Most Recent: PC

Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 Review: Welcome Back Tycho and Gabe

Someday, songs will be written about the development of Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3. In the nearly four years since the release of Episode Two, the third game in Penny Arcade’s episodic RPG series underwent both a developer and art-style change in its journey to a download service near you. Gone are the Gabe-inspired character designs and modern graphics of the previous episodes. In their place are the 16-bit stylings of Zeboyd Games and a part three that, at times, feels like both a brand new game and a continuation of the adventure thus far. (more…)

Posted in PC, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Diablo I and II creator has social media fight with Blizzard devs

David Brevik, creator of Diablo and Diablo II, expressed some of his feelings on Diablo III to IncGamers during Gamescom.

“I have very mixed emotions about it. On one hand I am sad that people haven’t enjoyed Diablo because it’s a love, a passion, and it’s obvious people still have a giant love and passion for Diablo… That makes me feel great.

I am sad because people are outraged and… some of the decisions they have made are not the decisions I would make, and there have been changes in philosophy and that hasn’t gone over very well…

I am also a little happy… I hate to say, [but] it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was, how unique and special… when the people leave the game changes, and it shows how critical people are in this industry.”

So basically, to me, what he’s saying is: they made some design choices I wouldn’t have, and people are upset, and while that is a bummer, I am actually sort of pleased, because it means that what I built, and what I made, was important and meant something. Right? General idea?

Well, some of the Diablo III devs were pretty hurt over it, and had a public exchange via Facebook (which was captured by Reddit). Click the image above to enlarge it and cringe a bunch.

Since this argument needed more social media avenues, former Diablo II producer Mark Kern jumped in on Twitter: “Gotta say, that Jay Wilson, never having been at Blizzard for D1 and D2 and never having met Dave Brevik, has no place to say what he did. Dave Brevik created 2 genre-busting, award winning, world-loved Diablo games. Jay Wilson has done ____ with Diablo 3. Fill in the blanks. Blizzard arrogance has reached new heights.”

Facebook and Twitter have made it easier than ever for people to stick their feet directly into their mouths. Do not pass go, do not reach Paragon level.

[Source: IGN]

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Blizzard revamps Diablo III endgame with “Paragon” system

For people who are still playing Diablo III – not just playing it, but grinding themselves into dust by leveling up half a dozen characters to level 60 – is there any hope for you once you hit that ceiling? Do you find yourselves kicking the dust around, wishing you could increase your Magic Find to 300% without swapping gear mid-fight?

First of all, I didn’t even know people did that until I read about the new Paragon system. But how does the new Paragon system – which goes 100 levels past level 60 – work, exactly?

Well, first of all, any experience gained past level 60 counts towards Paragon levels, each of which will reward you with “Core stats such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality in amounts similar to what you’d gain from a normal level” as well as “3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find.” In case you didn’t feel like doing the math, that caps you off at 300% Magic Find and Gold Find.

For all the gruesome details, check this blog post at Battle.net. If you’re not a hardcore Diablo III player, most of it will seem like jargon. But if you are, and 60 levels wasn’t enough for you, you just hit the jackpot.

Blizzard plans to reveal more about the Paragon system, including a launch date, soon.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

OnLive purchased by Lauder Partners; most employees laid off

To say it’s been a lively weekend at OnLive, the three-year-old cloud gaming service provider, would be a gross understatement.

On August 17, all 150-200 employees were called to a sudden meeting led by company founder and CEO Steve Perlman. During that meeting, Perlman told everyone that due to financial difficulties, the company would dissolve and they were being laid off immediately. Yet shortly thereafter, job offers were made to many of the same employees (believed to be around 20%) from a new company called… OnLive.

Confused? Seems that OnLive has filed an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC), which is an alternative to bankruptcy that transfers the assets of the insolvent company to another (called the Assignee). The Assignee is then responsible for satisfying creditors, either by restructuring the company or selling assets. The Assignee in this case is a newly formed company that is using the original OnLive name, and is allegedly owned by a single investor in the form of venture capitalist firm Lauder Partners.

So why go through all this? The ABC shoves original investors and shareholders to the back of the line, effectively wiping out their investments. This means stock granted to employees is now worthless, and smartphone manufacturer HTC has lost its $40 million investment. There is speculation that this was all done to reduce the company’s liability to make it more attractive to potential buyers – despite the fact that Perlman had turned down several offers from companies like HP and Sony because their offers were too low (allegedly, OnLive was holding out for at least $1 billion).

Of course, the company could truly be in trouble and need creditor protection. Although OnLive boasts of having 2.5 million subscribers with an “active” base of 1.5 million, Joystiq is reporting an inside source that claims the average number of concurrent users during peak periods is only 1800 – not exactly an impressive (or profitable) number if true. The same source also indicated that Perlman is planning to launch patent lawsuits against competitors like Gaikai, which was recently acquired by Sony.

As for OnLive customers, they currently have nothing to worry about. There was no disruption to the service, which continues to operate normally. However, these strange moves will certainly do little to attract new customers, or boost existing customer confidence. We at WarpZoned will keep you updated as this bizarre drama continues to unfold.

Posted in News, PC |

XBLA Today: The Expendables 2

The Expendables 2 made a big splash in theaters this weekend (I enjoyed it immensely), and today, Ubisoft is bringing the downloadable game adaptation to the PC and the Xbox Live Arcade.

Are you packing enough testosterone to be an Expendable? Lay down your $15 (or 1200 Microsoft Points) for The Expendables 2 Videogame and find out:

Four Expendables (Barney, Gunnar, Caesar and Yin-Yang) are hired to rescue an extremely valuable, kidnapped Chinese billionaire. It’s all business, until all hell breaks loose and the explosive mix of testosterone and kerosene detonates in a massive fireball that never lets up as the relentless action concludes where the new movie begins. The Expendables videogame is a way for fans to experience all of their favorite explosive moments, as their favorite stars, in 4-Player Co-op action.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: August 20, 2012 – Weekends are never long enough

If my life were a James Bond film, that would be the title: Weekends are never long enough. It’s the sad truth, friends! They’re always packed to the gill these days, with awards ceremonies, and family stuff, and Sleeping Dogs, and homework. I can’t wait for this term to be over! Oh, and also, mega huge congratulations goes out to Tristin Hightower for winning Geek of the Year at Friday’s Philly Geek Awards! She deserved every moment of that standing ovation.

Amazon’s having a deal right now on Lego games – get up to 25% off Lego Batman, Lego Batman 2, Lego Battles Ninjago, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4, Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7, and Lego Battles. They’re available across multiple platforms, so you can take your pick!

A few game-related t-shirts for you today… (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, DS, Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 |

New Releases: Transformers Fall of Cybertron, More

After last week’s bountiful batch of new releases (some might even call if a cornucopia), this week’s slate is a bit less impressive. But some might say that it’s more than meets the eye…

That’s right, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will be available in stores this week and provide players with all the robot-rampages and dinosaur robot-rampages they could ever want. Me Grimlock and me approve… you might say. Fall of Cybertron will be available as a PC Download and on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Also available this week is a trio of budget PC games: Nightmares From the Deep: The Cursed Heart, Brink of Consciousness: Dorian Gray Syndrome, and Disciples III: Gold Edition.

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

DayZ developer wants to bring it to consoles

Dean Hall, the project lead on DayZ, is trying to take his dream even further: he was meeting with console developers at Gamescom to discuss the possibility of bringing his mod to consoles.

The main problem is that he’s not sure if a console port would be justifiable. “You’re not going to put it on the consoles if you’re only going to sell 100,000 units or something like that,” said Hall. “DayZ will be driven by its PC development and it will innovative on that. And, once we’re at a point, we’ll take it and do a Mac version, 360 and PS3.”

Hall has experience on producing console games, saying he knows about the “pitfalls and horrors” involved. Hopefully he’ll be able to bring his dream to consoles, so I’ll get a chance to play it.

[Source: Joystiq]

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