Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Fight Club, The Game David Fincher Didn’t Want You To Play – Time Extension (2025)
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
Monthly Archives: October 2014
Here’s a complete timeline of everything that’s happened in the Borderlands franchise so far
Some franchises produce a tangled timeline due to a gaggle of sequels, prequels, and side stories mingling with time travel, alternate realities, and cross-dimensional rifts.
Through three games, the storyline in Gearbox’s Borderlands franchise doesn’t do this. But the developer still felt the need to create an official timeline to map the major events of Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (which takes place between the first two games but is presented as a flashback from after Borderlands 2). With the official timeline in place, everyone will be on the same page ahead of the release of Tales From the Borderlands, which should launch before the end of the year.
You can find the timeline after the break, but beware, it contains quite a few spoilers from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Savage Goliath roars as a pre-order bonus for Evolve in new trailer
2K Games wants you to know that you’ll receive the Savage Goliath skin if you pre-order Evolve The “4v1” shooter will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 10 and you can catch a glimpse of the red-skinned brute in the brand new trailer above.
Pre-ordering Evolve will also unlock access (at launch) to an exclusive fourth Monster character as well as the upcoming “Big Alpha” test, which will begin on October 31 and run through November 2.
Weekly Warp-Up: Customer Appreciation Edition
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
Senior Editor Nicole Kline is surely spending her lazy Sunday morning blasting away at the denizens of Pandora’s Moon in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. This is all thanks to a “Customer Appreciation Certificate” good for one free copy of the game that she was given during the Gearbox Panel at this year’s PAX East expo. But before she got to play, she had to deal with Gearbox’s less-than-stellar customer service team, who weren’t able to distribute the free game codes by the promised date. You can read all about her experience in Gearbox’s “Customer Appreciation” Debacle: A Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Non-Review.
Elsewhere on Warp Zoned this week, Dan Hobbs reviewed Pure Pool, a game simulation of the sport of pool. Yes, it sure is.
Finally this week, scores for the first two games in our Video Game Fantasy League have been locked in. After one month on the market, Destiny achieved a rating of 76 on Metacritic while Final Fantasy Theatrhythm Curtain Call scored an 82. So right now, the standings look like this…
1. Nicole Kline (82)
2. John Scalzo (76)
3. Allen Jenkins (–)
3. Andrew Rainnie (–)
3. Mike Ryan (–)
Looking for more news? Then I suggest you look for it after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Bayonetta 2, Civilization: Beyond Earth, Just Dance 2015, More
The third phase of Nintendo’s attempt to dominate the Fall gaming season arrives this week in the form of Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U. Platinum’s stylish witch has been given a second life by The Big N and the developer returned the favor by packaging the original Bayonetta with the sequel. Nintendo will also release a pair of smaller 3DS titles this week: Fantasy Life, an RPG/life simulation hybrid, and Pokemon Art Academy, a drawing game starring Pikachu.
Also available this week is the futuristic Civilization: Beyond Earth for the PC. Firaxis designed the game as a spiritual successor to the popular Alpha Centauri, which is something fans of the franchise have been asking for for a long time.
Speaking of franchises we haven’t seen in a long time… Ubisoft will bring Just Dance 2015 to the PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this week. That “long time” comment was a joke, by the way. What’s not a joke is the return of Harmonix, who are back with a new music game of their own, the Disney-inspired Fantasia: Music Evolved for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Finally this week, Telltale Games will release The Walking Dead Season 2 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Get your cleaning cloth ready, those tear-stained controllers won’t clean themselves.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bayonetta 2, Civilization: Beyond Earth, Fantasia: Music Evolved, Just Dance 2015
Daily Scoop: October 17, 2014 – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has arrived… for me!
Well, it only took them three straight days and more than a few emails, but Gearbox finally sent me an “Appreciation” code for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Hopefully the code works, and I’ll be able to lay down and play some tonight! The bad news is, I’ve got an awful headache, which may mean no gaming for me. Time (and Tylenol) will tell!
The Humble Store is having a huge sale on Devolver Digital games this weekend! Shadow Warrior is $9.99, Hatoful Boyfriend is $4.99, Hotline Miami is $2.49, and Luftrausers is $4.99, among others. And the Steam Daily Deal is one of my favorite PC games – The Stanley Parable! Pick up this wacky indie game for just $5.09.
Let’s wrap this up like we always do: with some t-shirts!
Posted in Daily Scoop
Gearbox’s “Customer Appreciation” Debacle: A Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Non-Review
This is where my review of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel would be, if I had received the game on time. I received a free code for the game – a “Certificate of Appreciation” – from Gearbox when I went to their panel at PAX East. PAX Prime attendees of their panel also got Certificates. But many people who received these Certificates are just now getting game codes – or still waiting for them – three days after the game was released. (more…)
Project CARS release date moves to March 17, 2015 to avoid holiday competition
In order to avoid the stiff competition from this Fall’s “household names,” Slightly Mad Studios and Bandai Namco have announced that the release of Project CARS has been pushed back to March 17, 2015. This new release date will allow the developer to provide an extra layer of polish to the game.
“Our goal has always been to deliver a landmark title that encompasses the wishes and desires of racing fans from all around the world; something with features and content powered by the community that provide a truly unforgettable and pioneering experience” said Ian Bell, the Studio Head at Slightly Mad Studios. “Whilst a tough decision to make, the change in release date allows the game the greatest chance of success and visibility, and the opportunity to polish the game even further to the high standards that both ourselves and our community demand and expect. We’re eager for you all to see what we’ve been working on in just a few months.”
Project CARS’ new release date applies to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One editions of the game. It is also in development for the Wii U, and will be released for Nintendo’s console sometime in 2015.
Insert Quarter: Why Developers Still Make 2D Games… Because They Love Them
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Why do developers still love to make 2D games? In this installment, USgamer’s Tyler Ohlew examines the relationship between developers and the two-dimensional worlds they create (often by hand). Speaking to developers behind modern 2D classics such as Shovel Knight, Guacamelee!, and SteamWorld Dig, he discovered that this relationship actually comes down to a love of the style and a universality that goes beyond simple nostalgia.
3D development is easier than ever now, with tools like Unity and Unreal Engine 4 available for very little cost or even free. So, in a landscape dominated by these 3D games, what compels a developer to look back and continue the work that was forced to take a back seat? Why does any developer work in 2D anymore?
You can read the rest of the article at USgamer.
Posted in 3DS, Insert Quarter, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Guacamelee, Shovel Knight, SteamWorld Dig