Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Wii
505 Games acquires Drawn To Life license
While Nordic Games came away with the big prize from the second THQ auction, 505 Games managed to sneak in a winning bid for the Drawn To Life series. The Italian publisher bid $300,000 for the 5th Cell-developed franchise and that was good enough to win them the rights to the franchise as a whole as well as the previously released Drawn To Life (DS) and Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter (DS, Wii).
The sale of all THQ properties will be finalized during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing on May 13, 2013.
Nordic Games wins big at THQ auction: Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, more
An unlikely winner has emerged in the second round of the THQ sweepstakes: Nordic Games. The small publisher, located in Austria, bid $4.9 million to obtain the majority of THQ’s remaining properties including Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, Titan Quest, Frontlines, Juiced, Full Spectrum Warrior, and over 150 other titles. A full list of Nordic’s acquisitions will be unveiled soon, probably sometime after the purchase hearing current set for May 13.
But now the question becomes, what happens next? What does Nordic Games, best known for publishing the Painkiller series, plan to do with all of these properties? According to Lars Wingefors, Nordic’s CEO, the company plans to embark on an in-depth analysis of each property and will eventually move forward with sequels to many of them.
“First and foremost we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group. In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles,” Wingefors said.
To that end, Nordic Games has set up a special section in their official forums to solicit fan feedback on how to proceed with their new toys.
The first half of the THQ auction was held in January, with Deep Silver, Ubisoft, Crytek, Take-Two Interactive, and Sega participating.
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Darksiders, Darksiders II, Destroy All Humans, MX vs ATV Alive, Red Faction: Armageddon
BioShock Infinite is exceptional atop the March 2013 list of bestselling games
Good news everyone! The NPD Group (via Game Informer) has released their report on the best-selling games of March 2013 and they’ve confirmed that total game sales saw a 2% increase over March 2012. That’s the first year-over-year increase since November 2011. So good job game-buying public!
BioShock Infinite was the top-selling game of the month, just ahead of Square Enix’s Tomb Raider reboot. New games dominated the list as eight of the top ten titles were released in March. Only Call of Duty: Black Ops II and NBA 2K13 managed to fight through the new release wave to earn a spot in the top ten.
Here’s the complete list of the top ten best-selling games in March 2013:
1. BioShock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2. Tomb Raider (Xbox 360, PS3)
3. Gears of War: Judgment (Xbox 360)
4. God of War: Ascension (PS3)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
6. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
7. MLB 13: The Show (PS3, Vita)
8. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
9. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
10. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Nintendo Download: Toki Tori 2, Castlevania, More
The giant chicken at the center of Toki Tori 2 is the hightlight of this week’s Nintendo Download. The puzzle platformer marks the continuation of Nintendo’s push to get indie developers on the Wii U eShop and its available to download for $X.XX.
Also available this week is the classic 8-bit platformer, Castlevania. Downloadable on the 3DS for the first time, the first adventure of the original “vampire killer,” Simon Belmont, is joined by Real Heroes: Firefighter 3D and Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D.
And over on the Wii’s Virtual Console, Nam-1975 (originally released for the NeoGeo) is now available to download.
Additional details for all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Bye bye to the Rock Band Store… “American Pie” released as last weekly update
After 281 weekly updates, Harmonix has released the final new addition to the Rock Band Music Store, Don Mclean’s “American Pie.” Like most Rock Band 3 tracks, the song has been priced at $1.99 on the PlayStation Network, 160 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and 200 Wii Points on the Wii Shop.
To put an exclamation point on the five years (and over 4,000 songs) that went into building the Rock Band Music Store, Harmonix has created a short video titled, “The Story of Rock Band,” which you can view above.
We were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol’ boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing…
This’ll be the day that I die
Posted in News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Rock Band 3, Rock Band Blitz
Nintendo Download: Zen Pinball 2, Luigi’s Mansion 2, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, more
I don’t want to tell Nintendo how to run their business, but maybe “Nintendo Download Day” shouldn’t be on Thursday if the majority of games published by Nintendo are released on Sunday. Just look at the two biggest games in this week’s update: Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. They’re both coming to the 3DS eShop this week (and are technically part of today’s Nintendo Download), but you won’t be able to download either one until Sunday, March 24.
If bustin’ ghosts as Mario’s kid brother or exploring dungeons as your favorite Pokemon doesn’t thrill you, there is a new game you can download today: Zen Studios’ Zen Pinball 2. It’s now available on the Wii U eShop along with most of the previously released DLC tables including Marvel Pinball and Plants vs Zombies table.
More information on these new releases, as well as a trio of additional games that will be available today, is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Zen Pinball 2
Disney Infinity pushed back to August
Disney Infinity, the media company’s take on the lucrative toy/game combo first made famous by Skylanders, will miss it’s planned June release date. Instead, the game will be released for the 3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on August 18. According to John Pleasants, Co-President of Disney Interactive, the delay was actually made at the request of retailers who hoped to see Disney Infinity in stores closer to the holiday shopping season.
Pleasants also said, “We could deliver in June if we wanted to. Will a two-month timing change help us? Sure, of course. It gives us a little more time to add bells and whistles and make sure it really sings and pops.”
Disney Interactive is a big company and they can do what they want, but this has to be the worst reason for a game delay ever. And they announced it publicly! I just can’t believe it.
[Source: The New York Times]
New Releases: Lego City Undercover, GoW: Judgment, Walking Dead FPS, More
Another week, another highly anticipated prequel. Gears of War: Judgment will be available this week, exclusively for the Xbox 360.
Sidestepping to a shooter of a different kind is The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. This other game based on The Walking Dead used the television show for inspiration and stars the crossbow-wielding fan favorite, Daryl Dixon. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be released for the PC (download-only), PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U.
Speaking of the Wii U, this is actually a big week for new releases on Nintendo consoles as Lego City Undercover and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will soon be available for the Wii U. The 3DS will receive a pair of big new releases in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, as well as a portable version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.
More new releases can be found after the break. (more…)