Author: John Scalzo

John Scalzo is Warp Zoned's Editor-In-Chief and resident retro gaming expert. You can email him at john AT warpzoned DOT com.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way among 2015 DICE Awards nominees

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have announced the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards and, just like the GDC Awards, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is leading the pack. Monolith’s expansion of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings garnered nine nominations including “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” “Outstanding Character,” “Adventure Game of the Year,” and “Game of the Year.”

Shadow of Mordor will be competing against four games for the top prize. Rounding out the category are Bungie’s Destiny, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. All told, 56 games received a nomination in at least one category.

This year’s DICE Awards have added a new category to the festivities, the DICE Sprite Award, in an attempt to recognize work done by smaller studios. The Banner Saga, Hohokum, Monument Valley, Threes!, and Transistor will be competing for the inaugural DICE Sprite Award, which honors “innovative gameplay and experiences.”

The full list of nominees can be found after the break and don’t forget to tune in to Twitch.TV on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) to find out the winners. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , ,

CoD: Advanced Warfare goes 2-for-2 as the best-selling game of December 2014

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is on a roll. After being named the best-selling game for all of last year, the NPD Group also confirmed that it was the best-selling game of December as well. Activision’s latest military shooter also took the top spot in November, during its first month of release.

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, December’s sales chart was dominated by big-name franchises including Grand Theft Auto V (#2), Madden NFL 15 (#3), Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Minecraft (#6).. really, just the entire top ten.

On the hardware side of things, the Xbox One once again was the best-selling console, besting the PS4 for a second month in a row. The console’s $50 price cut is really working for Microsoft and the company has decided to reinstate the discount beginning today, possibly on a permanent basis.

The full top ten for December 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the best-selling game of 2014

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The NPD Group has finished calculating the 2014 game sales in the United States and they’re ready to declare a winner. In 2014, gamers bought more copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare than any other game. The franchise actually bookended both ends of the list as Call of Duty: Ghosts tabulated enough 2014 sales to check in at #10. In between those two extremes, the list actually features plenty of familiar faces.

Last year’s best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, managed to heist the #4 spot thanks to good sales in the early half of the year and a PS4/Xbox One re-release in the Fall. Sports games occupied three spots in the top ten as Madden NFL 15 (#2), NBA 2K15 (#7), and FIFA 15 (#9) were all popular with players.

Gamers voted with their wallets and both of 2014’s budding megafranchises-in-the-making cracked the top ten. Destiny came in at #3 while Watch Dogs had to settle for the #8 spot.

All told, game software sales were down 13% in 2014 to $5.3 billion. That’s still an impressive chunk of change, but players are increasingly moving over to digital storefronts for the majority of their game purchases. The complete top ten from 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Microsoft cuts price of the Xbox One console to $349 again… perhaps permanently

Microsoft has just announced that the retail price of the Xbox One will once again be dropping back down to $349. The new price will go into effect tomorrow, January 16, and there’s currently no end date in sight. While this means that the price cut is officially a temporary one, Microsoft has made no indication that gamers should hurry if they want to pick up an Xbox One for $349.

The previous Xbox One discount was put in place on November 2, 2014 and expired on January 3, 2015. The lower price helped Microsoft as the Xbox One triumphed over the PS4 on the sales charts in both November and December.

“Building off a record-setting holiday, we are excited to announce a new promotion in which fans in the U.S. can buy an Xbox One at a special price of $349, starting tomorrow, January 16, from their preferred retailer,” Mike Nichols, Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xbox, wrote on the Xbox Wire. “We are thankful for all the excitement for Xbox One this holiday and proud to offer more fans the amazing games lineup, Xbox Live gaming community, and continual innovation that Xbox One fans have come to enjoy.”

Microsoft is pretty excited about what the Xbox One will offer in 2015 and they’ve put together the montage-heavy trailer above, which features Rise of the Tomb Raider, Halo 5: Guardians, Evolve, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Ori and the Blind Forest, Fable Legends, and more.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

Nintendo Download: 3D After Burner II, Lufia: The Legend Returns, more

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After adding Super Mario Galaxy 2 to the Wii U eShop yesterday, the consolemaker is back with another big batch of games in their usual Thursday update.

This week, 3DS owners can now download 3D After Burner II, an enhanced rendition of Sega’s arcade classic, and Lufia: The Legend Returns, a well-loved RPG that was originally released for the Game Boy Color in 2001.

The Wii U eShop is now home to a few new games as well including Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight, a wacky NES spinoff of the Street Fighter, and Electronic Super Joy: Groove City, a retro-inspired platformer that is about… I swear to god… the heroine’s search for her missing “Laser-Nipples.”

More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U |

Activision details CoD: Advanced Warfare’s Havoc Map Pack ahead of January 27 launch

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Havoc Map Pack is less than two weeks away, so Activision has dropped a few new details and a behind-the-scenes trailer to get us all talking about it. The Havoc Map Pack will follow the same “four competitive maps/one co-op map” format that Infinity Ward used for Ghosts. Here’s what players can expect from the four competitive maps:

Core: Deploy to the Gobi desert where the ravaged ruins of a nuclear fusion plant set the stage for a high-octane warzone. Take down enemies through the wreckage in long-range combat or get up-close and personal in the tunnels surrounding the central turbine. Activate decontamination drones using the map-based scorestreak to help clean out the competition.

Urban: Prepare yourself for brutal, high-speed combat in Dallas Ward 3, a future mega structure, funneling players into a close-quarters free-for-all. This modular compound’s verticality unleashes the exoskeleton’s capabilities. Stay focused during the timed event as blast doors alter the map’s flow and sightlines.

Sideshow: In the shadow of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, this abandoned inn’s open layout amplifies its creep factor. Blast your way through the clown inn with close-quarters battles or use long-range site-lines from the mining facilities and natural terrain. Use the map-based scorestreak to activate the lights, music, and magic of the clown marquee and rain down a barrage of rainbow smoke-trailed cannonballs.

Drift: An idyllic ski resort high in the Rocky Mountains is transformed into a festive high-altitude playground, perfect for an all-out firefight. Make your way to the highly contested over watch in the glass observation deck or take a ride on the carousel to deliver 360 degrees of carnage. Players can use the map-altering timed event to their advantage as an avalanche of snow and debris disorients players, intensifying the battle.

Sledgehammer Games is also taking a page from Treyarch as the co-op maps for Advanced Warfare will feature an ever-expanding zombie horde. The first episode of “Exo Zombies,” which stars John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal, will be included with the Havoc Map Pack.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Havoc Map Pack will be available to download on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on January 27. A PS3, PS4, and PC release will likely follow in February.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

The Simpsons are going to Minecraft (on the Xbox One and Xbox 360)!

minecraft-simpsonsWhenever Matt Groening and his army of Korean animators send the Simpson family on a new adventure, they almost always kick it off with a rousing round of “The Simpsons are going to…!” Today, Microsoft announced that everyone’s favorite family (and a few of Springfield Elemenrary’s finest) will be making the jump to Minecraft on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. So, before we go any further…

“The Simpsons are going to Minecraft!”

Enough of that borax! “The Simpsons Skin Pack” will be priced at $1.99 and it’ll include new skins for Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and 19 characters from Springfield Elementary School. The pack will be available on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in late February. Launch details for the “Simpsons Skin Pack” on PlayStation platforms will be announced at a later date.

Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

2015 Writers Guild nominees: Alien: Isolation, Last of Us: Left Behind, AC: Unity, Freedom Cry

wgaThe Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for this year’s Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award, which they use to honor the best game writing of the year.

Continuing their love affair with Ubisoft, the Guild nominated both new entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, for this year’s Writers Guild Award. Two other games are have also been nominated this year, Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Left Behind expansion. The full list of nominated writers can be found here:

Alien: Isolation (Sega)
Writers: Dan Abnett, Dion Lay, Will Porter

Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (Ubisoft)
Lead Scriptwriter: Jill Murray
Scriptwriter: Melissa MacCoubrey
Story: Jill Murray, Hugo Giard, Wesley Pincombe

Assassin’s Creed: Unity (Ubisoft)
Story: Alexandre Amancio, Sylvain Bernard, Travis Stout
Scriptwriting: Alexandre Amancio, Travis Stout, Russell Lees, Darby McDevitt, Ceri Young
Additional Scriptwriting: Jeffrey Yohalem

The Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Written by: Neil Druckmann

Writers from Naughty Dog and Ubisoft have been trading off top honors at the WGA Awards for the last five years. Naughty Dog prevailed last year for their work on The Last of Us, following wins for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2012) and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2010). In between, Ubisoft collected a pair of WGA Awards for Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2013) and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2011).

If history repeats itself, writers from Ubisoft will be hoisting a trophy in victory when the winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards are announced on February 14.

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