Check out this 60-minute video from Nintendo’s Splatoon Global Testfire

In case you missed it, Nintendo held the Splatoon Global Testfire, their first-ever beta test, this weekend. By all accounts, the test was a huge success with Wii U owners getting three chances to jump into an hour-long test session with the and other players from around the world.

The Nintendo Treehouse crew also took control of a team of Inklings during the test and gave players a guided tour of the game’s Turf War mode. So get your Splattershot, Splattershot Jr., Paint Roller, and Charge Shot ready for over 60 minutes of colorful chaos.

Splatoon will be available exclusively for the Wii U on May 29.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

Lego Dimensions will get Portal, Simpsons, Doctor Who expansions

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Your wallet probably winced at the Lego Dimensions Starter Pack’s $99.99 price tag. But WB Games and The Lego Group are also planning to release dozens of Level Packs, Team Packs, and Fun Packs featuring some truly unexpected characters. Even though it’ll put a pain in your pocketbook, prepare those “Shut Up and Take My Money” images now…

Kotaku discovered a catalog on Lego’s official website detailing some of the upcoming expansions to Lego Dimensions including a Portal 2 set, a Simpsons set, and a Doctor Who set. Those three properties, along with a Back to the Future set, will be turned into Level Packs, in-game expansions that also include a variety of mini-figures and vehicles. And yes, players who buy the Portal set will get Lego Chell and a Lego Companion Cube figures.

Other packs featured in the catalog were a Scooby-Doo Team Pack (Shaggy, Scooby, a tower of food, and the Mystery Machine), a Juassic World Team Pack (which includes a Lego Tyrannosaurus Rex), three Lord of the Rings Fun Packs, three Lego Ninjago Fun Packs, three Lego Chima Fun Packs, a Simpsons Fun Pack (featuring Krusty the Clown), a Wicked Witch/Flying Monkey Fun Pack, and a Lego Movie Fun Pack (with Unikitty).

The inclusion of Portal, Simpsons, and Doctor Who sets says to me that WB Games is definitely going all in with the crossover craziness of the Lego Dimensions concept. Seriously now, who expected Portal? But this catalog barely scratches the surface on the insane number of add-on sets that’ll be available this Fall when the game launches for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 27. So who knows what other Lego universes we’ll get to visit?

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Is Visceral working on a Star Wars: Han Solo game? Probably…

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In the past few weeks, Electronic Arts and DICE have been very forthcoming about their plans for Star Wars: Battlefront, which will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 17. The same can’t be said for the Star Wars game in development at Visceral Games… it’s been shrouded in mystery ever since the agreement between EA and Lucasfilm was announced. Or has it?

Game Informer has collected a number of cryptic social media posts from Visceral’s staff that all have a common theme… Han Solo. Pictures of the pilot frozen in carbonite, a Star Wars-themed pirate flag, and more than a few references to the Millennium Falcon are pretty suspicious, to say the least.

Even though Han is one of the trilogy’s most important characters, he is rarely a playable character in any of the dozens of Star Wars games that have been released over the years. OK, there was that one Xbox 360 game from a few years ago, but it is not the game you’re looking for.

So, are these teasers proof that Visceral is working on a Han Solo game? Maybe… or maybe not. I would put my money on yes, but we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from EA to know for sure.

I’m solo, I’m Han Solo. I’m Han Solo, I’m Han Solo, Solo. Yeah, I’m feelin’ good tonight.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Gears of War, Dishonored remakes rated by Brazilian Advisory Rating Board

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You might not know it, but Brazilians love video games, and the country is fast becoming a major player in the video game industry. Like many countries, Brazil evaluates games released in the country for their content and age-appropriateness. But in their zeal to process submissions, the Classificação Indicativa (Advisory Rating) Board just inadvertently revealed two heavily-rumored remakes.

According to the Advisory Rating Board, Microsoft is working on a Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for a 2015 release. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a Gears of War remake. Just last month, a source close to development told Polygon that Splash Damage was developing the game for the Xbox One. Those rumors were preceded by comments from Microsoft’s Phil Spencer that further hinted at a Gears of War remake. If it’s not happening, then Microsoft fooled a lot of people.

The Advisory Board also blew the lid off of Dishonored: Definitive Edition from Bethesda. Bethesda’s Pete Hines referred to Dishonored as “[the start of] a new franchise” in 2012, so clearly Bethesda has plans in place for another game in the series. With their first-ever E3 Showcase right around the corner, if its too early to talk about a Dishonored sequel, a remake of the original game could still raise some eyebrows.

Obviously, this snafu by the Brazilian Advisory Rating Board should not be considered confirmation that either of these games are in development. However, I think this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition or Dishonored: Definitive Edition.

Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: Nintendo Steals the Week… Again

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…

The last seven days have been a very interesting time for Nintendo. First, the consolemaker posted their first yearly profit in four years. Then, they confirmed Project Giant Robot, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, and Yoshi’s Woolly World are a lot closer to release this week than they were last week. And to cap it all off, Nintendo and Universal Studios have said they will team up to create Nintendo-themed attractions for Universal’s amusement parks. And speaking of big Nintendo news, Andrew Rainnie reviewed the Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack. It’s amazing, but the free 200cc Class update might be even better.

One other review made its way to the Warp Zoend front page this week and it was Adult Swim’s Westerado: Double Barreled. It’s not the Red Dead sequel we’ve all been waiting for, but it is a rootin’ tootin’ good time all the same.

More news from the week that was can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue

Posted in News |

New Releases: Project CARS for PS4/Xbox One, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD for PS4, More

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We’re keeping it short and sweet, once again, with this week’s new release report.

Project CARS, Slightly Mad’s automotive simulation, skids onto the PS4 and Xbox One this week after its PC pitstop last week. The game will also be released for the Wii U later this year.

Also this week, a pair of Final Fantasy remakes have found new homes. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will make its way onto the PS4, while Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is now available to download on the PC.

Finally, a pair of simulators will launch for the PC this. Trainz: A New Era is a… wait for it… train simulator. And Airport Firefighters: The Simulation is a simulator about… wait just a bit longer for it… a simulator about airport firefighters.

That’s it for your retail release report. As always, the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam will pick up the slack with a variety of new downloadable titles throughout the week.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: May 8, 2015 – Wizard World Philly has arrived!

It’s that time again! Wizard World Philly has taken over downtown, and it’s been a delightful ride so far. I was on a panel yesterday about women in games, and it was amazing! If you’ve never been, I recommend going, at least for a day. You’ll have a blast!

Anyway, let’s talk deals, shall we? There’s a brand new Humble Weekly Bundle – Surprise Attack! Pay what you want for Oscura: Lost Light, Metrocide, and OTTTD. Beat the average to get A Druid’s Duel, Particulars, and early access to Robocraft Pack. Pay $12 or more to unlock Vertiginous Golf and two copies of Screencheat.

Over at Steam, the Free Weekend is Arma. There are lots of discounts – get Arma 3 for $29.99, DayZ for $29.74, and Take on Mars for $12.05, among others. The Daily Deal is Homefront, which is on sale for $4.99.

And now, the last t-shirts of the week!

Press Start to Continue

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Insert Quarter: Konami Tried To Kill PT and Silent Hills, But the Internet Fought Back

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Konami would prefer it if gamers everywhere just forgot about PT and the game it was promoting, Silent Hills. The publisher removed PT from the PlayStation Store in late April and then officially canceled Silent Hills a day later. Now, Konami has completely removed PT from Sony’s servers, preventing players from re-downloading the demo if they delete it from their PS4. Needless to say, fans are unhappy with Konami’s treatment of the franchise and the three men who were working to bring it back (Hideo Kojima, film director Guillermo Del Toro, and actor Norman Reedus).

Others, like Offworld’s Leigh Alexander, are lamenting the death of the Silent Hill franchise as we know it. Specifically the weird and off-kilter little town that was created by weird and off-kilter people. The Silent Hill series may continue, but it won’t be the same:

We just don’t have that anymore, now that video games make so much sense, so much business sense. They are so eloquently risk-averse, these days. For fear of needlessly glorifying a prior era, though, a couple of years ago I played through Silent Hill 2 again, to see how it ‘held up.’ I expected its quirks and flaws to loom large with time. I expected to be a little embarrassed at how much it had transported and impacted a younger me.

But somehow it was better and more beautiful.

And in a rare Insert Quarter two-fer, Polygon’s Nick Robinson looks into the efforts fans are going to to keep PT alive, including selling the game on eBay (actually, selling a PS4 console with the game installed on it). Robinson also muses on how Konami’s attempt to kill it has only made PT a bigger part of the conversation among gamers:

Of course, P.T. isn’t actually going anywhere; the game was downloaded over one million times, which means it’s backed up across over one million hard drives and SSDs in over one million PlayStation 4s all over the world. In reality, the game is not going to truly disappear — at least not until those hard drives start failing. But even then, Konami’s attempts to restrict access to P.T. are foolish, because copies will be made and encryption barriers will be broken. The coolest part, though, isn’t just that Konami failed — it’s how spectacularly the company’s plan has backfired.

Both articles are available for your perusal at Offworld and Polygon.

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