CoD Black Ops II getting two special editions: Hardened and Care Package

Posted on August 28, 2012 by John Scalzo

The special edition packages that Activision has created for the Call of Duty series over the last few years have managed to raise the bar for all special editions. This year appears to be no different.

The Hardened Edition will come packed with the following goodies:

  • Bonus In-Game Content: Nuketown Zombies & Nuketown 2025
  • Xbox 360 CLAW Avatar Prop & Zombies Avatar Costume
    OR PS3 Multiplayer Theme & Zombie Theme
  • Limited Edition Challenge Coins
  • Official Soundtrack by Jack Wall With Theme by Trent Reznor
  • Collectible Steelbook
  • Exclusive Weapon Camo
  • Exclusive Player Card Backgrounds

Pretty nifty, but this year’s big bundle is the even more impressive Care Package Edition. It’ll include all of the Hardened Edition content, as well as an MD-27 Dragonfire Drone with Remote Control, all packaged in a massive foot locker. Flight enthusiasts, you have been put on notice!

Pricing details have yet to be announced, but you can get a closer look at the Hardened and Care Package Editions after the break.

[Source: MP1st]

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Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Home is where the Hearthfire is in Skyrim this September

Posted on August 28, 2012 by John Scalzo

Bethesda will be bringing elements of domestic bliss to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with “Hearthfire,” a newly announced add-on for the already massive RPG. The DLC will be available to download first on Xbox Live on September 4 for 400 Microsoft Points ($5). PC and PS3 versions will presumably come later.

Rather than a full-fledged expansion, “Hearthfire” adds a little bit of Minecraft and The Sims to the world of Skyrim. Players will be able to purchase a plot of land and build the house of their dreams (or the shack of their dreams, if that’s what they prefer). Fans of Curb Appeal and Trading Spaces can further decorate their new abode with furniture and knick-knacks built using the new crafting table feature.

And once they have a threshold to walk over, players can even move in their spouse and adopt (and raise) children. Let’s just hope they don’t get eaten by a giant…

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

Nintendo Power Memories

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Mike Ryan

Last week we heard some disheartening news: Nintendo Power will close its doors after a whopping twenty-five years on newsstands. Many gamers grew up reading the monthly publication, and have fond memories of the days they would open up their mailbox and find the latest issue of Nintendo Power just waiting to be read. As a child of the 80s, I am among those who were fortunate enough to be part of this era, and, like many of you, am saddened to hear that it is coming to an end. So, as a tribute – or eulogy of sorts – to Nintendo’s long-running publication, I would like to share some memories of my life as a Nintendo Power reader.

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Posted in Etcetera, Features, Top Story |

Daily Scoop: August 27, 2012 – Vacation GO!

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Woohoo! My vacation is in full swing. What have I done so far? Well, I finished up Sleeping Dogs, worked on some Rainbow Moon, and got my hands on New Super Mario Bros. 2. I may never resurface. Oh, and I went to a dinner party, played some Dungeons and Dragons, and got to play the awesome new card game Smash Up, which is amazing! It’s been a busy couple of days. It’s going to be one of those vacations, I can tell already…

Let’s see, deals! Well, there’s a huge range of games in the Toys R Us clearance, everything from Skyward Sword with music CD to… well… a whole bunch of random stuff. Go check it out!

Amazon’s got some new weekly deals up as well. Here are the featured deals:

Whew. That’s a lot to look at. And there’s also a t-shirt, too!

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Lollipop Chainsaw becomes bestselling Grasshopper Manufacture game

Posted on August 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

Suda 51’s Lollipop Chainsaw has been unable to crack the NPD’s list of bestselling games since it was released in June. However, that hasn’t stopped it from becoming the most popular Grasshopper Manufacture-developed game ever.

The developer revealed the news this weekend during a “Summer Appreciation Event” in celebration of the game. All told, Grasshopper Manufacture, and publisher Kadokawa Games, have shipped over 700,000 copies of the title worldwide. I guess a lot of people love the idea of a teenage cheerleader cutting down zombies with a chainsaw.

For comparison’s sake, Grasshopper’s previous game, last year’s Shadows of the Damned, sold less than 25,000 copies in its first month of availability in the US.

[Source: Andriasang]

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Uncharted movie director out, National Treasure writers in

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Andrew Rainnie

Sony Pictures has made two announcements regarding their long-gestating adaptation of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, both of which seem to indicate it will be in development for a bit longer.

The first is that Neil Burger, who had replaced David O’Russell as the film’s director last summer, has now exited the project. No explanation was given for this, but seeing that two new writers have been brought in, one imagines that those involved were not happy with the current direction.

Those two new writers are the husband and wife duo Cormac and Marianne Wibberly, best known for penning the Nicolas Cage-led National Treasure franchise. Given the similar subject matter, one can almost see the complex inner workings of the producer’s thought processes.

Losing Burger is unfortunate, as his most recent film, Limitless, showed a creative visual flair that has been developing during his career. Sony Pictures, along with Atlas Entertainment and Arad Productions, are now going to wait to until the Wibberlys deliver a new draft before shopping it around to potential new directors.

[Source: Variety]

Posted in Etcetera, News | Tagged

Sony closes Wipeout developer Studio Liverpool

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Andrew Rainnie

In what was a gloomy and depressing day for British game development as Sony Computer Entertainment announced the closure of its Liverpool studio last week. The studio was originally known as Psygnosis, a developer who crafted some of the best known games of the 1980s including Lemmings and Shadow of the Beast. They were taken over by Sony Computer Entertainment in 1993, making it one of the oldest teams in the SCE family.

The Liverpool studio is best known for its work on Sony’s Wipeout franchise, creating the latest title, Wipeout 2048, exclusively for the PS Vita. While Sony issued a bittersweet statement revealing that other teams will now make use of the Liverpool facilities, members of the Wipeout 2048 development team took to the game’s Facebook page to have a final word with their fans.

“As some of you may have heard Sony have chosen to close Studio Liverpool as of today. This page will no longer be maintained by theWipEout Team. We have loved making every game, every minute and every one of you. Keep the faith, keep loving WipEout. Thank you for everything, Pilots. It’s been an amazing journey and we’ll miss you. x”

Sadly, the news came just two days after the studio lost one of their veteran developers, Colin Fawcett, to cancer.

[Source: The Independent]

Posted in News, PS3, Vita |

Weekly Warp-Up: GTA5 Edition

Posted on August 26, 2012 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…

We still don’t know when Rockstar Games plans to release Grand Theft Auto V. And we still don’t even know which platforms it’ll appear on (but ten bucks says a Wii U release is in the works). However, we did get some idea of what the game will look like this week as Rockstar released ten new GTA5 screenshots.

Pick your poison: “Business,” “Leisure,” or “Transport.” Better yet, check out all three.

Are you ready for more of this week’s biggest news stories? You can find them after the break.

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Posted in News |