Weekly Warp-Up: Say Goodbye to 2015 Edition

Posted on December 27, 2015 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…

We’re about to wrap up 2015 and, as usual, the vast majority of the video game industry has taken the week off. But there’s still a few new things to talk about, and our own Andrew Rainnie even filed another entry in his Kickstart This! series. If you’ve got some extra Christmas cash lying around, Andrew suggests funneling it towards Deserted, Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, and Night City Assault.

Or you could read up on the games news from the rest of the week, which is available after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News |

GalaxyTrail officially announces Freedom Planet 2

Posted on December 26, 2015 by John Scalzo

GalaxyTrail has announced that they will continue the story of their Genesis-inspired platformer, Freedom Planet, in the upcoming Freedom Planet 2. The scoop on the sequel comes to us via the game’s recently launched official website, which delves a bit into Freedom Planet 2’s story:

An ancient terror has emerged from the depths of the ocean. Merga, a water dragon from Avalice’s oldest and deadliest war, has been freed from her crystal prison as a consequence of the Kingdom Stone’s destruction. Through her acts of vengeance, she holds a dark and terrible truth about Avalice’s leaders that will change the history of the three kingdoms forever.

War is imminent once again, but this time, the heroes are split between sides. As friendships are tested, will the girls stand united when Bakunawa rises?

Main characters Lilac, Carol, and Milla will all return in Freedom Planet 2, which will also feature a redesigned art style, a difficulty modifying system that lets you “change the rules of the game temporarily to make certain stages easier or harder,” and several new special items including a shield block and a quick revival after losing a life.

Executive Producer Stephen DiDuro said these changes will help make Freedom Planet 2 stand on its own: “The original Freedom Planet was modeled as a tribute to Sega Genesis platform games. We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, what’s fun and what’s frustrating, what we should expand on and what we can afford to lose. With all of this in mind, we feel that we are ready to bid farewell to nostalgia and create a sequel that will define Freedom Planet’s identity as a franchise.”

Freedom Planet 2 will be released for PC platforms in mid-2017, with a plan to bring it to Nintendo platforms (the Wii U or, more likely, the NX) sometime after that.

Posted in News, PC, Switch, Wii U | Tagged

Nintendo Download: Super Mario Galaxy

Posted on December 24, 2015 by John Scalzo

nintendoeshop-header

A portly man in red is going to spend tonight flying across the sky on your Wii U… and I’m not talking about St. Nick. One of Mario’s greatest adventures, Super Mario Galaxy, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop.

According to Nintendo, the Virtual Console re-release of the Wii hit is the only new game scheduled to be released as part of today’s Nintendo Download. But if you’re somehow unfamiliar with Super Mario Galaxy, you can learn more about it right here:

Wii U eShop

Super Mario Galaxy – Become Mario as he traverses gravity-bending galaxies, traveling in and out of gravitational fields by blasting from planet to planet. Control Mario with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers, power up to reach inaccessible areas and collect Star Bits to either stun enemies or feed Lumas in this Wii classic – now available from the Virtual Console service on the Wii U console!

However, Nintendo is making up for the lack of new releases with a ton of eShop sales including Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight and a slew of Capcom games.

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged

It’s not a Festivus Miracle! Naughty Dog delays release of Uncharted 4 to April 26, 2016

Posted on December 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

uncharted4-header

On this joyous Festivus night, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley will begin with the Airing of Grievances. The developers have a lot of problems with adventurer Nathan Drake and they’ve announced plans to delay his upcoming game, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Druckmann and Straley confirmed the news be writing the following on the PlayStation Blog:

This is our largest Uncharted game to date, and the team has been working incredibly hard to meet the challenge of closing out the game’s development in a timely manner. However, as we approached our final deadlines and started wrapping up the game’s levels, we realized that several key sequences needed extra resources to bring them to the finish line. After carefully considering all of our options, we decided to extend our schedule, making sure that we get a few more polish passes before submitting our gold master (the final disc for manufacturing).

Previously set to launch on March 18, Naughty Dog “needs a bit more time to finish the game so that it meets [their] standards and vision.” Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will now launch exclusively for the PS4 on April 26, 2016.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: December 23, 2015 – Last day for SPORTS!

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Nicole Kline

It’s almost Christmas, which is exciting for me, because it means that’s when my time off from my day job begins. Hooray! I’m super excited to have a vacation where I just play games. Well, I’ll be doing a lot of work, too, but… games. And pajamas. And sleep! And cookies. But also games.

Speaking of games, you have less than a day left to get the Humble Weekly Bundle, which is just called SPORTS! Pay what you want for Max Gentleman (with the Triple DLC Pack), Qvadriga, and OlliOlli. Beat the average to get WRC4, Vertiginous Golf, and one of my all-time favorites, Sportsfriends. Pay $10 or more to unlock OOTP Baseball 16.

The Steam sale is still going strong, of course. Get South Park: The Stick of Truth for $7.49, Portal 2 for $3.99, and Dishonored for $4.99, along with tons of franchise sales, including Warhammer, Arma, and Dirt.

Some good t-shirts today!

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Daily Scoop |

Xbox Store Today: Minecraft Story Mode Episode 4, Frizzy

Posted on December 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

minecraftstorymode-header

Two new titles are available to download today through the Xbox Games Store…

  • Telltale is releasing their fourth, and second-to-last, episode in their Minecraft: Story Mode adaptation. The End will be reached in 2016, but for now, you can experience the penultimate episode on the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
  • Also available today is Frizzy, a platformer for the Xbox One that features a retro art style from the 90s.

More information on both games can be found right here:

Xbox One Games

Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place ($4.99)
As Jesse, you’ll embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion.

Frizzy ($7.99)
Frizzy is a tiny ball of dirt and fur. Within this late 90’s retro art style setting, the player must solve puzzles while simultaneously moving in an intense platforming environment utilizing gravity and sandbox mechanics. Frizzy can static cling to special objects called balloons, which fling Frizzy around each level.

Xbox 360 Games

Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place ($4.99)
As Jesse, you’ll embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion.

Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Minecraft: Story Mode Ep4, Trine 3, more added to PS Store

Posted on December 23, 2015 by John Scalzo

legendofheroestrailsofcoldsteel-header

With just two days to go before Christmas, Sony is gifting PlayStation owners with a massive new PlayStation Store update this week. PS4, PS3, and PS Vita players will be able to purchase…

  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PS3, Vita) – XSEED Games and Falcom have finally brought the RPG to the North American market, more than two years after its Japanese debut.
  • Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 4: A Block and A Hard Place (PS4, PS3) – The penultimate episode of Telltale’s Patton Oswalt-starring Minecraft story is now available.
  • Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power (PS4) – Frozenbyte’s latest puzzle platformer comes to consoles for the first time.

More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And don’t forget to visit the PlayStation Blog for a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: December 22, 2015 – So many games on sale!

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Nicole Kline

It’s that time of year… when your backlog is about to get even bigger, and your digital backlog is so embarrassing that you don’t even want to look at it. But you have to acknowledge it, because it’s time for the massive Steam Winter Sale!

There are some crazy sales there, like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for $40.19, Spelunky for $3.74, Killer Is Dead – Nightmare Edition for $3.99, and indie darling Undertale for $7.99. They’re also having huge sales on the franchies for The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher, and Devil May Cry.

There’s also a shiny new bundle at Humble – the Humble Square Enix Bundle 3! Pay $1 or more for The Last Remnant, Life is Strange Episode 1, Murdered: Soul Suspect, and Tomb Raider I, II, and III. Beat the average to unlock Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Just Cause Collection, Front Mission Evolved, Gyromancer, and Yosumin. Pay $8.99 or more to unlock Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Tomb Raider GOTY Edition, and Hitman Absolution: Elite Edition.

There are no shirts today, but that shouldn’t stop you from shirt-surfing!

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Daily Scoop |