Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Mobile
Kickstart This! Soul Keepers, XO, The Wizards of Trinity Bellwoods
It’s been a hair over three years since we published the first edition of Kickstart This! here at Warp Zoned. In anticipation of the July 30th anniversary, we got in contact with many of the developers behind the campaigns we highlighted in these last three years. We figured now was a good time to find out what happened to the successful developers and if the failed campaigns were able evolve into something else (or were simply never meant to be). So look out for a wide array of features and articles coming in August.
But before that birthday bash, let us turn our attentions to three fantastic new games vying for your cash. This time we have haunting action RPG Soul Keepers, space RTS XO, and lastly, the quirky Toronto-based The Wizards of Trinity Bellwoods.
Let’s keep those hipsters at bay! Um, that will make more sense later (more…)
It’s Always Blocky in Minecraft… because Rob McElhenney is directing the movie
Have you heard? Word on the Internet is that there’s going to be a Minecraft movie coming out… sometime. There’s really no information on it just yet. But here’s one thing we do know, the director of the film has been announced to be It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Rob McElhenney.
McElhenney has mad credits on Sunny for creating, writing, producing, directing, and starring as Ronald “Mac” McDonald… not to mention snagging colleague and funny lady Kaitlin Olson. The announcement was made in a succinct blog post from Mojang, which offered no other information about the project. While McElhenney’s ascension to the position remains a temporarily confusing but delightful mystery, we have noticed some fun similarities between Minecraft and several recurring Sunny characters.
Minecraft aficionados will certainly remember the Creepers, which are very reminiscent of the infamous Green Man (Charlie Day’s Charlie, high out of his mind, in a full-body green spandex suit), who first debuted in the season three episode “The Gang Gets Invincible.” And who can forget Day Man and the creepily suggestive Night Man, which viewers may recall from Charlie’s weird musical, “The Nightman Cometh,” from the end of season four. Both characters seem to parallel the protagonist “Steve” and the mysterious Enderman.
With these concurrent elements in mind, McElhenney now seems like a natural fit for the film. It almost begs the question, was Notch just a huge Sunny fan all along?
Go Set A Watchbird… and watch the first gameplay trailers for Angry Birds 2
Fresh from Rovio’s mystical ice castle comes a new addition to the Angry Birds roster. Angry Birds 2 arrives in app stores for iOS and Android devices tomorrow, July 30th, and two new trailers released late last night give a glimpse at some of the action. Fans of the franchise will see some par-for-the-course gameplay that looks fairly similar to the original game. Some slight variations on the formula can be seen in the trailers including giant inflating pig heads, different lush scenery, new fortifications that the pigs are hunkered down in, lots of dynamite, and what looks to be some wheeled contraptions a la Bad Piggies, also known as the franchise’s Bad Spinoff.
Fans of the slingshot genre will know what to expect, while those new to society who have just been released from prison will be confused that although there have been about 37 incarnations of Angry Birds, this one is entitled number two. (It is thus because it is a direct sequel of sorts to the original, and the other games all have different wacky themes which make them different somehow.)
Anyway, as I am the Senior Angry Birds Correspondent, I think it’s my place to just throw in here that if they’re still so angry, they should probably seek counseling. It’s just not healthy to hang onto that rage, you guys. You can find both gameplay trailers after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Angry Birds 2
Players will be able to unlock Premium Show DLC in Guitar Hero Live by completing songs
Like Street Fighter V and it’s two-tiered “Fight Money/Zenny” system, Activision is also planning to give players the opportunity to unlock paid DLC in Guitar Hero Live with in-game currency.
Players will be able to purchase Hero Cash, which can be exchanged for “Premium Shows” in Guitar Hero Live’s GHTV mode. But if you’d prefer to skip all that and just buy the DLC content with cold hard cash, that’s an option too. Activision’s Matt Clark drummed up a rundown of the system at the Activision Games Blog:
When a new Premium Show launches on the GHTV service, players will have the ability to unlock it by completing a set challenge. To gain access, you’ll have to complete songs and hit a certain star level—Guitar Hero’s system for measuring your performance. So, if you do a great job playing a particular song, you’ll gain admission to new Premium Content, such as live concert videos and more. But if you want to save time and get instantaneous access, you can also unlock Premium Content immediately with a simple purchase via Hero Cash. Premium Content also offers unique prizes, like Note Highways, player cards, and more.
Guitar Hero Live will be available for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on October 20.
Double Fine’s documentary chronicling Broken Age’s development has reached its last episode
In early 2012, Double Fine nearly broke the game industry when they introduced the words “Crowdfunding” and “Kickstarter” to many gamers for the first time. The crowdfunding model has become a fixture of the gaming landscape in the years since, and while Double Fine’s campaign may not have been the first, they certainly made it a viable option that developers such as Brian Fargo and Keiji Inafune would eventually use.
Along with the game that would eventually become Broken Age, Double Fine also produced a behind-the-scenes documentary series with 2 Player Productions known as Double Fine Adventure. In Schafer’s words, he wanted to “show us how the sausage was made.”
After more than three years of filming, and twenty main episodes (along with countless extra “Sidequest” episodes), the documentary reached it’s grand conclusion over the weekend. Originally, the series was an exclusive for Kickstarter backers, but as the game neared completion, Schafer decided to unleash the series to the public early.
Regardless of what you thought of the game, the documentary series has made the whole ordeal more than worth it. As someone who backed the Kickstarter campaign all those years ago, I can’t tell you how inspiring and informative these episodes are. Before this, the world of game development always happened behind closed doors, but no longer.
This series has been different. It’s showcased game development from the very start of the creative process to the release of the game, and it’s aftermath, and it did it with a relatively large studio as well. We like to think game development is all sunshine and lollipops and that everything is all fun all the time, but this series goes to show that isn’t the case. I heartily recommend it, even if you’re not interested in game development because it’s so much more than a behind the scenes, how-to documentary, it’s a captivating look into the creative process.
2 Player Productions recently began work on a Blu-ray release for Double Fine Adventure and you can pre-order it at adventure.DoubleFine.com.
Telltale will release Game of Thrones: Episode 5 on July 21
Things aren’t looking good for the Forrester family in this trailer for the fifth episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation. Hopefully, things will turn out better once Game of Thrones: A Nest of Vipers is released next week:
In this penultimate episode, the actions of every Forrester are vital to the survival of the house. Rodrik’s alliance with House Glenmore, and his defiance of the Whitehills, has drawn the ire of an even greater threat: Ramsay Snow. Far across the Narrow Sea in Essos, with Meereen now a free city, Asher is close to securing the army he desperately needs to return home, and save his family. In King’s Landing, Mira’s activities at Tommen’s coronation have not escaped the attention of Margaery Tyrell, and Cersei has realized that the handmaiden may prove useful in her political games. Finally, beyond the Wall, Gared’s unlikely allies are reluctant to help in the search for the North Grove… but this far into the frozen wilds, Crows and Free Folk have a common enemy; and Winter is coming.
As usual, Game of Thrones: A Nest of Vipers will be available through a number of digital storefronts. Here’s the release schedule, courtesy of Telltale:
- Tuesday, July 21: PC/Mac, PS3, PS4
- Wednesday, July 22: Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Thursday, July 23: iOS, Android
The final episode of the series, Game of Thrones: The Ice Dragon, will likely be released sometime this Fall.
Angry Birds 2 will be released on July 30
I know what you’re thinking… How can Rovio be announcing Angry Birds 2? Isn’t there already more than a dozen games in the Angry Birds series?
To that I say, you’re not wrong. Since the launch of the original Angry Birds in 2009, Rovio has released seven games in the main series and seven more spinoff titles. But that hasn’t stopped the Finnish developer from announcing that the first numbered sequel will be available for iOS and Android devices on July 30.
Rovio has promised (on their official blog) to reveal more about Angry Birds 2 “during the next couple weeks,” but I assume it’ll feature birds attacking pigs after being launched out of a slingshot. Call it a hunch.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Angry Birds 2
Personal user data exposed after a hack of Epic Games forum
Epic Games, the creator of Gears of War and the Unreal Engine, has released a notice detailing a hack of their community forums. The full details of the hack and what Epic is doing to fix the problem can be read right here:
Dear Epic Games Forum Member,
We have just discovered that the Epic Games forums located at https://forums.epicgames.com were compromised by a hacker. We are sorry to report that the incident may have resulted in unauthorized access to your username, email address, password, and the date of birth you provided at registration.
We have taken https://forums.epicgames.com offline. When the site reopens, your password will be reset. If you use the same password on this site which you use on other sites, we recommend immediately changing your password on those sites as well.
The affected forum site covers UDK, Infinity Blade, Gears of War, Bulletstorm, and prior Unreal Tournament games. However, the separate forum sites covering Unreal Engine 4, Fortnite, and the new Unreal Tournament were unaffected.
We apologize for the inconvenience this causes everyone. To further understand what’s happened and prevent it in the future, we’re working with a computer security firm to identify the nature of the compromise. We will report further information on the forums when they reopen.
While the investigation into the security compromise is ongoing, we are reaching out to you directly to let you know of the potential unauthorized access to information you provided at registration. It is possible that any information stored or sent by you using the forums may have been accessed. Since this is a public forum, we do not collect or maintain financial information, but we advise you to be alert for suspicious email such as phishing attempts.
Thank you for being a part of our community, and for your attention to this issue.
Best Regards,
The Epic Games Team
Best of luck to everyone affected by this hack.