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Zach Gage’s SpellTower+ will be available for iOS devices this week

If you owned a smartphone in 2011, you almost surely played a few rounds of Zach Gage’s SpellTower, a ridiculously-popular word game that took inspiration from both Tetris and Boggle. But now it’s nine years later, and if you’re still playing SpellTower, you’ll be happy to know that the developer is launching a sequel this week.

SpellTower+ will be available as a free download through the iOS App Store this Thursday, January 30, and it’ll include five brand new game modes:

Pick your words wisely! As you play, more tiles rise from the bottom of the screen! It’ll take all of your lexicological wits, and tactical know-how to keep your columns down. If any letters make it to the top row, it’s game over.

Classic modes Daily Tower, Tower, Puzzle, Rush, and Zen are all back and packed with brand new BONUS TILES that double (or more!) word values.

Joining them is the brand new Search Mode, plus ExPuzzle, Double Puzzle, Bubble Puzzle, and Blitz Mode!

The success of the original SpellTower meant a lot to Gage, and he shared some of his thoughts about the massive response to the game on Apple.com.

Posted in Mobile, News | Tagged

Torchlight Frontiers has been rechristened Torchlight III… and it’ll be out this Summer

Torchlight Frontiers was first announced about a year and a half ago, and developer Echtra Games planned to release the title as a free-to-play spinoff in the Action RPG franchise. But after “extensive feedback” from Alpha testers, Echtra has changed course and will instead release Torchlight Frontiers as a numbered sequel.

The game’s move towards a full-fledged sequel means that it’ll now be known as Torchlight III, and Echtra’s Max Schaefer had a few things to say about the switch:

“When we started developing Torchlight Frontiers, we were focused on creating a shared-world experience. During development, you often discover what type of product a game was meant to be and we found Torchlight Frontiers was meant to be a true successor to Torchlight I & II. Based on this and extensive feedback from our Alpha testers, we decided it was time to take the game back to its roots and model it after the classic Torchlight games that ARPG fans have come to love. We’d like to thank our dedicated player base for supporting us and providing such insightful feedback during early development.”

In addition to dropping the free-to-play structure, Echtra has promised that players will be able to “purchase the full game and play however they like (online or off) with access to all playable content.” Torchlight III will also feature “the familiar linear world structure” that fans of the first two games should be familiar with…

Features

  • Travel the Frontier: Players can explore the wilderness, party with friends, gather materials to craft loot, use magical maps to enter unknown dungeons, or show off their spoils in town! There’s always something to do in the new frontier.
  • Build & Upgrade Your Fort: It’s time to rebuild! Players will enjoy their very own account-based fort,where they can upgrade gear, and make renovations to show it off to their friends and the world. The game allows them to build monuments of power, pet stables, and more!
  • Choose a Relic: Relics are objects of great power that grant players a suite of active skills and passive skills. Players can craft them, level them up and store them in their fort. The relic is an important part of a character’s strategy – choose wisely!
  • Pets are Back: Players can fight their way to fame and glory with loyal companions! Each of the many species comes in a myriad of colors and styles so adventurers shouldn’t settle for the first one they find. They can also make these pets stronger by adding skills, equip them with gear to make them hardier, and together battle enemies as a team.
  • Collect Epic Gear: Whether it’s armor, weapons, dyes, recipes, ember cores, or even new pets… there’s always more to find as adventurers battle through dungeons and take on dangerous foes. Every randomly-generated area can be replayed over and over again since each instance brings different items. Those who want even more epic gear can run maps from the Mapworks, or take on a contract to earn Fame and unlock elite items.
  • Build Your Hero: With four classes to choose from, players can utilize class-specific mechanics to maximize damage and their odds of survival. Torchlight III lets them gather epic gear, select your Relic powers, and customize loadouts to create a unique combat style for their heroes.

Torchlight III will be released exclusively for the PC this Summer.

Posted in News, PC |

Descenders will catch air on the PS4 and Switch in 2020

Publisher No More Robots has announced that Descenders, RageSquid’s procedurally-generated downhill biking game, will be released for the PS4 and Switch sometime in 2020. Originally released through Early Access for the PC and Xbox One in 2018, Descenders has received more than a dozen major updates over the last two years, and was upgraded to “Version 1.0” in 2019:

Descenders is extreme downhill freeriding for the modern era, with procedurally generated worlds, and where mistakes have real consequences. Will you lead your team to glory and become the next legendary Descender?

Descenders is a fast-paced extreme downhill biking game that’s easy to pick up, but difficult to master.

In addition to Descenders’s digital debut on the PS4 and Switch, the game will also be available this year as a special Retail Edition thanks to a co-publishing agreement with Sold Out. More information about the Retail Edition will be announced at a later date.

Posted in News, PS4, Switch | Tagged

First Gameplay Trailer for MLB The Show 20 bangs the drum for David Ortiz, John Franco, Gary Sheffield, and Mariano Rivera

The snow is still thick on the ground, but Sony San Diego wants the world to start thinking about Spring.

Earlier today, the developer unveiled the first Gameplay Trailer for MLB The Show 20, which will be released exclusively for the PS4 on March 17. The short video features a quick glimpse at the new Showdown Mode, as well as a montage checking in with some of Major League Baseball’s favorite players, and an introduction to a few never-before-seen Legends (Gary Sheffield, John Franco, David Ortiz, and Mariano Rivera).

The trailer also features a steady percussive accompaniment, a “Banging Scheme” if you will, that I’m sure is just a coincidence.

Sony San Diego will reveal more details and gameplay footage from MLB The Show 20 in a series of Developer Livestreams over the next two months. You can view the schedule for the upcoming streams at the PlayStation Blog.

Posted in News, PS4 | Tagged

Kosmic shaves less than half a second off his Super Mario Bros. “Any Percentage” world record… and then retires

“KosmicD12” has run his last “Any Percentage” speedrun of Super Mario Bros..

The Mario master has set multiple world records over the years, but his most recent feat of crackerjack platforming might just be unbeatable. Using a combination of Warp Zones, glitches, and his own tip-top thumbs, “KosmicD12” completed the game in an astonishing four minutes and 55.646 seconds. He then promptly walked away from any future “Any Percentage” runs:

“This is everything I have ever wanted to accomplish in this speedrun, and even a little bit more. It is still improvable but I am not interested in the ridiculous things required to beat this, so that’s history for someone else to write!”

“KosmicD12” is looking for a new challenge, but he’s still going to keep playing Super Mario Bros. The speedrunner said that he’d like to tackle some of the game’s other speedrunning categories, and you can follow along on his Twitch channel.

Congratulations from all of us at Warp Zoned!

Posted in News, Retro | Tagged

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge animated movie will be released in first half of 2020

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Warner Bros. Animation will release Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, an animated extension of the fighting franchise, sometime during the first half of 2020.

Patrick Seitz will reprise his role as the titular spectre in Scorpion’s Revenge, and he’ll be joined by a few other famous kombatants, including Joel McHale (Community) as Johnny Cage and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) as Sonya Blade. Other voice actors scheduled to appear in the film are Jordan Rodrigues as Liu Kang, Steve Blum as Sub-Zero, Artt Butler as Shang Tsung, Darin De Paul as Quan Chi, Robin Atkin Downes as Kano, David B. Mitchell as Raiden, Ike Amadi as Jax Briggs, and Grey Griffin as Kitana.

Rounding out the cast is prolific voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who provided the intimidating growl of Goro in 1995’s Mortal Kombat film adaptation. He’ll return to the franchise in Scorpion’s Revenge to once again voice the Shokan Prince.

We don’t know which corner of the Mortal Kombat universe that Scorpion’s Revenge will adapt, but it seems likely that it’ll delve into Scorpion’s quest for revenge against Sub-Zero after the cold-hearted ninja murdered his family.

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon is credited as a Creative Consultant on the film, so wherever the plot goes, presumably it’ll have his blessing.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling game of the 2010s

The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella has one more list of best-selling games for us… the best-selling games of the 2010s.

Originally posted on Twitter, the chart was topped by Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, but the majority of the list was dominated by Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. Seven of the ten slots were claimed by the shooter series, leaving only two remaining places for Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 (#7) and Mojang’s Minecraft (#10):

Best-Selling Games in 2010-2019
1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
6. Call of Duty: Ghosts
7. Red Dead Redemption 2
8. Call of Duty: WWII
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
10. Minecraft****

** All Digital Sales Not Included
****Digital Sales on PC Not Included

While the Call of Duty franchise remains a perennial presence on the sales charts, there’s no guarantee it’ll have the same impact on the 2020s. After all, the best-selling game from 2000-2009 was Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

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

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the best-selling game of 2019

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has dominated the sales charts throughout October, November, and December. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella declared it the best-selling game for all of 2019 as well (via Twitter). But many of this year’s biggest titles managed to crash their way into the Top Ten.

A few yearly sports updates, NBA 2K20 and Madden NFL 20, finished just behind Activision’s shooter. Another franchise FPS, Borderlands 3, slid in at #4. And rounding out the Top Five was NetherRealm’s blood-spattered sequel, Mortal Kombat 11.

The lower half of the Top Ten gave us a few games we’ve seen before, as 2018’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate meleed its way to the #7 slot, while 2017’s Mario Kart 8 shifted into the #10 slot. In between, you could find Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (#6), Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts III (#8), and Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (#9).

While none of Nintendo’s new releases made the list, the consolemaker was responsible for the two most-successful pieces of hardware in 2019. The Switch was the best-selling hardware platform of the year, while the Switch Pro Controller was the best-selling accessory.

You can view the full list of 2019’s best-selling games in handy list format after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox One | Tagged ,