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
In spite of lockout, Madden NFL 12 will be released as scheduled
The NFL Players Association has voted to decertify their union and the owners have imposed a lockout, effectively placing the fate of the 2011-12 season in the hands of the courts. EA Sports’ Rob Semsey has taken to Twitter to reassure fans that Madden NFL 12 is still in development and that it’ll be released this August as scheduled.
In a series of tweets, Semsey announced that all NFL players will be present and accounted for in Madden NFL 12. He also confirmed that rookies selected in next month’s NFL Draft will be placed on the rosters of their respective teams in the game. Finally, Semsey revealed that the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete would be announced by the end of March. Hmm, not being able to play at all might be the ultimate invocation of the Madden Cover Curse.
You can find the complete text of Semsey’s tweets after the break. (more…)
Release Dates: Child of Eden, Arcana Heart 3
Release dates for Child of Eden and Arcana Heart 3 have snuck out of this weekend’s PAX East.
According to Joystiq, an Ubisoft representative has alerted them to the news that Child of Eden will be available on June 14 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The musical motion game is being developed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment and will include Kinect support.
Meanwhile, Scrawl has learned that Arcana Heart 3 will be available to download from the PlayStation Network on April 5. An Xbox 360 version of the all-female fighting game has also been given a rating by the ESRB, but only the PSN version has been officially announced.
We’ll have more from PAX East all weekend.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Arcana Heart 3, PAX East 2011
Shadow Complex 2: “Not if, only a question of when”
Chair Entertainment loves their 2009 Xbox Live Arcade shooter Shadow Complex. They love it so much that Creative Director Donald Mustard has promised Eurogamer that Shadow Complex 2 will be released sometime in the future.
“I’ll put it this way. More Shadow Complex isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Mustard said. “Shadow Complex is our baby and we love it dearly and, y’know, we’re working on some cool stuff [in general]. That’s all I can say.”
Chair recently completed work on the iOS game Infinity Blade, but they have yet to officially announce their next project.
Red Faction: Armageddon blows **** up real good with Ruin Mode
Do you love the sound of breaking glass? Then Red Faction: Armageddon‘s “Ruin Mode” is for you:
Introducing Ruin, Red Faction: Armageddon’s mode dedicated to pure destructive mayhem. Choose your weapons, enter the arena, and unleash hell. Chain together explosive combinations for bonus points, and compete with your friends’ high scores on the online leader boards in Challenge Mode. Or engage in untimed Free Play rounds in which you explore the surface and seek out its most destructive secrets. As you destroy all that you see around you, your creativity will be rewarded.
Check out the trailer above to get a taste of Ruin Mode or play it for yourself at THQ’s booth (#956) if you’ve got tickets to this weekend’s PAX East.
Red Faction: Armageddon will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 31.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2011, Red Faction: Armageddon
The Darkness II playable at PAX East; first screenshots revealed
2K Games is bringing playable demos of two of their biggest upcoming titles, The Darkness II and Duke Nukem Forever, to this weekend’s PAX East show. There’s probably not a person reading this that doesn’t have at least some idea about Duke Nukem Forever, but The Darkness II should have your attention as well.
The Darkness II introduces “Quad-Wielding,” which allows players to use their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. Basically, you’ll become an eviler Doctor Octopus.
You can check out a quartet of “Quad-Wielding” Darkness II screens after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Duke Nukem Forever, PAX East 2011, The Darkness II
Dark Horse publishing Rage prequel comic
Bethesda Softworks and Dark Horse Comics have announced that they’re teaming up to create a three-issue comic miniseries based on id Software’s upcoming Rage.
The series will be written by Arvid Nelsion (Rex Mundi) and penciled by Andrea Mutti (DMZ). The cover art (which you can see to your left) is being created by Glenn Fabry, best known for his work on Hellblazer and Preacher. The first issue will be available June 22 and will serve as a prequel to the game’s story:
This comic series, developed with the direct participation of Rage’s creative director, Tim Willits, presents a new twist on the post-apocalyptic near future as one woman discovers that the survival of humankind doesn’t necessarily mean the survival of humanity. The Earth has been devastated by a collision with an asteroid, with a tiny fraction of the population surviving in life-sustaining Arks buried deep below its surface. Those who survive emerge to find a wasteland controlled by a global military dictatorship called the Authority. But a rescued scientist learns that the Authority has lied to her and the other survivors about how this new world came to be.
Rage will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 13.
Tribes: Ascend announced at PAX East
Long-time readers of Penny Arcade are well aware of Mike “Gabe” Krahulik and Jerry “Tycho” Holkins’ love-hate relationship with the Tribes franchise. So it should come as no surprise that Hi-Rez Studios has used the first day of the PAX East expo to announce Tribes: Ascend, the next game in the multiplayer shooter series. The publisher has also unveiled the game’s debut trailer, which you can see above.
Hi-Rez considers the Unreal Engine 3-powered Tribes: Ascend as the true successor to Tribes 2 and considers the game “a re-introduction of the franchise to the gaming world.”
“Before Halo, before Modern Warfare, and before Battlefield, there was Tribes.”, says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios COO. “Tribes fans appreciate the game’s essence – athletic FPS combat combined with teamwork and strategy. As we began development of Tribes Universe, we focused first on capturing that essence – refining and modernizing iconic elements like jetpacks, skiing, and vehicles. We’ve had tremendous fun play-testing and realized the potential of a multiplayer focused title ahead of Tribes Universe. The community has been waiting for a multi-player shooter that is the modern successor to T2. Tribes: Ascend is that game.”
Tribes: Ascend will be released towards the end of the year as a downloadable title for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade. Releasing the game on “additional platforms” is also being considered.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2011
Batman: Arkham City swoops into stores October 18
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced that this Fall’s most anticipated game, Batman: Arkham City, will be released on October 18 in North America (October 21 in the UK). Apologies to Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3 and the rumored Halo remake, but it’s true.
The Rocksteady-developed sequel will be released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is said to be five times larger than Batman: Arkham Asylum:
Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham City