Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: Xbox 360
Persona 4: Arena gets August 7 release date, dual language support
Atlus has announced that the Persona fighting game, Persona 4: Arena, will include dual language support when it’s released in North America on August 7. Players will be able to toggle between the original Japanese dialogue and a brand new English language track on both the PS3 and Xbox 360.
“While it remains a feature we are unable to add in every one of our releases due to any number of factors, we are incredibly excited to be able to offer our fans the frequently requested dual language option in as highly anticipated a title as Persona 4: Arena,” said Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atlus.
Fans of the Persona series are no doubt thrilled at this news, and hopefully they get even more giddy after viewing the new E3 trailer above.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, Persona 4: Arena
Battlefield 3 follows Call of Duty into war zone of paid subscriptions
Following in the murky footstep of Activision’s Call of Duty Elite service, EA has announced a similar subscription service for their FPS, Battlefield 3, entitled Battlefield 3 Premium.
Priced at $49.99, Battlefield Premium carries the same price as its Elite competition. In return, players will receive five expansion packs; essentially it is five “Project Ten Dollars” shoved together. Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers will also have access to “a host of exclusive in-game items including the ACB-90 knife, a set of Premium dog tags, and soldier and weapon camos – all complemented by unique Battlelog features, Double XP weekends, and other exclusive events and videos.”
EA Games Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund claims that gamers will save $25 buying in bulk rather than buying the DLC packs individually, and that those who subscribed would receive new updates two weeks before normal players.
While the move is unsurprising, one cannot help but feel this is the road to Hell, paved with good intentions. Perhaps it is a question of lack of originality. Star Wars: The Old Republic was criticised for being too much like rival MMO World of Warcraft, while this new move sees Battlefield 3 merely following in Call of Duty’s footsteps. And when a game and subscription package costs over $100, players are more likely to only pick one.
And I can’t help but feel that EA is looking to gouge their players with little charges for any sort of perceived “extra.” But maybe it’s just me.
[Source: Reuters]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Battlefield 3
Lord of the Rings is next franchise to get Lego treatment
After Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Batman, the Lego Group, along with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and TT Games, have announced the rather clumsily worded Lego The Lord of the Rings.
Surely they should have taken the definitive article out of the title? Regardless, the new game will encompass all three films from the trilogy, and will be released for all current consoles, including the 3DS, PS Vita, DS, PC, Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. In a break from the traditional “Lego Something” format, the game will also feature voiced dialogue.
Tom Stone, Managing Director at TT Games, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for the game: “We are huge aficionados of The Lord of the Rings franchise and are incredibly excited to put our special Lego family-friendly touch on this classic fantasy adventure. We’ve taken what fans are familiar with and love about The Lord of the Rings films and combined it with the playful Lego style, which makes the story and gameplay accessible to gamers of all ages.”
Perhaps it is just me, but it is hard to get excited about yet another Lego transformation of a licensed film series. What’s next? Lego Fast and the Furious? Or maybe a move into TV with Lego Game of Thrones and Lego Sex and the City? The toy brick company has a number of original franchises, such as the Lego Hero Factory or Bionicle, the latter made into a mediocre game by Argonaut and EA and therefore in need of a decent reboot. I find I am much more excited by the upcoming Lego City Stories for Wii U.
Nevertheless, cutesy brick versions of Gandalf, Frodo and Legolas will be winging their way to you in the Fall.
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Assassin’s Creed III is a revolution
Ah, the moment everyone was waiting for: a beautiful trailer for Assassin’s Creed III. The assassin ran through the camp, took a horse, rode it into the middle of battle, then single-handedly (and with much finesse) took out a bunch of British soldiers. He took out his quarry – viciously, as always – bringing a smile to Washington’s face.
Francois Pelland, producer, came onstage after the trailer to give a live demo. Running through the New England woods in winter, climbing and leaping from tree to tree – the gracefulness translates beautifully here. But the first battle was against wolves, who come after you when you kill a deer. Not very exciting, but certainly successful in immersing you in this time period new to the franchise. When the player returns to the camp, it’s clear that he was on a fetch quest, and that there are a plethora of these available.
And then came the real combat, which was as amazing as can be expected. After stringing one soldier up, he grabbed another and used him as a shield against the enemies’ bullets, then danced among the rest with his axe. The assassination goes off beautifully, with the same familiar gameplay and cinematics we’ve all grown to love.
Pelland explained afterwards that the true enemy in this game – and in all games in this franchise – have always been the Templar. Don’t get caught up in seeing the British as the enemy, but rather keep the real focus in mind. And don’t be afraid to kill whatever gets in your way – whether it has two legs or four.
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Far Cry 3 is full of insanity
Ubisoft started it off with a bang – “hot girls” dancing to Just Dance 4, and then the Far Cry 3 cinematic starting out with a topless savage lady. They did eventually get to some gameplay, after showing more of the stunning graphics.
Dan Hay, producer, and Jamie Kean, lead game designer, were on hand, playing the demo and explaining some of the background. We saw yet another bow and arrow, too, making this the third game – after Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 – to sport one.
It may seem like just another shooter, but then everything starts to get a little trippy. This is unsurprising with this franchise, especially after the strange voodoo-esque native intro scene. The second game was a little dry for my taste (I didn’t really want to play through Apocalypse Now, thanks very much), but I think this game may have sparked my interest.
Hay also talked about the expansiveness of this open world game, saying you have an entire archipelago of islands to explore – and that’s just in the single-player campaign.
Far Cry 3 will be released on September 4.
EA @ E3 12: Crytek brings the awesome with Crysis 3 gameplay
It’s been a pretty good press conference day so far, with EA rounding out its conference with some sweet gameplay of Crysis 3. It’s time to slip back into your Nanosuit and get busy wrecking things! There’s no time for a manual override of a piece of equipment? Stomp it up – what else is your suit good for? Oh, right – turning invisible, jumping up onto a roof of a building, and just generally running around and blowing things up. Same old Crysis.
Of course, there’s the same old talk about the urban jungle, which comes out when Prophet pulls out his, um, insanely high tech bow and arrow and shoots down a helicopter. Wow. It’s still over a year away, but I have to say I’m pleased with what they’ve got so far.
EA @ E3 12: Need For Speed: Most Wanted coming in October
Criterion has just left the stage at EA’s E3 2012 Press Conference where they showed off Need For Speed: Most Wanted, their open-world take on one of “the best games in the franchise.”
Need For Speed: Most Wanted will be available on October 30 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
EA @ E3 12: Medal of Honor: Warfighter is slick, smooth, and super badass
EA had a live demo of Medal of Honor: Warfighter on the Frostbite 2 engine, and it was sexy and smooth. It started out with an intense firefight, with you and your team coming in from the water on a beach in Somalia. You get hit and fall under the water, but come back up ready to fight.
At one point, the player is given an option to open the door. A display opens, and you get to choose how you’re going to open the locked door – in this case, he had his buddy shoot the lock. A little while later, you control an RC tank that goes into a burning building and takes out some enemies, and then fights outside on the field with your allies. Everything looks very intense and beautifully and seamlessly integrated.
EA also discussed “Global Warfighters,” Medal of Honor’s multiplayer, which will be playable on the show floor, and it looks badass. Maybe this really will be the year a shooter usurps Call of Duty – but when don’t I say that? Medal of Honor: Warfighter will let you join the battle on October 23.