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
XBL Store Today: The Raven, Young Justice: Legacy, Zumba Kids
Another Wednesday, another handful of new Xbox 360 games are now available on the Xbox Live Game Store:
The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief ($9.99)
The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief is a thrilling crime adventure in three episodes from the creators of The Book of Unwritten Tales. Full of twists and turns, it immerses you in both sides of the story, combining thrill-of-the-chase whodunit with the risk and reward of a heist story. Paris, 1960. Europe is in the grip of the gentleman master thief The Raven. His burglaries are spectacular and he always emerges unscathed. Young hotshot investigator Nicolas Legrand stuns the public when he confronts the master thief and fatally wounds him. London, 1964. An ancient ruby – one of the legendary “Eyes of the Sphinx” – is stolen from the British Museum. At the crime scene: a raven feather. Is somebody trying to follow in The Raven’s footsteps?
Young Justice: Legacy ($39.99)
One Will Rise. One Will Fall. One Will Die. Experience Young Justice like never before. The creative forces behind the smash hit TV series have joined forces with Little Orbit to bring the ultimate in fan service – an interactive bridge for Seasons 1 & 2. Find out what happened during the missing years and be a part of the story in the action packed, RPG styled game. Assemble your team, level up and take on cunning villains in Young Justice: Legacy!
Zumba Kids ($29.99)
Jump in and have a blast with Zumba Kids, the ultimate dance-fitness party that gets kids moving together with fun, high-energy rhythms across 20 international dance styles. Feel the beat with 30 rockin’ tracks including hits from Justin Bieber and Willow Smith, and express yourself in creative mini games that mix up the fun. Unlock cool rewards, customize the game to fit your personal style and party with friends in multiplayer mode!
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Young Justice: Legacy
PS Store Today: Tiny Brains, Rainbow Moon Vita, a few others
The PlayStation Store is winding down 2013 with a few more new releases including Tiny Brains, Escape Plan, Rainbow Moon, and Stick It To the Man:
PS4 Games
Tiny Brains ($19.99)
Tiny Brains is a cooperative puzzle that follows four super-powered lab animals in their attempt to escape a mad scientist’s experiments. In this joyously chaotic multiplayer game, the four Tiny Brains must combine their unique physics-based powers to navigate through a trick-ridden maze. All of the puzzles in Tiny Brains can be solved multiple ways depending on how groups combine their powers. Attractive to both hardcore and casual fans, the game has competitive leaderboards and challenging fast paced communicative play along with simple controls so players of any level can jump right in.
PS4 / PS Vita Cross-Buy Games
Escape Plan ($14.99)
Help hapless heroes Lil and Laarg interact with unique and twisted puzzles of each room. Only you can help them survive before their captor and nemesis, Bakuki, recycles them and turns them into his minions. Access 78 puzzle rooms and also receive access to Bakuki’s Lair, featuring an additional 19 rooms. Caged among the chaos of Bakuki’s Lair, Lil and Laarg are doomed without your help. Guide Lil and Laarg to safety by dashing past sausages blasted at your face, skipping over scalding hot cheese and avoiding a bevy of confusing death traps.
PS3 / PS Vita Cross-Buy Games
Rainbow Moon (PS3-Vita Cross-Buy: $14.99 / If You Already Own PS3: $7.49)
The indie role-playing hit Rainbow Moon returns for the PlayStation Vita system with Cross-Save support and numerous updates! Explore a fascinating world and fight nasty creatures in turn-based battles. Visit towns and shop for new equipment and upgrades. Six playable characters await you in an addictive game that lasts more than 40 hours.
Stick It To the Man ($12.99)
On an ordinary day, hard hat tester Ray has a bizarre accident and wakes up with a giant pink spaghetti arm sticking out of his brain, giving him extraordinary mind-reading powers. Ray can suddenly change the world with stickers, transforming his paper universe by tearing it, folding it and using the crazy stickers he finds (along with his awesome new powers) to solve mind-boggling puzzles! Sadly, Ray doesn’t have much time to get to grips with his new-fangled psychic abilities. Instead, he’s on the run from ‘The Man’ for a crime he didn’t commit. Can you help Ray out of this sticky situation? Get ready to tear it, rip it and Stick it to the Man!
And if you’re interested in this week’s new game add-ons, please visit the PlayStation Blog.
Sony sells 2.1 million PS4 consoles during global launch
The PlayStation 4 officially launched in 30 additional countries over the weekend including most of continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and Australia. So that means its time for another sales update from Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment’s President and CEO. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, he revealed that Sony has sold 2.1 million PS4 consoles across the world:
“It’s an impressive and record-setting accomplishment for our company and for our industry, and we couldn’t have done it without you. I want to personally thank PlayStation fans, both old and new, for your vote of confidence. The best part: the PS4 journey has just begun. In addition to an incredible lineup of PS4 games from the best developers in the world, we will continue to introduce valuable new features and services to PS4 in the months and years ahead.”
The PlayStation 4 still has yet to launch in one major territory: Sony’s home country of Japan. Japanese gamers will get the chance to purchase a PS4 on February 22.
The Order: 1886 will probably be released in Fall 2014
Even though we don’t know much about Ready At Dawn’s first PS4 project, The Order: 1886, the game’s strong visuals and irresistible hook (werewolves in a futurist-Victorian London!) has lead some gamers to already anoint it 2014’s “Game of the Year.” While I’m not ready to go that far just yet, Ready At Dawn’s Andrea Pessino and Sony Santa Monica’s Tim Moss have narrowed down the launch window. Not surprisingly, The Order: 1886 is currently on track for a Fall 2014 release:
@TDMoss yeah, me too! ;)
— Andrea Pessino (@AndreaPessino) November 30, 2013
Before The Order: 1886, Ready At Dawn was best known for developing both God of War games on the PSP. Sony Santa Monica, which created the God of War series, is assisting Ready At Dawn with The Order: 1886’s development.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged The Order: 1886
Cyber Monday Game Deals 2013: Amazon
Black Friday may be over, but Amazon always saves the best deals for Cyber Monday. And this year is no exception. I suggest swinging over to Amazon’s Cyber Monday Deals page and checking out some of the great all-day deals they’ve got going on (including The Last of Us for $35, Call of Duty: Ghosts for $45, Grand Theft Auto V for $40, and Batman: Arkham Origins for $40) as well as this interesting schedule of Limited Time Deals:
8:10 AM (Eastern)
- Skylanders Giants – Portal Owner Pack (3DS)
9:10 AM (Eastern)
- Rage (PC)
- Family Party 30 Great Games: Obstacle Arcade (Wii U)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Legendary Edition (PC)
10:10 AM (Eastern)
- Resident Evil 6 Archives (Xbox 360)
- Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Xbox 360)
11:10 AM (Eastern)
- Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Vita)
- Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii)
12:10 PM (Eastern)
- Eve Online: The Second Decade (PC)
5:10 PM (Eastern)
- Dead Space 3 (PS3/Xbox 360)
- Nancy Drew: The Deadly Device (PC)
- The Secret World (PC)
- NCAA Football 13 (PS3/Xbox 360)
7:10 PM (Eastern)
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PS3)
- Brave (PS3)
8:10 PM (Eastern)
- Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Starter Pack (Wii)
- Skylanders Giants Triple Pack
9:10 PM (Eastern)
- TriMount (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii)
3:00 AM (Eastern)
- Moshi Monsters: Moshings Theme Park (3DS)
I admit, the Limited Time Deals are less than stellar (though Amazon has promised to add more throughout the day), but the all-day deals feature some of the best prices you’ll see on some of the biggest games of 2013 this holiday season.
Rumor: Lindsay Lohan claims Rockstar stole her likeness and used it in GTA5
Would you like a little ridiculousness for your Sunday? TMZ is reporting that Lindsay Lohan is planning to sue Rockstar Games over the unauthorized inclusion of her likeness in Grand Theft Auto V.
TMZ’s sources didn’t know which game character the actress believes is based on her, but they point to a few possibilities, though none match up very well with Lohan:
- The “Blonde Girl” used in a lot of the game’s advertising. TMZ discounts this choice as the blonde bikini model is based on a real person named Shelby Welinder.
- Lacey Jonas, a blonde actress who stars in “romantic comedies and cheerleader dance-off movies.” Jonas appears in an optional mission where she asks the player to drive her home after an encounter with the paparazzi. It’s unlikely Jonas is meant to be Lohan as she never rises above the level of “generic actress” during her scant three minutes of screentime.
- Poppy Mitchell is probably the best (and worst) guess. She is a tall, dark-haired actress described as “America’s Sweetheart.” When the player meets Mitchell in the game, you learn that she is dating a blonde-haired teen heartthrob named Justin (a rather obvious Justin Bieber stand-in) and that she is staying at the Gentry Manor Hotel, which is based on the real Chateau Marmont Hotel. The mission ends with Mitchell crashing her car into a construction site. While Lohan has crashed her car several times and has previously lived at the Chateau Marmont, she’s neither tall nor dark-haired. And I don’t think she’s ever dated Justin Bieber.
Since Mitchell’s appearance in the game doesn’t resemble Lohan in the slightest, the only thing Rockstar could have “stolen” from the actress is a few facts from her life. And sadly, she isn’t the only actress in Hollywood with a poor driving record.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V
Weekly Warp-Up: Thankful For Rumors Edition
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…
Are you still exhausted from this Thursday’s bird-eating/non-stop shopping-stravaganza? Hopefully you’ve had a chance to rest and, if you’re sane, you skipped shopping at all stores this week except for ones with “DOT COM” in their name. Thankfully, we’ve got some tasty rumors for you to gobble (gobble) up…
Electronic Arts has likely tasked Visceral Games and EA Canada on an open world Star Wars game. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain likely won’t be released for a long time. And Telltale Games might be working on a Game of Thrones game adaptation.
We’ve also talked to Stasis developer Christopher Bischoff about his upcoming game and published more news (and a few more rumors) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Gran Turismo 6
Just one new game will be driving its way towards a retail release this week: Gran Turismo 6.
The Polyphony Digital-developed racer will likely be the last game in the famed franchise to be released for the PS3. Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony’s CEO and the main driving force behind the series, recently revealed that Gran Turismo 7 is in development for the PS4. Instead of creating a brand new game from scratch, Yamauchi stated that Gran Turismo 7 would likely be a souped-up version of Gran Turismo 6 and could be out as early as next year.
Something to think about as you contemplate a Gran Turismo 6 purchase later this week when its released on December 6.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Gran Turismo 6