Weekly Warp-Up: The Futurist 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…

Today was a good week to be a gamer as the Supreme Court struck down the California anti-game bill. It wasn’t so good a week for Jon Stewart as his favorite target retired and then he went on an old man rant about them evul viddygames.

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Besides an argument over the future of the “violent video game” debate, this week was also a general look into the future. We took a stab at predicting the future of the 3DS in Nintendo’s 3DS: Looking Into the Next Dimension and we spun into Sonic’s future with a hands-on preview of Sonic Generations.

With the end of June in sight, we also published the latest edition of Warpback, better known as “What We Played in June 2011.” Naturally, this was followed up by our report detailing The Games of July 2011.

Finally, on Episode 12 of the Warp Zoned Podcast, Senior Editor Nicole Kline and Podcast Producer Ryan Littlefield are joined by West Coast Editor Adam Woolcott. They talk about the latest news (what’s up with Nintendo’s refusal to localize games we are dying to play???) and then move into our big topic: game reboots.

Hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up.

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Posted in News |

Warp Zoned: The eMag Issue #2 is here

June is over, Summer is here and so is the second issue of Warp Zoned: The eMagazine. So fire up your eReader and prepare to take your favorite WZ writers on a road trip!

Warp Zoned: The eMagazine
Issue #2 – June 2011

Download It in EPUB Format Here

In June we got to see the wonders of E3 including the Press Conferences from all three major players (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo). Besides looking to the future at the E3 Expo, we looked at the future of game rentals in a Redbox vs Gamefly comparison and we also glimpsed a look at the future of the 3DS.

But that doesn’t mean we forgot the here and now as we got our hands on El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron and Sonic Generations as well as reviewing Dirt 3, Sega Rally Online Arcade, Brink and Dungeon Siege III.

Next issue, prepare yourself for an alien invasion in Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon.

Posted in News, Top Story |

New Releases: Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon, More

The Summer slowdown is here. Just five games are scheduled to be released this week. But as a wise (and animated) man once said: “Celebrate your country’s independence by blowing up a small part of it.” And that’s just what I plan on doing with D3 Publisher’s Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (PS3, Xbox 360), the closest thing we’ll ever get to a Starship Troopers video game.

Also available this week is a quartet of games that couldn’t be more diverse:

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Jon Stewart rips SCOTUS on CA game bill decision; forgets he starred in The Faculty

No matter how depraved and disgusting a comedy gets, it only becomes “offensive” or “inappropriate” when the creators attack something you love. Even a comedy show as respected as The Daily Show can fall into this trap. There are few men in America that are as beloved among young adults as Jon Stewart, but he just questioned the wisdom of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Brown vs EMA

Jon Stewart is dead to me now.

The Daily Show host made his point by splicing clips of the latest Mortal Kombat game in with his own reactions to the gratuitous violence. But before showing the clip, he prefaced it with the following warning: “It’s like an interactive, animated snuff film.”

That’s just going too far Mr. Stewart! Why, I’ll have you know, the Mortal Kombat series is a historic and…

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Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

The Next Level: The Games of July 2011

July seems to be relatively quiet… that is, until we get to the end of it. Atlus has some crazy coming out with Catherine, and a few other games also caught the eyes of the Warp Zoned staff. Read on to see what’s got our wallets crying for July.

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Posted in Features, Top Story |

ESRB says Crysis is coming to PS3, Xbox 360

Even though it was released back in 2007, Crysis still sets the benchmark for graphically intensive PC games. Developer CryTek has flirted with a console release for the game before, but nothing has ever come of it.

Until now, that is.

Today, a rating for a PS3/Xbox 360 version of Crysis appeared on the ESRB’s website. The Korean Rating Board also outed a console version of Crysis in the last few days. It’s not quite confirmation, but PS3/Xbox 360 owners got a chance to play Crysis 2 back in March and it seems very likely like its predecessor will be joining it soon.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Kenshi’s story told in new MK DLC trailer

Kenshi, the blind swordsman, was the best character introduced to the Mortal Kombat mythos in the Deadly Alliance trilogy. So it’s only fitting that he’s the first returning character to be offered as DLC for the Mortal Kombat reboot on the PS3 and Xbox 360. NetherRealm Studios has released a new trailer that tells the tale of Kenshi and you can watch it above.

Kenshi will be available to download from the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace on July 5 for $5 (or 400 Microsoft Points).

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Halo: Glasslands novel set for October

Tor Books and their Halo fiction factory continues to roll with Halo: Glasslands this October. Glasslands was written by Karen Traviss and is the beginning of a new trilogy that sets the stage for Halo 4 in the aftermath of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.

“Although Karen’s novel deals with the characters and events from ‘Ghosts of Onyx,’ it’s the wonderful new characters and scenarios that she brings so vividly to life that will excite Halo fiction fans,” says Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director for 343 Industries. “We get an incredible opportunity to explore the Halo universe in the aftermath of the Covenant war, and unveil some mysteries and storylines that will connect readers to a compelling corner of the Halo universe. I can’t wait for readers to enjoy this book as much as we have.”

Halo: Glasslands will be available in stores in paperback and on compact disc on October 25, 2011.

Posted in Etcetera, News, Xbox 360 | Tagged