Sega and Game Freak team up to bring Tembo the Badass Elephant to PC, PS4, Xbox One

Posted on March 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

Game Freak, the development team behind the Pokemon franchise, has teamed up with Sega to release Tembo the Badass Elephant on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The star of the downloadable title, Tembo, definitely lives up to his billing. He’s a massive “commando elephant” that is aided by his small bird friend Piccolo. The two have joined forces to combat PHANTOM, an organization bent on destroying Shell City.

I swear, not one word of that was a joke. Here it is straight from Sega:

Shell City is plunged into a state of emergency after coming under attack from the devastating forces of PHANTOM, led by a mysterious masked commander. Terrifying war machines, emblazoned with skulls, tear through the city leaving a trail of destruction in their wake! As the National Army struggle to contain PHANTOM, General Krenman sees the mammoth task at hand and calls upon the only thing that stands between Shell City’s obliteration and its salvation; the peanut chompin’, villain stompin’, PHANTOM romping Badass Elephantidae… Tembo the Badass Elephant!

Tembo will include 17 side-scrolling levels and a butt stompin’ elephant when it launches this Summer.

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Here’s the PAX East 2015 teaser for Boss Key’s Project BlueStreak

Posted on March 11, 2015 by John Scalzo

As promised, Cliff Bleszinski brought an early look at his next game, Project BlueStreak, to PAX East 2015 this past weekend. The former Gears of War helmer showed about a minute’s worth of footage of a work-in-progress multipayer map that includes a futuristic space station and a tranquil Japanese garden. Bleszinski, and the rest of the development team at Boss Key Productions, also confirmed that Project BlueStreak will be created using Unreal Engine 4, marking something of a homecoming for the developer.

“We considered several options regarding what technology we’d use to build Project BlueStreak. Ultimately, we found ourselves coming full circle to my friends at Epic Games and the elegant solution for rapid and quality game development that is Unreal Engine 4,” Bleszinski said. “We look forward to making a top-tier product through this partnership.”

While it’s a bit hard to tell from the teaser trailer above, Project BlueStreak will be a free-to-play arena shooter for the PC that takes place in a “recovered apocalyptic sci-fi setting.” Hopefully, Bleszinski will explain what that means soon.

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Daily Scoop: March 11, 2015 – What are you playing today?

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Nicole Kline

There are so many great games coming out, and two of them have been in the last two days. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number came out yesterday, and I couldn’t be more excited to play it. Today it’s Oni and the Blind Forest, which is absolutely beautiful. The game releases are starting to pick up!

There are a few games on sale over at Humble. You can pick up Deadfall Adventures Digital Deluxe for $12.49, Red Faction: Armageddon for $4.99, and The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief for $6.24. Today, the Steam Daily Deal is early access to Distance. Scoop ’em up!

Of course, I know you’re really here for the shirts…

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Launch flag for Project CARS won’t wave until mid-May 2015

Posted on March 11, 2015 by John Scalzo

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A caution flag has been raised on Slighty Mad’s Project CARS once again as the racing sim has suffered another delay. Instead of the previously announced April 7, 2015 release date, Project CARS will now be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in mid-May. The Wii U and SteamOS versions of the game are still on track for a “TBA 2015” launch.

Ian Bell, Slighty Mad’s Studio Head, penned an explanation for the delay on the developer’s official website. According to Bell, a few nagging issues and bugs still need to be squashed:

Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all. Despite therefore the game being 99.9% complete, the remaining 0.1% attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive.

To make amends for this delay, Bell also revealed that Slightly Mad will produce special bonus content that will be available to download at launch:

Since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly.

This is the fourth confirmed release date for Project CARS. The game was originally scheduled to launch in November 2014 before being pushed back to March and then April.

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Xbox Store Today: Ori and the Blind Forest, DMC Definitive Edition, RE Revelations 2 Ep3

Posted on March 11, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Three new games have been added to the Xbox Games Store today including a hand-painted new “Metroidvania,” an enhanced re-release of a decisive Xbox 360 favorite, and the third episode of Capcom’s first episodic project (I think it’s their first, please correct me if I’m wrong).

Ori and the Blind Forest, “a visually stunning action-platformer,” is the debut title from Moon Studios. The game tells the story of a creature that has been tasked with saving the very forest itself by the missing Spirit Tree. The game is completely hand-painted and is now available on the Xbox One.

Less serene are this week’s offerings from Capcom. The publisher has added two new games to the Xbox Games Store including DMC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, an Xbox One remake of the Ninja Theory-developed reimagining of the franchise; and Resident Evil Revelations 2: Judgment (Xbox 360, Xbox One), the third episode of the second entry in the Resident Evil Revelations sub-series.

More details about all three games can be found after the break.

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Sony discovers a Spring 2016 release date for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Posted on March 11, 2015 by John Scalzo

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It looks like there are some places that even Nathan Drake himself can’t explore. Today, Sony Computer Entertainment announced a Fall 2015 release date will be off limits to the famed adventurer as the publisher announced that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will now be released in Spring 2016.

Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley said that the delay is due to the fact the game has become “much more ambitious than [they] originally envisioned.” They also said:

After spending so many years with Nathan Drake, he means a lot to the team, and telling the climactic chapter of his adventures is a task we don’t take lightly — this game deserves every bit of the attention to detail, precise pacing, and nuanced storytelling Naughty Dog is known for. So we’ve made the difficult choice of pushing the game’s release date. Giving us a few extra months will make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End not only meets the team’s high standards, but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title.

The pair closed by saying that while Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End won’t be released this year, we will learn a lot more about it in the coming months.

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Hotline Miami 2, DMC: Definitive Edition, RE Revelations 2 Ep3, more added to PS Store

Posted on March 11, 2015 by John Scalzo

dmcdevilmaycry-boxThe devil is in the details in this week’s PlayStation Store update. First up, the devil you know is DMC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, which has been prettied up and remade for the PS4 by Capcom and Ninja Theory. Capcom got a lot of flak for giving DMC to an outside development team, but this re-release shows the publisher thinks the gaming community might have turned around on it in the last few years.

This week’s devil you don’t know is Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Dennaton’s sequel to their 2012 top-down shooter. Everything in Hotline Miami 2 is bigger than its predecessor and it will mark the end of the Hotline Miami “Saga.” Hotline Miami 2 is part of Song’s Spring Fever promotion and it’s a Cross-Buy game on the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. A slightly less distressing top-down game, the cute and cuddly Scram Kitty DX, is also available as a Cross-Buy game on the PS4 and PS Vita.

Finally this week, the third episode of Capcom’s Resident Evil Revelations 2 project, Judgment, is available to download on the PS3 and PS4. This time, “Claire and Moira search for a way into the Overseer’s tower.”

More details about these games (and a few more new releases) can be found after the break. A full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog.

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Video Game Release Calendar Changelog #2: Post GDC/PAX East Edition

Posted on March 10, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Don’t Forget! This is just a changelog of recently announced release dates. Warp Zoned’s complete Video Game Release Calendar includes every title we could find with a 2015, 2016, or unannounced release date.

Even though there’s still a lot of snow on the ground in most places, both of video gaming’s Spring showcases came and went last week. New release dates aplenty were announced at the Game Developers Conference and PAX East, along with a few dozen more since our last Video Game Release Calendar Changelog. Players with a love for AAA blockbuster will want to pay close attention to September 1, as WB Games staked out that spot on the calendar for Mad Max on the same day that Konami attempted to reserve it for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

If you’re looking for games about to be released in the more immediate timeframe, Sony’s Spring Fever promotion has locked in eight of indie gaming’s most interesting titles over the next two months culminating with Shovel Knight‘s April 21 launch on the PS3, PS4, and Vita (it’ll also be available for the Xbox One). Working backwards, April 14’s Titan Souls, April 7’s Bastion, and March 31’s Axiom Verge should also be on your radar if you enjoy retro-styled games.

Moving forward, other big games with confirmed release dates include the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V (now scheduled to launch on April 14), Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (May 5), and the PS4 version of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (May 12). Microsoft and Square Enix also confirmed that, respectively, Forza Motorsport 6 and Just Cause 3 will be out by the end of the year.

Finally, a few games slid into “TBA” slots after not being announced at all. Harmonix announced that Rock Band 4 will be released sometime this year while Square Enix did the same for the North American launch of Dragon Quest Heroes. Capcom strongly hinted that Street Fighter V will be in Spring 2016, but wouldn’t officially commit to any specific date. It’ll be joined in 2016 by Level-5’s Yo-Kai Watch, which will definitely cross the Pacific next year.

The full list of games from the Video Game Release Calendar Changelog Update #2 can be found after the break.

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