Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets 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
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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
Mythbusters will tackle a few myths from Doom on January 31
The Mythbusters will meet their Doom this weekend. On Saturday, January 31, the popular Discovery Channel show will devote an hour to several myths based on video games, or more specifically, questions related to Doom 3: 3 BFG Edition. Hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage will receive an assist from id Software’s Tim Willits as they attempt to discover if it’s really possible for the Doomguy to carry all those “health packs, guns, and even a chainsaw.” I’m sure a few longtime Doom players already see a problem with this scenario (Hint: Doomguy never carries health packs).
The preview trailer above needs a bit more first-person action, but I’m thinking this will be a pretty fun hour of television. Here’s hoping we get to see a Gelatin Man Imp made out of ballistic gel.
WB Games announces Lego Jurassic World and Lego Avengers
WB Games has announced that Lego Jurassic World and Lego Avengers are both in development at TT Games for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Both games will be released in 2015, though the Avengers game will debut a bit later than you might expect.
Lego Jurassic World will launch in June, just ahead or just after Jurassic World‘s theatrical opening on June 12. The game will include levels based on all four films including Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World. Most important of all, do you realize what this means? Lego Muldoon mumbling “Clever girl…” before getting eaten by Lego Raptors!
Meanwhile, Lego Avengers will be released in the Fall, presumably around the same date as The Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s Blu-ray/DVD debut. Like Lego Jurassic Park, Lego Avengers will include levels based on The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Finally, WB Games made two other Lego-related announcements this morning. First, the publisher confirmed that Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin will be available for the 3DS and Vita on March 24. And second, they revealed that Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will be released for mobile devices this Summer.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Lego Avengers, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Lego Jurassic World, Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin
Mario Maker may be delayed as Wii U reaches 9.2 million in sales
Nintendo updated investors on the Wii U’s life-to-date sales performance yesterday and, as of December 31, 2014, 9.2 million Wii U consoles have been sold. This is well behind the sales curve of the Wii, which had sold close to 45 million consoles during this point in its life cycle.
In other bad news, it looks like Mario Maker, a game that lets players create their own Mario courses inspired by Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, has been delayed. Originally pegged for a “1st Half of 2015” release, the game is now listed in Nintendo’s release calendar as “TBA 2015.”
However, it’s not all bad news. The company posted a 59.5 billion yen ($504 million) profit for their fiscal year to date and a number of games are selling really well including Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby (a lifetime total of 9.35 million copies sold), Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (6.19 million copies sold), Mario Kart 8 (4.77 million copies sold), and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (3.39 million copies sold).
Get bonus XP in Evolve by playing Evolve: Hunters Quest, a mobile match-3 puzzler
Quick, grab your phone or tablet, because 2K Games has just released a free-to-play companion app to Evolve for mobile devices. But if you were looking for a little shooty shooty on the go, you might be disappointed. Evolve: Hunters Quest is actually a match-3 puzzler. Available through the iTunes App Store, the Google Play Store, and the Amazon Appstore, Evolve: Hunters Quest will offer 100 missions and the ability to earn Mastery Points which can be spent in the PC, PS4, and Xbox One edition of Evolve to level up your favorite characters:
Evolve: Hunters Quest is a match-3 puzzle combat game based on the Best of Show E3 award winner, Evolve. Use match 3 tokens of the same color to unleash devastating attacks on your enemies, and fill up energy bars to activate hunters’ special abilities. Earn Mastery Points to rank up your character in both the mobile and console games. Explore the planet of Shear in search of new wildlife and monsters. Discover and complete your collection of exotic wildlife in the Bestiary, and earn unique art for the Evolve console game. Enhance your Evolve skills by watching your multiplayer match replays from a strategic top-down view, and devouring intel in the Game Changer. Evolve: Hunters Quest lets you continue your Evolve experience from anywhere!
Evolve will be released on February 10.
Xbox Store Today: Dying Light
It looks like just one game was added to the Xbox Games Store today and it’s Techland’s Dying Light for the Xbox One. The makers of Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide are back with another zombie title, this time centering around a vast city teeming with the undead. And those undead get nastier when the sun goes down (apparently, even zombies get Seasonal Affective Disorder). Thankfully, the human survivors can perform some sweet parkour moves to avoid the flesh-eating hordes:
Dying Light ($59.99)
Dying Light is a first-person, action survival game set in a vast open world. Roam a city devastated by a mysterious epidemic, scavenging for supplies and crafting weapons to help defeat the hordes of flesh-hungry enemies the plague has created. At night, beware the Infected as they grow in strength and even more lethal nocturnal predators leave their nests to feed on their prey. Live to survive another day. Good Night, Good Luck.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Dying Light
Insert Quarter: Remembering the Wacky Games Released in a Console’s Twilight
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Now that the PS4 and Xbox One have completed their first full year on the market, it’s clear that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are slowly sliding into their golden years. The two consoles have lived exceptionally long lives, but now it’s time to say goodbye. However, that also means it’s time to say hello to some of the weird and wacky games that always appear during a console’s last days.
In light of the pending release of Yakuza 5, The A.V. Club’s Anthony John Agnello took a look back at some of these titles and reminisced about such strange offerings as Mega Man & Bass for the Super NES, Under Defeat for the Dreamcast, and Persona 4 for the PS2. Because even though those shiny new consoles look like fun, the party you’re currently at can get very interesting at the end:
Fashionably late: The same rules for when to arrive and leave a party hold true for video game consoles as well. Never show up too early. Is it exciting to get there before everyone else, maybe wait in line for a midnight release, sharing some weird, high-end booze you brought? Sure, but you’ll just end up buzzed before everyone else and playing lame games like Knack. It’s far more important to leave late, though. You never want to leave before things get weird. Parties and game consoles don’t necessarily peak when the guests do.
The full article is available for your perusal at The A.V. Club.
Posted in Insert Quarter
Tagged PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Yakuza 5
Ken Levine talks a little bit about his next game, a “sci-fi ish” “open worldish RPG”
Ken Levine, the creator of BioShock and BioShock Infinite, told the world about a year ago that he wanted to move away from AAA game development and onto something smaller. Yesterday, he finally opened up about the game, encouraging his Twitter followers to ask him anything and everything about it. Levine was still quiet about some subjects, but we know a lot more about the developer’s next game now than we did before:
1:25 PM: [W]ill it be first person or third? Current thinking is first.
1:26 PM: It’s a new universe, not set in any existing.
1:35 PM: We’re playing with something sci fi. Or sci-fi ish.
1:37 PM: [V]oice actors. But have to write them very differently so smaller chunks recombine in meaningful ways. Lots of headscratching.
1:49 PM: Still sticking to 3 act structure? [N]o don’t think that’s relevant in what we’re doing. [I] think more like chapters.
1:51 PM: A game with replayable narrative that can be added IN to like a [Civ] expansion pack, vs. say a Burial at Sea. [Responding to a question asking what he hoped to achieve in the long run.]
2:00 PM: [M]ovies that inspired this project? –Stylistically, yes. Been looking at formalism a la Kubrick and Wes Anderson.
2:00 PM: [N]ot really, because it’s add IN, not add on. Think [Civ] expansion packs. [Responding to a question asking if it’ll be episodic.]
2:04 PM: As of now, developing for [PC].
2:24 PM: High level of replayability. Or we have to substantially re-think.
2:46 PM: [I] think small open worldish (but not necessarily outdoors) [RPG] with quest structure coming from passion system. [Responding to a question about what the actual game will be like.]
So there you have it. Levine is working on some kind of chapter-based (but not episodic) RPG set in an original science-fictional world that will have a high level of replayability. Also, it’s not going to be revealed during this year’s E3 Expo because that’s not how he wants to show his game to fans for the first time.
Like I said, it’s not much, but it is something to chew on for now.
Posted in News
PGA Tour 15 pushed back to Spring; Need For Speed, Star Wars: Battlefront on track for 2015
Electronic Arts delivered their quarterly financial presentation yesterday and the company’s executives gave investors a quick peek into what they have planned for 2015.
Andrew Wilson, EA’s Chief Executive Officer, confirmed that a more detailed dive into the publisher’s 2015 schedule would happen at their next quarterly presentation, but he was able to share a few new announcements. First, Wilson revealed that the release of PGA Tour 15 has been officially delayed. Originally planned for an early 2015 launch, the PS4/Xbox One game (which won’t star Tiger Woods) will now make its way to stores in the Spring.
The CEO followed up that announcement with the happier news that the next Need For Speed game and Star Wars: Battlefront are still on track for late 2015/early 2016. Battlefront will be released during the “holiday quarter” (presumably to coincide with Star Wars: The Force Awakens) while Need For Speed will be released sometime in “Fiscal Year 2016” (which runs from April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016).
In addition to the titles mentioned by Wilson, EA has a massive number of semi-announced games in development including Mass Effect 4, Star Wars: Visceral, and Criterion’s Vehicle Game. While it’s unlikely that any of them will be released this year, we may learn more about them in future financial presentations and at this year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Need For Speed, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, Star Wars: Battlefront