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
THQ’s franchises will be sold individually in an auction on January 22
THQ’s bankruptcy saga continued with another hearing today to determine whether the publisher would be forced to sell its franchises individually or in one big chunk. Sadly, the ruling appears to spell the end of THQ as we know it.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath ruled in favor of the complainants and decreed that THQ must sell off its assets on an individual “title-by-title” basis to maximize the value creditors will receive for them. Potential suitors (including WB Games, EA, and possibly Ubisoft) will have a chance to bid on the company’s pieces and parts during an auction scheduled for January 22.
Even after their sale of the UFC license to EA last year, THQ still owns a variety of major game franchises including Saints Row, Darksiders, Homefront, and the WWE Wrestling license.
[Source: Distressed Debt Investing’s Twitter (via Polygon)]
Posted in News
Nvidia reveals Project SHIELD, a Tegra 4/Android-powered portable
Another day, another announcement of an Android-powered console. Except this one has a bit of a higher profile than all the rest.
A day ahead of the opening of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Nvidia has announced Project SHIELD, an Android-based portable device that includes a built-in “console-grade” controller. Project SHIELD is powered by Nvidia’s new Tegra 4 processor and features a 5-inch multitouch display that outputs at 720p. The clamshell design of the controller/screen combo allows the device to be closed when not in use.
In addition to running Android-based games downloaded from the Google Play store, the SHIELD can stream full-sized games from a Windows PC, including those available from Steam. A built-in HDMI port can also be connected to shift the display to an HDTV.
“Project SHIELD was created by Nvidia engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Nvidia. “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do.”
A release date and price for Project SHIELD were not announced by Nvidia.
PlayStation 2 manufacturing ceases worldwide
It’s official: Sony has ceased the manufacture of new PlayStation 2 consoles for all territories. After 12 years, over 150 million consoles sold, and 10,828 games released (counting re-releases and international versions), the PS2 has earned a well-deserved place among the greatest game systems of all time.
The PlayStation 2 dominated the sixth generation of consoles, ultimately selling more than twice as many systems as the GameCube, Xbox, and Dreamcast combined. The console’s reach will surely extend far into the future, as dozens of PS2 games are regularly featured on lists of the best games of all time including Grand Theft Auto III, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
According to the latest industry rumors, Sony plans to announce the PlayStation 4 at this year’s E3 Expo. But for now, let’s remember the PlayStation 2’s amazing run. It’s likely the last time a console will dominate its competition like the PS2 did ever again.
[Source: The Guardian]
THQ bankruptcy filing and sale to Clearlake Group denied
THQ’s plan to sell itself lock, stock, and barrel to the Clearlake Capitol Group as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has been denied.
During a hearing held on Friday, January 4, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath denied the sale due to complaints from THQ’s creditors. They’ve claimed that selling the company in one piece has pushed down the sale price (originally pegged at $60 million by THQ/Clearlake) and scared away other potential purchasers.
THQ asked all potential buyers to submit their bid by January 8, with plans to complete the sale two days later. However, THQ’s creditors asked for an additional three weeks to give potential buyers more time to evaluate the company. A representative from WB Games spoke at the hearing and told the judge the publisher would be in favor of an extension. The company famously bought Midway Games, and the rights to the majority of their franchises (including Mortal Kombat), in 2009. Nine other companies were said to be interested in either all or part of THQ’s assets.
Another hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, January 7, to determine how the sale will proceed.
[Source: Bloomberg Business Week]
Posted in News
Weekly Warp-Up: Best of 2012/Onward to 2013 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…
2013 is off to a great start, but first, we took a look back and highlighted some of the best games of 2012 in our second annual Golden Pixel Awards. Spoiler alert: We loved Mass Effect 3 a lot.
If you’re interested, we also did a smaller look back at 2012, specifically What We Played in December 2012. And continuing this theme, a look forward at The Games of January 2013.
But perhaps you’d prefer to look sideways at the biggest news stories of the last week. Well those are available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Anarchy Reigns
The new release calendar is a bit bare this month as last week came and went with no new games and only a single title will make its way into stores this week. But look! It’s Anarchy Reigns!
Anarchy Reigns is a pseudo-sequel to the pretty great Wii-exclusive MadWorld. It ditches that game’s black-and-white-and-red aesthetic for something a bit more colorful and multiplayer focused. Sega also hacked away at the game’s original date (July 2012) and the price (it was downgraded from a full-priced $60 game to a $29.99 budget price). Will the wait have been worth it? We’ll find out this week when Anarchy Reigns is released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Anarchy Reigns
Bug fixes coming to Street Fighter X Mega Man in “Version 2” patch
The Mega Man Network recently sat down with Capcom’s Senior Community Manager, Brett “Brelston” Elston, to talk about Street Fighter X Mega Man and the future of the Mega Man franchise. During the course of their conversation, Elston revealed that a batch of bug fixes will be coming to the game as part of a “Version 2” update.
“[W]e can say we’re working on a V2 that will release soon and hopefully address some of those known issues. It’s not adding content, but we’ve been reading responses and can ‘tighten up’ a few things before the end of the year,” Elston said.
Elston would go on to say that “Version 2” of Street Fighter X Mega Man should be available sometime this month and will fix “a handful of performance issues” including problems with certain controllers and preventing the game from crashing when you press the ESC key.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Street Fighter X Mega Man
City Interactive targets March 12 for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 release
It looks like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 won’t be released this month after all. Originally scheduled for an August 2012 release, the game was pushed back to January 2013 and now it won’t make that date either.
According to the game’s publisher, City Interactive, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 will now be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on March 12.
Unless it gets delayed again, of course.
[Source: Eurogamer]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2