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
Madden NFL 13 Cover Nominees: AFC South
Are you ready for some football? How about a long and drawn out fan vote to decide who will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 13? Well, EA Sports has you covered on both.
Every day this week, the Madden-maker will continue to reveal each division’s nominees for the game’s cover. The 64-player tournament will initially include two players from each team. Beginning March 7, fans can head over to the ESPN SportsNation Facebook Page to decide who will represent each team in the final 32-player bracket.
Today’s nominees come from the AFC South:
Houston Texans
Arian Foster or Andre Johnson
Indianapolis Colts
Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis
Jacksonville Jaguars
Blaine Gabbert or Maurice Jones-Drew
Tennessee Titans
Chris Johnson or Jake Locker
Andre Johnson didn’t have a great 2011 (in fact, he spent more time injured then he did on the field), but the Texans play-in matchup is certainly the most interesting so far. But out of this eight, it’s hard to argue, except for Arian Foster, that any of them are deserving of the cover of Madden NFL 13.
Is this a God of War IV teaser trailer?
We know God of War IV is coming, even though it remains unannounced. We know this as surely as we know that Nintendo is working on another Mario game and Sega is working on another 3D Sonic. It is the way of things when it comes to the video game industry. But Italian website 4News.it has gone a step further and posted, what they claim, is a leaked trailer for the game.
The trailer opens with a Mature rating (even though, officially, God of War IV hasn’t been rated by the ESRB), the “Sony Computer Entertainment presents” text, and the Sony Santa Monica logo. Then a series of grayish images are flashed on the screen (a stone structure, floating rocks, hands reaching up from the ground) as a voice intones:
Brother, the phoenix has been drinking your blood. Full of your anger. Blood. Full of your anger and your strength in life. Now I ask you, what have you been doing with her? Would you leave me here in hell? Kratos… wake up! wake up!
Finally, we’re greeted with the God of War IV logo. Is it real? Who knows. But it certainly is convincing.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged God of War: Ascension
New Releases: Mass Effect 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, MLB 2K12/MLB 12, More
It’s here. It’s finally here. The grand finale of the Mass Effect trilogy, Mass Effect 3, will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on March 6. It’s been a long wait (made longer by EA’s decision to delay the game from its original Fall 2011 release date), but it’s almost over.
However, other companies aren’t backing down from the juggernaut that is Commander Shepard…
- Capcom is bowing their 2D crossover fighter Street Fighter X Tekken (PS3, Xbox 360).
- A twin bill of baseball games will be available including Sony’s MLB 12: The Show (PS3, Vita) and 2K’s more inclusive Major League Baseball 2K12 (DS, PC, PS2 (!), PS3, PSP (!!), Wii, Xbox 360).
- Namco Bandai is bringing back the Ridge Racer series in Ridge Racer Unbounded (PS3, Xbox 360), a title that has really managed to stay under the radar.
- Zipper Interactive (creator of the SOCOM series) will make their Vita debut with Unit 13.
- And Nintendo wants everyone to do the Mario one more time on the Wii with Mario Party 9.
Even EA isn’t afraid to compete against itself, as the publisher plans to ship The Sims 3: Showtime for the PC this week in both a Limited Edition and a Katy Perry Special Edition (scandalized muppets not included).
Believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are even more new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Major League Baseball 2K12, Mass Effect 3, MLB 12: The Show, Street Fighter X Tekken
Madden NFL 13 Cover Nominees: NFC East
Are you ready for some football? How about a long and drawn out fan vote to decide who will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 13? Well, EA Sports has you covered on both.
Every day this week, the Madden-maker will continue to reveal each division’s nominees for the game’s cover. The 64-player tournament will initially include two players from each team. Beginning March 7, fans can head over to the ESPN SportsNation Facebook Page to decide who will represent each team in the final 32-player bracket.
Today’s nominees come from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys
DeMarcus Ware or Jason Witten
New York Giants
Victor Cruz or Jason Pierre-Paul
Philadelphia Eagles
LeSean McCoy or Michael Vick
Washington Redskins
Ryan Kerrigan or Brian Orakpo
With their Super Bowl victory, the G-Men (Victor Cruz and Jason Pierre-Paul) obviously have a leg-up in the Madden NFL 13 cover competition. Especially because both players delivered big performances during the playoffs. But don’t count out LeSean McCoy or Michael Vick. Vick is a former Madden coverboy and McCoy is one of the best running backs in the league.
Of course, even with Vick’s on-the-field credentials, many people have other reasons not to vote for him.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time steals shelf space this Fall
Like a good thief, Sony has stealthily slipped in and revealed that Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time‘s release date has shifted from “TBA 2012” to “Fall 2012.” Good news if you thought the next Sly game was still almost a year away. But bad news if you were hoping to play it this Summer.
To go along with the release window announcement, Rey and Sid from the PlayStation Blog sat down with Sanzaru Games President Glen Egan to slyly discuss the next Sly game. In the interview (which is embedded above), Egan answers questions about Sly’s thieving ancestors, the new Costume system, and the massive open world they’ve built for Thieves in Time.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
USC is the top Video Game Design school for third year in a row
The University of Southern California (USC) has topped a Princeton Review report as the best undergraduate and graduate Video Game Design program for the third straight year. Actually, many schools that appeared on the 2011 list made a repeat appearance this year. The one big addition, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which landed at #2 on the undergraduate list and #3 on the graduate list.
The results of the report were gathered through a survey conducted during the 2011-2012 academic year of administrators at 150 institutions. The 50-question survey gauged the quality of the curriculum, faculty, facilities and infrastructure of the selected schools.
All told, the Princeton Review created a top ten list for both undergraduate and graduate programs along with selecting 30 honorable mentions.
The complete list can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Metroid, Crush 3D demo, Spot The Difference
This week’s Nintendo Download brings the NES classic Metroid to the 3DS eShop. But before you Justin Bailey your way through Zebes, you might also want to know that a demo of Crush 3D, Sega’s in-your-face puzzler is also available to download. Finally this week, the find-the-object game Aahh! Spot The Difference was added to the DSiWare Shop.
If you’re still in the dark about this week’s new releases, here’s a little bit more information, straight from Nintendo:
Metroid (3DS eShop) – Packed with high-tech weaponry, creepy tunnels and hideous alien creatures, the first installment in the immensely successful Metroid series introduces us to the slick, cybernetic bounty hunter Samus Aran.
Aahh! Spot The Difference (DSiWare) – Demonstrate your powers of observation in this engaging “spot the difference” game. Complete 40 challenging levels in four unique scenarios by spotting the differences between the upper and lower screen.
Madden NFL 13 Cover Nominees: AFC East
Are you ready for some football? How about a long and drawn out fan vote to decide who will appear on the cover of Madden NFL 13? Well, EA Sports has you covered on both.
Every day this week, the Madden-maker will continue to reveal each division’s nominees for the game’s cover. The 64-player tournament will initially include two players from each team. Beginning March 7, fans can head over to the ESPN SportsNation Facebook Page to decide who will represent each team in the final 32-player bracket.
Today’s nominees come from the AFC East:
Buffalo Bills
Ryan Fitzpatrick or Stevie Johnson
Miami Dolphins
Reggie Bush or Brandon Marshall
New England Patriots
Rob Gronkowski or Wes Welker
New York Jets
Darrelle Revis or Mark Sanchez
A Tight End has never been chosen as the cover athlete for any Madden NFL release. Even though we’re less than halfway through the nominees, I think New England’s Rob Gronkowski has a very good chance of breaking down that barrier. Statistically, there was no better receiver in the NFL in 2011.
Oh, but uh, I guess Wes Welker is pretty good too. So it’s probably too early to make that kind of prediction.