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
Sonic Generations demo on PSN, XBLM now
Sega’s latest stab at bringing Sonic the Hedgehog into the 21st century, Sonic Generations, will be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 this Fall (a 3DS version is planned as well). But if you want to step into the blue blur’s sneakers a might early, Sega has you covered.
Starting today, Sega has added a demo of Sonic Generations to the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. The XBLM version is available to download right now (for Gold members only) while PS3 owners will have to wait until later today to download it. You better too, for some ridiculous reason, the demo will expire 20 days from now.
The Sonic Generations demo includes the 2D version (playable with Classic Sonic) of the Green Hill Zone level. It looks like Sega is keeping the 3D recreation of the classic Sonic stage under wraps for now.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Sonic Generations
Nintendo Download: Guilty Gear Tangent, Stratego
Nintendo’s weekly update of their download services includes a bunch of quirky titles today.
On the DSi Shop there’s Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?, which is platformer spun off from the Guilty Gear series of fighting, and Stratego: Next Edition, a portable version of perhaps the greatest board game ever. Also available on the DSi Shop is Delbo, a Bust-A-Move-like puzzle game.
All of this week’s DSiWare offerings can also be downloaded from the 3DS eShop, which receives one exclusive of its own: the Game Boy classic Tennis.
On the WiiWare side of things there’s The Mystery of Whiterock Castle, a hidden objects game.
More information on all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Gabe Newell talks Half-Life 2: Episode 3 release date, Wii U development
Valve’s big boss, Gabe Newell, joined Al Gore to deliver a keynote address at yesterday’s Games for Change Festival. In addition to big talk about where games can take society, Newell answered a few queries on where Valve itself plans to go.
Expectedly, Newell was asked about the status of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and when it would be coming out. Instead of holding up a massive sign reading “When It’s Done,” Newell replied “If you know enough to ask the question, you know enough what the answer is.” A clever quip to be sure, but I still think Newell needs a giant sign with the words “When It’s Done” on it.
Valve’s fearless leader also talked a bit about the Wii U and even hinted that Nintendo’s next system may have a place in future Valve development:
“Wii U seems to be a lot more powerful than the previous generation. It sort of fits better into the scalability in terms of graphics performance and CPU performance, so I think it’ll be a lot easier for us to fit it into our scalability model.”
“We’ve always loved Nintendo. Now it’s a lot easier to look at Wii U and have it fit within that framework.”
So I guess the question is now, “When will Half-Life 2: Episode 3 be released on the Wii U?”
Posted in News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Half-Life 3
Activision serves up Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation trailer
Activision will be adding the Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation Map Pack to the Xbox Live Marketplace in a few days. To get our juices flowing, they’ve also unleashed this trailer that highlights some of the biggest kills available in “Hangar 18” (located within Area 51), “Drive-In” (a 60s American Drive-In theater), “Silo” (a massive secret Soviet nuclear missile site) and “Hazard” (a coastal golf course on the cliff sides of Cuba). Also, check out the zombie monkey that welcomes you to “Shangri-La,” the new Zombies Mode map. Everything is better with zombie monkeys!
The Annihilation Map Pack will be made available for Xbox 360 players on June 28 with the PC and PS3 releases to follow soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops
Trenched added to XBLA today
Trenched, the tower defense game where you battle runaway TVs, is now available to download from the Xbox Live Arcade. Developed by Double Fine (the runaway TV plotline makes so much sense now), the XBLA-exclusive game has been priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).
More information about the game, straight from Microsoft, can be seen here:
About Trenched
Protect humanity from the evil Monovision menace in this Tower Defense Shooter from Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions. Join The Mobile Trench Brigade! Use a combination of mobile firepower and stationary defenses to turn the tide of war in our favor. Customize your trench with thousands of possible loadouts. March side by side with allies from around the world as you fight your way through Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. The Mobile Trench Brigade. Walk with us.
Bejeweled 3 coming to DS, PS3, Xbox 360
It’s a match made in heaven as PopCap Games has announced they’ll be bringing Bejeweled 3 to the DS, PS3 and Xbox 360. In addition to the retail releases, a downloadable version of the game will appear on the PSN and XBLA. All three… err, five… versions will be released this Fall.
“Critics agree that Bejeweled 3 raised the standard for match-3 games to new heights,” said Ed Allard, studio head at PopCap Games. “This holiday, we’re bringing that experience to PlayStation 3, PSN, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, and Nintendo DS gamers with adaptations that look great and play even better on each platform.”
This week is the best time to catch up on PopCap’s previous puzzlers as the current XBLA Deal of the Week features big savings on the publisher’s back catalog including Bejeweled 2 and Bejeweled Blitz Live.
Posted in DS, News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Bejeweled 3
Duke Nukem will return, says Take-Two
Speaking to Forbes at this year’s E3 Expo, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that the company will continue to bet on Duke Nukem. While the tight-lipped CEO didn’t reveal any more, he did reveal that Take-Two plans to publish another game starring the Duke:
Forbes: Does Take-Two own the intellectual property surrounding Duke? Could you spin that out into not just new games, but movies and TV?
Zelnick: We don’t really talk about it in detail but you will see future Duke IP coming from this company.
Of course, it’s important to remember that this interview took place before Duke Nukem Forever received a dreadful drubbing from critics. Though when has that ever stopped a publisher from continuing a bestselling franchise?
Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford made the same proclamation when his company purchased the rights to Duke Nukem back in September.
Posted in News
Shadows of the Damned trailer launches from the depths of hell
A pair of mad geniuses, Suda 51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), came together to develop Shadows of the Damned for Electronic Arts. The hellbound horror title is now available and EA has unleashed a launch trailer for the game.
I think it’s safe to say that only a damn fool would ignore this game.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Shadows of the Damned