Activison announces Wipeout 3… no, not that one

With the new season underway this week, Activision has announced Wipeout 3, a third game in collaboration with ABC Entertainment, upon whose obstacle course game show it will once again be based. While most gamers will associate the title with high octane futuristic racing, Activision’s Wipeout 3 will instead allow those at home to tackle the many obstacles of the hit show, including those great big red balls.

The new game will make full use of Xbox 360 Kinect and the Wii Remote’s motion controls, as players imitate flailing their arms around to keep their balance. There will also be a 3DS version, but a PS3 version using Move wasn’t announced, marking a departure from Wipeout 2.

It seems Activision and the game show’s producers are targeting the show’s audience with the release, courting the casual gaming market, highlighted by Wipeout’s creator, Matt Kunitz:

“Much of Wipeout’s success has stemmed from the fact that people of all ages enjoy the show. We want to capture that essence with Wipeout 3 so that kids, parents, and even grandparents can plunge into this easy-to-learn, zany game.”

To capture the mood of the show, the game will feature split screen modes and team modes for four players. It will differ from its previous versions by including more characters (although not fully customisable ones), as well as a new storefront where players can purchase additional items to help them overcome an obstacle. You too can challenge the big balls when Wipeout 3 is released in the Fall.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

New Releases: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Test Drive Ferrari, Secret World, More

After a fairly packed May and a decent June, it looks like game publishers plan to turn the new release spigot way down in July.

There’s just a handful of new releases this week, with Square Enix’s Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for the 3DS leading the pack. If you ever thought a rhythm game and a dungeon crawling RPG couldn’t coexist, you’d be wrong.

Also available this week is the latest entry in the Test Drive franchise. Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will eschew the open world racing of the Unlimited series for a more self-contained collection of single tracks and fast cars. A downloadable PC version will also be available this week.

Funcom’s long-in-development MMO The Secret World (PC) will also make it into stores this week. If you need a little more modern day in your MMOs, it might be one to check out.

Finally, a trio of bargain-priced PC titles round out the week: Snark Busters 3 Pack, Natural Threat: Ominous Shores, and Vampire Saga: Break Out.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged , ,

Warpback: What We Played in June 2012

Whew! June flew by in a haze of heat waves and Internet memes, and somewhere in the middle, the happy gamers at Warp Zoned got a lot of gaming done. We spent a lot of time hitting up our backlogs and playing games we should have played and/or finished ages ago, but some of us dove into some new games as well. All in all, it was a pretty productive month… if you can call upping our gamer scores productive. (We do.) Hit the break for the full details on what we’ve been up to!

Press Start to Continue

Posted in Features, Top Story |

XBLA Today: Mini Ninjas Adventures

Mini Ninjas was developed by IO Interactive (yes, the same guys getting heat for Hitman: Absolution‘s “sexy assassin nuns” trailer) as a game to play with their kids. The little martial artists were a big hit with gamers and they make their return today in an extra-special Friday Xbox Live Arcade update.

Mini Ninjas Adventures is a Kinect-powered game that’s available to download for 800 Microsoft Points ($10):

Calling all ninjas! Get ready to swipe, kick and battle your way through 21 levels of intense ninja action as you help Hiro rescue his master and fellow ninjas from the clutches of the evil Samurai Warlord. Be prepared to face a multitude of enemies that will push your skills to the limit and test your ingenuity. So pack your ninja stars, sword and more and get ready for adventure…a Mini Ninjas Adventure.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Someone recreated the “Truck Ambush” trailer for The Last of Us in LittleBigPlanet 2

One of the big things that Naughty Dog has done with The Last of Us so far is emphasize the brutal nature of the world that Joel and Ellie live in. So what better way to find the humor in apocalyptic fungus than by recreating the especially violent “Truck Ambush” trailer in LittleBigPlanet 2?

There are some days when I just love the Internet.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged ,

007 Legends to include On Her Majesty’s Secret Service mission

Man, Activision is really stretching the definition of “classic” Bond movies, aren’t they?

Yesterday, the publisher announced the second movie-based mission for 007 Legends: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The film was George Lazenby’s only outing as Bond and the first not to star Sean Connery. It is also a huge point of contention among fans, as some consider it the best movie in the series while others think its the worst.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service joins the previously announced Moonraker as mission locations in 007 Legends. Three more films will eventually be added to the game. Activision also plans to add a sixth mission, based on the upcoming Skyfall, to the game as a free download. Originally, the Skyfall mission was going to be included on the disc, so I’m very curious as to the reason for this change.

007 Legends will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 16.

[Source: IGN]

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

Mercury Steam wants to reboot Contra series

Mercury Steam has done a pretty stellar job of jumpstarting the Castlevania franchise. Especially after the success of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the E3 2012 announcement of Lords of Shadow 2 and a 3DS spinoff. But the company has an even more ambitious plan for their future…

They want to reboot the Contra franchise.

That might prove difficult as Konami already announced a reboot of the series at E3 2011. And the franchise has received two reboots already: the grim and gritty Contra: Shattered Soldier in 2002 and the back-to-basics Contra 4 in 2007.

But Dave Cox, Head of Development at Konami Europe, thinks it can be done. He recently spoke to VG247 and said, “I know there’s going to be pressure on us to do another Castlevania game, but I don’t want to rise to that pressure. I want to do something else. I love Contra. I’d love to do Contra. At Mercury Steam we’ve got an original idea that I think is really awesome. We’d love to bring that idea to market and I’m hoping that the success of Lords of Shadow 2 will allow us to do that.”

Hopefully this means Konami will announce more about the next Contra game soon.

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Activision shuts down Prototype developer Radical Entertainment

Radical Entertainment, the developer behind the Prototype series, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, and other titles, has been shut down by Activision. Though a few employees will remain in Activision’s employ to support “existing projects.” The publisher cited poor sales of Prototype 2 and an inability to sell the Canadian developer as the reason for the closure:

“Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience. Radical is a very talented team of developers, however, we have explored various options for the studio, including a potential sale of the business, and have made a difficult conclusion through the consultation process that the only remaining option is a significant reduction in staff. As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward.”

The Vancouver game development scene is one of the most active in the world, so we at Warp Zoned wish all the former Radical devs luck in the future.

[Source: G4 TV]

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