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
New Releases: Far Cry 3, Mass Effect Trilogy, Resistance Collection, More
The month of December is typically a slow one for new game releases, but that hasn’t stopped Ubisoft from bringing Far Cry 3 to the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 this week.
This week will also see the release of the Lord of the Rings-inspired MOBDA Guardians of Middle-Earth. The game will make its debut on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade, but a boxed PS3 copy will also be available.
If you’d prefer something a bit more substantial, two trilogies will be available on the PS3 for the first time: BioWare’s Mass Effect Trilogy and Insomniac’s Resistance Collection.
Also available this week is a quartet of multiplatform games making their Wii U debut: Rise of the Guardians, Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2013, Rapala Pro Bass Fishing, and The Avengers: Battle For Earth.
Finally, gamers can check out Power Rangers Super Samurai for the Xbox 360 and Family Party 30 Great Games: Obstacle Arcade for the Wii U this week.
Nintendo Power’s last issue goes out in style
The final issue of Nintendo Power’s nearly quarter-century-long run is being delivered to subscribers now. It’s even possible to say that it’s the end of an era. Thankfully, Nintendo is sending their beloved official magazine off with a rather fitting tribute.
A Reddit user has posted a picture of the final cover and the claymation figures depicting a key moment in New Super Mario Bros. U that bears an uncanny resemblance to the cover of the first issue.
Yup, this is definitely the end of an era. Also, these tears running down my face are because of allergies. Yup, definitely allergies.
Nintendo confirms 3D Mario, Zelda games in development for Wii U
Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that pre-planning for a Legend of Zelda game for the Wii U had begun within Nintendo at this year’s E3 Expo. But Nintendo’s President, Satoru Iwata, has revealed even more about the publisher’s future plans for two of their biggest franchises.
Speaking to IGN, Iwata announced that both a 3D Mario game and a Zelda game are in the works for the Wii U:
“We will announce the launch schedules for new 3D Zelda and Mario games in the future, but this is not the right opportunity for me to indicate when we will make such announcements,” Iwata said.
Nothing more was said, but I have a strong feeling that E3 2013 is going to be very interesting.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario 3D World, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
XBLA Today: Red Bull Crashed Ice Kinect
Downhill ice skating is apparently a real sport and it’s sponsored by Red Bull… because, of course it is. If they idea of flying down a metal chute with razor blades strapped to your feet sounds a bit on the dangerous side, Microsoft Studios has a solution for you. They’ve partnered with developer Bongfish to bring the world Red Bull Crashed Ice Kinect for the Xbox Live Arcade. It’s available to download today for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and is likely a much safer alternative:
Experience the most intense Kinect sports game in your living room with Red Bull Crashed Ice Kinect for Xbox 360. Fly down Ice Cross Downhill tracks at incredible speed, carve through turns, pull off crazy stunts and crash your way to victory across 5 authentic downhill tracks. Take the prize and become the Ice Cross Downhill World Champion on the leaderboards, battling it out with other players from all over the world.
Black Tusk Studios is creating Microsoft’s next “Halo-like” franchise
Microsoft opened their Vancouver studio last year, but the team is finally ready for the big time with a new name and a new focus. Now known as Black Tusk Studios, the developer has begun work on creating the consolemaker’s next big franchise.
“[W]e are working on Microsoft’s next big entertainment franchise. We’re not working on an existing franchise, we’re looking to build the next Halo here in Vancouver, for example, which is really exciting. We are building something from the ground up,” said Mike Crump, the Studio Manager at Black Tusk.
To that end, Black Tusk has announced a massive recruitment drive in an effort to bring new talent to the studio. If you’re interested, you can find all of the job postings at BlackTuskStudios.com.
Details on the new franchise are being kept tightly under wraps, but previous recruitment efforts by Black Tusk (back when they were known as Microsoft Vancouver) have confirmed the developer is working on a “AAAA” shooter that makes use of the Kinect sensor in some way. It’s likely (but unconfirmed) that it’ll appear on the Xbox 360 as well.
[Source: The Vancouver Sun]
Halo 4: Crimson Map Pack launching on December 10
The first Halo 4 map pack has a release date. Announced by Microsoft today, the Crimson Map Pack will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on December 10.
The Crimson Map Pack has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and will contain three new maps for Halo 4 players. The pack will also include eight new Achievements worth 250 Gamerscore.
In addition to the Crimson Map Pack, Microsoft will also be adding a new matchtype, Extraction, to Halo 4’s multiplayer options on December 10. Here’s what you can expect from Extraction:
Extraction is a 5 vs. 5 objective-based game type where opposing Spartan teams are tasked with extracting assets from various sites around the map. Once a team has found a site and is in position, they must plant their beacon and protect it from the opposing team while the extraction process occurs. If the defending team remains in control of the beacon, they receive one point, however if the opposing team overtakes the site before extraction is complete, the point goes to them. Once a site has been extracted, a new site becomes available. The first team to extract five points wins.
But wait, there’s more. A new trailer showcasing the Crimson Map Pack has been embedded above and an overview of all three maps (provided by Microsoft) can be found after the break. (more…)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 trailer to appear at 2012 Spike TV VGAs
We already knew that trailers for The Last of Us, Gears of War: Judgment, and South Park: The Stick of Truth would be appearing at the 2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards. Late last night, Geoff Keighley (via Twitter) added one more game to the list… Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. You can check out a teaser for the trailer above.
The Spike TV Video Game Awards will take place this Friday, December 7 at 9 PM.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Bethesda VP hints at Dishonored sequel
Pete Hines, Bethesda’s Vice President, recently spoke to Destructoid about the unsurprising sales success of Dishonored. Hines didn’t reveal specific sales numbers, but he did confirm that the game is selling “far [above] expectations.”
How well is it selling? Well enough that Bethesda has begun to think of Dishonored as their next big franchise. Here’s what Hines had to say:
“I can tell you that Dishonored is far exceeding our sales expectations, which is especially cool considering it’s new IP facing a host of well-established franchises this quarter. We did terrific numbers again this past weekend, both in stores and on Steam, where Dishonored was listed as the #1 selling title over the holiday weekend. And Dishonored has really sold well overseas.
So, we’re very pleased and appreciate all the fans that have supported Dishonored and Arkane. We clearly have a new franchise.”
While it’s too early to go around claiming that Dishonored 2 is in development, the game is clearly coming. Hopefully, we’ll get an official announcement soon.
Posted in News
Tagged Dishonored, Dishonored 2, PC, PS4, Xbox One