Call of Duty Online open beta now available in China

Posted on January 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

Call of Duty Online was first announced back in 2011, and after a series of alpha tests and closed betas, Activision, and Chinese publishing partner Tencent, are finally ready to launch an open beta for the PC game.

“Millions of gamers in the West have come to appreciate that white-knuckled, epic thrill-ride that only Call of Duty delivers. And now an entire new audience of gamers will experience this for the first time. We believe Call of Duty Online is going to be a game-changer for Chinese gamers,” said Eric Hirshberg, the CEO of Activision Publishing. “We’ve worked closely with our partner at Tencent, and we’ve challenged one of our most trusted and talented development teams of Raven Software to create a true Call of Duty experience tailored for the Chinese market. Throughout testing, the community feedback has been tremendous. We couldn’t be more excited and we look forward to winning the hearts and minds of a new community in China.”

Call of Duty Online was developed by Raven Software exclusively for the Chinese market, so it’s unlikely that the free-to-play game will ever be available for western gamers. But that didn’t stop Activision from going all out and creating a nifty live action trailer for the launch featuring Chris Evans (AKA Captain America).

If you live in China (or speak Chinese), more information on Call of Duty Online is available through the game’s official website.

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Rock Band 3 DLC returns with tracks from Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold

Posted on January 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Harmonix closed the curtain on updates to the Rock Band Music Store in 2013, fittingly, with Don Mclean’s “American Pie.” But today, the famed developer announced that they drove their Chevy to the levy and discovered that it wasn’t dry. These three songs will be added to the store on January 13 (hey, that’s tomorrow):

  • Arctic Monkeys – “R U Mine?”
  • Avenged Sevenfold – “Shepherd Of Fire”
  • Foo Fighters – “Something From Nothing”

All three songs will be available to download for $1.99 apiece through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store for Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz. Even though Harmonix stopped updating the Rock Band Music Store, it never really went away as more than 3,500 songs are currently available to expand your Rock Band experience.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the pack with 5 nominations at 2015 GDC Awards

Posted on January 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

gdcawardsThe nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced and, unsurprisingly, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way with five nominations, including “Game of the Year.”

Shadow of Mordor will compete for the top prize with other four multi-category nominees including Alien: Isolation, Bayonetta 2, Destiny, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Believe it or not, the next-most-nominated game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was actually shut out of the “Game of the Year” category. The Astronauts’ mystery title was nominated for “Best Narrative,” “Best Audio,” the “Innovation Award,” and “Best Debut.”

Alien: Isolation (“Best Visual Art” and “Best Audio”), Destiny (“Best Audio” and “Best Technology”), and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Best Design” and “Best Handheld/Mobile Game”) are each up for two additional awards while Bayonetta 2 is also up for “Best Visual Art.”

A complete list of the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break. And be sure to check back for a look at the winners, which will be announced on March 4 during the Game Developers Conference.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

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Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , ,

Iron Galaxy has released first video of Killer Instinct’s next character, Omen

Posted on January 12, 2015 by John Scalzo

Iron Galaxy, the developer behind the second season of Killer Instinct, has unveiled the first video footage of the game’s next playable character during their latest liverstream. Omen is known as “The Herald of Gargos” and is a henchman for Killer Instinct 2‘s end boss. He is also Season 2’s “bonus character” and will only be available to players who have purchased the Ultra Edition or Combo Breaker Pack. Like Season 1’s Shadow Jago, there are currently no plans to sell Omen as a separate download.

Iron Galaxy will release a trailer featuring Omen sometime this week and the character should be available to download through the Xbox Games Store a few days after that.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: One… Two… Three… Four… Edition

Posted on January 11, 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…

Welcome to another week of the Weekly Warp-Up and welcome to the beginning of Warp Zoned’s fifth year of operation. Running this site for the last four years has been pretty fun, so we’re definitely not stopping now.

Instead, we’re going to look forward. Forward at all the Games of January 2015 that we’re excited for. They’re aren’t many, as the entire release calendar is pretty bare, so maybe we’ll have to replay some of What We Played in December 2014.

One of the games we’re definitely looking forward to playing again is The Walking Dead Season 2: No Going Back, the thrilling conclusion to Telltale’s second Walking Dead adaptation. Warp Zoned Staff Writer Mike Ryan loved it quite a bit and you can read why in his review.

You can also read more of our ramblings from this past week after the break.

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Posted in News |

Daily Scoop: January 9, 2015 – The weekend is upon us

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Nicole Kline

Are you ready for the weekend? It’s the second weekend of 2015, and it’s sure to be a good one. What are your plans for it, reader?

if you’re looking for some games to play, you still have some time to nab the Humble Awesome Games Done Quick 2015 Bundle. Already picked it up? Don’t worry, there’s also a new Humble Weekly Bundle – all about Mastertronic. Pay what you want for Montague’s Mount, Blast Em! +Source Code, May’s Mysteries: The Secret of Dragonville, The Shopkeeper, Richard & Alice, Speedball 2 HD, and The Chaos Engine. Beat the average to unlock Concursion, 10 Second Ninja, early access to 0rbitals, and Over 9000 Zombies!. Pay $15 or more to unlock Runers, as well as early access to Tango Fiesta and Dream.

Today’s Weekend Deal at Steam is Planetary Annihilation, which is on sale for $5.99. Their Daily Deal is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which is discounted down to $4.99.

Hit the jump to check out today’s t-shirts.

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

Xbox Store Today: Funk of Titans

Posted on January 9, 2015 by John Scalzo

Pop Quiz! If someone told you that they were playing a game called Funk of Titans, you’d think it had something to do with giant people who smell bad, wouldn’t you? Well, you (and I) would be wrong. Funk of Titans is actually a side-scrolling platformer (now available for the Xbox One) that stars Perseus, Son of Zeus. And as the title implies, Perseus is bringing the funk… uh, the musical kind.

More details about Funk of Titans can be found right here:

Funk of Titans ($12.49)
Funk of Titans is a thrilling and addictive game, simple and fun to play but hard to master. You will control Perseus, the son of Zeus and protector of the legendary holy music: the Funk. Run across the ancient greek mythology, risk your life jumping over crazy platforms, collect funk vinyls, beat enemies, wear epic costumes, ride the legendary Pegasus and smash the rap, the pop and the rock of the evil Musical Titans in fierce dance battles. Only one music can survive and the Funk is the music of the gods.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

Beamdog announces Baldur’s Gate interquel set between BG1 and BG2

Posted on January 9, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Beamdog, the developer behind Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, has announced they will return to the franchise one more time with an interquel that will bridge the story of both games.

The currently untitled Baldur’s Gate Interquel will use the same Infinity Engine that powered the Enhanced Editions of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II. According to a post on the Beamblog, more information about the game (including a release date) will be announced in the Spring. The game is “something bigger than we’ve ever done before,” but the developer did stress that this shouldn’t be considered “Baldur’s Gate III.”

That said, Beamdog is already in the planning stage for their next project and will announce more details about Adventure Z (clearly a codename, as are Project: Beartrap and Project: Sharktrap) this Summer. Whatever you call it, the developer says it is a “departure” for the team and they’re looking forward to telling us all about it.

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