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
EA’s acceptance of SimCity situation includes free download of one of these games
The end is near for the SimCity launch debacle as Electronic Arts has finally worked their way through the five stages of grief:
- First came denial… “There’s nothing wrong with our game, it’s just too popular!”
- Then the anger… “No, you can’t have a refund.”
- This was followed by the bargaining… “What if we add more servers?”
- Then wallowing in depression… “It’s supposed to be an MMO!”
- Finally, acceptance and the promise of a free game for all of our troubles.
If you’ve purchased SimCity or plan to activate it by March 25 (that’s right, this offer is good even if you haven’t bought the game yet), you’ll also be given the opportunity to select one of eight games as a free download from EA’s Origin service. Your selection must by made by March 30 and the selection page will open by March 22. The eight games are:
- Battlefield 3
- Bejeweled 3
- Dead Space 3
- Mass Effect 3
- Medal of Honor: Warfighter
- Need For Speed: Most Wanted
- Plants vs. Zombies
- SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition
If you’re on the fence about SimCity, perhaps a free game to go with it could sweeten the deal. But I guess that means EA has slipped back to the bargaining stage.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, SimCity
Don’t watch this Saints Row IV teaser trailer at work
I know it’s Monday and I know you’re probably unhappy with being at work, but I beg you, wait until you get home to watch this teaser trailer for Saints Row IV.
The insane open-world heads to outer space for its fourth installment and this trailer includes a first look at the new superpowers your Saints will employ as they take on all comers. There’s also plenty of scantily clad women, dancing hot dogs doing the “Harlem Shake,” a lot of poor dudes getting punched across the screen, and some full frontal nudity (of the male variety). Seriously, don’t watch this trailer at work.
Saints Row IV will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 20. And don’t forget, new publisher Deep Silver is debuting the game this weekend at the PAX East convention. Don’t miss it.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2013, Saints Row IV
Disney Infinity pushed back to August
Disney Infinity, the media company’s take on the lucrative toy/game combo first made famous by Skylanders, will miss it’s planned June release date. Instead, the game will be released for the 3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on August 18. According to John Pleasants, Co-President of Disney Interactive, the delay was actually made at the request of retailers who hoped to see Disney Infinity in stores closer to the holiday shopping season.
Pleasants also said, “We could deliver in June if we wanted to. Will a two-month timing change help us? Sure, of course. It gives us a little more time to add bells and whistles and make sure it really sings and pops.”
Disney Interactive is a big company and they can do what they want, but this has to be the worst reason for a game delay ever. And they announced it publicly! I just can’t believe it.
[Source: The New York Times]
Weekly Warp-Up: We Love Joakim Mogren 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…
The Tomb Raider reboot was released last week to pretty much universal acclaim, so this week we decided to take a look at 10 Actresses That Could Help Reboot the Tomb Raider Film Franchise.
Hopefully you’ll agree with our picks, but I’m sure more than a few will make you ask, “Who?” (And I don’t mean David Tenant).
But the biggest story of this past week is the emergence of Joakim Mogren, the CEO of Moby Dick Studio. The elusive developer appeared on GameTrailers TV to tout his company’s first game, The Phantom Pain, and confirmed the game will be further detailed at this year’s Game Developers Conference. But all this secrecy just makes me head hurt, so much so that I just want to scream, “Hey Hideo Kojima, WE KNOW You’re Behind The Phantom Pain.”
Prove me wrong, Mogren, prove me wrong. Until then, check out the rest of this week’s news after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Shovel Knight is the first project from Yacht Club Games
Prepare to taste justice, Shovel Justice!
Yacht Club Games has pushed off shore and officially announced their first project, Shovel Knight. The former WayForward team members have cast their newest hero in a game that owes a very large debt to Mega Man and more than a bit to the cane-pogo mechanics of DuckTales:
Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. It’s a hot mashup of new and old that may remind you of Mega Man, Castlevania, or Dark Souls! You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this valley with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and save his lost beloved. He wields a ShovelBlade: a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of Shovelry: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly!
But, between Shovel Knight and his beloved stands a cadre of villainous knights. These terrible foes, known as The Order of No Quarter, have been dispatched to prevent Shovel Knight from reaching the Enchantress, and will pursue their mission at any cost.
Yacht Club has organized a Kickstarter campaign to help fund development and, as of this writing, they’re a third of the way there with 27 days to go. Provided all goes well, Shovel Knight will be available for the PC in September 2013 and, if all goes really well, Yacht Club hopes to bring the game to the Wii U and 3DS sometime after that.
If you’re attending this year’s PAX East convention, you’ll be able to play Shovel Knight at Yacht Club’s booth all weekend long.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged PAX East 2013, Shovel Knight
New Releases: Lego City Undercover, GoW: Judgment, Walking Dead FPS, More
Another week, another highly anticipated prequel. Gears of War: Judgment will be available this week, exclusively for the Xbox 360.
Sidestepping to a shooter of a different kind is The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. This other game based on The Walking Dead used the television show for inspiration and stars the crossbow-wielding fan favorite, Daryl Dixon. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be released for the PC (download-only), PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U.
Speaking of the Wii U, this is actually a big week for new releases on Nintendo consoles as Lego City Undercover and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate will soon be available for the Wii U. The 3DS will receive a pair of big new releases in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, as well as a portable version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.
More new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Maxis explains always-on requirement for SimCity: It’s an MMO
When SimCity first launched, Electronic Arts and Maxis were adamant that the game required an “always-on” connection to supplement your PC with server side computing that would handle some of the game’s more demanding simulations.
Apparently, that’s a bigger lie than “I tried it, but I didn’t inhale” and “I did not have sex with that woman… Monica Lewinsky” combined. (Side note: Bill Clinton was a great President, but when you need a “lying politician” joke, he’ll forever be the go-to guy).
In a blog post titled “Straight Answers from Lucy” on EA’s official website, Lucy Bradshaw, the General Manager of Maxis, has admitted that SimCity could have shipped with a single-player option. But it didn’t because the developer’s thought of the game as an MMO:
So, could we have built a subset offline mode? Yes. But we rejected that idea because it didn’t fit with our vision. We did not focus on the “single city in isolation” that we have delivered in past SimCities. We recognize that there are fans – people who love the original SimCity – who want that. But we’re also hearing from thousands of people who are playing across regions, trading, communicating and loving the Always-Connected functionality. The SimCity we delivered captures the magic of its heritage but catches up with ever-improving technology.
This abrupt 180 comes on the heels of a modder discovering an “offline mode” within SimCity’s code. With this new information, I suspect the number of players who demand a refund from EA will continue to grow.
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D to launch May 24… so here’s a gorilla holding a 3DS
Nintendo is proud to announce that Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D will be released for the 3DS on May 24.
To pad out the press release, the publisher included this picture of a gorilla holding a 3DS. Um… enjoy?
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Donkey Kong Country Returns