Kickstart This! The Sweet September Edition

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Andrew Rainnie

In the space of two short days, Keiji Inafune, co-creator of video game character Mega Man, managed to reach 100% funding for his new project, Mighty No. 9. The new game, whose lead character Beck bears an uncanny resemblance to Mega Man, has managed to rekindle something in the hearts of all those fans let down by Capcom with his Kickstarter campaign. It is the clearest sign yet that big-named developers are turning to the crowd funding site to raise capital for their dream projects. While the game is definitely coming to PC, if it manages to raise $2.2 million, it will be developed for current gen consoles and the Wii U to boot.

What it also does, and does very well, is walk the tightrope between creativity and plagiarism. Kickstarter developers take note. When the Mighty No. 9 video was shown at PAX, with the Kickstarter campaign simultaneously going live (and what a lovely piece of marketing that was), many began to wonder if Capcom was aware of the project, given its uncanny resemblance to Inafune’s other character for which Capcom holds the rights. Time will tell if the goliath game company decide to take legal action against indie outfit Comcept, but given the careful steps taken to distance Beck’s initial outing from Mega Man, while playing on fan’s prior knowledge of and desire for a sequel to that series, they may not have any legal recourse. Of course, this does not always guarantee immediate success; just look at Precursor Games Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual sequel to the GameCube’s excellent Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

So what other titles are currently vying for your money? There is Death Road to Canada, which is The Last of Us meets Dead Rising for mobiles, Mac and PC. Continuing the horror theme, there is psychological horror Neverending Nightmares, which looks like a hand drawn Silent Hill. Also drawing comparisons to that series, as well as Eternal Darkness, is Shades of Sanity.

Changing tack away from horror (kind of), RedNeck Assassin draws on House of the Dead: Overkill and Splinter Cell. Meanwhile, Super Mario Galaxy meets Portal in the gravity-bending FPS platformer Aterra. Last but by no means least, sci-fi ARTS .Decimal which looks like the futurist offspring of Mechwarrior and Command & Conquer.

In three, two, one…

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Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, Top Story |

D3 Publisher is working on a new Earth Defense Force game for PS4

Posted on September 9, 2013 by John Scalzo

earthdefenseforce-logoThe upcoming Earth Defense Force 2025 will invade America in February 2014, so there will be plenty of giant insects to smash in your future. But you better stock up on bug spray as D3 Publisher plans to release an entirely new Earth Defense Force game exclusively for the PS4. When D3 says “entirely new,” they mean it… Earth Defense Force PS4 is not based on Earth Defense Force 2025.

But everything else about it (including a release date or if EDF 2025 developer Sandlot is working on it) is still a complete mystery.

[Source: Kotaku]

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

WHAT? Capcom’s “medieval” RPG Deep Down takes place in 2094

Posted on September 9, 2013 by John Scalzo

Up until now, Capcom’s action RPG for the PS4, Deep Down, has given off a strong “medieval” vibe with its combination of armored knights battling dragons and other assorted beasties in the dank catacombs typically associated with the European Middle Ages. But if you pay close attention to the game’s most recent trailer, you’ll notice that it actually takes place in the year 2094. Oh, and the game’s dank passageways aren’t located underneath Europe. The “Deep Down” of the title actually refers to the tunnels beneath New York City.

Has your mind been blown? Good, because the trailer ends with a tease that the game may also have something to do with memory manipulation. Say it with me… “Whoa!”

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

Microsoft’s main marketer says Xbox 360 will receive 100 games over the next three years

Posted on September 9, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Microsoft is putting most of their Fall 2013 eggs in the Xbox One’s basket. Currently, the software giant plans to publish only two retail games for the Xbox 360 (Fable Anniversary and Zoo Tycoon) by the end of the year. Three Xbox Live Arcade games (LocoCycle, Ascend: Hand of Kul, and Super Time Force) will also be released in late 2013 under the Microsoft Studios banner. But, according to Yusuf Mehdi, the Xbox Division’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing, Strategy and Business, the seventh generation system is far from dead.

Speaking at last week’s Citi Global Technology Conference, Mehdi said: “If you look at Xbox 360, that platform [has] lasted for seven to eight years and it’s going to go for another three years. It’s incredibly profitable now in the tail.”

Mehdi also reassured his audience that the Xbox 360 wouldn’t limp along with three years of increasingly dwindling support from EA Sports. He said that Microsoft is going to “invest heavily” in the Xbox 360 and that the company wants the two consoles to live side-by-side. This includes plans for 100 new Xbox 360 games (from Microsoft and third-party partners) between now and December 2016.

It seems likely that most of these games will be ports of Xbox One titles, but it’s nice to hear that the Xbox 360 is still on Microsoft’s radar.

[Source: CVG]

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Stan Lee is the ultimate power in the universe in this Lego Marvel Super Heroes trailer

Posted on September 8, 2013 by John Scalzo

Who is the most powerful character in the Marvel universe? Is it Wolverine and his nigh invulnerability? Is it The Hulk and his limitless smashing ability? Or is it the big brain on Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards? The answer is actually none of the above. The answer is Stan Lee. Exclesior!

The famed comic book creator will be included in Lego Marvel Super Heroes and, instead of the super cameo powers he displays in the Marvel movieverse, he’s packing a boatload of superpowers of his own. Stan Lee is Wolverine and The Hulk and Reed Richards and many others, all rolled into one. Check out the trailer above and watch as he drops the hammer (sometime quite literally) on the supervillain community in the game.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be available for the 3DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on October 18. A PS4 version will be released on November 15 and an Xbox One edition will follow on November 22.

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

Weekly Warp-Up: Post-PAX Prime 2013 Post

Posted on September 8, 2013 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…

With this year’s PAX Prime expo going an extra day, we learned a ton of new information on many upcoming game releases. But first, check out our picks for The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX Prime 2013, especially if you’re a purveyor of indie games.

Now then, here’s what we learned at the 2013 edition of PAX Prime… Gearbox has teamed with Blackbird Interactive on a third Homeworld game… Microsoft is bringing a “Mass Effect Edition” expansion to Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition… Capybara will release Super Time Force in 2013 and Below in 2014… Gearbox is working on two original franchises for next-generation consoles… Gearbox wants to do more Borderlands 2 DLC in 2014 if Headhunter Packs are successful… Microsoft plans to allow trading of downloadable games on Xbox One…

Oh, that reminds me… It didn’t happen at PAX Prime, but Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox One will be released on November 22, 2013. That’s kind of a big deal.

More news from this week can be found after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix, NHL 14, Killzone: Mercenary, More

Posted on September 8, 2013 by John Scalzo

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For everyone that missed Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories the first time around, Square Enix has combined them both into a new high definition re-release known as Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix. As you may have guessed, it’s in stores this week. Also available this week is NHL 14. The only remaining official hockey game will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Other new releases this week include Killzone: Mercenary, the first game in the series for the Vita; and Puppeteer, a game about puppets for the PS3.

Finally this week, The Elder Scrolls Anthology brings Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim together in massive multi-disc PC collection. And EA will release The Sims 3: Movie Stuff, probably the last Sims 3 “Stuff” expansion before next year’s release of The Sims 4.

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

Gearbox wants to do more Borderlands 2 DLC in 2014 if Headhunter Packs are successful

Posted on September 7, 2013 by John Scalzo

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During last weekend’s PAX Prime expo, we had a chance to talk with Josh Jeffcoat, a Game Designer on Borderlands 2 at Gearbox Software. In the course of the interview, Jeffcoat had a lot to say about the game’s upcoming trio of mini-DLCs and revealed that the company’s current plan is to release all three Headhunter Packs by the end of the year. Though pricing details for the three packs have yet to be announced, Jeffcoat confirmed they’ll be cheaper than previous expansions like “Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep” (which was priced at $9.99). The first pack, “T.K. Baha’s Bloody Harvest,” will be available in October.

Jeffcoat also told us that the developers at Gearbox would love to create more Headhunter Packs in 2014, if the first three sell well:

Basically, we’re just going to see how people like it. If they like these new smaller-scale campaigns, then we might try and keep doing more of them, because they’re much, much faster for us to make than the full-scale Tiny Tina DLC was.

Obviously, this isn’t confirmation of anything. But the complete range of downloadable content for Borderlands 2 has been so successful that I’m certain fans will flock to the first three Headhunter Packs as well. Oh, and we’ll have a hands-on preview of “T.K. Baha’s Bloody Harvest” for you next week.

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