Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Author: Andrew Rainnie
Halo 4 live-action trailer introduces an ancient enemy
While perhaps not as artistic as previous Halo trailers, Microsoft and 343 Industries revealed their live-action trailer for Halo 4, “The Commissioning,” at this year’s E3 Expo. Featuring a combat deck that looks identical to the one from Battlestar Galactica, as well as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her sexy bald chick, it ultimately shows what a live action Halo movie could be.
The trailer shows the commissioning of the UNSC Infinity, which we are told during a less-than-rousing speech has been retooled for exploration after the war, coming under attack by what the trailer dubs an ancient enemy.
The E3 gameplay demo showed Master Chief and Cortana battling The Covenant as well as this new enemy, a synthetic race believed to be older than the Forerunners themselves. And it appears 343 Industries is living up to their promise of moving the Halo franchise away from being a straight shooter to something that involves more mystery and exploration elements.
The Avengers: Battle For Earth trailer hulks its way online
With the 2012 E3 Expo over, the arguments over which of the Big Three “won” E3 have just begun. But no one can deny that from all the developers, it was Ubisoft who stole the show with the likes of Assassin’s Creed III and the surprising ZombiU for Nintendo’s new console. However, the company also showed a trailer for its upcoming Marvel Comics title, The Avengers: Battle For Earth.
The ambitious title is a beat ‘em up utilizing motion controls, and is being designed to be played with either the Wii U or the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor. There will be initially be twenty playable characters, which will not be limited to those who appear in the film, as the game is instead based on Marvel’s 2008 comic book event Secret Invasion, which saw the shape-shifting Skrulls infiltrating superhero teams from the entire Marvel universe. While Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of that story arc, is not involved, the great and often hilarious Peter David, writer of the Multiple-Man led “X-Factor” comic, is working with Ubisoft on the storyline.
Since it is not attached to the movie, fan favourites such as Spider-Man and Wolverine will be involved in the action. My fingers are crossed that Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth known as Deadpool, will make a wise-cracking appearance. While the full roster has still to be revealed, the E3 demo showed off the ability to tag up to two other players in, allowing the initial character to regenerate some health.
It is not known how the Wii U version will differ from the Xbox 360 game, or how it will utilize the new Wii U GamePad, but it’ll be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, The Avengers: Battle For Earth
Film actors join Star Trek game, battle lizard aliens The Gorn
Paramount Pictures, along with video game publisher Namco Bandai and developer Digital Extremes have revealed the enemy of their much anticipated game based on the rebooted universe of the new Star Trek films: the lethal, lizard-like species known as The Gorn. The alien race, originally designed by artist and prop designer Wah Chang, first appeared in the famous “Arena” episode of The Original Series. Although they have made subsequent appearances, including a laughable CGI version in the last TV iteration, Star Trek: Enterprise, they are seen as an iconic villain, especially for Captain Kirk, by those working on the game.
While perhaps not as famous as the Klingons, who J.J. Abrams has confirmed will be the antagonists of the sequel film, The Gorn are every bit as battle-thirsty. The game will see several distinct types of Gorn, from infantry Rushers to hardened Brutes, while the females of the species will be more cunning, able to climb walls with stealth.Carlson Choi, VP of Marketing at Namco Bandai Games America, sees The Gorn as the perfect villain for this new title:
“Great villains give our favorite characters a chance to become heroes in the process of attempting to eliminate a powerful threat, and Star Trek fans have been eagerly anticipating the moment when the antagonists of the game would be revealed. This is one of those moments and we couldn’t be more excited to give gamers a glimpse at the challenges that lie ahead for Kirk and Spock.”
Speaking of the infamous Starfleet Captain and his pointy-eared second-in-command, it had previously been revealed that the likenesses of actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto would be incorporated into the game, but now it has been confirmed that the actors will also lend their voices as well. Pine and Quinto will be joined in the game by the entire crew of the Enterprise: Zoe Saldana (Lieutenant Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (Dr. Bones McCoy), John Cho (Mr. Sulu) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov). They will all be bringing their vocal talents to the game’s script, which was written by Marianne Krawczyk (God of War), with input from the films’ writers and producers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
Set your phasers to stun and be prepared to beam me up in early 2013 on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360!
Danica Patrick joins Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed; Wii U version announced
Horny teens and auto nuts everywhere can now celebrate the announcement that NASCAR racing hottie Danica Patrick will be a playable character in Sega’s Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. To promote the game, the driver and model will be racing a “No. 7 Sonic the Hedgehog Chevrolet” in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge on November 3 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Danica herself was bursting with enthusiasm when asked about her being turned into a video game character:
“It’s a very exciting experience since I’ll be sharing the screen with such an iconic character. I cannot wait for gamers to jump into my customized, transformable vehicles and give Sonic a run for his rings this holiday season!”
The sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will see the players take to the land, sea and air, similar to the N64’s underappreciated Diddy Kong Racing. Here, however, the vehicles will transform during the race in a triathlon fashion.
Sonic, Danica and the other All Stars will be appearing on the Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, PS Vita, and PC this winter. The sequel will also race onto the Wii U this winter as well.
Nintendo working on Wii-to-Wii U file transfer system
While in the past, game saves and downloadable content would be lost at the end of a console cycle, Nintendo has revealed that won’t be the case with the Wii U at this year’s Developer Roundtable.
According to Katsuya Eguchi, hardware producer of the Wii U, the company is currently readying a system to transfer game saves, WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases from the Wii to the new Wii U. Considering the fact that file transfers aren’t currently possible from Wii-to-Wii, this is pretty impressive.
It is not known how the file transfer system will be implemented, although there is speculation it will involve the recently rumored cloud storage app for the upcoming console.
[Source: Joystiq]
E3 trailer for The Last of Us shows brutal gameplay
E3 saw the release of more footage from Naughty Dog’s much anticipated new game The Last of Us, and boy was it brutal. Although initially it looks very similar to the Uncharted series, as the trailer progresses it has a distinct feel, conjuring up the tension and eeriness of I Am Legend or “The Walking Dead.” Joel certainly has a touch of Sheriff Rick Grimes about him.
The trailer sees Joel and Ellie attempting to reach a bridge and escape the city. They are strangers in this territory, controlled by scavenging hunters. The player remains in control of Joel, and the level felt reminiscent of the French Villa chapter in Uncharted 3, with Sully offering banter and, later on, support.
However, the game itself seems to flow smoother than Drake’s last outing, and whereas that world took some liberties with the action, The Last of Us looks to be more grounded in reality. There are no funny quips here. This is survival, kill or be killed. The game seems to have more of a focus on stealth, but once discovered, Joel has no alternative than to kill a group of hunters in order to protect himself and Ellie. AT one point he even uses a hunter as a human shield. Ellie helps out when Joel runs out of bullets; although it was unclear whether this was an automatic reaction by the companion AI, or whether it was an action directed by the player.
The other main distinction from the Uncharted series is the lack of ammunition and reliance on hand-to-hand combat or improvisation. After Joel has run out of bullets, we see him create a Molotov cocktail from items in his backpack, and setting fire to one of the hunters, before wrestling the last one for a shotgun and blowing his face off as he begs for his life. This is not merely a shooter; there is a gravity to the killing here, you can hear the regret in Troy Baker’s voice acting.
This, coupled with the foreboding musical score by double Oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla makes The Last of Us all the more compelling, and my most anticipated title for 2012 (or maybe 2013).
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged E3 2012, The Last of Us
Battlefield 3 follows Call of Duty into war zone of paid subscriptions
Following in the murky footstep of Activision’s Call of Duty Elite service, EA has announced a similar subscription service for their FPS, Battlefield 3, entitled Battlefield 3 Premium.
Priced at $49.99, Battlefield Premium carries the same price as its Elite competition. In return, players will receive five expansion packs; essentially it is five “Project Ten Dollars” shoved together. Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers will also have access to “a host of exclusive in-game items including the ACB-90 knife, a set of Premium dog tags, and soldier and weapon camos – all complemented by unique Battlelog features, Double XP weekends, and other exclusive events and videos.”
EA Games Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund claims that gamers will save $25 buying in bulk rather than buying the DLC packs individually, and that those who subscribed would receive new updates two weeks before normal players.
While the move is unsurprising, one cannot help but feel this is the road to Hell, paved with good intentions. Perhaps it is a question of lack of originality. Star Wars: The Old Republic was criticised for being too much like rival MMO World of Warcraft, while this new move sees Battlefield 3 merely following in Call of Duty’s footsteps. And when a game and subscription package costs over $100, players are more likely to only pick one.
And I can’t help but feel that EA is looking to gouge their players with little charges for any sort of perceived “extra.” But maybe it’s just me.
[Source: Reuters]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Battlefield 3
Lord of the Rings is next franchise to get Lego treatment
After Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Batman, the Lego Group, along with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and TT Games, have announced the rather clumsily worded Lego The Lord of the Rings.
Surely they should have taken the definitive article out of the title? Regardless, the new game will encompass all three films from the trilogy, and will be released for all current consoles, including the 3DS, PS Vita, DS, PC, Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. In a break from the traditional “Lego Something” format, the game will also feature voiced dialogue.
Tom Stone, Managing Director at TT Games, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for the game: “We are huge aficionados of The Lord of the Rings franchise and are incredibly excited to put our special Lego family-friendly touch on this classic fantasy adventure. We’ve taken what fans are familiar with and love about The Lord of the Rings films and combined it with the playful Lego style, which makes the story and gameplay accessible to gamers of all ages.”
Perhaps it is just me, but it is hard to get excited about yet another Lego transformation of a licensed film series. What’s next? Lego Fast and the Furious? Or maybe a move into TV with Lego Game of Thrones and Lego Sex and the City? The toy brick company has a number of original franchises, such as the Lego Hero Factory or Bionicle, the latter made into a mediocre game by Argonaut and EA and therefore in need of a decent reboot. I find I am much more excited by the upcoming Lego City Stories for Wii U.
Nevertheless, cutesy brick versions of Gandalf, Frodo and Legolas will be winging their way to you in the Fall.