Weekly Warp-Up: Countdown to Fall 2015 Edition

Posted on September 6, 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…

It’s coming. The Fall gaming rush is almost upon (or already is, depending upon your game of choice) and the old Weekly Warp-Up things is definitely about to pick up. But first, we’ve got a little housekeeping to get done, including an overview of The Games of September 2015. The Warp Zoned staff also got together to talk about What We Played in August 2015 and it was a hoot. Also, I promise I’ll try to stop saying “hoot.”

Also this week, we sat down with Bendik Stang of Snowcastle Games and talked to him about Earthlock: Festival of Magic. The turn-based RPG should be available this Fall and Stang is incredibly excited about its impending release.

For even more reasons to be excited about gaming this Fall, I recommend you read the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up after the break.

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Posted in News |

New Releases: Super Mario Maker, Tearaway Unfolded, Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX, More

Posted on September 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Nintendo is finally ready to let fans unleash their inner Miyamoto this week with the release of Super Mario Maker for the Wii U. The course creator will let players design and upload a neverending stream of Mario levels, along with being able to play the dozens of courses already on the disc. Players will even have the ability to bring characters like Link and Samus Aran into a Mario game for the first time through an Amiibo tap or by unlocking the character through the Challenge Mode. Super Mario Maker may be the last video game we ever need.

However, if the idea of Super Mario Maker as the last video game you’ll ever play isn’t appealing, there are a few other new releases this week. Chief among them is Tearaway Unfolded, Media Molecule’s PS4 adaptation of their puzzle platformer, which was originally released for the Vita in 2013. Players can jump back into Atoi’s papercraft world to solve puzzles using the unique features of the DualShock 4 such as illuminating a dark room with the Light Bar or whipping up a windy storm with the controller’s built-in motion sensor.

Finally this week, we have a pair of brand new 3DS games… Sega plans to release Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX, an idol/maker/rhythm game, for the handheld. Meanwhile, Jeff Foxworthy will host another interactive adaptation of his game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Wii U | Tagged ,

CoD: Advanced Warfare’s Reckoning Pack is now available on the PC, PS3, PS4

Posted on September 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare owners on the PC, PS3, and PS4 will finally get their chance to try out the game’s final downloadable expansion as the Reckoning Pack is now available on non-Xbox platforms. With the Reckoning Pack, Activision and Sledgehammer Games added four more competitive multiplayer maps to Advanced Warfare:

  • Overload: Enjoy the grand view of downtown New Baghdad from this exotic compound, complete with fountains, gardens and decorative plasma lamps. The map’s multiple levels and long perimeter site-lines highlight medium to long-range combat, and firing a shot at the lamps will send enemies flying in a burst of energy.
  • Quarantine: Following a deadly viral outbreak, the island has been converted into a biological testing center. This medium sized map’s tight corners dial up the speed and open areas combine to allow for any style of gameplay. Activate the map-based scorestreak to unleash a devastating ship-fired missile strike.
  • Fracture: Discover what secrets are locked in the ice in this arctic excavation site. Take refuge behind wind turbines and heavy equipment through large combat areas cradled on the shelf of a glacier. Stay alert as the timed event cracks the ice sheet, sending one lane sinking to the depths.
  • Swarm: Reconstruction is underway in Seoul, South Korea, congesting narrow corridors of this small to medium sized map with vehicles and equipment. Take position in war-scarred storefronts that provide plenty of cover over the streets or flank the enemy through close quarter interiors in the center of the map.

The Reckoning Pack also includes “Descent,” the final chapter in the Exo Zombies co-op campaign. John Malkovich’s Oz has risen from the dead to do battle with Bill Paxton, Bruce Campbell, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal as they escape from the Atlas aircraft carrier.

This is the last time PlayStation players will be forced to wait for their Call of Duty add-ons. Beginning this Fall, PS4 and PS3 players will receive access to every downloadable expansion for Call of Duty: Black Ops III a month earlier than their Xbox counterparts.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4 | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Evolve Free Weekend, Rugby World Cup 2015, Super Toy Cars, more

Posted on September 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Evolve didn’t quite land with the blockbuster boom that Turtle Rock had hoped for, but it has sold almost three million copies and a lot of people seem to enjoy it. Publisher 2K Games is hoping to increase that number this weekend with a special “Free Weekend” promotion for the game, which kicks off today at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time), on the Xbox One and PC. Best of all, players will get the chance to battle alien monsters for an extra day as the promotion doesn’t end until Tuesday, September 8 at 3:00 AM.

If you enjoy your time with Evolve, you might also like to know that it’ll receive a temporary price drop next week as part of Microsoft’s Deals With Gold.

Elsewhere on the Xbox Games Store today, owners of Microsoft’s consoles will get the chance to dive into a scrum in Rugby World Cup 2015 on the Xbox One or Xbox 360. Also available on the Xbox 360 is an overhead shooter from Moss known as strong>Caladrius.

And if you’re looking for Xbox One exclusives, today marks the release of Super Toy Cars, a “tabletop arcade combat racing game” featuring penny racers; Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse, a murder mystery set within a Paris gallery; Quest of Dungeons, a procedurally-generated turn-based roguelike; and Nightmares From the Deep: The Cursed Heart, a “classic adventure game” about undying love.

More information about all of these games can be found after the break.

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

Daily Scoop: September 4, 2015 – New PSN Plus games are great!

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Nicole Kline

Anthony and I downloaded the new PS+ games last night and had a blast playing them! I especially love Xeodrifter, which is outrageously difficult and fun. Check them out if you have Plus!

There are lots of amazing sales happening at the Humble Store! Hotline Miami 2 is $10.04, Tabletop Simulator is $11.99, and Starwhal is $4.07. Oh, and there’s important news: Fez is $1.99. I repeat, Fez is $1.99! You should definitely buy that game immediately.

Over at Steam, the Weekend Deal is early access to Killing Floor 2, which you can play free or buy for $19.99. If you want more, you can get the Digital Deluxe Edition for $26.66, or a six pack for $99.97. No new Daily Deal, but in the “under $10” section, I saw a favorite: Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition. You can get it for just $7.50.

There are some great shirts today! Hit the jump to check them out.

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

“Interim” patch for PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight is now available

Posted on September 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

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As promised, WB Games has finally released an “interim” patch for the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. Additional work still needs to be done to get the game up to snuff, but the patch provides major fixes and improvements to the game:

  • Reduced frame rate hitches
  • Optimizations for system memory and VRAM usage
  • Improved performance on all GPUs (requires the latest drivers)
  • More Comprehensive In-Game Settings
  • Fixed low resolution texture bugs
  • Fixed hitches when running on mechanical hard drives (HDD)

More patches for Batman: Arkham Knight are still in the works at developer Rocksteady. The team posted their current to-do list for the next patch, which hopefully should be available soon:

  • Adding support for SLI and Crossfire
  • Adding support for the latest DLC and Season Pass content
  • Adding support for additional updates such as Photo Mode
  • Continued improvements and bug fixing for a Windows 7-specific memory issue that occurs on configurations with 8GB of system RAM and some Nvidia GPUs during extended game play
  • Continued improvements for Windows 10-specific issues on systems with some AMD GPUs

WB Games suspended sales of Arkham Knight’s PC edition just a few days after the game’s June 23 launch. As of today, the game still isn’t available for purchase through Steam or other digital storefronts. Hopefully, this latest patch works the way its supposed to and that changes in the very near future.

[Source: WB Games Community Forums]

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Here’s the first trailer for The Gamechangers, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of GTA

Posted on September 3, 2015 by John Scalzo

Embedded above is the first trailer for The Gamechangers, a made-for-TV movie that’s set to depict Rockstar’s rise and the development of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as Sam Houser, the movie will also showcase the developer’s legal battle with the dreaded, and now disbarred, Jack Thompson (played here by Bill Paxton). Scheduled to air in the UK on BBC Two on September 15, the film’s plot description seems to play a bit fast and loose with the truth:

[T]he game’s violent gameplay leads to fierce opposition: from parents worried about its impact on children; from politicians, fearful of its influence; and, above all, from campaigners fighting to prevent the game being played by minors.

At the vanguard of this crusade is the formidable Christian lawyer Jack Thompson, a man determined to do whatever he can to stop the relentless rise of the game and its influence on children. The Gamechangers tells the story of how British game designers pushed boundaries into uncharted territory, of how those fighting GTA became consumed by a battle which overwhelmed their lives, and how the subsequent fallout threatened to bring down leading players on both sides.

While I suppose that all of that is technically accurate, it gives Thompson a much bigger role than he had in the real-life tale. However, I’ve got my fingers crossed that the film ends with Harry Potter yelling “Game over, man!” at Hudson after his courtroom defeat.

Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro | Tagged , ,

Nintendo Download: Vs. Excitebike, Gunman Clive HD Collection, Mario Golf, more

Posted on September 3, 2015 by John Scalzo

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A small handful of new games are now available through the Nintendo eShop as part of this week’s Nintendo Download and fans of retro games will definitely want to pay attention as most of this week’s new releases have a throwback aesthetic. Though, to be fair, some of them are just old:

  • Available on the Wii U for the first time, the Gunman Clive HD Collection combines the two 3DS side-scrolling shooters into a single package of bandit, robot, and dinosaur hunting.
  • Vs. Excitebike added splitscreen multiplayer to the Excitebike franchise when it originally launched on the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Never before released in the US, Vs. Excitebike is now available for the Wii U.
  • Mario Golf was originally released for the Nintendo 64 and was the first Mario Golf game developed by Camelot. Fans have always loved the first game in the series and its now available to download on the Wii U.
  • Finally this week, Jeff Foxworthy brings his throwback comedy to the 3DS with a portable adaptation of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Look at that… everything fits the theme this week.

More information on all of these games can be found after the break.

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Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U |