Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Author: John Scalzo
God of War: Ascension’s “Bros Before Hos” Trophy renamed with day one patch
Sony Santa Monica courted a mini-controversy (again) yesterday after Adam Sessler reviewed God of War: Ascension and registered his disgust for the game’s “Bros Before Hos” Trophy. Reacting quickly, the developer has informed Joystiq that the offending award will be renamed in a day one patch.
The Trophy will now carry the much-less-misogynistic name “Bros Before Foes.” In addition to being less likely to cause complaints, it also has the bonus of being funnier. The patch won’t change any other part of the game.
In the game, Kratos receives the “Bros Before Hos/Bros Before Foes” Trophy after defeating one of the Furies (read: ripping her limb from limb), a group of demonic vengeance spirits popular in Greek mythology. While it was likely unintentional, it’s not hard to make the leap from the Trophy name to charges of misogyny.
God of War: Ascension was released exclusively for the PS3 today.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged God of War: Ascension
Madden NFL 25 Cover Vote begins with an old school/new school battle
The initial bracket for the 64-man Madden NFL 25 Cover Vote debuted last night on ESPN2’s SportsNation. The bracket is divided into “Old School” and “New School” divisions, ensuring the final round will pit a former star versus one of today’s best players.
Jerry Rice won the play-in round against Chris Carter, so he’s been slotted in as one of the #1 seeds in the “Old School” division. His 49ers teammate, Joe Montana, has received the other. Over on the “New School” side, Colin Kaepernick (another 49er) and Robert Griffin III are the #1 seeds.
While most of the “New School” picks make a lot of sense, some of the guys on the “Old School” side are just baffling. For example, Reggie Wayne is still an active player. As are Jake Delhomme and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson (technically). And Ron Rivera? Sure, he was an OK player, but where’s Bo “The Greatest Video Game Athlete Ever” Jackson?
Madden NFL 25 will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 27. First round voting is open now at ESPN.com/MaddenVote and will continue through Wednesday, March 20. The winner will be crowned on Wednesday, April 24.
Hit the jump to view the complete Madden NFL 25 Cover Vote bracket. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Madden NFL 25
Pandora’s Tower finally comes to US in April 2013
When XSEED Games announced that they planned to bring Pandora’s Tower to North America, a “Spring” release date was all we had to go on. Today, the publisher has confirmed that the game (likely the final major release for the Wii) will be available in April.
In addition to a solid release window, XSEED has released a new trailer that lays out the game’s “dark fairytale” theme:
The trailer introduces players to Elena, an unassuming singer who succumbs to a wretched curse during a festival performance, Mavda, a mysterious merchant who reveals the fleshy cure to the curse, and Aeron, a young ex-soldier whose heart has forever been pledged to Elena. Aeron must now embark on a daunting journey to retrieve the flesh of twelve “masters” and free Elena of her curse.
With the release of Pandora’s Tower almost upon us, thanks must go out again to Operation Rainfall and their tireless work to secure a North American release for the game.
Posted in News
Tagged Pandora's Tower, Wii
Halo 4: Castle Map Pack to be available on April 8
Microsoft has announced that the Certain Affinity-developed Castle Map Pack for Halo 4 will be available on April 8. Like the previous two packs, the Castle Map Pack has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10). In addition to three new maps, the Castle Map Pack will include nine new Achievements totaling 250 Gamerscore.
The maps of the Castle Map Pack (“Daybreak,” “Outcast,” and “Perdition”) will be medium-to-large sized and “emphasize vehicular warfare and large battles over open spaces.” According to Microsoft, “team strategy is key to successfully conquering the battlefield” in these three maps.
You can check out the trailer above for a sneak peek at the Castle Map Pack or you can find more details about all three maps after the jump. Or you can head down to this year’s PAX East convention (March 22-24) and give the Castle Map Pack a try at the Microsoft booth. (more…)
Xi3’s unofficial Steam Box, the Piston, set to launch this holiday season for $999
The “Steam Box” wars have begun.
While Valve’s official Steam Box likely won’t be in stores until 2014, Xi3 has announced that their version of the PC-based console, the Piston, will be available this holiday season for a price of $999.99. Does a thousand bucks sound a bit steep for a “console”? Well, Xi3 actually agrees with you and will slash the price to $899.99 if you pre-order it between now and Sunday, March 17.
“Clearly, the computer/video gaming market is huge, both in the personal computer and traditional console markets,” said Jason A. Sullivan, President and CEO of Xi3. “That being said, we believe there is a crying need for a machine that captures the best of both worlds, with the upgradeability of computer gaming rigs and the design and form factor of consoles. We believe our Piston consoles do exactly that—deliver the beauty and small size of consoles with the upgradeability of computers.”
The standard Piston console will include a 128GB SSD hard drive, but additonal models will be available that include a 256GB SSD ($1,339.99) or a 512GB SSD ($1,749.99).
Gearbox adding sixth playable character to Borderlands 2
Gearbox showcased a new trailer for the next piece of Borderlands 2 downloadable content at this weekend’s SXSW Interactive festival. The trailer promises a new playable character who is proficient in melee attacks as well as being a bringer of mayhem:
Deep beneath Pandora… An experiment has escaped…Bandits beware… A new vault hunter is coming… More mayhem awaits…
It’s unknown if this new character will be released as part of the next full expansion or as a separate download like Gaige the Mechromancer.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Borderlands 2
Weekly Warp-Up: Rumors in the Spring Air
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…
It’s a glorious day in the northeast. No snow and plenty of sun. But before you head outside, a bunch of rumors are swirling around the game industry and some of them are pretty juicy.
For example, Mojang is considering a version of Minecraft on one or more PlayStation platforms after their exclusivity contract with Microsoft is over. But I’m sure you’re a seasoned rumor connoisseur, and you want something even juicier than that. OK.
How about upheaval at LucasArts and possible trouble for Star Wars 1313? Or possible chaos at Visceral Games and the cancellation of the yet-to-be-announced Dead Space 4 (EA denies this, by the way). We’ve also got another Deus Ex domain sighting, this time for Deus Ex: The Fall. And Take-Two is developing “an extensive pipeline of unannounced titles.” Can you say next-generation consoles? I knew you could.
And none of this has even touched on the SimCity server mess. EA is fighting with their fanbase over the possibility of refunds while also making plans to give away a free game to make up for the game’s “dumb” launch.
Also, you shouldn’t pre-order a PS4 yet, trust us on this. There’s more news from the week that was (and more importantly, more rumors) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: GOW: Ascension, SC2: Heart of the Swarm, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, More
A pair of dueling sequels highlight this week’s new releases.
Kratos returns in a God of War prequel that brings multiplayer to the series for the first time. God of War: Ascension is available as a standalone game and also as part of a new PS3 system bundle that include Ascension and the previously released God of War Saga. Also new on store shelves this week is StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, the first expansion in the StarCraft II trilogy saga.
And speaking of sequels, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is also available this week for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. And speaking of snipers, Sniper Elite V2 comes to the PC this week, almost a year after first appearing on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Finally, the 3DS will receive another Monster High game thanks to Monster High: Skultimate Roller Maze.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged God of War: Ascension, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm