Knights Contract goes gold, coming 2/22/11

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Announced back in May, Namco Bandai’s take on medieval Europe, Knights Contract, is finished and will be releasing on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 22nd. This action-adventure title takes place in an alternate 17th century, focusing on Heinrich, an immortal executioner, and Gretchen, a witch he killed who now has him under contract to defeat the maniacal Dr. Faust (awesome reference), the one who ordered her death. Players will need to utilize Heinrich’s scythe and Gretchen’s magic simultaneously to overcome their enemies and restore order to the land. I personally don’t know much about the game, but the art style looks fantastic and if the gameplay realizes its potential, it could be a nice little hit for Namco.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 |

New Federal legislation on the horizon for violent video game warning label

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Representative Joe Baca of California reintroduced his failed game warning label bill from 2009 into the House of Representatives yesterday. The bill, identical to its past incarnation, suggests mandating that all games rated T for Teen and higher to display a label stating “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.” The original never resurfaced once it was sent to a sub-committee.

While the recent Supreme Court hearing on California’s violent video game law certainly stirred up many gamers, this particular legislation appears to have had little weight since its inception. Certainly the message that violent video games are correlated to aggressive behavior is horribly misleading, at least as a matter of academic consensus.

Posted in News |

Latest CoD: Black Ops “First Strike” trailer features zombies

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ladies and gentlemen, hide your brains, the latest trailer for the Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” DLC includes the first look at the Zombies Mode-exclusive “Ascension” map. This map definitely has it all:

  • Running zombies…
  • Crawling zombies…
  • Moaning zombies…
  • A flying platform like M. Bison had in the Street Fighter movie!?!!??!!! AWESOME!

See, told you it had it all. The First Strike map pack will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on February 1st for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). Details on the PC and PS3 release are still being kept in a top secret location by Activision.

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PlayStation Store Update for 1/25/11

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If for some reason you’re a deranged rail shooter fanatic who has no interest at all in buying Dead Space 2, Dead Space: Extraction in High Def glory is now available for you on the PlayStation Store. Most of us will probably just stop by to check out the Bulletstorm demo.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News, PS3, PSP |

MAG’s 256-player extravaganza turns 1

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Zipper Interactive’s innovative First Person Shooter is reaching its first birthday and we’re all invited to the party. Starting tomorrow, January 26th, through January 30th, MAG will be hosting 256% in-game queue and “Happy Hour” bonuses, and both Domination and Acquisition game modes will have faction-neutral maps, meaning that the defenders on those maps will not necessarily be the local faction. Also in the community spirit, Zippers QA team will be online from 10am-5pm Pacific Time for a “Play Live with Zipper” event when it all kicks off tomorrow, January 26th.

MAG received positive reviews, boasting incredible map design, deep customization, and having achieved a 256-player game that actually works. The problem is mainstream shooter fans were turned away by the overall lack of visual polish in graphics and animation. The ones who stayed were never given instructions on how to utilize the command structure, and the game rarely played out how it was supposed to, as squad leaders who knew what they were doing were a rare commodity. The game is a mixed bag with only a small dedicated community left. You can expect our thoughts on MAG one year later in the coming days here at Warp Zoned.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Champions Online: Free For All launches today

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Another MMO has been bit by the free to play bug today, as Atari. and Cryptic Studios release the Champions Online: Free For All update for their lauded MMO title. Essentially, the game itself is intact and free, but things like Adventure packs, items, powers, and costume pieces can be bought from the in-game or web-based C-Store. Existing players can continue, and new players can opt into, regular subscriptions as Gold Members for $14.99 a month with “most” of the game’s content as well as some extra features.

Lord of the Rings Online went free to play a few months ago and the team members have boasted extremely positive results with the new business model. With no credit card needed, and the entire game world open to you, there’s really no reason for any MMO enthusiast to shy away from this one.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies Soundtrack available now

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Say what you want about Call of Duty: Black Ops, but the game has a great soundtrack. So great that Activision has released a soundtrack of songs from the Zombies Mode on Amazon, iTunes,the Zune Marketplace and other digital retailers.

Titled Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies Soundtrack, the album includes 17 tracks of undead-themed tunes. Each track can be downloaded separately for 99 cents each with the whole album priced at $11.99.

Thirty-second samples of each track are available at Amazon.

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Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime calls in March 23 release, new trailer

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

When there’s something strange in the neighborhood… Who you gonna call? WARP ZONE-ED!

I know, I know, it doesn’t exactly fit the rhyme scheme.

But that’s OK, because you can check out the new trailer for Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime and see how the real ghost chasers do it. No location is too scary… whether it’s inside a building, on city streets, in underground sewers or at the graveyard, the Ghostbusters bust ghosts because bustin’ makes me feel good.

You know what else makes me feel good? Knowing the game’s release date. According to a Tweet by publisher Atari, the game will be available to download on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on March 23. A PC release is also planned, but no date was listed.

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