Daily Scoop: June 13, 2011 – Duke Nukem Forever tomorrow!

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Tomorrow’s the big day, everyone. It’s the day so many of you have been waiting for. The day that Duke Nuken Forever launches. As Editor-in-Chief John Scalzo mentioned, the wait has been long: 14 years, 1 month and 17 days. Hopefully the wait was worth it.

Anyway, we’ve got some deals for you. Today’s Deal of the Day in video games at Amazon is EA’s Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters for the Wii. It’s $29.96, and allows you to “Play like a true pro with a caddie alongside, assisting and supporting your every swing.” Wow. Said caddie will also “evaluate all pre-shot factors, such as wind, lie, and yardage, to provide a recommended shot.” There’s definitely a joke in there about lying to his wife, but I think everyone’s over Tiger Woods jokes by now, right?

Also up today is the last week of Amazon’s Dads & Grads promotion, which is “Next Generation Console & PC Deals.” Portal 2 is $29.99 for PC (and $39.96 for PS3 and $39.99 for Xbox 360), Halo Reach is $39.90, and James Bond 007: Blood Stone is $14.99 (Xbox 360 only). Scoop ’em up!

In the t-shirt world, today’s Ript shirt is called “Birds of War” and is an Angry Birds/Gears of War mashup:

The Ukrainian artist says it is a “shirt for those who like ‘Gears of War’ and ‘Angry birds’ and can not give preference to any.” Yeah, what he said.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

THQ closes Homefront developer Kaos Studios

Posted on June 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

THQ had high hopes for Homefront and while the shooter received less-than-stellar reviews, it managed to sell over two million copies. I guess that wasn’t enough as the publisher announced the closure of Homefront developer Kaos Studios today. THQ Digital Warrington, the developer of downloadable titles Red Faction: Battlegrounds and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, was also shut down.

THQ also revealed that development on the Homefront franchise would move to the recently created THQ Montreal. The company’s Montreal studio assisted Kaos during the development of the game, so they have some knowledge of the Homefront universe. THQ’s Vice President of Core Games, Danny Bilson, previously confirmed that Homefront: London is already in the planning stages.

Many of THQ’s other internal studios are now hiring and the publisher has encouraged the former Kaos and Digital Warrington employees to interview for open positions at Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games and THQ Montreal. We wish them the best of luck.

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

Peter Molyneux is unhappy with Fable: The Journey E3 demo

Posted on June 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

The next game in the Fable series, Fable: The Journey, made its worldwide debut during Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference to an audience that wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The game appeared to be an on-rails shooter where players controlled a wizard in the kingdom of Albion. Making arm gestures towards the Kinect sensor created magical spells that blasted a group of trolls on the screen.

But according to Fable-creator Peter Molyneux, that’s not an accurate representation of the game. He told OXM UK that showing that version of the demo was a “horrendous mistake” and that the final version of the game will not be on rails. If the game isn’t on rails, the famed developer didn’t reveal how players will control the movement of their character in the game.

It’s possible that Fable: The Journey is one of the “hybrid” games that makes use of a Kinect sensor and a standard controller that Microsoft has hinted at before. But I guess we’ll find out for sure next year as Fable: The Journey is currently scheduled for release in 2012.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: What We Saw at E3 2011

Posted on June 12, 2011 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…

The Warp Zoned staff was unable to attend this year’s E3 Expo, but we pored over every press release, every trailer and every screenshot bundle to bring you the best that E3 2011 had to offer.

After the break you’ll find a company-by-company breakdown of our E3 coverage. And don’t forget to circle June 5, 2012 on your calendar, because next year’s E3 is sure to provide lots of surprises.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News | Tagged

Sega exec reveals “Spring/Summer 2012” release for Wii U

Posted on June 12, 2011 by John Scalzo

E3 is over and we still don’t know when the Wii U will be released. All Nintendo will say for now is that the new console will be in stores sometime in 2012. But a Sega executive may have spilled the beans without even realizing it.

Alan Pritchard, Sega’s Executive Vice President of Marketing, sat down with GameSpot during the closing hours of the show to talk about Aliens: Colonial Marines, the Vita, the PSN, movie games and the Wii U. It was during that last subject of conversation that the two sides had this exchange:

GameSpot: Will Sonic Generations be released for the Wii U?

Pritchard: The timing just doesn’t work. Generations releases this November, and the Wii U is coming out next spring/summer. […] But to bring out Generations on a platform six or eight months after we release PS3, 360, and 3DS probably won’t be the best strategy.

Pritchard talks about the Wii U’s release window as falling pretty solidly within the April to June timeframe (Nintendo itself has confirmed the console won’t be released before April). And if anyone at Sega would know, it’s the guy in charge of marketing the games the publisher plans to release for the system. It’s too early to say for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Pritchard was telling the truth.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged

New Releases: Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D, Duke Nukem Forever, Alice Madness Returns, More

Posted on June 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

14 years, 1 month and 17 days.

That’s how long Duke Nukem Forever has been in development. An actual war against aliens that stole our babes wouldn’t take that long. But after the countless delays, the constant cries of “vaporware” and the empty promises of George Broussard… it’s finally here. And that’s all that matters because I always bet on Duke.

Interestingly enough, Duke Nukem isn’t the only oldtime franchise being resurrected this week. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, the fourth version of the classic game, will be available this week for the 3DS. Think about that, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and has been remade three times since Duke Nukem Forever was announced. Amazing.

And now that E3 is over, publishers are pushing out a ton of other big titles as well, including…

Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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

Lara escapes her own tomb in Tomb Raider gameplay video

Posted on June 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

Early in Microsoft’s E3 2011 Press Conference, they turned the stage over to Crystal Dynamics, who used their time to show fans the first extended look of their upcoming Tomb Raider reboot. During the gameplay demo, the much younger Lara Croft has been captured by an angry tribe who have hung her upside down in a cave. Using a nearby torch, she cuts through the ropes and crashes onto the stone floor. The player must then perform a quick time event to eject a sharpened stone from her stomach. Yikes!

And it only gets more intense and “visceral” (according to Crystal Dynamics) from there.

Tomb Raider will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in Fall 2012.

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

CoD Modern Warfare 3 “Hunter Killer” mission is awesome

Posted on June 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

In case you missed Microsoft’s E3 2011 Press Conference, they opened the show with a play-through of the “Hunter Killer” mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It is an absolutely thrilling nine minutes of gameplay that can stand next to any Hollywood blockbuster. The underwater scenes feel perfectly claustrophobic and the sub assault would make Jack Bauer blush. Also, be sure and snicker at the point early in the demo where the controller dies for a few seconds. Wouldn’t be E3 without surprises.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 9.

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