Call of Juarez: The Cartel trailer rides into town

Posted on March 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

While Techland blew everyone away with their Dead Island trailer a few weeks ago, the developer is also hard at work on Call of Juarez: The Cartel for Ubisoft. The Cartel brings the Call of Juarez series into the present day with a gangland tale of drugs set amidst the franchise’s familar western trappings.

In fact, the game begins with the creation of a posse (including Ben McCall, a descendant of Ray McCall from the original Call of Juarez) that plans to hunt down the drugrunners that are terrorizing the US.

The third Call of Juarez will include three-player co-op throughout a “deep and gritty storyline” that touches down in Los Angeles, Arizona, New Mexico and Juarez. A variety of missions (including punitive raids, witness protection, undercover stings and car chases) will keep things interesting on the dusty trail along with a “twist” to the co-op that Ubisoft plans to reveal soon. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s a very big hint that one of the law enforcement agents will secretly have been working for the cartel the entire time.

But I don’t know for sure. However, I do know that Ubisoft plans to reveal more about the game’s multiplayer modes in the near future and plans to release Call of Juarez: The Cartel this Summer for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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

Weekly Warp-Up: GDC is A-OK!

Posted on March 6, 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…

Get Warp Zoned!
Mike Gutierrez, Nicole Kline, and Ryan Littlefield are joined by West Coast Editor Adam Woolcott for a lively discussion during Episode 5 of the Warp Zoned Podcast. They discuss what they’re playing, focusing on Killzone 3 and Radiant Historia, as well as the continued discussion of – what else? – Pokemon! They also talk about what’s coming out over the next few weeks, and encourage you to read their article about what they’re excited about.

But what about other gamers? What do they get excited about? We studied the different types of gamers out there in an in-depth report imaginatively titled Gamer Types.

Finally, the Lego Star Wars series will jump to lightspeed back into stores this month after a six-year hiatus. We examined every brick in a hands-on preview of Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.

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

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Posted in News |

Daily Scoop: March 6, 2011 – Special Pokemon edition!

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Pokemon Black and White are out today!! It’s a rainy Sunday morning here in Philadelphia, but all that means is that if you’re using Fire-type Pokemon, their abilities are weakened! This may mean that you decided against choosing Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon, as your starter, but with that little corkscrew tail, how could you resist??? If you haven’t picked up the games yet, Amazon is still offering a $10 bonus for each, and if you are the kind of player who likes strategy guides, the official volume one is only $11.10 on Amazon as well. And don’t forget – you have until April 10th to get the special Psychic- and Fire-type Pokemon Victini!

Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is CTA Digital’s Wii Sports Resort 8-in-1 Sports Pack. This collection of plastic add-ons for your Wiimote is 50% off today at $14.99, so if you don’t have enough junk cluttering your controller area, feel free to add to it today!

To round out this amazing special edition of the Daily Scoop, I have not one, but TWO awesome t-shirts for you. The first one comes from Tee Fury and is for Chocobo lovers of all shapes and sizes:

As far as I’m concerned, it is the perfect t-shirt for a Sunday morning.

The other comes from Ript Apparel, and is a delightful mash-up of games close to the hearts of both the casual and retro gamers:

I hope these clever kids never stop making t-shirts.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Bungie’s next game IS NOT an MMO

Posted on March 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

When Bungie’s David Aldridge revealed that the company was working on an MMO at the Game Developers Conference, it confirmed rumors that have long been swirling around the developer’s New Universe project.

Apparently, he was joking.

Aldridge’s gaffe was compared to a manic Charlie Sheen episode in the latest edition of the Bungie Weekly Update. He thought it would clearly come across as a joke and not like the insane ramblings of a man who’s always looking over his shoulder for Vatican Assassins:

Now, in rehearsal Aldridge was convinced that everybody got the joke. It was all in the delivery, he assured us, and he was certain it was clear that he was playfully riffing off of the recent rumors. Unfortunately, most people can’t figure David out – they can’t process him. And we don’t expect them to. You can’t process David Aldridge with a normal brain. You’d need tiger blood and Adonis DNA.

So Bungie’s New Universe is still a big mystery. Maybe we’ll learn more at E3.

Posted in News | Tagged

New Releases: Dragon Age II, MLB 11: The Show, MLB 2K11, More

Posted on March 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

One of 2011’s biggest releases will be hitting stores this week. Players will be able to return to the magical land of Thedas as BioWare is bringing Dragon Age II to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

If you prefer the smell of peanuts and Crackerjack to the smell of sliced and diced dragon meat, you might want to consider this week’s double play combo of baseball games. 2K Sports will release its multiplatform Major League Baseball 2K11 on the DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 while Sony is bringing its PlayStation-exclusive MLB 11: The Show to the PS2, PS3 and PSP.

Also available this week will be the Dynasty Warriors spinoff Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3, Xbox 360) and a new Sims 3 expansion, The Sims 3: Barnacle Bay (PC).

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break.

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Posted in DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , ,

Warp Zoned Podcast: Episode 5

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Warp Zoned Staff

It’s that time again! Time for Warp Zoned’s bi-weekly podcast, Episode V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. Mike Gutierrez, Nicole Kline, and Ryan Littlefield are joined by West Coast Editor Adam Woolcott for a lively discussion. They discuss what they’re playing, focusing on Killzone 3 and Radiant Historia, as well as the continued discussion of – what else? – Pokemon! They also talk about what’s coming out over the next few weeks, and encourage you to read their article about what they’re excited about. There’s ranting, there’s raving, and even some celebrating on the fifth episode of the Warp Zoned podcast.

Download Episode 5 Now

And be sure to check back in two weeks for Episode 6!

Posted in Podcast, Top Story | Tagged ,

SOCOM 4 multiplayer beta details emerge, new Bomb Squad mode announced

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

It’s the event you may have bought a copy of Killzone 3 just to get in on: the SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals beta has been officially detailed. A new phase will begin every week starting March 15th, when a small private group of individuals contacted by Zipper or Sony will be invited. Next week, PlayStation Plus subscribers will get their chance at the tactical gameplay, followed by owners of beta codes given out with new copies of Killzone 3. On April 5, the beta will be open to all PlayStation Network users. All four phases will be cumulative, so if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can play in the other phases up until the servers are taken down on April 13.

Players will be able to check out two maps (Port Authority and Assault & Battery) while playing in all four game modes: Suppression, Last Defense, Uplink, and the newly announced Bomb Squad. In Bomb Squad, the Spec Ops team escorts a heavily armored, yet indispensable technician from bomb site to bomb site as he attempts to defuse explosives before the Insurgent team can stop him.

This does seem a little cheap – Killzone 3 purchasers getting in on the second to last phase when that was such a big part of the advertising for the game. Not to mention if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber who could’ve gotten into it anyway without a purchase. Chris Roper from Zipper explains the phasing is so they can gradually introduce a greater amount of players in each phase as a lot of people bought Killzone 3. I’m inclined to believe him, and hope the beta works out for the team when SOCOM 4 is released on April 19 for the PlayStation 3.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged ,

Gears of War 3 beta begins on April 18 for Bulletstorm owners, April 25 for GoW3 pre-orders

Posted on March 4, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft and Epic Games have finally released the full beta schedule for Gears of War 3.

Buyers of Bulletstorm will gain access to a preview version of the beta on April 18. This sneak peek of the beta will feature Team Deathmatch mode on four new maps (Thrashball, Checkout, Trenches and Old Town). Trenches and Old Town actually earned their place thanks to winning Epic’s Facebook poll that asked gamers which maps they wanted to play in the beta.

On April 25th, the beta expands to include all gamers that pre-ordered GoW3 from GameStop. The pre-order invite comes with every version of the game: Standard ($59.99 USD), Limited ($79.99) or Epic ($149.99). The expanded beta will run through May 15 and include two additional game modes: Capture the Leader and King of the Hill.

During the beta, players will be able to unlock a host of bonus features as well as exclusive content available in the full version of the game that releases on September 20. Hit the jump for the full list of unlockables.

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Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,