Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- The 2024-2025 BAFTA Games Awards Goes With the Flow as Astro Bot is Named “Best Game”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Axiom Verge will be released for PC on May 14
After debuting to nearly unanimous praise after its late March launch on the PS4 (Warp Zoned’s Mike Ryan said it was “astonishing“), developer Tom Happ has announced Axiom Verge will be released for the PC on May 14 through Steam and the Humble Store.
The PC version of Axiom Verge will include all the retro-inspired side-scrolling its already famous for and add Steam Cloud Saves and Steam Trading Cards as well.
A Vita release of Axiom Verge is also planned for later this year. The handheld release will be Cross-Buy compatible with the already-available PS4 version.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Axiom Verge
Splatoon gets a new trailer and a Best Buy-exclusive console bundle
Are you ready to “Claim Your Turf” in Splatoon, Nintendo’s colorful multiplayer shooter? I hope so, because the publisher has unveiled the game’s first television commercial, which asks that very question.
Nintendo and Best Buy have also announced that the retailer will begin selling a Wii U + Splatoon System Bundle on May 29. The Special Edition Splatoon Deluxe Set will include a 32GB Wii U console, a pre-installed copy of Nintendo Land, and a download code good for one copy of Splatoon. Even though this seems like the perfect chance to release a wild-looking multi-colored Wii U system, the console in the Splatoon bundle will come in the standard jet black pattern. Seriously, missed opportunity right there. At least the box looks neat.
The Special Edition Splatoon Deluxe Set will be priced at $299.99.
Shades Review: Do Mess Around With the Guy in the Shades
Lovers of puzzle games and easy-peasy mobile games will enjoy a fun new challenge with the recently released Shades, a puzzle game from Uovo that bears a resemblance to Tetris, except instead of using differently-shaped blocks, Shades requires players to consider the color of a series of rectangular blocks when placing them. The blocks are all uniform in size and shape; however, they are all different shades of one color (sort of like virtual paint swatches) which must be stacked to ultimately create rows of a single shade. Complete rows disappear, a la Tetris, and earn extra points as well as clearing the way for more blocks falling from the top, while like-shaded blocks stacked on top of one another meld together into a single block of the next darkest shade. Points accumulate through the placement of blocks, whether they blend into another shade, and when rows disappear. (more…)
PS Store Today: Shovel Knight, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, more
Prepare thee, future Knights of Shovelry, for Yacht Club Games has added Shovel Knight to the PlayStation Store today. Shovel Knight is the final selection in Sony’s 2015 Spring Fever promotion, and it’ll be available for the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita as a Cross-Buy title. The game will also offer Cross-Save support across all three platforms and a special battle with God of War‘s Kratos that is sure to be epic.
Also available this week on the PS4 is Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, Ubisoft’s first entry in the “Chronicles” sub-series of side-scrollers. In China, players will have to make good on the vendetta of Shao Jun, the last remaining Assassin of the Chinese Brotherhood, before venturing to India and Russia in two additional games scheduled to be released this Fall. The PS4 is also now home to LA Cops this week. LA Cops doesn’t take place in a foreign land, but its setting is no less different as this overhead two-man (but not two-player) shooter is set in a stylized version of the 1970s.
More information on all of these titles (along with a few additional new releases) can be found after the break. And a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, Shovel Knight
Daily Scoop: April 21, 2015 – I’m a sucker for Pokemon shirts
As you all know, I’m a sucker for t-shirts, and lately, there have been some really great ones. Today is no exception! But first, let’s discuss the deals!
There are loads of sales happening at the Humble Store! You can get early access to Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power for $17.99, Westerado: Double Barreled for $11.99, and Heavy Bullets for $1.99. There’s also a big Shooter Midweek Sale, which includes Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition for $1.99.
Steam’s Midweek Madness is Don’t Starve, which is on sale for $5.09. You can also choose to get the game with the Reign of Giants DLC for $6.45 or the MEGA Pack for $18.39. The DLC and soundtrack can also be purchased separately for $1.69 each. Today’s Daily Deal is the Evil Within Bundle, which includes the game and the season pass for $39.99.
And now let’s get down to these terrific shirts! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
Borderlands creator and Franchise Director Matthew Armstrong has left Gearbox
Matthew Armstrong, the creator and Franchise Director of all things Borderlands at Gearbox Software, has decided to leave the company. This news comes just a week after 2K confirmed the closure of 2K Australia, the development team behind Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.
Announcing his departure on Twitter, Armstrong said it was time for new adventures:
Things changed.
No longer working at @GearboxSoftware. I will always love Gearbox, but it's adventure time.
— Matthew Armstrong (@MisterArmstrong) April 17, 2015
Armstrong elaborated on his reasons for leaving to Game Informer. The developer said he was an inventor who was “ready to make something new.” There was no anger in Armstrong’s resignation, but with all of Gearbox’s Borderlands projects complete, he was able to leave “without damaging Borderland or Gearbox too much.”
Gearbox announced a desire to begin development on Borderlands 3 at the first-ever PAX South expo in January. At the time, CEO Randy Pitchford said the company wanted to “look outside Gearbox to find fresh ideas for the future of the franchise.”
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Shovel Knight will be available for Xbox One next week
Shovel Knight will make his PlayStation debut today (and he’s bringing Kratos with him), but Xbox One owners will have to wait just a bit longer. According to a tweet by Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, the Xbox One version of Shovel Knight will be released sometime next week:
Correction: Shovel Knight is coming to Xbox One next week http://t.co/Cqj8YT49Y0
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) April 21, 2015
Updates to the Xbox Games Store are typically made on Wednesday and Friday, so Xbox One owners should expect to dig up a download of Shovel Knight on April 29 or May 1. And remember, he’ll entertain some exclusive special guests on Microsoft’s console as well. Zitz, Pimple, and Rash (AKA The Battletoads) will make their Xbox debut in Shovel Knight.
UPDATE: Yacht Club Games has confirmed Shovel Knight will launch on April 29 for the Xbox One.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Shovel Knight
Remedy “in talks” to bring Alan Wake remake to Xbox One; Alan Wake 2 also a possibility
Remedy Entertainment opened their doors to Polygon this week, and in addition to pulling back the curtain on an aborted prototype for Alan Wake 2, the studio also confirmed they’re “in talks” with Microsoft to produce a remake of Alan Wake for the Xbox One.
Remedy’s Chief Creative Officer, Sam Lake, said: “I would love that to happen. Nothing has happened yet, but we are discussing this possibility with Microsoft. I hope it happens, we’ll see.”
And for those interested in Alan Wake 2, don’t be scared off by the words “aborted prototype.” Lake also said that Remedy wants to return to the world of Alan Wake and may do so after development is completed on Quantum Break. The developer holds the rights to any sequel, so even if Microsoft isn’t interested, they could pitch it to other publishers or even take the game to Kickstarter:
“Ultimately, these things are business decisions,” Lake told Polygon. “We are definitely not ruling anything out and looking at different opportunities, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.”
Alan Wake was originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2010. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, an Xbox Live Arcade spinoff, was released in 2012.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2