Sonic Team’s new Sonic the Hedgehog game will be announced at Comic-Con and released in 2017

Posted on June 26, 2016 by John Scalzo

Takashi Iizuka, the Head of Sonic Team, confirmed the existence of a brand new Sonic the Hedgehog game a few days ago. Since then, fans have began counting down the days until July 22, as the game is expected to be officially announced during a special 25th Anniversary Party for Sonic at Comic-Con.

Yesterday, during a 25th Anniversary Party for Sonic in Tokyo (and translated by Gematsu), Iizuka confirmed that the next Sonic the Hedgehog game will indeed be unveiled during the Comic-Con event on July 22. The developer also revealed that the game is currently on track for a 2017 release.

Naturally, this news has lead to rampant speculation the next Sonic the Hedgehog game will be a Nintendo NX exclusive… but as of right now, we don’t know anything about which platform, or platforms, its in development for.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Weekly Warp-Up: E3 2016 Aftermath

Posted on June 26, 2016 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 2016 E3 Expo closed up shop last week, but many of gaming’s biggest names were still eager to talk about their upcoming projects.

Nintendo was the most talkative of all as Eiji Aonuma revealed that players can go straight to the final boss in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Shigeru Miyamoto hinted at a Legend of Zelda spinoff game he wants to make starring Sheik.

Elsewhere on the show floor, NetherRealm’s Ed Boon revealed that he still wants to do a fighting game starring “horror icons.” And an executive from Marvel confirmed the comics company has “quite a few” unannounced console games in the works. Finally, Platinum Games and Hideki Kamiya would like to make another Bayonetta game. Maybe Nintendo can help.

Also this week, we reviewed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, and Andrew Rainnie filed another edition of his Kickstart This! column, this time focusing on Transmission, a sci-fi RPG for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One from developer Paper Unicorn.

More news from the past seven days can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News |

New Retail Releases: Lego Star Wars: Force Awakens, Star Ocean 5, Grand Kingdom, More

Posted on June 26, 2016 by John Scalzo

newreleases062616

We’re closing out the month of June with a big batch of new releases…

The biggest is most definitely the game with the planet-sized laser gun, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which will be available this week for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Players will be able to relive all the action from the 2015 space opera, as well as “New Adventures” that fill in details you may have been wondering about. (Just how did C-3PO get that red arm?).

A pair of RPGs will also be available this week to fans of the genre busy for a long time. Square Enix will launch the fifth game in the Star Ocean franchise, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, exclusively for the PS4, while NIS America has strategized a plan to release tactical RPG Grand Kingdom for the PS4 and Vita.

Players looking for something a bit off the beaten path may want to explore Zero Time Dilemma, the third and final entry in the Zero Escape franchise. The adventure game will be released for the 3DS, PC, and Vita, and takes place between the events of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward.

Finally this week, Wii U owners will finally get the chance to try out Terraria, the side-scrolling crafting and exploration title from Re-Logic.

A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , ,

MachineGames created a new episode for Quake and John Romero shared an historical FAQ on the game’s 20th anniversary

Posted on June 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

quakeIt’s a good week for video game anniversaries.

Sonic the Hedgehog grabbed the silver ring yesterday, marking 25 years since his North American debut on the Sega Genesis. But nostalgia-minded gamer also stared down the barrel of Quake‘s 20th anniversary this week, and everyone seems like they’re doing something to celebrate.

The revelers include the developers at MachineGames, one of Bethesda’s internal studios and the team behind Wolfenstein: The New Order, who wowed fans by creating a brand new episode for Quake in honor of the game’s anniversary. They shared the free download on Twitter this morning, while also congratulating id Software, Quake’s developer…

Meanwhile, designer John Romero was also in a celebratory mood on Wednesday. He shared some early screenshots from Quake on his official blog, along with a fascinating pre-release FAQ that explored the game’s origins as a fantasy game that would’ve starred a god-like warrior who wields Thor’s Hammer.

Yeah… Once upon a time, Quake was a very different game.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Daily Scoop: June 24, 2016 – “Art Mewveau” is amazing

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Nicole Kline

I can’t just shake whatever sickness I picked up at E3 and Origins, so today I tried to relax and get better. Mostly I just watched terrible television, played video games, and tried to remember to feed myself. All in all, it wasn’t bad.

I was impressed that I didn’t buy any of the slew of games that are currently on sale, to be honest! The Humble Store has some sweet deals right now, including Pony Island for $2.99, early access to The Ship: Remastered for $6.79, Catlateral Damage for $4.99, and Dead by Daylight for $17.99.

And, of course, the intense Steam Summer Sale is in full swing as well. Hover Junkers is $24.49, Left 4 Dead 2 is $3.99, and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is $8.99, among scores of others.

Hit the jump to see today’s t-shirts!

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 approved by Korean Game Rating Committee

Posted on June 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

pacmancedx-header

The South Korea Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) has approved a rating of “Everyone” for Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, the heretofore unannounced third entry in the series.

Designed by Toru Iwatani, and released for the Xbox 360 in 2007, the first game in the Pac-Man Championship Edition series rejuvenated the iconic character by adding a neon-infused visual style and a rocket-propelled increase in speed. It was followed by Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, a sequel with additional mazes and game modes, in 2010.

If the GRAC listing is legitimate, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One at Bandai Namco. Unfortunately, there’s no release date information as of yet, but fans were warned they’ll need to “avoid the ghosts in the maze” to find success in the third game in the series. So we know it won’t stray too far from Pac-Man’s familiar formula.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Heart & Slash, Kung-Fu For Kinect, Monochroma

Posted on June 24, 2016 by John Scalzo

xboxgamesstore-logoThree new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store today…

Heart & Slash is a robotic love story that also doubles as a 3D brawler with roguelike elements. The levels are randomly generated and the deaths are permanent, but hopefully you can find time for romance too. Meanwhile, Monochroma is a “cinematic” puzzle platformer that takes place in a… surprise… monochromatic industrial world.

Finally this week, Kinect fans will be able to download Kung-Fu For Kinect, a game that transforms players into superheroes who can “leap through the air, conjure lightning and shoot flaming arrows.”

More details on all three games can be found after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News, Xbox One |

Droid Character Pack is exclusive to PS4 and PS3… but everyone can watch this Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Character Trailer

Posted on June 23, 2016 by John Scalzo

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available in stores starting next week, so you’d be forgiven for assuming there wouldn’t be any more Character Trailers for the game. But Sony has surprised us with another one, this time focusing on the PlayStation-exclusive Droid Character Pack.

Available as a free downloadable bonus on launch day for the PS4 and PS3, the Droid Character Pack will include plenty of familiar faces. Here’s what Jamie Eden, the Game Director at TT Games, had to say about it on the PlayStation Blog:

The Droids have always been some of my favorite characters in Star Wars films. Even though they’re machines, they still seem to have more personality and charm than a lot of humans do! Which is why it’s really exciting to be able to give players a pack that features these awesome characters. To show you what I mean, we’re here to reveal our latest vignette detailing this exciting content.

Some of the franchise’s most memorable droids have made the cut including R5-D4 (the astromech droid Luke buys before R2-D2 in Star Wars), IG-88 (the bounty hunter droid from The Empire Strikes Back), General Grievous, and more. Your droids will also be able to go looking for trouble in two additional vehicles.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on June 28. In addition to the PS4 and PS3, the game will also be available for the 3DS, PC, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Posted in News, PS3, PS4 | Tagged