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
Nintendo Download: 3DS system update, Super Street Fighter II, more
Nintendo has pushed out a system update for the 3DS as part of their weekly Nintendo Download offerings. The update adds the ability to place folders on the handheld’s Home Screen as well as streamlines browsing in the 3DS eShop.
And speaking of the 3DS eShop, Nintendo has added a new game to the online store today as well. Titled Block Factory, it’s, you guessed it, a puzzle game that features falling blocks. On the DSi Shop, Nintendo has Chuck E. Cheese’s Arcade Room, which promises to “recreate the magic of being at Chuck E. Cheese’s!” Unless it includes a miniature copy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, I doubt it could recreate my favorite memories of Chuck E. Cheese.
Finally, Nintendo remembered that the Virtual Console still exists on the Wii and has added Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers to the Wii Shop. Unlike your typical Virtual Console game, Super Street Fighter II adds online multiplayer to the mix.
More information on all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Calvin Johnson is your Madden NFL 13 cover athlete
The votes have been counted and we have a winner… Calvin Johnson, wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, will be the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete.
Johnson, also known as “Megatron” to friends, fans, and well wishers, beat out Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in the final round. A total of 651,790 votes were cast and Johnson came out on top with 52%, an almost razor-thin margin of victory. Nearly 20 million votes were cast throughout the entire tournament.
Johnson is the first player from the Lions to appear on the Madden cover since a shadowy image of Barry Sanders was inserted behind John Madden himself for Madden NFL 2000. Sanders retirement a month earlier and subsequent appearance on the cover is cited by some as the impetus of the “Madden Curse.”
Will Calvin Johnson be able to avoid the curse? Everybody hopes so, but after years of trying, Starscream did eventually manage to kill Megatron. So you never know.
Resident Evil creator signs with Bethesda to create survival horror game Zwei
Shinji Mikami, the famed creator of the Resident Evil series, has revealed the first tiny morsels of his next project, Zwei.
Zwei, which is German for “two,” has been described as a survival horror game, which seems like a natural fit. The game is in development at Mikami’s new studio, Tango Gameworks, and the image to your left represents “a collage of different environments […] to give a feel for the tone and the direction the production is taking.”
Development on Zwei is still in the very early stages, but Mikami is confident it’ll match the expectations gamers have for his work: “A true ‘survival horror’ game is one in which the player confronts and overcomes fear. I’ve found my focus and once again I’m striving for pure survival horror [with Zwei]. I am being very hands-on to see that the quality is there. Rest assured.”
Tango Gameworks is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bethesda, so they’ll be publishing the game in the US. However, owing to the early nature of development, Mikami wasn’t ready to announce which platforms it’ll appear on or when it’ll be released.
Posted in News
Tagged The Evil Within
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been C.A.N.C.E.L.E.D.
Back in December, there were rumblings that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 had succumbed to cancellation. But developer GSC Game World shrugged off the rumors saying, “We will do our best to continue.”
Today, it looks like their continue clock ran down to zero.
In a sudden turn of events, GSC Game World has closed its doors and the remaining team members have formed a new development studio, Vostok Games. The team wanted to continue their work on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, however, the owners of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. brand refused to sell, resulting in the game’s official cancellation.
But the team at Vostok isn’t wasting any time and have jumped right into their next project, a Free-To-Play MMOFPS titled Survarium.
Survarium is scheduled for a late 2013 release and, if the official website is anything to go by, the game is shaping up to be a spiritual successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War expands on XBLA
Are you ready to heat up the cold war once more? Signal Studios announced that they’ve added two expansions for Toy Soldiers: Cold War to the Xbox Live Marketplace today. The expansions, “Evil Empire” and “Napalm,” are available to download for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) each.
“We’re delighted to have Evil Empire and Napalm going live,” said Jason Ilano, Toy Soldiers: Cold War’s Game Director at Signal Studios. “As a thank you to our fans, we are releasing a Multiplayer DLC compatibility pack for free. This will give them a chance to join matches hosted by players that have the new content, play it, and decide if it is for them.”
Want more information on “Evil Empire” or “Napalm”? Then hit the jump solider! (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Toy Soldiers: Cold War
New on XBLA Today: Bloodforge, Deep Black Episode 1
The next title in Microsoft’s Arcade Next promotion has been released and it’s Climax’s Bloodforge. The bloody beat ’em up has been priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15):
With a brutal combat system, stunning art style, and a deeply compelling story, Bloodforge empowers you to slaughter hordes of demonic soldiers, deformed worshippers, and the gods themselves, using ferocious Rage Kills, devastating Rune attacks, and furious Weapon Combos. Help seal Crom’s fate – and the fate of the rest of the world – in this dark, visceral story of revenge, betrayal, and destiny.
Also available this week is 505’s Deep Black: Episode 1, a third-person shooter that promises “underwater combat” and multiplayer modes, all for a price of 800 Microsoft Points ($10):
Exciting game play that features the dynamic use of both environments for combats: land and underwater. An original multiplayer mode with underwater battles that offer the player a totally different and new experience! Players will descend the murky depths in pursuit of enemies armed with a selection of underwater equipment that range from a specialized suit with jet pack and integrated harpoon as well as other high tech equipment. With the majority of the game play taking place below the water’s surface, action-adventure fans will need to master new skills to fight hostile enemies and to infiltrate enemy bases. The story line takes place in the nearest future in a world of unsteadiness, chaos, espionage, terrorism and the desperate fight for world supremacy and possession of sophisticated biological weapon.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Bloodforge
The Walking Dead, Battlefield 3, Skype for Vita, a lot more added to PS Store
Welcome to this week’s massive PlayStation Store update!
First up is The Walking Dead: A New Day, the first episode the Walking Dead episodic game series. PS3 players can buy the first episode today for $4.99 or the Season Pass (which includes all five episodes) for $19.99. Also available today is a trio of PopCap PSN releases (Bejeweled 3, Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown, and Zuma) and the Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds “Complete Collection,” which includes all previously released DLC.
Full PS3 games available this week include EA DICE’s Battlefield 3, rhythm game Grease Dance, and action RPG The Cursed Crusade.
PS3 owners can also now find another PS2 Classic (Red Faction), two PSone Classics (Darkstalkers 3, Future Cop L.A.P.D.), and a Dragon’s Dogma demo on the PlayStation Store.
And if you own a Vita, you can add the Skype app to your handheld for free today.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. And a complete list of this week’s game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, The Walking Dead
Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto Review: Enjoy a Nice Cup of Hot Coffee
David Kushner has already hit it out of the park once when it comes to a video game history lesson with Masters of Doom, his portrait of the early days of id Software. His latest book, Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, is another behind-the-scenes look at the genesis of a controversial franchise and the people behind it: Rockstar Games and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser. (more…)