Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC 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: John Scalzo
PSN Today: Awesomenauts, Mortal Kombat Vita, Legend of Dragoon, Max Payne, more
Sony has updated the PlayStation Store with another batch of big releases today including the Vita version of Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat is the only game newly released for Sony’s handheld this week, but it’s not the only brawler. PSN players will be able to download Romino’s Awesomenauts if they’re looking for another 2D fighting fix. Also available this week for the PSN is an adventure game, Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time.
A pair of full-sized PS3 games, a pair of PS2 Classics, and a single PSone Classic have also been added to the PlayStation Store this week.
They say opposites attract, and that’s definitely the case with the two PS3 titles, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Disney Universe. For old school RPG fans, The Legend of Dragoon is a game that’s gone, but has never been forgotten. It’s your PSone Classic this week. And finally, the original Max Payne and Rayman 2: Revolution make the PS2 Classics corner the place to be this week.
More details on all of these games can be found after the break, while a full list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Awesomenauts, Mortal Kombat
Activision confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops II a bit early
Activision’s UK arm flipped the switch on the official Call of Duty: Black Ops II site a might early, confirming the game’s existence a few hours ahead of its “NBA Playoffs on TNT” reveal. Of course, the site has reverted back to the countdown page for now.
The site also confirmed that the announcement will come with a huge “reveal trailer,” and sets that rumored November 13, 2012 release date in stone. Finally, some teaser text laid out the specific world-in-peril scenario for Black Ops II:
Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare.
[Source: Joystiq]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Watch the God of War: Ascension developer discussion here
Did you miss out on Sony’s God of War: Ascension livestream with Game Director Todd Papy? Well the Internet comes to the rescue as Sony has released the full livestream for anytime viewing! Check it out above to explore the origins of Kratos and the game’s new multiplayer modes!
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged God of War: Ascension
Rockstar reveals cover for first issue of Max Payne 3 comic
Max Payne is drunk and he just shot somebody and left them to die in the street. Welcome back to Max’s world and welcome to the cover of “Max Payne 3: After the Fall,” a three-issue limited series comic created by Marvel and Rockstar Games.
Issue #1 of “After the Fall” is written by Rockstar’s Dan Houser (he also wrote the story for the game) and Remedy’s Sam Lake. The cover art was created by Greg Horn with pencils and inks by Fernando Blanco. The series will “[feature] characters from all three Max Payne games as the series weaves together events from various points in Max’s life.”
“After the Fall” will be available as a free digital download through the Rockstar Newswire and on the Max Payne 3 official site this Thursday, May 3. A “limited run” of print copies will be also available later in the month.
Max Payne 3 will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on May 15.
Halo 4 live action web series to debut this year
Last show, gamers were treated to fantastic webisodes based on Mortal Kombat and Dragon Age II. This year, Microsoft is getting in on the act with a new webseries to promote the release of Halo 4.
The gamemaker has partnered with Machinima to distribute Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn ahead of the game’s November 6 release. In addition to Machinima’s YouTube channel, episodes will also be available via the Halo Waypoint, Microsoft’s community portal for all things Halo, and eventually, on home video formats.
Forward Unto Dawn will tell its tale over five episodes, with each episode lasting about 15 minutes. The series will follow the Master Chief in the early days of the Human-Covenant War and “how he inspired a young UNSC cadet who will eventually become a leader aboard the UNSC Infinity spacecraft.” This cadet will go on to play a major part in Halo 4’s storyline.
“Every time we do a live-action commercial the audience says, ‘We want to see more so that we can explore the Halo universe a little bit more,” said Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries. “Demand grew more and more out of the two little vignettes we’d previously produced.”
Microsoft plans to announce the creative team and cast behind Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
[Source: Variety]
Posted in Etcetera, News, Xbox 360
Tagged Comic-Con 2012, Halo 4, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed announced
After originally being revealed at the New York Toy Fair earlier this year, Sega is ready to officially announce Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. The kart racing sequel is once again in development at Sumo Digital and is planned for a late 2012 release on the 3DS, PC, PS3, Vita, and Xbox 360.
Sega is planning to make Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed an all-terrain affair with karts that transform into boats on the water and planes in the air. Why yes, it does sound a bit reminiscent of Mario Kart 7. But what’s new is the game’s unique “fair weapon system.” As they race, players will gain skills for their chosen racer, including the ability to “[block or evade] weapons fired at your vehicle.” Awesome!
Also new is a pair of debuting racers, Gilius Thunderhead of Golden Axe and Vyse of Skies of Arcadia. Both were up for inclusion in the first game, but for some reason, were left on the cutting room floor.
I’ll be very surprised if the “fair weapon system” doesn’t end up in the next Mario Kart game.
First God of War: Ascension story, gameplay details released
The PlayStation Blog livestream is still ten minutes away, but that hasn’t stopped Sony from sending out the official press release announcing God of War: Ascension.
The document doesn’t contain a release date for Kratos’ next adventure, but it does include a summary of the game’s plot:
Set in the realm of Greek mythology, God of War: Ascension is an epic adventure that allows players to take on the climactic role of the ex-Spartan warrior Kratos as he finds a way to break the blood oath that binds him to the god, Ares. Six months after being tricked into killing his wife and child, a younger Kratos is sentenced to a life of madness with the Furies, caged in a titan-sized prison for the living damned. Fighting insanity, his will is tested to the limit as he seeks to break his bond and gain the clarity to seek revenge on Ares for his part in the death of his family. Armed with double-chained blades, Kratos must take on mythology’s darkest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest for redemption.
The release also promises that God of War: Ascension will include “a revamped combat and weapon system, promptless mini-games, and new puzzle challenges.”
“The bar has been set quite high for this franchise as each God of War title succeeds in being better than the last,” said Todd Papy, God of War: Ascension’s Game Director at Sony Santa Monica Studio. “But, unlike previous releases, we’re providing a deeper look into Kratos’ tormented past and psyche that fans have not seen before. Combined with refined gameplay, jaw-dropping visuals, and a fresh twist on competitive gaming with our new online multiplayer mode, I guarantee that God of War: Ascension will give fans what they have been eagerly waiting for, and much more.”
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged God of War: Ascension
Sony confirms multiplayer mode for God of War: Ascension
I don’t even remember how it started, but it’s always been the assumption that a fourth God of War game would include some type of multiplayer mode. This morning, Sony confirmed that when God of War: Ascension ships sometime next year, it’ll include a multiplayer mode.
The multiplayer mode reveal will be included as part of a livestream on the PlayStation Blog today (beginning at 11 AM Eastern). But a few details have already leaked out early courtesy of a media event Sony held last week.
When creating a character, players will “sell their soul” to one of four gods (Ares, Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon). Which god you choose will determine how your character’s “allegiance tree” shakes out as they advance through the multiplayer mode.
During the event, Sony showed off Domination Mode, which will be an 8-on-8 brawl where two teams of four compete for “the favor of the gods.” The team that pleases the gods the most will earn the right to massacre a towering cyclops. The idea is to bring the infamous boss battles from the single-player mode to multiplayer.
But don’t forget to tune into the God of War: Ascension livestream to get your first look at the game’s multiplayer mode.
[Source: USA Today]
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged God of War: Ascension