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
Microsoft purchases Twisted Pixel, has no plans to straighten them
Before now, indie developer Twisted Pixel has always created games exclusively for the Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft has decided to make it official by purchasing the company and making them a part of their Microsoft Studios network.
“Twisted Pixel has an incredible track record of innovative, critically acclaimed, and most importantly, fun, games,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president, Microsoft Studios. “Microsoft Studios is home to cutting-edge entertainment experiences, and the incredible creativity of the Twisted Pixel team will help drive further innovation around Kinect and Xbox Live.”
The developer’s most recent game, The Gunstringer, was released a few weeks ago. In addition to that undead, Kinect-powered puppet show, Twisted Pixel has created a quartet of comically twisted games: Splosion Man, The Maw, Comic Jumper and Ms. Splosion Man.
Let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t make them change their wacky ways; it’d be a crime.
Sideway: New York added to PlayStation Store
Sony continues to roll out their “Only On PSN” exclusives with Sideway: New York, one of yesterday’s new additions to the PlayStation Store.
Sideway: New York is a puzzle platformer that follows Nox as he attempts to navigate a New York that is entirely covered in graffiti. The game has been priced at $9.99, but PlayStation Plus subscribers can snag it for 20% off.
Also new this week is a pair of NeoGeo remakes: the side-scrolling shooting of Metal Slug 2 and the one-on-one fighting of King of Fighters ’96. Both games can be downloaded for the PSP as well.
Finally, XS Junior League Football was added to the store as the latest PSone Classic. I never heard of it, either.
More information on all of this week’s new releases (and game add-ons) can be found at the PlayStation.Blog.
Watch episode 1 of Dragon Age: Redemption now; Mark of the Assassin DLC also available
At long last, EA and BioWare have unleashed the first episode of the Dragon Age: Redemption webseries. Telling the tale of elf assassin Tallis, the series was written and produced by Felicia Day, the commonly accepted Queen of All Nerds and creator of The Guild. Oh, and she also donned a pair of elf ears to play Tallis.
If you watched Mortal Kombat: Legacy, you’ll know what to expect from Dragon Age: Redemption. There’s the low budget and the effects-obscuring camera angles, but there’s also a spark of a fun time here. And who doesn’t like that? Episode two will be available next week.
However, if you can’t wait that long to experience the further adventures of Tallis, BioWare has also released the Dragon Age II: Mark of The Assassin DLC pack on the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Marketplace.
And in case you were wondering, Day voiced the character in the expansion as well.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Redemption
New Wii bundle includes NSMBWii, music CD; doesn’t include GameCube support
Nintendo is readying a new Wii bundle for this Fall that includes some new items, but subtracts one thing we’ve come to expect with the Wii system.
The bundle will be available on October 23 all decked out in black with a Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuk, and Wii system. The package will also include a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack CD. The bundle price is the now standard $149.99 you’d expect to pay for a Wii.
But under the hood the console will be slightly different. This Wii system has been modified to operate in a horizontal position only. It’ll also be lacking GameCube support:
The newly configured black Wii console sits horizontally rather than vertically and is designed exclusively for Wii game play and entertainment experiences (GameCube software and accessories are not supported).
In case you haven’t bought a Wii yet and need backwards compatibility, the original Wii console with support for GameCube games and peripherals will still be available in stores priced at $149.99 (and including Mario Kart Wii).
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy
Xbox 360 standalone 320 GB hard drive (with Lego Star Wars III) coming soon
Microsoft has announced the 320 GB hard drive featured in the Gears of War 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 will be available separately later this month.
The drive will retail for $129.99 and it’ll be compatible with all Xbox 360 S models. If that price seems a tad high to you, don’t worry, Microsoft plans to package a download code for Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars with each drive.
OK, that’s still pretty pricey for a 320 GB drive, but that’s par for the course for Xbox 360 hard drives.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Fans tap Anderson Silva for UFC Undisputed 3 cover
More than 110,000 Ultimate Fighting Championship fans have spoken and they have selected UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva as the cover athlete for UFC Undisputed 3.
Scheduled for a January 2012 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360, Silva beat out four other UFC champions (lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez) for the honor.
“Enabling fans worldwide to select the UFC Undisputed 3 cover athlete has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President of Core Games at THQ. “Anderson Silva possesses a tremendous work ethic and incredible prowess inside the Octagon, making him an excellent choice to serve as our cover athlete for the game.”
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged UFC Undisputed 3
Silent Hill: Downpour washing up in early 2012
Konami has confirmed that Silent Hill: Downpour will no longer make its expected October 2011 release date. Instead, the survival horror title has been pushed back to the much less scary timeframe of “early 2012.” No reason was given for the delay.
Silent Hill: Downpour is in development for the PS3 and Xbox 360 at Vatra Games.
[Source: MCV]
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Silent Hill: Downpour
Netflix kills Qwikster, “still considering” game rentals
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sat down to a nice dinner of crow yesterday before composing a post on the company’s official blog that doubles as the obituary of Qwikster.
The ridiculously unpopular site split (Netflix would have been streaming-only, while Qwikster would have handled the DVD rentals) was announced just three weeks ago, but like the New Coke debacle, it has been quickly reversed. Hastings wrote in his post that, due to user demand, all DVD rentals and streaming services would stay under the Netflix name.
“This means no change: one website, one account, one passwor… in other words, no Qwikster,” he said. The July price increase will stay in place, however.
During the initial announcement, Hastings also revealed that Qwikster Netflix would be adding PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 games to its rental options. This plan appears to be on the backburner for the time beings as Steve Swasey, the Netflix Vice President of Corporate Communications, told GameSpot the company is “still considering” how to proceed with game rentals.
Qwikster may be dead, but hopefully our favorite Twitter user will keep the name alive for a good, long time.