Warpback: What We Played in November 2013

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Here at Warp Zoned, we played a ton of games in November! Ranging from old games to new, and old systems to new, we clocked a lot of time with controllers, keyboards, and handhelds. And all those crazy holiday deals dumped even more games onto our plates! We laughed, we cried, we used voice commands on our new PlayStation 4s… we did it all. Read on to find out all about the games we played in November!

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Posted in Features, Top Story |

Daily Scoop: December 2, 2013 – So many deals

So, it’s Cyber Monday, and I seriously feel more inundated with sales today than I did on Black Friday. I mean really – it’s been obscene. I’ve gotten emails from just about every single place I’ve ordered anything from, ever, with the exception of maybe Kickstarter. So if you haven’t spent enough money yet in the last few days, get ready for some serious deals.

As can be expected, there are tons of crazy Lightning Deals happening at Amazon – just filter those bad boys by “Video Games” and you can see the madness, including the Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition for $7.99. Yowza! There’s a sale over at Steam, of course, and my recommendation is that you pick up Beatbuddy right now for $3.74.

Penny Arcade is having a big sale today on their First Party Collection, which is typically pretty expensive but is now just slightly less expensive. The Gearbox Store is offering $10 off hoodies and $5 off t-shirts, meaning that zer0 hoody I want is now cheaper, woo! And ThinkGeek’s absurd sale will probably blow your mind. It even includes free shipping!

If you’re looking for something a little off the radar, you should check out the Game Music Festival bundles, which are great deals on amazing video game music. You could also grab some last-minute t-shirts with Tee Fury and The Yetee‘s Cyber Monday grab bags! Oh, and also, this isn’t a deal, but my friend Shawn Pierre just launched the Kickstarter for his amazing card game, These French Fries Are Terrible Hot Dogs. It’s a game of lying, love, and just a little bit of mustard. You want it – trust me.

And if that’s not enough, well, I’ve still got some t-shirts for you!

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

The Order: 1886 will probably be released in Fall 2014

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Even though we don’t know much about Ready At Dawn’s first PS4 project, The Order: 1886, the game’s strong visuals and irresistible hook (werewolves in a futurist-Victorian London!) has lead some gamers to already anoint it 2014’s “Game of the Year.” While I’m not ready to go that far just yet, Ready At Dawn’s Andrea Pessino and Sony Santa Monica’s Tim Moss have narrowed down the launch window. Not surprisingly, The Order: 1886 is currently on track for a Fall 2014 release:

Before The Order: 1886, Ready At Dawn was best known for developing both God of War games on the PSP. Sony Santa Monica, which created the God of War series, is assisting Ready At Dawn with The Order: 1886’s development.

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Cyber Monday Game Deals 2013: Amazon

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Black Friday may be over, but Amazon always saves the best deals for Cyber Monday. And this year is no exception. I suggest swinging over to Amazon’s Cyber Monday Deals page and checking out some of the great all-day deals they’ve got going on (including The Last of Us for $35, Call of Duty: Ghosts for $45, Grand Theft Auto V for $40, and Batman: Arkham Origins for $40) as well as this interesting schedule of Limited Time Deals:

8:10 AM (Eastern)

  • Skylanders Giants – Portal Owner Pack (3DS)

9:10 AM (Eastern)

  • Rage (PC)
  • Family Party 30 Great Games: Obstacle Arcade (Wii U)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Legendary Edition (PC)

10:10 AM (Eastern)

  • Resident Evil 6 Archives (Xbox 360)
  • Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Xbox 360)

11:10 AM (Eastern)

  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Vita)
  • Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii)

12:10 PM (Eastern)

  • Eve Online: The Second Decade (PC)

5:10 PM (Eastern)

  • Dead Space 3 (PS3/Xbox 360)
  • Nancy Drew: The Deadly Device (PC)
  • The Secret World (PC)
  • NCAA Football 13 (PS3/Xbox 360)

7:10 PM (Eastern)

  • Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PS3)
  • Brave (PS3)

8:10 PM (Eastern)

  • Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Starter Pack (Wii)
  • Skylanders Giants Triple Pack

9:10 PM (Eastern)

  • TriMount (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii)

3:00 AM (Eastern)

  • Moshi Monsters: Moshings Theme Park (3DS)

I admit, the Limited Time Deals are less than stellar (though Amazon has promised to add more throughout the day), but the all-day deals feature some of the best prices you’ll see on some of the biggest games of 2013 this holiday season.

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

Rumor: Lindsay Lohan claims Rockstar stole her likeness and used it in GTA5

grandtheftautov-bikiniWould you like a little ridiculousness for your Sunday? TMZ is reporting that Lindsay Lohan is planning to sue Rockstar Games over the unauthorized inclusion of her likeness in Grand Theft Auto V.

TMZ’s sources didn’t know which game character the actress believes is based on her, but they point to a few possibilities, though none match up very well with Lohan:

  • The “Blonde Girl” used in a lot of the game’s advertising. TMZ discounts this choice as the blonde bikini model is based on a real person named Shelby Welinder.
  • Lacey Jonas, a blonde actress who stars in “romantic comedies and cheerleader dance-off movies.” Jonas appears in an optional mission where she asks the player to drive her home after an encounter with the paparazzi. It’s unlikely Jonas is meant to be Lohan as she never rises above the level of “generic actress” during her scant three minutes of screentime.
  • Poppy Mitchell is probably the best (and worst) guess. She is a tall, dark-haired actress described as “America’s Sweetheart.” When the player meets Mitchell in the game, you learn that she is dating a blonde-haired teen heartthrob named Justin (a rather obvious Justin Bieber stand-in) and that she is staying at the Gentry Manor Hotel, which is based on the real Chateau Marmont Hotel. The mission ends with Mitchell crashing her car into a construction site. While Lohan has crashed her car several times and has previously lived at the Chateau Marmont, she’s neither tall nor dark-haired. And I don’t think she’s ever dated Justin Bieber.

Since Mitchell’s appearance in the game doesn’t resemble Lohan in the slightest, the only thing Rockstar could have “stolen” from the actress is a few facts from her life. And sadly, she isn’t the only actress in Hollywood with a poor driving record.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Thankful For Rumors 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…

Are you still exhausted from this Thursday’s bird-eating/non-stop shopping-stravaganza? Hopefully you’ve had a chance to rest and, if you’re sane, you skipped shopping at all stores this week except for ones with “DOT COM” in their name. Thankfully, we’ve got some tasty rumors for you to gobble (gobble) up…

Electronic Arts has likely tasked Visceral Games and EA Canada on an open world Star Wars game. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain likely won’t be released for a long time. And Telltale Games might be working on a Game of Thrones game adaptation.

We’ve also talked to Stasis developer Christopher Bischoff about his upcoming game and published more news (and a few more rumors) after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Gran Turismo 6

granturismo6-logoJust one new game will be driving its way towards a retail release this week: Gran Turismo 6.

The Polyphony Digital-developed racer will likely be the last game in the famed franchise to be released for the PS3. Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony’s CEO and the main driving force behind the series, recently revealed that Gran Turismo 7 is in development for the PS4. Instead of creating a brand new game from scratch, Yamauchi stated that Gran Turismo 7 would likely be a souped-up version of Gran Turismo 6 and could be out as early as next year.

Something to think about as you contemplate a Gran Turismo 6 purchase later this week when its released on December 6.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

It looks like EA Canada is assisting Visceral on an “open-world” Star Wars game

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It’s no secret that EA Games owns the exclusive license to publish Star Wars games. Whether or not this is a good thing remains to be seen. The Worst Company in America two years running now, EA’s stock has been on a serious decline, as far as gamers are concerned. Maybe a strong franchise like Star Wars is exactly what EA needs to boost sales and prove to people that they can get the job done. With these things in mind, it should put into perspective just how important EA’s newest project, an “open world Star Wars game,” is.

We know that EA has farmed out two Star Wars titles to DICE LA (Star Wars: Battlefront) and Visceral Games (an untitled and rather mysterious Star Wars game). Despite three decades of Star Wars games, gamers have never gotten their hands on an open-world title. With the great success of open world titles like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, there’s little doubt that such a title could work if done properly. Open world titles are extremely ambitious in and of themselves, but Star Wars titles bring in a whole other list of challenges, the first and foremost of which is making the game feel like a Star Wars game. You can slap the name Star Wars on anything, but if players don’t feel immersed in a world of battling political philosophies, opposing Force powers, and corrupt Hutt lords, then it’s not really a Star Wars game.

To that end, it looks like EA has expanded the scope of Visceral’s Star Wars title and brought EA Canada aboard to help with development duties. Scanning job postings released by EA Canada, it looks like this “open world Star Wars game” is the same one currently in the works at Visceral. So two world class developers… one great license… this can’t fail, right? Right?

[Source: Kotaku]

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