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: January 2016
EA ships 13 million copies of Star Wars: Battlefront; Visceral’s Star Wars game might be “a few years out”
Star Wars: Battlefront was an extremely popular present this holiday season. Yesterday, EA revealed exactly how popular it was during their latest quarterly financial report.
Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen announced that EA has shipped more than 13 million copies of Star Wars: Battlefront to stores since it was released in November. And that number includes the more than one million copies of the game that were bundled with a brand new PS4.
Since Battlefront made a boatload of money for the video game megapublisher, it seems reasonable to assume they’d rush another Star Wars game into stores as quickly as possible. But you would be wrong. Near the end of the report, Jorgensen admitted that the company’s next Star Wars game, which is currently in development at Visceral Games and Motive Studios under the supervision of Amy Hennig and Jade Raymond, is likely still a few years away:
[W]e are obviously announcing that we are investing in some action-based SKUs by bringing people like Jade Raymond and Amy Hennig into our organization to help build those. And those are obviously a few years out in our SKU plan.
Very little is known about Visceral and Motive’s Star Wars game, though it’s widely believed to focus on a young Han Solo. Which is quite the coincidence when you think about it, because Disney plans to release a young Han Solo film in 2018. Or, if you prefer, “a few years” from now.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Visceral
Nintendo Download: Final Fantasy Explorers, FF Tactics Advance, Lego Avengers, more
You’ll find a double shot of Final Fantasy in this week’s Nintendo Download as Final Fantasy Explorers is now available to download for the 3DS and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has made the jump to the Wii U.
Ditching the turn-based format of most Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy Explorers is an action RPG for the 3DS that asks players to slay massive monsters while taking control of the franchise’s most famous faces. Players will also be able to choose from more than 20 jobs and summon eidolons like Ifrit and Bahamut. Over on the Wii U, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance joins the Virtual Console and reintroduces players to the land of Ivalice in a strategic RPG originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.
Another dynamic duo of games flew onto the Nintendo eShop this week with the release of Lego Avengers for the 3DS and Wii U this week. WB Games and TT Games turned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for their latest Lego game, adapting six of the films from the sprawling saga: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers
Insomniac will partner with GameStop to release Song of the Deep this Summer
Insomniac Games is going under the sea for their next game. Song of the Deep is a Metroidvania-style side-scroller that takes place entirely underwater as the young Merryn attempts to save her father from the briny deep. Insomniac isn’t exactly known for side-scrollers, but Song of the Deep is the passion project of Chief Creative Officer Brian Hastings, so come hell or high water, it’s full steam ahead for the developer:
Merryn waits all night for her father to return from his fishing voyage. He never does. After a vivid dream showing her father trapped under the sea, Merryn is determined to save him. This unlikely heroine builds a small submarine from spare parts and sets off to rescue him. Along the way, she’ll make friends, discover lost civilizations and ruins, and upgrade her submarine to explore even deeper. The terrain and monsters of the deep are daunting, but Merryn’s courage, intelligence, and love for her father will help her overcome adversity.
In another amazing first, Insomniac has partnered with GameStop to publish Song of the Deep on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this Summer. GameStop’s 6,900 retail locations will be the exclusive home of Song of the Deep’s disc release… though the game will also be available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Steam.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Song of the Deep
2K will continue making WWE games for many more years
2K Games and the WWE have announced that they’ve reached an agreement to extend 2K’s contract to make games based on the WWE’s patented brand of professional wrestling. The two companies have yet to officially announce that WWE 2K17 will be released this Fall, but it seems like a good bet in the aftermath of this new multi-year deal.
“2K’s partnership with WWE over the past three years has resulted in a successful and important addition to the Company’s portfolio of profitable franchises,” said David Ismailer, 2K’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are thrilled with the positive momentum of the WWE 2K series, including generating year-over-year growth, as well as the success of WWE SuperCard. We are very pleased to extend our partnership with WWE and look forward to many more years of collaboration.”
“2K’s leadership in authenticity, quality and overall brand dedication has been a perfect complement for WWE,” said Casey Collins, the WWE’s Executive Vice President of Consumer Products. “Our continued partnership ensures WWE remains at the forefront of global video game brands as we continue innovating and publishing our offerings on multiple platforms.”
The most recent game in the franchise, last year’s WWE 2K16, was co-developed by Visual Concepts and Yuke’s. While WWE 2K17 still isn’t official, the publisher did say the two teams will continue to co-develop all future entries in the WWE 2K series.
Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PC launch gets a number of graphical enhancements
Now that it’s Xbox exclusivity has ended, Square Enix is happy to announce that Rise of the Tomb Raider is now available to download on the PC (through Steam). But co-developers Crystal Dynamics and Nixxes made sure to include a number of graphical enhancements to the game (including 4K resolution support) to better harness the greater processing power of the PC.
Here’s a list of all the high-end visual tricks that have been added to the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider:
- HBAO+, an ambient occlusion technique which reduces artifacts and produces a richer and more details ambient lighting. Implemented through a partnership with Nvidia.
- Anisotropic Filtering, which greatly enriches the quality of the textures in the distance when viewed from an angle.
- Tessellation, which greatly enhances the detail of uneven surfaces in the ground, rocks, and bricks.
- Dynamic Foliage, which takes previously static foliage and makes it react dynamically to Lara’s movements and weather effects.
Rise of the Tomb Raider players can also expand their game with the Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch expansion, which is now available to download on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Rise of the Tomb Raider
Xbox Store Today: Lego Avengers, Sparkle 2, Roblox
A trio of titles have been added to the Xbox Games Store today, and fans of superheroes should be very pleased…
…And that’s because Lego Avengers is now available to download for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Developer TT Games dug deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to produce a new Lego-ized adaptation based on Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Also available this week is Sparkle 2, a puzzle game for the Xbox One that asks players to match groups of colored marbles by shooting them out of a cannon. Finally this week, Roblox will give Xbox One owners access to the Roblox game creation community. It’s free-to-play, but you’ve got to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
More information about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Lego Avengers
Daily Scoop: January 27, 2016 – Two great shirts today
As I frantically try to prep for PAX South, I’m not sure what video games to bring for the plane ride. Do I start Persona Q, or do I try to get the Platinum in Persona 4 Golden? Or do I take a break from the Persona universe altogether? No, no, that’s absurd. Right?
Anyway, let’s talk about deals! Over at the Humble Sale, they’ve got a lot of great offerings. Tabletop Simulator is $9.99, Rocksmith 2014 Edition is $9.99, and Dying Light is $19.97, among others.
Steam is having a big Games Workshop sale! Load up on games like Space Hulk for $2.49, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine for $7.49, and Blood Bowl 2 for $22.49. The Daily Deal is Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, which is $4.94 alone or $14.84 for a four pack.
Just two t-shirts today! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
RBI Baseball 16 will head for home this Spring
MLB Advanced Media is stepping up to the plate once again with the announcement that RBI Baseball 16 will be available this Spring. This year’s RBI Baseball 16 cover athlete will be Mookie Lynn Betts, an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox… and possibly the only “MLB” in Major League Baseball history. For their third trip to the plate, MLBAM has promised to include a number of new features in their retro-styled baseball sim including a “rebuilt defensive artificial intelligence system” and more realism on the field than ever before:
RBI Baseball 16 Features
- Defense: A redeveloped defensive AI will introduce new fielding capabilities including dives, wall catches, fake throws and more. This system will give users more control than ever before in making defensive plays.
- Baserunning: Built in part from MLBAM’s award-winning tracking technology, Statcast, baserunners’ abilities will be driven by on-field metrics from the 2015 MLB season.
- Batting: An improved batting engine will feature variable perfect timing. For the best outcome, swing earlier on inside pitches and later on outside pitches.
- Pitching: With a reworked pitching strategy AI, pitchers will play to their individual strengths. For example, a pitcher who features a wide range of velocity will mix speeds more often.
- Season Sim: During season mode play, sim a game or multiple games to quickly advance through the season and into the Postseason – should the team win its division or earn a Wild Card spot.
- Lineup: Modify a team’s lineup pre-game or in-game, including substitution strategies such as double switches. Lineups can be set from a franchise’s 40-man roster or the game’s classic 16-player rosters.
- Graphics: All 30 MLB ballparks will feature a new lighting system based on actual geographic locations, field views and additional hi-resolution realistic design elements.
RBI Baseball 16 is currently in development for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).