, Doom, World of Warcraft, and Pac-Man were selected as the inaugural class by the institution’s induction committee. The Hall’s Class of 2016 will be announced on Thursday, May 5, and five or six games are once again expected to rise above the other finalists.

But which of the 15 finalists will be honored this year? Using the Hall’s induction criteria as a guide, I can think we can determine the odds of which games will make it in and which will have to wait until next year. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Retro, Top Story, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , ,

The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX East 2016

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Warp Zoned Staff

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Believe it or not, we’re not living in a post-apocalyptic hellscape (depending on your political affiliation, insert your own Trump/Hillary joke here). But you’d never know it if all you had to go by was the 2016 PAX East show floor, which was overrun by dozens of titles that took place after the collapse of society… and a lot of them were pretty good.

But what if some disaster did befall the world and force PAX East attendees to forever wander the halls of the Boston Convention and Exhibition, feasting on whatever mac and cheese bowls or turkey legs they may find? That’s where Warp Zoned’s PAXpocalypse List comes in, because these are the games we’d keep playing if we could never venture outside again… (more…)

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The Walking Dead Season 3 tease from Robert Kirkman reveals an older Clementine

Posted on April 27, 2016 by John Scalzo

Robert Kirkman is the creator of the Walking Dead comic book and the guiding hand behind the megafranchise’s expansion into television, novels, and video games. So Telltale Games recently gave him the chance to talk about his thoughts on The Walking Dead: Michonne, which came to a conclusion yesterday.

In the video, Kirkman praises the Telltale team for their fine work, and reveals that several of the game’s plot points came directly from his notes for Michonne’s absence in issue #126. The writer also couldn’t resist teasing The Walking Dead Season 3, and confirmed that fans of the series are in store for another time jump:

“Season 3 of the Telltale series is really exciting to me. The way that the timeline works, Season 3 will actually be getting pretty close to where we are in the comics concurrently,” said Kirkman. “We’ll be checking in on Clementine again, so we’ll be seeing her, seeing where she’s at and what’s going on with her which is going to be great. But also similar to the Michonne series there will probably be some more comic book elements that we’ll be working into it in some interesting ways. I don’t want to spoil too much…”

The first episode of The Walking Dead Season 3 will be released sometime this year.

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

Nintendo is working on Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem mobile games

Posted on April 27, 2016 by John Scalzo

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Good news, everyone! Nintendo has announced that new Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem apps will soon be available for mobile platforms:


Best of all, it sounds like both will be full-fledged games, instead of communication apps like Miitomo:

For [Fire Emblem], while making it more accessible in comparison to the Fire Emblem games for Nintendo’s dedicated gaming systems, Nintendo aims to offer the great value of a role-playing strategy game. Nintendo will design [Animal Crossing] so that it will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems. By playing both Animal Crossing games, users will find increased enjoyment.

Both of these are pure game applications. Compared to Miitomo, they have more prominent game elements, and the game content will tie closely into Nintendo’s dedicated games business.

The currently untitled Animal Crossing Mobile and Fire Emblem Mobile should launch sometime this Fall.

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Dear Diary: Friday at PAX East 2016 I Played…

Posted on April 23, 2016 by John Scalzo

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The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center has opened the doors for PAX East once again. And once that overwhelming feeling went away, I managed to pay a visit to more than a few indie developers on Friday. So here’s a quick look at what I managed to play on the first day of PAX East 2016… (more…)

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