Rumor: This might be a screenshot from a new Prince of Persia game

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Nicole Kline

The word on the street is that this is a screenshot from an early build of the rumored Prince of Persia Zero, a brand new game in the franchise that would take place in present day. At the bottom of the photo, the text includes “POP_ZERO_2,” though of course this could just be someone’s elaborate Photoshop job. The photo was posted by a user in Ubisoft’s official forums, according to Kotaku.

Could this mean a fresh new start for the series? Based on this screenshot, the game will take place in Egypt, and the protagonist would be a black Prince, deviating from the traditional Persian theme of the games. Maybe Ubisoft is planting the image to see what kind of interest people still have in the series. That may seem laughable, but I put that right up there with people using Photoshop to troll the Internet.

Posted in News |

Weekly Warp-Up: Look to the Future Edition

Posted on August 5, 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…

It’s our monthly calendar turn here at Warp Zoned as we push out the latest edition of Warpback, or What We Played in July 2012, and our look at next month’s biggest games in The Games of August 2012.

Looking out even further into the future, we got a peek at four games that’ll be part of this Fall’s Wii U launch lineup. I don’t know why most of these games skipped E3, but you’ll be able to play them on your brand new Wii U this November (or whenever the sytem launches): Family Party 30 Great Games: Obstacle Arcade, FIFA Soccer 13, Madden NFL 13, and Mass Effect 3

Finally, we went really far into the future and came back with the Premiere Edition of Kickstart This!, our semi-regular look at the best the crowdfunding platform has to offer.

Want more news from the future… buy a crystal ball! Or you could just hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News |

John Carmack: “Doom 4 will be done when it’s done”

Posted on August 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

John Carmack, id Software’s founder and chief Technical Director, told the assembled masses at this weekend’s QuakeCon that Doom 4 “will be done when it’s done.”

The existence of Doom 4 was confirmed back in 2008 and this vague progress report is nothing new. At one point, parent company Bethesda Softworks even denied the game was ever officially announced.

Work on the title appears to be well underway now though, with Carmack stating that id’s entire mobile team has been tasked with completing Doom 3: BFG Edition. After that game’s October launch, the entire company’s resources will be devoted to the development of Doom 4. Unfortunately, a side effect of these redoubled efforts towards Doom 4’s development will result in the end of mobile game development at id.

However, Carmack also reassured fans that the company will move back into mobile development “at the appropriate time.”

[Source: Game Informer, Polygon]

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

New Releases: Persona 4 Arena

Posted on August 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

After a veritable bounty last week, this week the new release calendar is limited to a single new game.

That game is Atlus’ Persona 4: Arena, a 2D fighter based on the popular PS2 RPG. It was developed by Arc System Works and it’s available on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

If a Persona 4 fighter doesn’t thrill you, there’s always this week’s downloadable content (including Sony’s Sound Shapes and Microsoft’s Hybrid) to look forward to.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Army of Two 3 announced; EA gives development duties to Visceral

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Game Informer has revealed the cover of their September issue, and it’s EA’s Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. They’ve handed the reins over to Visceral Montreal, who have proven their mettle with the much-loved Dead Space franchise. There are a lot of changes being made – there will be two new characters, Alpha and Bravo, as well as a more mature storyline and feel to the game. The game will also be developed using the Frostbite 2 engine, which is great news for… well… everyone.

Producer Zach Mumbach said, “I felt like the first two Army games were good games, but they weren’t great games. They were memorable and they were fun to play, but they weren’t on that level where you’re going to tell all your friends, ‘Man, you have to play this game.” I think that Visceral being involved, especially on Frostbite 2, is just a huge opportunity.”

Game Informer has their hands-on impression in the issue, as well as some video coverage on their site. All I have to say is that this better not interfere with the development of Dead Space 3, or limbs are going to roll. (I’ll have to cut off the rolly ones.)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: August 3, 2012 – Friday!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Nicole Kline

There’s nothing going on today at all – no deals, no t-shirts, no nothing. All that is happening today is that it is Friday, it is beautiful, and I am happy. Of course, I still really want to buy this shirt, and I wish I had Gravity Rush so I could chain myself to my Vita and play it to death, and I want to kidnap a kitten, but other than that, life is good. Oh, and homework still sucks. The end.

Well hey, at least I’ll be playing D&D all weekend! Starting tomorrow morning at 11 and finishing sometime Sunday night, we are going to rock out with our upper-level characters out. Epic level, here we come! I hope everyone has a happy weekend, and if you’re at the beach, ride some waves for me, will you?

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

The Force is with the Dishonored voice cast

Posted on August 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

When it comes to compiling top flight vocal talent to portray the characters in their games, Bethesda is second-to-none. The publisher has previously tapped Oscar nominees (Christopher Plummer, Max Von Sydow, Joan Allen), nerd favorites (Patrick Stewart, Lynda Carter, Ron Perlman), and a Jedi Knight (Liam Neeson) to bring their past games to life.

With Dishonored, they may have outdone themselves. Look at the cast they’ve assembled for their supernatural first person shooter:

  • Carrie Fisher as an unnamed voice broadcasting government propaganda over loudspeakers throughout the city of Dunwall.
  • Susan Sarandon as Granny Rags, an intriguing old blind woman now deranged after years of street life.
  • Brad Dourif as Piero, creator of the iconic mask worn by Corvo as well as a wealth of gadgets Corvo can use.
  • John Slattery as Admiral Havelock, a Loyalist who helps Corvo on his quest.
  • Michael Madsen as Daud, a mysterious assassin.
  • Chloe Grace Moretz as Young Lady Emily, the Empress’ daughter who is kidnapped after her mother’s death.
  • Lena Headey as Calista, Emily’s caretaker.

So let’s recap. Dishonored’s voice cast includes Princess Leia, Annie from Bull Durham, Chucky from the Child’s Play series, the guy from Mad Men, Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, Hit Girl from Kick-Ass, and one of the stars of Game of Thrones. Wow.

Dishonored will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 9.

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

Mass Effect 3 confirmed as a Wii U launch title

Posted on August 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

It’s starting to look like Electronic Arts has decided to fill out the Wii U launch lineup by themselves as the company confirmed yesterday that Mass Effect 3 will also be available on day one. It joins FIFA Soccer 13 and Madden NFL 13 as confirmed launch titles from EA.

The Wii U version of the game will include at least some of the downloadable content already released for the PC/PS3/Xbox 360 version of the game including the new Extended Cut ending. Players will also be able to give the multiplayer mode a spin and import plot decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 thanks to the (now expanded) “Mass Effect: Genesis” interactive comic.

[Source: Game Informer]

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged