Take “The Pledge” to join The Order 1886 in new trailer

Since its public debut, the PlayStation 4-exclusive The Order 1886 has been causing a stir amongst Sony fans looking for the system’s first truly next-gen, must-buy title. Now, the company has released a stonking new trailer that reveals more about the mysterious order of knights and their mission a technologically advanced Victorian London.

The game’s developer, Ready At Dawn, has taken a leaf from Naughty Dog with this new trailer, in which a gruff narrator talks while the camera glides through time, chasing a mysterious black ooze that seems to represent the evil forces players will face. Eagled-eyed viewers will spot various references and clues about the game hidden within the texts and newspapers that flash by. It comes to a head with a sneak peak at two of the knights, a young female and the moustached protagonist from the original reveal. As he says, “I think we should be prepared for anything.”

The Order 1886 will be released this Fall.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

PS4 install base has surpassed 5.3 million

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Another month, another update from Sony on the sales statistics for their PlayStation 4 console. According to internal reporting, which is current as of February 8, the company has now sold 5.3 million PS4 systems worldwide since the console launched in November 2013.

“I am thrilled that so many customers around the globe have continued to select PS4 as the best place to play throughout and beyond the holiday season,” said Andrew House, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. “We are delighted that according to the NPD Group’s latest data, PS4 was January’s top-selling console in the United States. The PS4 system’s momentum just keeps growing stronger, and we are extremely grateful for the continued passion and support of PlayStation fans.”

Sony’s new PS4 sales total is an increase of 1.1 million consoles over their last announcement in January (for sales through December 28, 2013). And the system’s acceptance should only grew from here as the PS4 is scheduled to launch in Japan this Saturday, February 22.

Posted in News, PS4 |

Daily Scoop: February 17, 2014 – Post-IndieCade coma

It’s Monday, and I’m home after a long, wonderful weekend in New York City at IndieCade East. It was a blast! I’ll have more for you over the next few days, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can check out the Humble Weekly Bundle for some IndieCade games! Pay what you want for And Yet it Moves, chapters 1, 2, and 3 of The Dream Machine, and Luxuria Superbia. Pay $6 or more for Dear Esther, The Bridge, and 7 Grand Steps.

There are some sales at the Humble Store as well. You can get Cubetractor for $2.49, and you can also get early access to Starwhal: Just the Tip for $9.99. Finally, the Daily Deal at Steam is Guns of Icarus Online, which is just $3.74 today. Scoop ’em up!

There are a few good shirts up today for you video game-t-shirt aficionados:

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Harmonix is developing Chroma, a music-based arena FPS

Back in 2012, Harmonix began hiring developers to work on a “combat game.” Today, they lifted the lid on Chroma, a free-to-play, first-person, multiplayer shooter for the PC. If this sounds a bit out of Harmonix’s wheelhouse, then you should also know that in Chroma, “Music is Your Weapon.” Hopefully, Harmonix will explain what that means sooner rather than later.

Harmonix has partnered with Hidden Path Entertainment (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) to bring the game to Steam sometime this year. Players will be able to choose from multiple from character classes and form a “band” with their teammates to take on their opponents. Also, a “Change Up” system will unleash major moments that “dramatically alter the landscape of the battlefield in real time both physically and strategically, raising sniper towers, adding cover, and more in sync with the music.”

“Chroma has been a dream project of mine for some time,” said Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopulos. “Watching the teams at Harmonix and Hidden Path begin to bring this vision to life has been tremendously exciting. We’re also thrilled to release an alpha version of this game and to evolve it in collaboration with our players. We can’t wait to hear what people think of this new approach to both first-person shooters and music games.”

Harmonix plans to offer players early access to Chroma through a closed alpha later this year. You can apply to enter the alpha right here.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be released this Summer

The continuity snarl that is the Transformers franchise makes the last half-century of Marvel and DC storytelling look neat and ordered by comparison. The series is rife with alternate universes and the executives in charge of this narrative morass have attempted to merge, split, and remerge the storyline since the 1980s.

The latest attempt at building an all-purpose Transformers universe is Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, the latest game adaptation of the long-running series from Activision. According to GameSpot, Rise of the Dark Spark will merge High Moon’s War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron continuity with Michael Bay’s Transformers films to tie-in with this Summer’s Age of Extinction. Sadly, High Moon won’t be developing the game. Instead, Activision has enlisted Edge of Reality to create the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One game. WayForward Technologies will develop a handheld version of the game for the 3DS.

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be released this Summer to coincide with the theatrical opening of Transformers: Age of Extinction.

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

SteamWorld Dig shovels its way onto the PS4, Vita in March

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SteamWorld Dig was one of the biggest surprises of 2013. The game, from Swedish developer Image & Form, was a smash hit on the 3DS eShop (and got quite a good review from our own Mike Ryan) before making its way to Steam in December. And on Friday, Image & Form announced that SteamWorld Dig will soon find itself available on the PlayStation Store as a downloadable game for the PS4 and Vita.

SteamWorld Dig is a steampunk-ish platformer set in a mining town and starring an “Eastwood-esque” robot named Rusty. Venturing into the abandoned mines, Rusty must unearth gemstones and materials while doing battle with hordes of underground creatures and ensuring that he still has a way back to the surface.

“We are thrilled to present SteamWorld Dig to the PlayStation community,” said Image & Form CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson. “This is our first release ever on a stationary console, and a long-standing dream of ours. So many PlayStation gamers have asked us to bring the game to their hardware, and we can’t wait to join the community both on PS4 and Vita. We have a fantastic following on 3DS and Steam, and now we will reach a whole new audience. We are really very excited.”

SteamWorld Dig will be available on the PlayStation Store in March (at a price of $9.99) as a Cross-Buy title.

Posted in News, PS4, Vita | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: First Nintendo Direct of 2014 Edition

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…

Nintendo held their first Nintendo Direct presentation of the year yesterday and revealed a few nifty tidbits about their 2014 plans. First up, they confirmed that Mario Kart 8 will launch on May 30 and include all seven Koopalings as playable characters. In other roster addition news, the publisher added Little Mac to Super Smash Bros. 4 on the Wii U and 3DS.

In downloadable game news, Nintendo announced that Game Boy Advance games will be available on the Wii U’s Virtual Console beginning in April. They also revealed that Steel Diver: Sub Wars and Inazuma Eleven are both now available on the 3DS eShop and that Weapon Shop De Omasse, the final “Guild01” game, will be released next week.

Finally, Platinum Games has released a new trailer for Bayonetta 2.

In other Wii U news, we talked to Maximillian Kovtun of Space Enigma Studios about his company’s game, Space Pioneer. If you’re a space buff, it’s worth a read.

More news from the past week can be found after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Donkey Kong Country: Tropcial Freeze, EDF 2025, NASCAR 14, More

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While Mario and Sonic have already conquered the Winter Olympics, Nintendo is ready to send another one of its beloved characters out into the snow. The normally jungle-bound Donkey Kong will get to play in the powder this week with the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropcial Freeze for the Wii U. Better pack your mittens, big guy.

A jungle of a different kind will need to be saved in D3 Publisher’s Earth Defense Force 2025. The big bugs are back and the Earth Defense Force must once again band together to save the urban jungle that is Tokyo. You can get it on the PS3 or the Xbox 360.

This week’s final new release is NASCAR 14 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. The franchise has switched publishers from Activision to Deep Silver, but developer Eutechnyx is once again responsible for development on the racing simulation.

Finally, a pair of ports have found new homes this week. Ubisoft’s highly acclaimed Rayman Legends makes a next-generation leap to the PS4 and Xbox One. Meanwhile, WB’s Lego Marvel Super Heroes downgrades to the DS. Games for everybody!

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