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
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare story details, arcade mode revealed
A week after officially unveiling Alan Wake’s American Nightmare at the 2011 Spike TV Video Game Awards, Remedy has unveiled the first story details for the downloadable title. Staying true to their promise that it’s not Alan Wake 2, the developer confirmed that American Nightmare actually takes place in “Night Springs,” the fictional TV show from Alan Wake. And due to its “fictional” nature, the story is going to be taking a pulpy turn:
The main story mode in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is part of the “Night Springs” TV show fiction and offers an exaggerated pulp action adventure where the horrors of reality have the all too easy habit of coming true. Alan Wake finds himself stuck in an altered reality filled with dangerous shadows; he must leap into action and pursue his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, across the Arizona mesa towards the town of Night Springs. Scratch, a supernatural serial killer, has his evil plans set on Wake’s wife, Alice. Wake must learn to control reality itself and unravel the secret to Mr. Scratch’s demise while using the power of light to put an end to the darkness.
Remedy also announced the Fight Til Dawn arcade mode today. In Fight Til Dawn, players must “survive a full night of enemy onslaughts while racking up their score.” By loading up on weapons and using safe zones, players will have to survive the night and destroy as many demons as possible to write the highest score possible onto the game’s leaderboards.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will be available exclusively as an Xbox Live Arcade download in early 2012.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Confirmed: Wii U, new Vita games to appear at CES 2012
CNET has begun their Consumer Electronics Show coverage with a report detailing two supposed (and very surprising) game-related additions to the show floor.
According to CNET, CES 2012 (which will be held in Las Vegas from January 10-13) will include an appearance by the Wii U and multiple “new” Vita games.
Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment have typically shied away from attending CES, and a quick check of the Exhibitor Directory came up empty for both consolemakers. So it seems unlikely they’ll make an appearance at this year’s show as well.
I’d love to learn more about the Wii U in a few weeks, but it looks like this news is still a rumor for now.
UPDATE: Speaking to Joystiq, Nintendo confirmed that the Wii U will appear at CES 2012 in a special showing hosted by CES management:
Nintendo of America, working with the 2012 International CES management, will offer demos of the upcoming Wii U console to members of the media who did not see the system at the 2011 E3 Expo. Nintendo will not have a booth at CES, nor does it plan to include any games, experiences or information beyond what was available at the 2011 E3 Expo.
Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars
OK, we don’t know for sure that you’ll be dancing for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars, but the recently released ESRB Rating Summary confirms that the game will include a “dancing mini-game” with “revealing outfits.” Sure sounds like the Jabba’s Palace scene from Return of the Jedi to me:
In the dancing mini-game, some female characters perform suggestive moves (e.g., gyrating their hips/buttocks) and wear revealing outfits (partially exposed cleavage/buttocks).
So allow me to amend the headline to say “Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars while your character wears Leia’s gold bikini!” (OK, we don’t know that either, but I know you’re all thinking it).
Yeah, this is going to be the greatest Star Wars game ever.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Kinect Star Wars
Weekly Warp-Up: March of the GOTYs
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
Get Warp Zoned!
As the year slowly winds to a close, everyone is picking their games of the year and Time Magazine is no different. The venerable newsmag always has a few surprises in their year-end top ten, but not this year. Sticking to safe subjects, they awarded spots to Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City and other games that’ll grace countless GOTY lists this month. And their number one pick went to Minecraft, which I have a feeling will be this year’s big winner.
But why limit the conversation to just this year’s best games? Rockstar is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III with a new mobile release and the answer to one of the franchise’s greatest mysteries: is Claude a mute?
Hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
Rockstar answers your questions: Is GTA3’s Claude a mute?
In honor of Grand Theft Auto III‘s release on iOS and Android devices, Rockstar has decided to answer your burning questions about one of the most famous video games ever. They even revealed the origins of Claude’s lack of vocality.
Turn back now if you don’t want to know THE TRUTH…
Rockstar says:
It may now seem obvious that people should all talk in games, but this was not necessarily the case in 2001, certainly not in an open world game. We were making up a lot of procedures as we went along, and we decided that the NPCs (Non Playable Characters) should talk and we would have to figure out how to make them talk (using motion captured cutscenes, something that had never really been done before, at least not on the scale we were doing it). So we decided that the game’s protagonist would not talk, partly to aid people identifying with him, but mostly because we had so many other problems to solve and this did not seem like a major issue. […] Oh and in San Andreas, CJ calls Claude a mute because he does not talk and CJ finds this unnerving.
So there you have it. Claude isn’t a mute, he’s just the original Johnny Tightlips.
Rockstar also confirmed that the three GTA “eras” are completely separate universes and will never cross over. So if you’re hoping to see Claude again, you can forget it:
[T]he “universes” are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not. This is the logic (as far as it could be considered logical) behind it – so no, we don’t believe any GTA3 characters could exist in the GTA4 universe.
But following Rockstar’s logic, this means that Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V will take place in the same “universe.” So who knows, we might get to see Niko one more time.
Posted in News
Tagged Grand Theft Auto III, Mobile, PS2
Ninja Gaiden 3 slices its way into stores on March 20
Ryu Hayabusa returns to slice and dice more demons this Spring as Tecmo Keoi has announced a release date for Ninja Gaiden 3. Ninja Gaiden 3 is the first game in the series not developed by former Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki as well as the first to be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the same time.
And while we’re on this “firsts” theme, Ninja Gaiden 3 will also include the first time the public gets a chance to play Dead or Alive 5. Players who pre-order the game from GameStop will receive a DoA5 demo featuring Ryu Hayabusa and Hitomi. Meanwhile, those who place their pre-order through Amazon will receive a different demo, which features Ayane and Hayate. But if you buy the Ninja Gaiden 3 Collector’s Edition (available exclusively at GameStop), your demo will include all four characters.
The Collector’s Edition will take a $99.99 slice out of your wallet, but it includes a copy of the game, the DoA5 demo and a “Ninja Gaiden 3 ‘Unmask’ game art book, soundtrack CD, and a unique ‘Duel of the Masked’ figure.”
Ninja Gaiden 3 is also in development for the Wii U and will be available at the console’s launch, which is currently scheduled to take place sometime in 2012.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead or Alive 5, Ninja Gaiden 3
New Releases: Star Wars The Old Republic
This is the news post where we’d normally list all of this week’s new releases. However, there’s only new release to talk about, so for this week, this is the news post where we talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The Old Republic is the second attempt at a Star Wars MMORPG and it combines the talents of BioWare, LucasArts, and Electronic Arts while making liberal use of the Knights of the Old Republic setting last seen in the much-maligned Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
BioWare promised to have the game out before the end of the year and they made good on their pledge as The Old Republic will be the final game released before the calendar turns over to January.
So enjoy the rest of your 2011 folks! We’ll be back with another New Releases report in 2012!
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Star Wars: The Old Republic
Risen 2: Dark Waters sets sail on April 24
Deep Silver has announced that Risen 2: Dark Waters, a pirate-themed RPG from developer Piranha Bytes, will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on April 24, 2012. You can also check out the newly-released box art to your left.
And if the name Risen 2: Dark Waters has left you scratching your head in confusion, here’s an official description from Deep Silver:
“Piranha Bytes combines Risen’s authentic role-playing gameplay with a fresh setting, new content, further-developed technology and multiple, thematically varied islands. With its highly interactive game world and dynamic day/night rotation – influencing countless aspects of the world – Risen 2 allows players to plunge into one of the most intense role-playing worlds ever created.”
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Risen 2: Dark Waters