Warp Zoned Presents
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A Day-By-Day Guide to All of 2016’s New Video Games (January – March)
After years and years of publishers packing the September through November “Holiday” season with an unmanageable number of new AAA titles, we might get a much more balanced release calendar in 2016. But can you believe it all happened by accident?
Video game fans have always had to deal with delays, but publishers got even more use out of their erasers than normal in 2015. Aside from the one-two punch of Fallout 4‘s E3 2015 announcement, and its eventual release on November 10th, no game felt safe… and more than a few big titles got pushed into 2016. So now we get to ring in 2016 with a release calendar that just might offer up something exciting all year long.
Are you ready? Because here… we… go… (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Amplitude, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, Bravely Second: End Layer, EA Sports UFC 2, EVE: Valkyrie, Far Cry: Primal, Final Fantasy Explorers, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest, Gone Home, Hitman, Hyrule Warriors, Killer Instinct, Lego Avengers, Life Is Strange, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Mighty No. 9, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Pokken Tournament, Project X Zone 2, Rebel Galaxy, Resident Evil 0, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Street Fighter V, The Banner Saga, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Walking Dead: Michonne, The Witness, Tom Clancy's The Division, Umbrella Corps, XCOM 2
NIS America will bring Grand Kingdom to PS4, Vita this Summer
NIS America has announced they’re teaming up with Spike Chunsoft to bring Grand Kingdom to the PS4 and Vita this Summer. Grand Kingdom is a tactical RPG where players will be able to align with one of four factions as they attempt to reunite a fractured realm:
With an impressive battle system that combines fast-paced action with strategic planning, and featuring robust character creation and customization options, Grand Kingdom is a Tactical RPG unlike any on the market today. After the fall of the once-prosperous Uldein Empire over one hundred years ago, the Four Great Nations now wage war to claim dominion over the Resonail continent.
As the leader of a mercenary squad, players will assemble a team to lead across a battle-scarred continent to complete contracts for each nation. Players may also hop online to form an exclusive contract with one of the Four Great Nations, and participate in war with other players for the future of Resonail.
But remember—in this new age of war, there is only room for one Grand Kingdom.
NIS America has launched an official website for the game, as well as released a teaser trailer, which has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Grand Kingdom
New Releases: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Resident Evil Origins, Life Is Strange, More
It’s been a few weeks, but welcome to the first roundup of new retail game releases for 2016!
We start off the year with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, a new RPG for the 3DS from the Nintendo. After years of keeping them separate, the publisher has finally decided to merge their Mario & Luigi series of RPGs with the Paper Mario series of RPGs. I’m a bit surprised it took this long, but maybe Nintendo felt they needed more time to prepare the world for GIANT PAPERCRAFT BATTLES.
Also available this week is the Resident Evil Origins Collection for the PS4 and Xbox One. After redoing Resident Evil last year, Capcom turned their trained recreationists towards its prequel, Resident Evil 0, which had previously only been available on Nintendo platforms. The publisher packaged both games together for a retail release, but players can also acquire them as separate downloads through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store (and Steam, for that matter).
Moving from remakes to re-releases, Dontnod has compiled their episodic game series, Life Is Strange, into a retail package for the PS4 and Xbox One. Players who missed out on Max Caulfield’s time-traveling adventures in Arcadia Bay will now be able to experience the complete story without waiting weeks between episodes. Also this week, PQube will re-release the Vita version of SteinsGate in a “Limited Edition” that includes a 2016 calendar.
Finally, get on the bus (and drive it) this week with Astragon’s Bus Simulator 16 for the PC.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged Life Is Strange, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, SteinsGate
Nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards have been announced with Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3 leading the way
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards.
Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt lead all other games with eight nominations apiece, including “Game of the Year.” They’ll be competing for the AIAS’s highest honor against three other games: Bloodborne, Fallout 4, and Ori and the Blind Forest. All told, 53 different titles received at least one nomination.
“Looking at the nominees for the 19th Annual DICE Awards, I am especially impressed by the broad range of titles catering to gamers’ increasingly sophisticated and diverse tastes,” said Martin Rae, the President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. “It is always gratifying to watch our industry and its many artists and craftsmen grow and continue to challenge and thrill audiences.”
In addition to this year’s awards show, Satoru Iwata will be honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award and Hideo Kojima will be inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
The ceremony for the 2016 DICE Awards will take place on Thursday, February 16, during this year’s DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Forza Motorsport 6, Helldivers, Heroes of the Storm, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mortal Kombat X, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Star Wars: Battlefront, Super Mario Maker, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
PlayStation Store Today: Amplitude, Rebel Galaxy, Volume for Vita, more
Sony has delivered the first PlayStation Store update of the new year and fans of Harmonix’s brand of music-based button-mashing should be very pleased, as the developer released Amplitude for the PS4 today. And in case you were wondering, the trippy visuals support an even trippier story… “Take a trip through the expansive human mind as you seek to awaken your comatose patient and expand her perceptions.”
Also available this week for the PS4 is Rebel Galaxy, Double Damage’s “swashbuckling space adventure” that’s filled with space combat, extraterrestrial exploration, and a bounty of space pirates.
Finally this week, Vita owners can look forward to Mike Bithell’s Volume. If you’ve already purchased the stealth game on the PS4, the Vita version can be yours for free.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new release) can be found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts are available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Amplitude, Rebel Galaxy
Sony themselves will make sure The Banner Saga is released for Vita
With a dwindling trickle of new releases, it’s no surprise the PlayStation Vita isn’t as popular as it used to be. But Sony still wants their handheld to receive a semi-steady stream of new content, so they’re partnering with Versus Evil to help bring The Banner Saga, Stoic’s tactical RPG with a Viking-inspired setting, to the Vita. Gio Corsi, Sony’s Director of Third Party Production, delivered the good news through Twitter:
Great news! We're partnering with @vs_evil to continue work on #BannerSaga #Vita. More news in 2016. Happy Holidays! pic.twitter.com/txbawVDqpb
— Gio Corsi (@giocorsi) December 23, 2015
Stoic has been working hard on a console release of The Banner Saga since its launch for the PC in 2014 and the developer plans to release the game for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 12. It’s unknown when the Vita version of The Banner Saga will be completed.
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged The Banner Saga
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Minecraft: Story Mode Ep4, Trine 3, more added to PS Store
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. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Minecraft: Story Mode, Trine 3 : The Artifacts of Power
Kickstart This! Deserted, Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, Night City Assault
Kickstarter recently released a long-awaited Fulfillment Report, an independent analysis of its crowdfunding activities by Professor Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania. While the report contains a lot of interesting data, the number many media outlets are focusing on is the 9% failure rate of fully-funded projects. The report has this to say about the numbers:
Is a 9% failure rate reasonable for a community of people trying to bring creative projects to life? We think so, but we also understand that the risk of failure may deter some people from participating. We respect that. We want everyone to understand exactly how Kickstarter works — that it’s not a store, and that amid creativity and innovation there is risk and failure.
Let’s look at this another way. 91% of projects across all categories succeed and deliver. What industry can say that? There is an old adage in the film industry that mentions that 7 out of 10 features lose money, two break even, and one film makes enough money to cover the loss. This is almost the opposite.
Personally I have yet to support a successful project, video game related or otherwise, that has not delivered after receiving my funds (or at least been on course to do so). Yes, I practise what I preach and donate on crowdfunding sites. I recently had an update from lead developer James Fletcher about his long-gestating project Knite and the Ghost Lights. In a nutshell, he had to put the project on hiatus to work for six months so he could support his family and then return to the game. Despite waiting longer than I thought I would for the game, James’ commitment to do six months of commercial work in order to realise his dream keeps my faith alive in the crowdfunding community. There are people out there who seek to con others, but that’s why we have columns like Kickstart This!
So what games are we urging you to back this time around? We start off with RPG action-adventure Deserted, before shining a light on not one but two games from Australia. The first is cutesy robot puzzler Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, while the second is the Streets of Rage-inspired RPG beat ‘em up Night City Assault. (more…)