Forza Horizon skids onto schedule in Fall 2012

Posted on March 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

Microsoft has decided to pull an Activision and split the development of the Forza series between two studios. Games carrying the “Forza Motorsport” name will still be racing sims developed by Turn 10. But this Fall’s Forza Horizon will be handled by debut developer Playground Games and is definitely leaning more towards the arcade style of racing:

Forza Horizon is a fast-paced, pick-up-and-play racing game and the newest entry in the Forza Motorsport franchise. Available this Fall, the game is being created in partnership with acclaimed racing development studio Playground Games.

While you may not have heard of Playground Games before, you definitely know them by reputation. The team is made up of developers from Bizarre Creations (creators of the Project Gotham Racing series) and Black Rock (creators of Split/Second).

So it sounds like Forza Horizon is in good hands.

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Daily Scoop: March 5, 2012 – Skyrim day!

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Wow, that weekend flew by! I played a lot of D&D, Pandemic, Silent Hill, and Final Fantasy XIII-2. Oh, and I freaked out over last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead.” Are the writers actively trying to destroy the story? I mean seriously guys. Guys… seriously.

Anyway, apparently it’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim day today! It’s the Amazon Deal of the Day in video games for just $39.99 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. If you haven’t gotten a chance to pick this game up yet, what are you waiting for? Now’s your chance!

Today’s t-shirt is related to Skyrim, and should elicit more than a few chuckles:

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 |

Get your first look at Halo 4 in this video

Posted on March 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

Microsoft and developer 343 Industries (I originally wrote Bungie, that’s going to be a hard habit to break) have pulled back the curtain on Halo 4 with the video above. The video gives us a first look at actual in-game footage as well as the updated Battle Rifle, and some multiplayer tidbits.

Halo 4 will be available for the Xbox 360 this Fall.

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Xbox.com outs Fable Heroes, release date for Fable: The Journey

Posted on March 5, 2012 by John Scalzo

Lionhead Studios is counting down to a big Game Developers Conference announcement tonight, but it looks like Xbox.com spoiled things a might early. Microsoft’s site for all things Xbox has revealed a release date for Lionhead’s Kinect-powered Fable: The Journey (September 4, 2012) as well as a product page for Fable Heroes. What is Fable Heroes you ask, read on young adventurer…

Fable Heroes is a fresh spin on the beloved Fable franchise in which up to 4 players play both cooperatively and competitively in this hack-and-slash adventure. Work together as heroes of Albion to defeat familiar foes and new enemies while collecting as many gold coins as possible to unlock upgrades, characters, and items in both this game and Fable: The Journey for Kinect for Xbox 360.

From the description, the game doesn’t sound too far afield from what the Fable series is known for. That is until you realize that Fable Heroes is a cartoony, four-player beat ’em up planned for release through the Xbox Live Arcade. There also appears to be a board game component akin to Mario Party. Say what?

Don’t believe me, check out the first screenshots after the break.

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Madden NFL 13 Cover Nominees: NFC South

Posted on March 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Are you ready for some football? How about a long and drawn out fan vote to decide who will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 13? Well, EA Sports has you covered on both.

Every day this week, the Madden-maker has revealed each division’s nominees for the game’s cover. The 64-player tournament will initially include two players from each team. Beginning March 7, fans can head over to the ESPN SportsNation Facebook Page to decide who will represent each team in the final 32-player bracket.

Today’s nominees come from the NFC South:

Atlanta Falcons
Julio Jones or Matt Ryan

Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton or Steve Smith

New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees or Jimmy Graham

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
LeGarrette Blount or Josh Freeman

In 2011, Drew Brees set single-season records for most passing yards, most games over 250 yards, most games over 300 yards, most games over 350 yards, most completions, and highest completion percentage. In short, the man was a passing machine and made quarterbacks like Josh Freeman and Matt Ryan look like rank amateurs. But I wouldn’t count out Cam Newton, he’s the kind of exciting young quarterback that EA Sports used to pick for the cover back when they did the picking themselves.

Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Weekly Warp-Up: Everybody Loves Shepard Edition

Posted on March 4, 2012 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…

We’re T minus 72 hours from the launch of Mass Effect 3 and Warp Zoned has gone a bit Shepard crazy. During our look back at What We Played in February 2012, the Mass Effect 3 demo came up a lot. So much so that we devoted an entire article to a Hands-On Preview of the tiny taste of Shepard’s next adventure. And you better believe Mass Effect 3 showed up in our article highlighting The Games of March 2012.

And if you think that’s the last you’ve heard of Mass Effect 3 in this edition of the Weekly Warp-Up, think again and hit the jump to read the latest from the week that was.

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Posted in News |

Persona 4: Arena battles its way into stores in August

Posted on March 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

A short report from Aram Jabbari, Atlus’ PR Relations Manager, has revealed that Persona 4: Arena will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in August.

Jabbari also brought along three ultra-colorful screenshots as well as a promise that Atlus is “doing everything possible to retain the full English voice cast from Persona 3 and 4.” The publisher also isn’t ready to confirm or deny the status of the Japanese language track in the North American release, so don’t ask.

[Source: PlayStation Blog]

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Madden NFL 13 Cover Nominees: AFC South

Posted on March 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

Are you ready for some football? How about a long and drawn out fan vote to decide who will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 13? Well, EA Sports has you covered on both.

Every day this week, the Madden-maker will continue to reveal each division’s nominees for the game’s cover. The 64-player tournament will initially include two players from each team. Beginning March 7, fans can head over to the ESPN SportsNation Facebook Page to decide who will represent each team in the final 32-player bracket.

Today’s nominees come from the AFC South:

Houston Texans
Arian Foster or Andre Johnson

Indianapolis Colts
Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis

Jacksonville Jaguars
Blaine Gabbert or Maurice Jones-Drew

Tennessee Titans
Chris Johnson or Jake Locker

Andre Johnson didn’t have a great 2011 (in fact, he spent more time injured then he did on the field), but the Texans play-in matchup is certainly the most interesting so far. But out of this eight, it’s hard to argue, except for Arian Foster, that any of them are deserving of the cover of Madden NFL 13.

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