|
    
|
The month of February was a cold one, but at least we had our games to keep us nice and warm! We all did a little bit of dipping into our various backlogs, trying to get some gaming done before so many other games we’re looking forward to hit the shelves. Hit the jump to see what games we were playing here at Warp Zoned in February!
Press Start to Continue
One of the rare delights of following projects on Kickstarter is when you spot someone trying to build something in your own town or city, be it a video game, an album, a film, or, in this case, a bar. There is an instant, and intimate, connection of homegrown pride and creative curiosity. That’s especially true after Super Bario popped up on my radar late in its campaign.
For my sins, I never contributed to Super Bario when the project was live, despite my love of both video games and tasty craft beer. The arcade bar occupies a small space on King Street in Glasgow, Scotland, in an area teeming with art and creative spirit. It backs onto the Tron Theatre, while directly opposite there is Trongate 103, home to Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level Photography, and the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre.
I have now become a patron of the bar, and try to pop in when I can, enticing friends who love video games, or those who remember being a kid standing before that monolith of entertainment… a cabinet of wood and a CRT display flickering sprites into our awestruck eyes.
Super Bario has proven to be a great success, a space for gamers to chill and enjoy a drink while sucking in the sweet smell of nostalgia. Amidst the craziness, I managed to chat with co-owner Shaun Murawski, who along with Scott McLauchlan and George Black, conceived of the arcade bar back in 2015, and fought hard to make it a reality with the backing of 166 donors.
Press Start to Continue
A trio of new games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store…
InXile Entertainment was the beneficiary of one of the biggest Kickstarter campaigns ever when they first began developing Torment: Tides of Numenera, but now their spiritual successor to the beloved Planescape: Torment is ready for release on the Xbox One. Taking place a billion years in the future, the RPG asks players to explore a “extinct, hyper-advanced civilizations” as they seek the answer to life’s ultimate question.
A slightly less heady story is at the center of A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV, a retro-styled brawler set 30 years before the events of Final Fantasy XV. A King’s Tale is now available to download on the Xbox One for free, and this bedtime story stars King Regis as he battles monsters in a mysterious cave.
Finally today, Ghost Blade HD is a “bullet hell” shooter that was originally released for the Dreamcast in 2015. Redesigned for the Xbox One with a “modern graphic style and special effects,” the game also feature a two-player mode and “addictive score-based gameplay.”
You can learn more about all of these games after the break.
Press Start to Continue
One of the games I had on my birthday wishlist, Tearaway Unfolded, will be available for free next month through PlayStation Plus! I’m super excited to finally get to play it. There’s also Disc Jam, Under Night: In-Birth, Earth Defense Force 2025, Lumo, and Severed. Check out the PlayStation Blog for the full details!
There are some great sales happening at the Humble Store. Life Is Feudal: Your Own is $23.99, Shovel Knight is $10.04, and the Daily Deal is Blood Bowl 2, which is on sale for $11.24.
Over at Steam, the Midweek Madness is Hotline Miami 2. You can get the game alone for $3.74, or get the Digital Special Edition for $4.99. The Daily Deal is the Wargame Franchise Pack, which includes Wargame: Airland Battle, Wargame: European Escalation, and Wargame: Red Dragon for $14.99.
There are some great shirts today. Hit the jump to see them all!
Press Start to Continue
Click to Enlarge
Ubisoft compiled several other staggering statistical records in the infographic embedded to your right. Beta participants played more than two billion minutes of Wildlands, and over 60% of players teamed up with their friends to test out four-player co-op for the first time in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands takes place in a future narco-state version of Bolivia, overrun by the Santa Blanca drug cartel. Players must eliminate the drug cartel using deadly force and a combination of playstyles, including four-player co-op or solo play… both of which were playable during the Beta phase. However, Beta participants only scratched the surface of the game, as the Closed and Open Beta allowed players to only explore two of the 21 provinces in the game (Itacua and Montuyoc).
Participants of the Closed Beta, Open Beta, and Technical Test will all be treated to the Unidad Conspiracy Pack. The Unidad Conspiracy Pack will feature three exclusive missions, which will be located in the Media Luna region. Players will also receive one of the Unidad Strongholds. The Unidad Conspiracy Pack will be available for download post launch.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands goes on sale on March 7, 2017 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The 2017 Game Developers Conference is in full swing, and Microsoft is promoting their upcoming ID@Xbox lineup in a special area known as the Xbox Lobby Bar. While taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the convention, attendees will be able to play more than 20 games that’ll soon be available for the Xbox One and Windows 10.
The ID@Xbox display at GDC 2017 includes newly-announced titles from Cellar Door Games (Full Metal Furies), Lazy Bears Games (Graveyard Keeper), and Wizard Fu (Songbringer), as well as highly-anticipated games like Cities: Skylines, Tacoma, The Church in Darkness, and Mages of Mystralia.
You can learn more about Microsoft’s presence at GDC 2017 at the Xbox Wire, and you can find the complete list of games playable at the Xbox Lobby Bar after the break.
Press Start to Continue
Capcom just announced that Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will be released for the Nintendo Switch on May 26.
Like 2008’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, The Final Challengers gives players the option to use the fighting game’s original 16-bit graphics or redesigned high definition sprites from Udon Entertainment. Players will also be able to select two new characters (Evil Ryu and Violent Ken), and compete in the first-person “Way of the Hado” mode using the Joy-Con Controllers.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers for the Nintendo Switch releases on 5/26 for $39.99! For more info, : https://t.co/xFiWQBxCRZ pic.twitter.com/1vRli6VrLK
— Street Fighter (@StreetFighter) March 1, 2017
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will be priced at $39.99.
It’s time to venture into a new kind of post-apocalyptic world as Sony and Guerrilla Games will release Horizon: Zero Dawn exclusively for the PS4 this week. Now available to download from the PlayStation Store, join Aloy as she explores an Earth that has left humanity behind. Between the robotic wildlife that roam the remnants of the world and the tribal warfare that threatens to snuff out the last of mankind, there are sure to be many secrets to discover in Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Several other epic adventures are available to download this week through the PlayStation Store, including Torment: Tides of Numenera, a sci-fi RPG for the PS4. Built from the ground up as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, Tides of Numenera takes place one billion years in the future and asks players to explore a world “built on the bones of extinct, hyper-advanced civilizations.”
Also available this week is Suikoden IV, an RPG that was originally released for the PS2 in 2004. PS3 owners can now purchase Suikoden IV as part of the PS2 Classics program, and discover the origins of the Rune of Punishment.
Finally this week, Square Enix will give PS4 owners the chance to download A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV for free. Previously available as a pre-order bonus for Final Fantasy XV, A King’s Tale is a retro-styled 2D brawler that takes place 30 years before the events of the main game.
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break.
Press Start to Continue
Video Game Canon
Video Game Research Library