Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: E3 2012
MS @ E3 12: Fable: The Journey makes an appearance
The Kinect is getting a lot of airtime at this press conference, especially with Fable: The Journey.
Announced at last year’s E3 Expo, the new trailer showed a fantasy setting interspliced with a live-action player casting spells at enemies. It looks like players are going to get a major workout here, tossing fireballs at enemies and just generally getting their Harry Potter on.
Fable: The Journey will be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, Fable: The Journey
MS @ E3 12: New Splinter Cell unveiled, subtitled “Blacklist”
The new Splinter Cell game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, was shown at the Microsoft Press conference, and it’s gorgeous. Sam Fisher is back, this time on the Iran-Iraq Border. The game was shown off by Ubisoft and is in development by Ubisoft Toronto.
Sam is deadlier than ever, tearing through enemies fluidly with new maneuvers. He dances between them, pumping them with bullets smoothly, like a deadly ballerina: he can grab an enemy, spin him around, and pump two bullets in the chest and one in the head. That’s “killing in motion,” something that skilled players can master.
Brand new is Kinect voice command functionality. The player can call the enemy over and then grab him and pull him over the side – a move that married Solid Snake and Nathan Drake perfectly.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist will be out in Spring 2013.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Latest Quantum Conundrum trailer enters the E3 dimension
Square Enix has released a new trailer for Quantum Conundrum ahead of this year’s E3 Expo. In it, we get our first glimpse of Professor Quadwrangle’s mutant cat as well as the Power Glove-like device that the unnamed protagonist uses to change dimensions at will. So find your favorite fluffy chair and give it a watch.
Quantum Conundrum will be available for the PC (via Steam) on June 21 with a PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade release following this Summer.
Wii U gets its own social network, Miiverse
I know that everybody loved Friend Codes, but Nintendo plans to do away with the matchmaking service when the Wii U launches later this year. Instead, the console will come pre-bundled with the Nintendo Network, which will be home to a Wii U-centric social network known as Miiverse (or “Mii Universe,” if you prefer).
When players enter the Miiverse, they’ll be transported to a bustling city of Miis that are congregating around the most popular apps and games the Wii U has to offer (even games you don’t own). In addition to learning that Super Mario Bros. Wii U is very popular, the Miiverse will also blast the player with status updates from “friends, people playing the same games as you, and people who speak the same language as you.”
For a more personal connection, the Miiverse also offers video chat (courtesy of the Wii U GamePad’s front-facing camera), messaging (including handwritten messages scrawled on the GamePad’s touchscreen), and game-specific message boards.
These in-game messages will also bleed over into the games themselves, as all Wii U games will have the ability to connect to the Miiverse. During the Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct presentation, company President Satoru Iwata showed how gamers can converse and commiserate within Super Mario Bros. Wii U.
The Miiverse will also be accesible from other devices including the 3DS, the PC, and mobile devices. However, this feature of the social network won’t be available when the Wii U launches this Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
These are the first screenshots of Super Mario Bros. Wii U
Tonight’s Pre-E3 edition of Nintendo Direct revealed some interesting new details about the Wii U GamePad and Pro Controller, but the most interesting thing that company President Satoru Iwata showed off was unveiled with no fanfare at all.
During the latter portion of the presentation, Iwata unveiled the Miiverse social networking component that is included with every Wii U console. He also said that the service can connect gamers as they’re playing Wii U games and demonstrated this connection with 16 seconds of footage from Super Mario Bros. Wii U.
The game is officially untitled and Iwata never confirmed the video came from the next Mario game. But we know the game in development, we know it’ll make its debut at E3 2012, and we know that this new footage is different from last year’s New Super Mario Bros. Mii tech demo.
You can see a few screenshots we pulled from the video, or watch the entire presentation yourself, after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
Wii U Pro Controller announced and it looks very familiar
Nintendo didn’t just show off the Wii U GamePad during their Nintendo Direct Pre-E3 presentation, they also debuted the tablet’s little buddy, the Wii U Pro Controller.
When you don’t need the full-size tablet (or are “mainly interested in multiplatform games with more traditional means of control”), you can use the Xbox 360-looking controller to your left. I mean, just look at it. The face buttons and the right analog stick have switched places, and the whole controller looks a tad wider from front to back, but they’re basically the same.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced that the Wii U Pro Controller will be sold separately from the Wii U console.
Final version of Wii U tablet officially unveiled
Only, it’s not called the Wii U tablet anymore.
A few hours ago, Nintendo put out their latest Nintendo Direct broadcast. On the 30-minute program, company President Satoru Iwata revealed the Wii U GamePad to the world. While the two GamePads look similar (and the touchscreen in the center is the same), the outer edge of the controller is brand new.
The analog nubs have been replaced by full-size analog sticks that are clickable (just like the PS3 and Xbox 360). The sticks themselves have been pulled further away from the screen while the d-pad and face buttons have been slid closer for a more comfortable feel. The GamePad also has a small sensor below the d-pad for scanning objects such as “action figures.”
But the coolest feature may just be the “TV Button” along the bottom row. Pressing it turns the Wii U GamePad into a full-fledged, infrared television remote. Maybe it’s the head cold I current have talking, but I think Nintendo just won the living room war with that little innovation.
Hit the jump to view the full Nintendo Direct Pre-E3 2012 presentation. (more…)
Game Informer reveals Gears of War: Judgment early
Game Informer promised to reveal the first details of the next Gears of War game on Monday, during Microsoft’s E3 2012 Press Conference.
But it looks like they’ve jumped the gun a bit, revealing the new game will be titled Gears of War: Judgment and that it’ll be a prequel set more than a decade before the first game.
According to the magazine, Judgment will star younger versions of Augustus “Cole Train” Cole and Damon Baird during their days in Kilo Squad. Two additional teammates (never-before-seen in Gears lore) will be joining them and IGN got the scoop from an anonymous source:
Baird, Cole, Garron, and Sofia — the four members of Gears of War: Judgment’s Kilo Squad — have been “charged for treason because they didn’t follow orders, stole equipment, and their actions could end up killing millions of people they swore to protect.
So it’s like The A-Team? Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, Gears of War: Judgment