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
2K Games pulls off the hidden ball trick by announcing Major League Baseball 2K13
Like a pitcher with a perfect pickoff move, 2K Sports waited until the last possible second to announce Major League Baseball 2K13. But that’s just what they’ve done, confirming that a new deal with the MLB and the Player’s Association will allow MLB 2K13 to be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 5, 2013. David Price, the American League Cy Young Award-winning pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, has been selected to appear on the cover.
“We’d like to thank our league partners for their support in helping us reach an agreement to bring back Major League Baseball 2K,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports.
2K will also bring back their popular (but controversial) Perfect Game Challenge. For 2013, the publisher plans to introduce a new format for the contest, which they’ll announce at a later date.
But, following up on the pickoff metaphor, it remains to be seen if this latest iteration in the simulation series will be a precision strike or an errant throw that sails wildly off the mark.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Major League Baseball 2K13
Treyarch officially unveils Revolution map pack for CoD Black Ops II
It appears that the rumors are true. Announced yesterday by Treyarch and Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s first downloadable map pack will be known as Revolution.
Available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on January 29, Revolution will include four new multiplayer maps, a new Zombies map, a new Zombies gametype, and a new weapon (The Peacekeeper, a new SMG/assault rifle hybrid). You can watch the trailer above for all the details on the new maps or you can read about them yourself right here:
- “Downhill” – Set in the ski country of the French Alps, where players fight their way down the slopes and through a ski lodge, while avoiding the moving hazards of the mountain’s gondola system.
- “Grind” – Transports players to the historic birthplace of skateboarding, California’s Venice Beach, where they will battle it out through the ramps and half-pipes of this massive, epic skate park in a multiplayer environment comprised of unique curved architecture requiring players to adapt and learn new ways to take cover.
- “Hydro” – Opponents must dodge the floodwaters as they contend for dominance of this hydroelectric dam facility in Pakistan, filled with treacherous spillways.
- “Mirage” – Pits players in competition amidst the sand dunes of a dilapidated luxury resort in the sandstorm-devastated Gobi Desert, where a range of long-distance and close-quarters combat will mix up the action for all play styles.
- “Die Rise” (Zombies) – Transports players to the Far East, where they will attempt to overcome a zombie infestation inside a series of collapsed skyscrapers towering over the remains of an obliterated Chinese city.
“Die Rise” will be joined by “Turned,” a new Zombies gametype that lets players play as the undead for the first time.
The Revolution map pack will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points ($14.99) or as a free download for owners of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Season Pass. Revolution will be released on additional platforms (including the PC, PS3, and hopefully the Wii U) at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II
PS3/Xbox 360 release of Painkiller Hell & Damnation pushed back to April
The PS3/Xbox 360 port of Painkiller Hell & Damnation was tentatively set for a late January release, but it looks like the devils at Nordic Games have other plans. The publisher has announced that the game will now be released for consoles in April. European gamers will get it on April 5 while a new American release date has yet to be announced.
No specific reasons were given for the delay, but a Nordic representative has revealed that the development team at The Farm 51 needed a little more time to get the console version up to snuff.
“We have been working around the clock to bring the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game in line with the quality and standard of the PC game,” said Reinhard Pollice, the Production and Business Development Manager at Nordic Games. “There has been a slight delay so that the console communities can enjoy the fiendishly ghoulish experience that we know they want and deserve. In taking this additional time to add the final touches, we know that players will realise that the best things do come to those who wait!”
Hopefully, we’ll hear about the final US release date soon.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Painkiller Hell & Damnation
PSN Today: God of War: Ascension beta, EDF 2017 Portable, Demon’s Souls, more
If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, the big item in today’s PlayStation Store update is surely the God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta. Also available today is Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable, a Vita-exclusive port of the Xbox 360 classic with added levels and a new character class.
If you prefer to do your gaming on the PS3, there’s a quartet of new choices: the action RPG The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, movie tie-in Rise of the Guardians, PSN newbie Dance Magic, and the beloved Demon’s Souls.
Hit the jump for a more complete rundown of all of these titles and be sure to visit the PlayStation Blog to view this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Earth Defense Force 2017, God of War: Ascension
DayZ standalone version “overhauls” the zombie apocalypse with inventory, UI tweaks
Project Leader Dean Hall and his team at Bohemia Interactive missed their planned 2012 release date for the standalone edition of DayZ. But they’ve got a good excuse. Hall’s latest development update has revealed that Bohemia has used the extra time to rebuild the game engine and “[make DayZ] the game […] we all dreamed it could be.”
Besides changes to the game engine and the user interface, Hall’s main focus has been on overhauling the inventory system. From the sounds of it, this new system could change the way we look at surviving the post-apocalyptic landscape of your average zombie game:
You scavenge for items now, as individual parts, picking up pieces rather than piles, looking for cans on shelves or under beds. The new system opens the door for durability of items, disease tracking (cholera lingering on clothes a player wears…), batteries, addon components, and much more. If you shoot a player in the head to take his night vision, you will damage the night vision. The changes to this inventory system are huge.
Hall has also revealed that Bohemia is planning an internal test of DayZ and that we can expect a new release date only after any issues discovered during the test are fixed.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes assembles on every platform this Fall
The team-up you thought you’d never see! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (a sister-company to DC Comics) and Marvel have announced that Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be released this Fall for the 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
Like the other games in the “Lego _____” series, Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be developed by TT Games and include a huge number of characters from the source material. According to the publisher, more than 100 Marvel characters will appear in the game, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Deadpool, Loki and Galactus. And, as you might have guessed, the game’s story will ask players to save the Earth from Loki’s tricks and the hunger of Galactus.
“We’re very excited to bring a myriad of classic Marvel characters to life in Lego form for some fun, family-friendly gameplay in Lego Marvel Super Heroes,” said Tom Stone, the Managing Director at TT Games. “Players will brave the ultimate mission to save the world as they explore famous landmarks in Lego New York and take the adventure beyond Earth to iconic locations in the Marvel Universe.”
I bet The Hulk can do some excellent smashing when the entire world is made of Legos.
Bane, Lex Luthor added to Injustice: Gods Among Us
Netherrealm has added two new heavies to the Injustice: Gods Among Us roster: Lex Luthor (in his power suit) and Bane. The news comes courtesy of a tweet from Netherrealm’s supreme leader, Ed Boon:
Uh oh.. looks like the cats out of the bag. New INJUSTICE characters! @brizzy_bear @noobde not bad, not bad at all. twitter.com/Brizzy_Bear/st…
— Ed Boon (@noobde) January 8, 2013
Luthor looks very similar to his Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe incarnation while Bane will be taking his cues from the comics and not his recent appearance in The Dark Knight Rises. This includes the use of his Venom steroid as well as the luchadore mask.
Should this news get you excited for Injustice’s April release? Of course!
Posted in News, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Injustice: Gods Among Us
Pokemon X and Y getting worldwide release on 3DS this October
There’s been a pattern with the development of Pokemon games and it has stayed consistent since the series debuted back in 1996. Japan would always get the game first and the rest of the world would get it a few months (or even years) later. But for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, Nintendo decided it was time for a change. For the first “main series” Pokemon games on the 3DS, Nintendo has announced that they’ll be released simultaneously across the world in October.
Once again developed by Game Freak, Pokemon X and Y takes place in a 3D world and introduces three new starter Pokemon to the franchise: Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. These three Pokemon (as well as preliminary gameplay footage) can be seen in the trailer above.
“We brought Pokemon into an entirely new dimension and we’re incredibly excited to bring Pokemon X and Pokemon Y to fans,” said Junichi Masuda, video game director at Game Freak. “The stunning visuals, a completely redesigned environment, game scenario, music, and communication features will bring smiles to the faces of video game players around the world.”
Pokemon X and Y will also be the launching for a new animated series, a new edition of Pokemon TCG, and new toys.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon X/Y