Nintendo will publish Yo-Kai Watch 3DS game in North America and Europe

Posted on April 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

yo-kaiwatch-posterNintendo has announced they will publish Yo-Kai Watch in North America and Europe. Massively popular in Japan, Yo-Kai Watch is a 3DS game developed by Level-5 that centers on a young boy’s adventures with Yo-Kai, mischievous spirits that are unseen by most of humanity.

Yo-Kai Watch centers on a boy who gets a special watch that lets him befriend and help mischievous Yo-Kai and later summon them to fight other Yo-Kai. Players can overcome challenges and help various characters solve everyday problems with the help of Yo-kai friends. These eccentric Yo-Kai resemble anything from inanimate objects to mythical creatures.

Yo-Kai: They are not ghosts, monsters, or creatures. Yo-Kai are, quite simply, Yo-Kai. They cannot be seen by the human eye, but they are everywhere. Whether born from the soul of a deceased human, or an everyday object discovering its higher purpose, their personalities are distinctly humanlike.

“With sales of more than 7 million units in Japan, Yo-Kai Watch is coming to the US, where a new audience will be able to experience this irresistible franchise for the first time,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a kid, parent, fan, or fan-in-the-making: Everyone will be won over by this charming game.”

The 3DS launch of Yo-Kai Watch is currently without a release date, but it is expected to be released sometime in 2016. The anime adaptation will make its North American debut this Fall.

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Daily Scoop: April 6, 2015 – A beautiful day

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Nicole Kline

After what felt like the longest winter of all time, we’re finally having a gorgeous day! Sure, it’s supposed to rain the rest of the week, but it’s going to be warm when it’s raining, so I’m not even that upset. After all, April showers are supposed to do something, right?

Steam has 154 new Weeklong Deals. Pick up Titan Quest for $3.74, GRAV for $13.99, and one of my personal favorites, Mount Your Friends, for just $4.99. Speaking of my personal favorites, the Daily Deal is Dead Space 2, which is on sale for $4.99. This one was my game of the year of 2011 – that’s how much I loved it! So $4.99 is an absurd price to pay for it.

There are some new games on sale this week at the Humble Store. You can get Son of Nor for $16.99, Enforcer: Police Crime Action for $9.99, and Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey for $4.79, among others.

Just a few shirts for sale today…

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2013’s Tomb Raider becomes best-selling game in franchise after selling 8.5 million copies

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix has announced that 2013’s Tomb Raider has become the best-selling game in franchise history, shifting more than 8.5 million copies on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Some of those copies were also sold on the PS4 and Xbox One as an enhanced remake known as the Definitive Edition.

“Tomb Raider ignited and expanded the fan base, pushing the series to a new level. The game’s incredible sales success reflects the passionate response of players,” said Darrell Gallagher, the Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “Our studio is proud of what we accomplished with the game.”

A sequel to Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will be released this Fall exclusively for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

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Square Enix’s “Can’t Kill Progress” reveal stream is now live

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix is attempting to perfect the slow burn announcement with their three-day “interactive reveal” for “Can’t Kill Progress.” Though it’s unlikely that “Can’t Kill Progress” is the game’s final title. However, we can’t prove that it’s not, either.

As of right now, all we know for sure is that the game is in development at one of Square Enix’s western studios. All three of Square Enix’s western studios have previously-announced projects in the works that are still mostly shrouded in mystery, but I think it’s fair to discount Crystal Dynamics’ Rise of the Tomb Raider. The sci-fi theme of the teaser image doesn’t suit Lara Croft’s style. Besides, what we’re seeing at the Twitch livestream could easily be hinting at IO Interactive’s Hitman 6 or Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex Universe.

So far, the livestream has mostly featured a captive man trapped in some kind of prison. If you’ve been watching, you’ll see that he screams a lot about not knowing where he is. When he’s not doing that, he sleeps a lot. It’s definitely not much to go on, but Square Enix has promised an online vote to “decide what happens next” will occur at 6:00 PM (Eastern Time). More votes will take place tomorrow (1:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 8:00 PM) and Wednesday (11:30 AM). A Square-Enix-run Instagram account is also cataloging some of the stream’s “Archive Footage.” There’s scary doctors and grainy footage of something… it’s real 1984-type stuff.

If we all keep watching, we’ll eventually find out what “Can’t Kill Progress” is all about by Wednesday. But I’ll be very surprised if it’s not related to Deus Ex Universe in some way.

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Mortal Kombat X launch trailer is here… because it launches next week

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm Studios has absolutely bombarded the Internet with Mortal Kombat X announcements and trailers over the last few weeks, but that’s all about to end very soon. And that’s because Mortal Kombat X is only eight days away from its PC, PS4, and Xbox One release (PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until the Summer).

Of course, that’ll just lead into a neverending cycle of downloadable content announcements and trailers. But since those trailers will include Jason Voorhees and The Predator, I’m OK with that.

Anyway, now that Mortal Kombat X’s launch is imminent, NetherRealm Studios has released an official “Launch Trailer” that is absolutely packed with kameos from some of the franchise’s most-popular (and not-so-popular) kombatants. There’s Noob Saibot and Baraka and Rain and Zombie Nightwolf and many others. They may not be available as playable characters (karacters?), but it looks we’ll find out what happened to all our favorites in Mortal Kombat X.

In addition to all the chaotic (kaotic?) kombat, the Mortal Kombat X “Launch Trailer” is back by System of a Down’s “Chop Suey,” courtesy of bassit Shavo Odadjian. Odadjian, for some reason, also directed the trailer.

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H-Hour: World’s Elite will be available through Steam Early Access on April 21

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

The SOCOM: US Navy SEALs franchise built up a reasonably large fanbase thanks to the ten titles released across the PS2, PS3, and PSP between 2002 and 2011. But with the closure of Zipper Interactive in 2012, and Sony’s general disinterest in the series, fans have had to look elsewhere for a new tactical military shooter. Perhaps they should look to H-Hour: World’s Elite, which will be available through Steam’s Early Access program on April 21.

H-Hour: World’s Elite is a tactical military shooter that is in development at Special Operations Forces Studios. Also known as SOF Studios, the team counts several members of America’s retired warfighter community among their employees to help create the most realistic military shooter they can. A few former SOCOM developers are also employed at SOF Studios. With the Early Access version of the game less than three weeks away, the team has released a new trailer for H-Hour, showcasing the work they’ve done using Unreal Engine 4.

It’s unknown when the final version of H-Hour: World’s Elite will be released for the PC, but a PS4 release is also planned for the future.

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Rodea: The Sky Soldier will be released for 3DS, Wii U on September 22

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

NIS America has announced that Rodea: The Sky Soldier, the next game from Yuji Naka (the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights Into Dreams), will be released for the 3DS and Wii U on September 22. Naka teamed up with Zin Hasegawa (Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly) to develop the game and both collaborated with Kadokawa Games to realize their vision of an action platformer in the sky.

Players who purchase the Wii U version of Rodea: The Sky Soldier will also receive a copy of the unreleased Wii version as well. In the Wii version, players will be able to control Rodea with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, which won’t be possible in the Wii U edition. But if you also want to try out the Wii version, you better act fast, NIS America has said it’ll only be included with Rodea: The Sky Soldier’s first print run.

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Weekly Warp-Up: April No Fool’s 2015 Edition

Posted on April 5, 2015 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…

April Fool’s Day is usually a terrible time to be a video game fan because terrible people make terrible jokes about things that aren’t real. Thankfully, that didn’t really happen this year. Google initially threw down the gauntlet with a playable Pac-Man Map option added to Google Maps. Then Techland revealed a one-day-only superpower boost for Dying Light. Nicalis followed that up by announcing The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for the New 3DS, Wii U, and Xbox One in the most insane way possible. I even rather enjoyed Sony’s ridiculous (but obvious) PlayStation Flow prank.

The Nintendo blew it all up with a Nintendo Direct packed with new information about a ton Nintendo games. Who cares about April Fool’s jokes when there is real news to read? Nintendo killed April Fool’s Day and I hope it becomes an annual tradition. Especially because we got to find out about 200cc Class in Mario Kart 8, the American release of Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains, Mario Maker‘s release date, and Splatoon‘s release date. Even Fatal Frame 5 got an official US launch date.

And because it was the first of the month this week, the Warp Zoned staff got together to reveal our Games of April 2015 and What We Played in March 2015. One of those games was the excellent Axiom Verge, which was awarded a perfect score by Staff Writer Mike Ryan.

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

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