Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Author: John Scalzo
Dragon Age III will be “the best from Dragon Age and Dragon Age II”
Speaking to PC Gamer, BioWare CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka has revealed the first bit of news about Dragon Age III. Quizzing the developer about the franchise’s split fandom after Dragon Age II (our own Adam Woolcott awarded it a four out of five), the magazine asked Muzyka what direction the threequel would take.
He could have spouted the obvious “we’re going back to the basics” line that you would expect, but instead, Muzyka confirmed that Dragon Age III will combine “the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II.”
“What we need to do as developers is take that feedback from both sets of fans to heart and see about marrying that in future games in the Dragon Age franchise. I think that the team has actually got a great plan. I think the team is going to have some things that are going to surprise both sets of fans, both core fans and new fans with a marriage of these… the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. And we look forward more to talking about that in the future.”
Dragon Age III has yet to be officially announced, but it will likely be released sometime in 2012.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dragon Age: Inquisition
Weekly Warp-Up: Gamescom is Over, Onto PAX Prime
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…
August’s two big gaming expos happen one right after the other and just as Gamescom comes to a close in Germany, PAX Prime is readying itself for the big time in Seattle. The gaming world had more than that this week as all sorts news that is both thrilling and chilling spilled out onto the Interwebs this week.
Get Warp Zoned!
This week, our focus remained on the awe-inspiring Borderlands 2. We got a look at the game’s first teaser trailer, a few screenshots and capped it off with a wish list detailing What We Want From Borderlands 2. Take a ride!
Hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
Gears of War 3 opening cinematic is Hollywood-riffic
Gears of War 3‘s September 20 release date is exactly a month away and Microsoft has unveiled the game’s cinematic. Taking its cues from a big budget Hollywood blockbuster, the game dishes out the storyline so far thanks to an audio diary being recorded by Anya Stroud.
It looks, in a word, epic.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Gears of War 3
New Releases: Deus Ex Human Revolution, Tropico 4, Devil Survivor 3DS, More
The driest August ever (both weatherwise and gamewise) continues this week as just a handful of new releases will make their way onto store shelves.
The biggest release is the long-awaited Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which will be available on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Eidos Montreal has been hard at work on the third Deus Ex game since before the company was purchased by Square Enix. The only other completely new game available this week is Tropico 4. El Presidente’s latest conquest is coming to the PC now and to the Xbox 360 sometime in the future.
The rest of this week’s new releases are all re-releases in some way. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked is a 3DS remake of the DS game of the same name while Nintendo has the second wave of their Nintendo Selects budget line (Mario Strikers Charged, Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario) set for release this week.
Slim pickings to be sure (though Punch-Out!! is a complete steal at $19.99), but the big autumn game avalanche is coming soon. So be patient.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked
Three Resident Evil Revelations trailers lurch out of Gamescom
You might call them a horde of zombie trailers. Or perhaps they’re a pack. Though I was always partial to a murder of zombies myself.
Whatever you call it, Capcom has unveiled a new story trailer for Resident Evil Revelations along with two trailers devoted solely to gameplay. Like a zombie going for your jugular, it’s a gusher of goodies today!
You can check out the story trailer above. Both gameplay trailers are after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Gamescom 2011, Resident Evil Revelations
Blizzard “very, very serious” about bringing Diablo III to consoles
The PC version of Diablo III still doesn’t have a release date, but Blizzard has dropped their biggest hint yet that the game is coming to consoles as well.
Speaking at Gamescom, Lead Designer Josh Mosqueira revealed that Blizzard is “is very, very serious about bringing the Diablo III experience to the console.”
This is good news by itself, but Mosqueira would go on to practically confirm the existence of a console version of the game, even going so far as to declare it awesome:
“Today, we’re trying to build the best console team at Blizzard. We’re looking for programmers, designers, artists who think their dream job would be to bring Diablo to the console. Trust me, it is a dream job. All I can say is it’s going to be awesome. Stay tuned.”
Blizzard’s last foray into console development, the stealth action game StarCraft: Ghost, is still officially on “indefinite hold,” but it’s been as good as dead for the last five years.
[Source: Eurogamer]
Posted in News
Tagged Diablo III, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
2K fills out “NBA’s Greatest” roster in NBA 2K12
After teasing NBA 2K12‘s new “NBA’s Greatest” mode at the beginning of the month, 2K Sports is ready to announce the full roster of 15 basketball greats:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1986-87 Lakers vs. 1986-87 Celtics)
- Larry Bird (1985-86 Celtics vs. The 1985-86 Hawks)
- Wilt Chamberlain (1971-72 Lakers vs. 1971-72 Knicks)
- Julius Erving (1984-85 76ers vs. 1984-85 Bucks
- Patrick Ewing (1994-95 Knicks vs. 1994-95 Magic)
- Magic Johnson (1990-91 Lakers vs. 1990-91 Blazers)
- Michael Jordan (1992-93 Bulls vs. 1992-93 Hornets)
- Karl Malone (1997-98 Jazz vs. 1997-98 Spurs)
- Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94 Rockets vs. 1993-94 Nuggets)
- Scottie Pippen (1995-96 Bulls vs. 1995-96 Sonics)
- Oscar Robertson (1970-71 Bucks vs. 1970-71 Lakers)
- Bill Russell (1964-65 Celtics vs. 1964-65 Lakers)
- John Stockton (1997-98 Jazz vs. 1997-98 Lakers)
- Isiah Thomas (1988-89 Pistons vs. 1988-89 Bulls)
- Jerry West (1970-71 Lakers vs. 1970-71 Hawks)
“Fans across the country were ecstatic to see Jordan, Bird, and Magic on the cover of NBA 2K12, and have speculated for weeks about who would fill out the rest of the ‘NBA’s Greatest’ roster,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports. “These 15 legendary athletes will allow sports fanatics to create the NBA’s most storied matchups – and lock in bragging rights for their favorite teams in NBA 2K12.”
Players who pre-order NBA 2K12 for the PS3 or Xbox 360 will receive access to two additional teams/players in NBA’s Greatest mode. The bonus babies include the 1990-91 Golden State Warriors (with Chris Mullin) and the 2001-02 Sacramento Kings (with Chris “Timeout!” Webber). According to 2K, these teams will only be available to those who pre-order NBA 2K12.
NBA 2K12 will be released for the PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 on October 4.
[Source: ESPN]
CNN: 90% of video games go unfinished
Think about that. Nine times out of ten… Bowser gets to run off with the Princess, Mother Brain rules the galaxy, we never discover the cake is a lie and the terrorists win.
In a special report on CNN, game journalist Blake Snow attempted to find the root cause of why 90% of games go unfinished.
“What I’ve been told as a blanket expectation is that 90% of players who start your game will never see the end of it unless they watch a clip on YouTube,” says Keith Fuller, a longtime production contractor for Activision.
Believe it or not, that number was never very high as ten years ago only 20% of so-called “hardcore” gamers would finish a given game, according to John Lee, VP of marketing at Raptr and former executive at Capcom, THQ and Sega.
So why aren’t we finishing these games? Apparently, it’s because we’re all too damn old and have social lives and jobs and kids and chores that we didn’t have when Toad would taunt us with “Our Princess is in another castle.” I know I wanted to beat Bowser just to silence that smug shroom.
So what’s the solution? Fuller thinks its shorter games: “They’re lucky to find the time to beat a 10-hour game once or twice a month. They don’t feel cheated about shorter games and will just play a longer game for as many hours as their schedule allows before moving on to another title.”
So if games are getting shorter, shouldn’t they be getting cheaper? Maybe that’s a discussion for another time.
Posted in News