Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Most Recent: Vita
New Releases: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
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.
TowerFall Ascension for Vita, Tony Hawk 5 for PS3, more added to PS Store
After skating his way onto the PS4 earlier this year, Tony Hawk returns to the PS3 with today’s PlayStation Store launch of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. But skateboarding’s biggest star isn’t the only familiar face appearing in a new place today…
- TowerFall Ascension, Matt Thorson’s manic multiplayer archery battler, is now available to download for the PS Vita. It’s a Cross-Buy freebie if you already own the PS4 version, and it’s also compatible with the PlayStation TV if you don’t always want to be on the go.
- PaRappa the Rapper 2 is the latest PS2-On-PS4 release from Sony, so now your rapping skills can earn you a few Trophies in addition to bragging rights.
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions isn’t available on a new platform today, but the best Spider-Man game in years can now be downloaded for the PS3 through the PlayStation Store.
Finally this week, Sierra and The Odd Gentlemen have released Rubble Without A Cause, the second episode of their King’s Quest reboot, for the PS4 and PS3.
A complete look at this week’s new releases can be found after the break and a rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged King's Quest, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, TowerFall Ascension
Yakuza 5, Earth Defense Force 4.1, Earth Defense Force 2, more added to PS Store
Yakuza 5 was originally released in Japan in 2012, and three years later it has finally made its way to North America courtesy of the PlayStation Store. Faster than you can say, “just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in,” Kazuma Kiryu has been pulled away from his quiet life as a taxi driver and back into the Japanese underworld in the PS3 game.
Also available to download this week is a pair of bug-hunting games in the Earth Defense Force franchise. Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair brings the series to the PS4 for the first time in an enhanced and expanded remake of Earth Defense Force 2025. Meanwhile, Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space for the Vita brings the second game in the series to North America for the first time. EDF! EDF! EDF!
You won’t find any giant bugs in Among the Sleep for the PS4, but the psychological horror game does feature frightening images from a two year old child’s vivid imagination. And finally this week, there’s nothing imaginary about the zombie outbreak occurring in Guns, Gore, & Cannoli, a cartoony side-scroller set in the gangster’s paradise of the 1930s.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India and Russia have been delayed into 2016
Ubisoft’s side-scrolling Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series has suffered another setback as the release dates of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India and Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia have been pushed back into 2016. Originally scheduled to launch before the end of the year, Ubisoft will now release Chronicles: India on January 12 and Chronicles: Russia on February 9.
Both games, along with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, will also be packaged together in a special “Trilogy” bundle on February 9. A digital download will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, while a retail disc will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One. Ubisoft also plans to release the “Trilogy” bundle for the Vita on April 5.
If you’re not familiar with the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series, Ubisoft had this to say about both titles:
The second episode, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, throws players into the tension between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company in 1841. When a Master Templar arrives with a mysterious item that used to belong to the Assassin Order, Arbaaz Mir must discover why the Templar has come, steal back the item and protect his friends and his lover.
The final episode, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, takes place in 1918 when Assassin Nikolai Orelov must complete one last mission for the Assassin Order before he can leave with his family. His mission: infiltrate the house where the Tsar’s family is being held by the Bolsheviks and steal an artifact that has been fought over by Assassins and Templars for centuries. While too late to save the Tsar’s entire family, he manages to save the princess, Anastasia, whom he must protect as he escapes the Templars with her and the artifact in tow.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India and Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia will both be priced at $9.99 apiece. Unsurprisingly, the “Trilogy” bundle will be priced at $29.99.
First Day of the Tentacle Remastered trailer released
Double Fine Productions has been killing it lately, especially with this new trailer for Day of the Tentacle Remastered. Community Manager James Spafford had a lot to say on the PlayStation Blog about the game as well.
For those of you who don’t know, the game was “originally released by LucasArts in 1993 as a sequel to Ron Gilbert’s ground breaking Maniac Mansion,” and it’s a mind-bending, time travel, cartoon puzzle adventure game in which three unlikely friends work together to prevent an evil, mutated purple tentacle from taking over the world!” The remaster will have new artwork and remastered audio, “which the original 90’s marketing blurb described as ‘zany!'”
That’s not all. Players will be “able to switch back and forth between classic and remastered modes, and mix and match audio, graphics, and UI to their heart’s desire,” which sounds incredible. Not only that, they’ve “also included a concept art browser, and recorded a commentary track with the game’s original creators Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Larry Ahern, Peter Chan, Peter McConnell, and Clint Bajakian.” How righteous!
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is due out in March 2016 on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and PC.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Day of the Tentacle, PlayStation Experience 2015
Full Throttle Remastered announced for PS4, Vita, PC
The wonderful James Spafford, Community Manager at Double Fine, wrote an awesome post at the PlayStation Blog about the remastering of Full Throttle!
“With the smell of burning asphalt hanging staunchly in the air, we’re proud to announce that we’ll be remastering Tim Schafer’s classic LucasArts adventure game Full Throttle!” he wrote excitedly. With their Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle remasters, this “will complete the trilogy of Tim’s games from LucasArts that we’ve been given the chance to restore.” The original creators will be involved, and the remaster of the game will have new artwork, restored sound and music, and will have lots of special features, including “concept artwork, commentary tracks, and as many other things as we can think of!”
Full Throttle Remastered will be coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and PC.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Full Throttle, PlayStation Experience 2015
New Releases: Devil’s Third, Earth Defense Force 4.1, Earth Defense Force 2, More
We’ll probably never learn the truth about what happened with Devil’s Third‘s. But development on the third-person action game is finally complete and the game will be released for the Wii U this week. Originally announced in 2010 as the first game from Tomonobu Itagaki’s Valhalla Game Studios, Devil’s Third was scheduled to launch in 2012 before a series of development difficulties and THQ’s bankruptcy created a huge bottleneck. No one’s really sure what happened in the intervening years, but eventually, Nintendo stepped up and agreed to publish Devil’s Third exclusively for the Wii U. Even with that relationship in place, the publisher has been extremely quiet about Devil’s Third over the last year.
Also on the “New Release Shelf” this week are a pair of bug-bashing sci-fi games: Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for the PS4 and Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space for the Vita. XSEED Games has stepped in for D3 Publisher and completely reworked Earth Defense Force 2025 for the PS4, while also publishing the second game in the series in North America for the first time.
Finally this week, EA is expanding The Sims 4 with The Sims 4: Get Together.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U
Tagged Devil's Third, Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space, Earth Defense Force 2025, The Sims 4
Final Fantasy VII, Nuclear Throne, Bastion Vita, more added to PS Store today
Have you taken a look at the ridiculous new trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake yet? If not, I suggest you should. And if you’re feeling nostalgic, the planned PS4 port of the PSone original is now available to download from the PlayStation Store. Believe it or not, Sony actually added a huge number of games to the PlayStation Store today, check ’em out:
- Vlambeer’s roguelike-like top-down shooter Nuclear Throne is now available for the PS4 and Vita. This one has been available through Steam Early Access (and on the convention circuit) for a long time, but it’s exciting that it’s finally complete.
- Supergiant’s action RPG Bastion, which was previously released for the PS4, is now available for the Vita as a Cross-Buy title.
- The Bit.Trip, the entire Bit.Trip series collected in a single PS4/Vita Cross-Buy package.
- Fat Princess Adventures, a “comical co-op action RPG” for the PS4 for one-to-four players.
- Guns Up!, a free-to-play side-scrolling strategy game for the PS4 that merges “enemy base invasion with tower defense”
More details on all of these titles can be found after the break. And don’t forget about all the new PS2-On-PS4 games, which are also available today. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Bastion, Final Fantasy VII, PlayStation Experience 2015