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
Industrial Toys set to launch their iOS FPS Morning Star in Spring 2013
Mobile developer Industrial Toys, which was co-founded by Halo Executive Producer Alex Seropian, has announced their “ambitious” first title, Morning Star.
In Morning Star, players will take on the role of a soldier aboard the Joplin, a research ship that has just received the first confirmed communication from an alien civilization. After exploring a strange alien artifact, these aliens transport the Joplin across space “to take part in an epic war that is not their own.”
Industrial Toys has recruited science fiction author John Scalzi to write Morning Star’s story and they’re striving to create a unique Unreal Engine-powered first person shooter experience on the iOS. To that end, they’ve removed the standard “virtual stick” control scheme for something specifically built for a mobile platform from the ground up.
“With Morning Star, we’re looking to change expectations for what kind of experience core gamers get from their mobile devices,” said Seropian. “We’re breaking new ground on everything from the visuals to the story to the ongoing support we’ll provide in the way of content, events and player involvement. It’s gonna be nuts.”
Morning Star is currently scheduled for a Spring 2013 release.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Morning Star
Gabe Newell says Steam-powered living room PC coming next year
Valve starting dropping hints about a “Steam Box” that connects to your television like a console back in April. Over the weekend, the company’s founder and CEO, Gabe Newell, confirmed to Kotaku that the device will be released next year.
“[O]ur hardware will be a very controlled environment,” he said. “If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that’s what some people are really gonna want for their living room.”
Making use of Steam’s Big Picture Mode, Newell wants the currently unnamed “Steam Box” to compete with next generation consoles from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. He even hinted at the availability of different packages from several different PC manufacturers, in addition to a Steam-branded box.
I’ve said it before, but E3 2013 is going to be very interesting if even half of the rumored new consoles and innovations make an appearance.
PopCap is working on a Frostbite-powered AAA console game… seriously
PopCap Games, the development team behind games such as Peggle, Bejeweled, and Plants vs Zombies, is about to embark on something a bit more ambitious.
According to superannuation’s Twitter feed, the developer’s next project will be a “AAA console game” built using the Frostbite 2 engine. The Frostbite 2 engine has been used by several teams with EA Games over the last few years to create games like Battlefield 3, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
PopCap’s involvement in the “AAA console game” game comes from a job opening at the company, which also confirms that the title will include “PopCap’s signature humor and charm.”
It’s probably not going to be a first person shooter starring Snackers, but I can dream can’t I?
Posted in News
Weekly Warp-Up: Strange Things Are Afoot At the VGAs
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…
I don’t want to say that the Spike TV Video Game Awards have finally become a good showcase for the game industry, but I think they’ve reached the point where they’re no longer an embarassing one. The two-hour runtime was still mostly filled with “World Premiere” trailers (read: commercials) and the class of celebrity they trot out usually doesn’t have much to do with gaming or geekiness, but they’re trying. Look no further than this year’s Game of the Year selection, The Walking Dead, a point-and-click adventure.
Of course, the true highlight, as always, was those “World Premiere” trailers. This year, we got our first glimpse at The Phantom Pain, an intense action game that may or may not be related to the still-shrouded-in-mystery Metal Gear Solid 5. Personally, I think the dragon we saw at the end of the trailer puts the kibosh on that theory. But you never know with Hideo Kojima.
We also got new trailers for The Last of Us, Tomb Raider, BioShock Infinite, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Gears of War: Judgment, and Halo 4’s Spartan Ops campaign. Assassin’s Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington made its debut in trailer form and Dark Souls II was announced to the shock of everyone.
One 2013 game that didn’t make an appearance at the show was Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. But we’re so excited for the Studio Ghibli/Level-5 mashup that we just couldn’t wait to reveal our hands-on impressions.
Hit the jump for more news from this past week, none of which happened at the Spike TV Video Game Awards. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Walking Dead Complete Season, 007 Legends for Wii U, More
Telltale’s episodic adventure game based on The Walking Dead has finally been collected and compiled for a disc-based release and it’ll be available in stores this week for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The timing couldn’t be better, especially after its big win at the 2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards on Friday.
Also available this week is the Wii U version of 007 Legends, the adventure game Haunted for the PC, and a Pets and Vets Bundle for the DS.
That’s it for this week’s new releases and that’s likely it for 2012 as well.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged 007 Legends, The Walking Dead
Capcom gives Street Fighter X Mega Man fangame the official seal of approval
Well this is a surprise. Capcom has announced that Street Fighter X Mega Man, a fangame created by Seow Zong Hui has been given an official blessing by the bigwigs and will be available as a free download through the Capcom-Unity blog on December 17.
So what is Street Fighter X Mega Man? It’s a PC game that brings Mega Man back to his 8-bit roots for a battle against eight Street Fighters. Each Street Fighter character has been given an 8-bit makeover, but their powers (including Ryu’s Hadoken, Dhalsim’s stretchy arms, and Chun Li’s Lightning Kicks) are all included. Naturally, Mega Man will be able to equip each Street Fighter’s special attack after defeating them in a one-on-one fight. In addition to eight Street Fighter-themed levels, the game will include an original soundtrack supplied by noted chiptune maestro Luke Esquivel (aka “A_Rival”).
You can check out the first screenshots from Street Fighter X Mega Man at the Capcom-Unity blog.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Street Fighter X Mega Man
Spike TV VGAs: First season of Halo 4 “Spartan Ops” resumes on January 21
Microsoft and developer 343 Industries revealed that the first season of the Halo 4‘s Spartan Ops campaign will resume on January 21. Five Spartan Ops episodes have already been released and five more are currently planned. And if you’ve been following the story so far, this Spike TV Video Game Awards “World Premiere” trailer is sure to stoke your interest.
Spike TV VGAs: “You have no idea what you’re up against” in Gears of War: Judgment trailer
Epic Games handed off the Gears of War series to their friends at People Can Fly last year and the Polish development team has been hard at work on Gears of War: Judgment ever since. After making its debut at this year’s E3 Expo, we got another look at the game during last night’s Spike TV Video Game Awards.
You can check out the ugly “Grub” in the trailer above and be sure to add Gears of War: Judgment’s March 19, 2013 release date to your calendar.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Gears of War: Judgment