Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Tabletop Games
Dungeons & Dragons inducted into Toy Hall of Fame for its “impact” on video game industry
Last week, The Strong Museum of Play inducted Dungeons & Dragons into their National Toy Hall of Fame, partially due to its influence on the video game industry.
“More than any other game, Dungeons & Dragons paved the way for older children and adults to experience imaginative play,” said Curator Nic Ricketts. “It was groundbreaking. And it opened the door for other kinds of table games that borrow many of its unique mechanics. But most importantly, Dungeons & Dragons’ mechanics lent themselves to computer applications, and it had a direct impact on hugely successful electronic games like World of Warcraft.”
Originally published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, the original Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks became the basis for all modern role-playing games and introduced millions of players to the game. New editions of Dungeons & Dragons are currently produced by Wizards of the Coast, and the 5th Edition of the game was released in 2014.
Dungeons & Dragons was joined by The Swing and Fisher-Price Little People in the National Toy Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016. The three toys beat out this year’s other finalists including Bubble Wrap, Care Bears, Clue, the Coloring Book, Nerf, Pinball, Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots, Transformers, and Uno.
Posted in News, Tabletop Games
Square Enix will release Final Fantasy Trading Card Game in North America this October
After a huge debut in Japan all the way back in 2011, Square Enix has announced plans to bring the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game to North America this October. They’ve even created a tutorial video to get prospective players up to speed, and it’s been embedded above.
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game (“FFTCG”) is the result of a close collaboration between Hobby Japan and Square Enix. Designed by former trading card game champion Taro Kageyama, the game received high praise for its blend of strategy, luck and fast-paced gameplay making it very versatile and appealing to all kinds of audiences.
The first set, entitled “Opus 1,” will feature 216 cards with iconic designs from highly acclaimed artists including Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshitaka Amano, and Akihiko Yoshida, covering nearly 30 years of Final Fantasy. New cards themed after Final Fantasy VII Remake, Dissidia, and World of Final Fantasy will also make their debut in Opus 1. Each card in Opus 1 will also have a premium “Foil” version, making this set a must have for all the collectors out there.
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game will be available in hobby stores across the country on October 28.
Posted in News, Tabletop Games
Indie Megabooth will showcase 87 games at PAX East 2016
The Indie Megabooth has announced they’ll provide space on the PAX East show floor for more than 80 developers during this year’s convention.
The PAX East 2016 lineup includes 87 titles, and several of them have previously appeared in our twice-yearly Best of PAX roundup. This year’s PAXpocalypse alumni include 20XX from Batterystaple Games (PAX East 2015), Refactor from NextGen Pants (PAX East 2014), Scale from Cubeheart Games (PAX Prime 2013), and Tumblestone from The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild (PAX East 2014 again). Graceful Explosion Machine, a semi-sequel to Vertex Pop’s We Are Doomed (a PAX Prime 2013 selection) also has a spot in the Indie Megabooth’s Minibooth this year.
Personally, I’m also a huge fan of single-stick shooter Deathstate and heady puzzler Gnog, so be sure to check those two out if you’re attending this year’s PAX East convention, which will be held April 22nd through the 24th.
A complete list of titles included in the PAX East 2016 Indie Megabooth is available after the break. And more information on every one of those games can be found at the group’s official website. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Tabletop Games, Xbox One
Tagged 20XX, Graceful Explosion Machine, PAX East 2016, Refactor, Tumblestone
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins “Game of the Year” at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was on target once again as it collected another “Game of the Year” win this weekend at the SXSW Gaming Awards. In addition to its big win, The Witcher 3 won two other awards: “Excellence in Technical Achievement” and “Excellence in Narrative.”
The Witcher 3 faced stiff competition from several of last year’s other big releases, including Bloodborne and Rise of the Tomb Raider, both of which won a pair of 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards. From Software’s gothic RPG was recognized for its gorgeous environments in the “Excellence in Art” and “Excellence in Design” categories. Meanwhile, Lara Croft herself was named “Most Enduring Character” and her tomb raiding skills were honored with an “Excellence in Animation” win.
Finally, Her Story picked up some more hardware this weekend, winning SXSW’s “Mobile Game of the Year” award.
A complete look at all of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Tabletop Games, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nabs eight nominations at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
South by Southwest Gaming recently announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not surprisingly, has captured the most accolades. CD Projekt’s sprawling RPG is up for eight awards, including “Game of the Year.” It was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Art,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Visual Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” “Excellence in Musical Score,” and “Most Enduring Character.”
Competing against Geralt of Rivia for “Game of the Year” is a familiar-looking quartet of games including Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale. Bloodborne was actually a close second to The Witcher 3 with seven nominations.
Who wins at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined in part by a public vote that will hosted by IGN from Monday, February 1 through Friday, February 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) and you can watch it live on Twitch.
The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Tabletop Games, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Indie Megabooth announces massive PAX Prime 2015 presence
It’s that time gain! Those beautiful, brilliant minds behind the Indie Megabooth have announced the PAX Prime 2015 lineup, and it certainly IS mega! I see a lot of personal favorites in there, including Armello, Death Road to Canada, Hyper Light Drifter, Mushroom 11, Cinelinx: A Card Game For People Who Love Movies, Pleasant Dreams, Skiptrace, and two games I can’t keep my hands off of: Monikers and Mini Metro! And let’s not forget that this might be your best chance to check out Funomena’s Wattam!
If you’re in Seattle the last weekend in August for PAX Prime, trust me: you do not want to miss the Indie Megabooth. These are traditionally some of the best games on the show floor, and I don’t just say that because my own game (Resistor) has been part of the Tabletop Area. OK, maybe that might sway my opinion a little. But the team behind the IMB carefully curates some of the most amazing games, not just for your enjoyment, but as an installation of the best and brightest developers in indie gaming right now.
Enough of my gushing. Watch the trailer and hit the jump for the full list of developers and games (more than 70 in all)! (more…)
The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX East 2015
Most of the big publishers chose to skip the 2015 edition of PAX East and even those that did attend (like Nintendo and Microsoft) kept their most anticipated projects home. But that didn’t stop a wide variety of indie developers from setting up shop in the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center to wow the assembled masses. These developers set the tone for this year’s expo, which featured a heavy focus on games that attempted to reinterpret classic gameplay concepts for a new generation of players. And the crazy thing is that many of the developers hyping these games looked like they would have been in diapers the first time I fired up an SNES.
It was a welcome sight with the rest of the industry pivoting away from those types of games and towards a competition to see who can push the most polygons. So if you were a fan of gaming in the NES, Super NES, and Genesis days, this PAXpocalypse List is for you. Because these are the games we would have played over and over again if some horrible snow storm had trapped us inside the convention center beyond the last day of the expo. (more…)
Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Tabletop Games, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged 20XX, Axiom Verge, Extreme Exorcism, Gigantic, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Just Shapes and Beats, Knight Squad, PAX East 2015, Pit People, Rive, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, Tumblestone, We Are Doomed
Calzones For No One: How Mayfair’s Cones of Dunshire Kickstarter Campaign Flopped
As we reported in January, Mayfair Games, the publisher of Settlers of Catan, took to Kickstarter with the dream of making Cones of Dunshire, a fictional board game from the Parks & Recreation universe, into a real game. Fans of the NBC show and of intricate and/or confusing cooperative board games rejoiced. It seemed like an impossible task to raise $300,000 to create a deluxe version of the game… and it was. So Mayfair canceled their original campaign and relaunched it in early February with some adjustments, including a lowered project goal ($125,000) and reworked pledge levels and rewards.
Even at the reduced levels, it still took at least $400 (and a dream!) to reserve a copy of the game. As before, additional goodies and enhancements to the game were available at higher pledge levels. For example, backers would receive the game at $400, but at $550 they would receive the game with metal “Hero Bases,” and at $700 they would get the game with metal figures.
During the original campaign, pledges were slow to come in and it did not appear that Mayfair would meet its goal in the 60 days allotted. The second Kickstarter, which after a 30-day run ended on March 12th, fared no better. At its conclusion, Mayfair had raised $48,696 from 194 backers, only reaching 39% of its goal.
So how did it all go wrong? (more…)
Posted in Opinions, Tabletop Games, Top Story