Daily Scoop: February 24, 2014 – Lots of digital deals

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Nicole Kline

I spent the weekend alternating between writing and gaming. Anthony Amato and I have been playing a ton of Torchlight II recently, which we’ve been having a blast with. What game fills your weekends?

If it’s deals you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place! First up, my friends over at Ghost Crab Games are in the latest Groupees bundle. Pay what you want (minimum $1, suggested $5) for their game, Drive to Hell, as well as Paper Dungeons, Savage: The Shard of Gosen (Alpha Game) with the OST, Monster Challenge Circus, Trace Vector, Heroes of a Broken Land, Spice Road, Magicians & Looters, and Battlepaths. They’re unlocking more games and soundtracks as they sell more bundles, so go buy it!

Amazon has a few sales happening right now. You can get Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for $29.99, Gran Turismo 6 for $39.99, Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded for $9.99, Metro Last Light for $19.99, and Moshi Monsters: Katsuma Unleashed for $6.05.

There are also lots of sales happening at the Humble Store, as always. Saints Row IV is $24.99, Tetrobot and Co. is $4.79, Blocks That Matter is $1.99, Metro Last Light is $19.99 (that’s two places it’s on sale!), and Dead Island: Riptide is $14.99. And you still have time to get the Indie Royale Bundle. Pay the minimum for Crater Maker, Doom and Destiny, Millennium 4 – Beyond Sunset, You Still Won’t Make It, Strategic War in Europe, Spirited Heart Complete, and Kill Fun Yeah, with the added Pathogen Wars.

Steam has some new Weeklong Deals, with the best by far being Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit for $3.75. And one of my favorites, Hammerwatch, is just $4.99. Scoop ’em up!

Not many shirts today… in fact, just one!

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Harold Ramis, the man who gave the world Ghostbusters, has died

Posted on February 24, 2014 by John Scalzo

haroldramisThis is only tangentially related to video games, but it would be a huge disservice for Warp Zoned to ignore today’s passing of one of the greatest comedic minds of the 1980s and 1990s: Harold Ramis. Ramis died this morning due to complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that affects the blood vessels. He was 69.

Ramis is best known to film fans for his appearance in 1984’s Ghostbusters as Dr. Egon Spengler. He also co-wrote the film and reprised the role in 1989’s Ghostbusters II. In 2009, he and writing partner Dan Aykroyd would team up again to resurrect the paranormal scientists in Atari’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Once again slipping into the character’s signature deadpan delivery, Ramis provided vocals for Egon in the game.

In addition to the Ghostbusters franchise, Ramis was responsible for more than a few movies you may have heard of. He wrote and starred in Stripes, wrote National Lampoon’s Animal House, directed National Lampoon’s Vacation, and wrote and directed Caddyshack and Groundhog Day. If you took a regular Twinkie and said that it represented the career of your average writer/director/actor, Harold Ramis’ Twinkie would be 35 feet long and weigh approximately 600 pounds. In other words, that’s a big Twinkie.

Our thoughts go out to the Ramis family.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Gearbox suing 3D Realms over Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction

Posted on February 24, 2014 by John Scalzo

nukemteaserimage3D Realms famously sold the franchise rights to Duke Nukem to Gearbox Software in 2010. And yet, earlier this month, a teaser website promoting a new Duke Nukem game co-developed by 3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment began counting down to a reveal planned for February 25. The game, an action RPG for the PC and PS4, is expected to be called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. So what’s Gearbox’s connection to all of this?

It looks like they’re suing 3D Realms for attempting to make a new Duke Nukem game without their permission. The complaint reads:

“Apparently, after selling its Duke Nukem IP rights to Gearbox in 2010, 3DR sought to privately convince others that the sale never happened. The result is the unauthorized development effort that reportedly exists between 3DR and Interceptor.”

In addition to the copyright infringement claim, Gearbox also released a signed declaration from 3D Realms’ George Broussard and Scott Miller stating that they are aware that Gearbox is the rightful owner of all intellectual property related to Duke Nukem.

So with all this evidence (again, the Duke Nukem IP sale in 2010 was very public), it makes you wonder exactly what 3D Realms and Interceptor were thinking. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction countdown expires tomorrow…

Posted in News, PC, PS4 | Tagged

Xbox One + TitanFall Bundle will be available on March 11

Posted on February 24, 2014 by John Scalzo

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TitanFall is, without question, this Spring’s most anticipated new game. All apologies to the glorious platforming found in Shovel Knight or the majestic difficulty of Dark Souls II, but it’s true. Microsoft, naturally, wants to promote the Xbox One’s big exclusive and they plan to do that by offering a special Xbox One Console + TitanFall Bundle.

Available on March 11, the Xbox One console in the bundle won’t feature a TitanFall-themed paint job, but it will be priced at $499.99 and include a free Xbox Live download code for the game. The Xbox One Console + TitanFall Bundle will be available in limited quantities, and pre-orders are now open at Amazon.

The most interesting thing about this announcement is that it confirms a rumor that began floating around at the end of last month. The TitanFall bundle was mentioned alongside white, 1TB, and discless consoles. So we might be in for a few more of these announcements before the end of the year. And a part of me is very interested in what a discless Xbox One would be like.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: IndieCade East 2014 Wrap-Up Edition

Posted on February 23, 2014 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…

It was a very fruitful week for video game news this week. But first, you’ll want to check out Nicole Kline’s coverage of last weekend’s IndieCade East expo. She braved the show floor to bring you her impressions on some of the indie games that the world will be talking about in a few months: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. Warp Zoned’s Mike Ryan also reviewed the PS4 version of Outlast and he thinks you should play it ASAP. Especially with all the lights out and the sound up.

What else do you need to know from this week, well…

  • Take-Two closed Irrational Games as Ken Levine has decided to move on to a smaller team within the corporation.
  • Bethesda announced that Wolfenstein: The New Order will be released on May 20. Pre-orders will include beta access to Doom 4.
  • Bethesda also confirmed that any Fallout 4 announcement won’t be happening anytime soon.
  • Cliff Bleszinski told the media that he will never make another disc-based game again and that any future games he may work on will likely be released for the PC.
  • Telltale Games announced that the second episode of The Walking Dead Season 2 will be released in early March.
  • In an interview with IGN, Kiefer Sutherland said that he’s involved with Mortal Kombat 10. WB Games is, so far, not commenting.

The rest of the Weekly Warp-Up, in a new format we’re trying out, can be found after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Thief, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Layton: Azran Legacy, More

Posted on February 23, 2014 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix Montreal will attempt to go two-for-two in the reboot department this week with the release of Thief for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. After masterfully resurrecting the Deus Ex franchise a few years ago with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, gamers are optimistic about the first Thief game in a decade.

Also available this week is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), the concluding chapter in the “Lords of Shadow” saga. Know one knows what’s next for the Castlevania franchise, but its future looks bright on home consoles once again. Over in the handheld realm, another final chapter will be written as Nintendo and Level-5 will release Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy for the 3DS. The Layton series will live on, but Azran Legacy will be the last game to star the good Professor himself.

Jumping from lasts to firsts, PopCap Games will release their first shooter game this week, the Xbox One/Xbox 360-exclusive Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. Finally this week, a pair of classic game collections will be available to purchase with your gaming dollar, both from Bandai Namco: Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (PS3) and Pac-Man Museum (PC, PS3, Xbox 360).

A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break.

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

Kiefer Sutherland claims he’ll star in the next Mortal Kombat game

Posted on February 22, 2014 by John Scalzo

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It caused a bit of an Internet brouhaha when Konami confirmed that Kiefer Sutherland would be voicing Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain instead of original voice actor David Hayter. But according to Sutherland, he’s about to insert himself into another long-running series: NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat saga. Speaking to IGN, the actor compared his work on Phantom Pain to another “huge” game he did recently, the next (and currently unannounced) Mortal Kombat game:

Sutherland said, “I did Mortal Kombat, and that’s such a huge game, but it’s so not like [MGS5].”

Sutherland’s been working on Metal Gear Solid for over a year, but said he completed Mortal Kombat “pretty quickly compared to [MGS5].” He did not specify his role.

Given his work on 24, Sutherland could easily slide into the role of Mortal Kombat’s resident supercop, Kurtis Stryker. Or perhaps NetherRealm is looking to put a new spin on a beloved character. Maybe Raiden will exhort the EarthRealm warriors to defeat Shao Kahn “or millions of people will die!” Or possibly they’ve decided that Scorpion should remind everyone of his hellbound fate (“Dammit!”) at every turn. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Sutherland will play a new character considering the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot.

NetherRealm’s Ed Boon previously confirmed that development on the next Mortal Kombat game began in 2011.

Posted in News | Tagged

IndieCade East 2014 After-Report: Day 3 – I’m Out of Cliches

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Nicole Kline

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Sunday was the third and final day of IndieCade East 2014 and, like all great events, it was bittersweet to see it end. There were plenty of great talks and workshops, another full day of Show & Tell games, and an amazing event called the GameSlam in which developers had three minutes to pitch their games quickly and succinctly. We spent most of our time at the GameSlam and checking out some of the talks before heading back home to Philadelphia.

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Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, Top Story |