Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets 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
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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: Nicole Kline
Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition coming to PS4 next week
It’s no secret that I love Housemarque, the amazing studio behind Super Stardust HD, Dead Nation, Outland, and Resogun. Anthony Amato and I played a ludicrous amount of Dead Nation on the PlayStation 3, and now that it’s been announced that Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition is coming to the PlayStation 4, well… let’s just say I really need to get that second DualShock 4.
In case you don’t know what Dead Nation is, it’s a top-down, twin-stick, shoot-em-up zombie game, where you’re fighting through hordes of the undead with tons of amazing weapons. You can play it alone or with a friend, local or online multiplayer, at night with the lights off or in the middle of the day with all the blinds up. Apocalypse is an upgrade visually – “you can now play in full 1080p HD, with improved textures, rendering, and effects,” according to the PlayStation Blog – but that’s not all. They’ve also “improved the controls, adding in a quick weapon select so your favorite zombie decimator is never out of reach.”
Not only is the DLC, Road to Devastation, included in this version of the game – and not only can you submit challenges to your friends and others on the leaderboard to beat your score – there’s also Broadcast+ Mode, which blew my mind:
In this mode, you can stream your game to the masses interactively, and your viewers can influence the difficulty of your game. Periodically all your viewers, whether they be on PS4 or a web browser, have the option to vote between a positive and negative effect that occurs in your game. There are a total of 30 different voting effects that can occur, ranging from spawning zombie packs to giving the player ammo, or even disabling the player’s ability to sprint. But don’t worry; as a player you can get back at the masses, because voters will appear in your game as named zombies for you to exact your revenge on.
Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition will be available on the PlayStation 4 next week, March 4, for $14.99 for regular users, and free for PlayStation Plus members. Oh, and they also dropped a hint that there will be an upcoming announcement about the Vita version. It’s like zombie-killing Christmas in here.
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Dead Nation
Anomaly 2 is in development for the PS4
Anomaly Warzone Earth‘s single-player experience got an upgrade to multiplayer last year on the PC with Anomaly 2. And now, according to the PlayStation Blog, it’s coming soon to the PlayStation 4. Now you can do more than just tower offense – you’ll be playing tower offense vs. tower defense.
11 bit studios’ Pawel Miechowski had a lot to say about the game at the PS Blog:
Anomaly Warzone Earth was one of the first tactical, reversed tower defense games in the world, where you didn’t control the towers (aliens), but rather the attackers (human forces) and defended Earth. In Anomaly 2, the story continues right after the invasion of Earth in 2018. Our planet is controlled by the aliens, and humankind is almost extinct. Those who managed to survive are grouped in convoys. Your convoy is called Yukon. …You’re again playing as Commander, controlling him on the battlefield and supporting the units in your convoy with four special abilities which you deploy during missions.
For a full explanation of all the new features, check out the rest of his comments at the PS Blog.
Sony Santa Monica lays off staff, cancels unannounced original game
After the completion of God of War III, Stig Asmussen, the game’s Director, began working on an original property within the walls of Sony Santa Monica. Sadly, it has been confirmed that the unannounced game has been cancelled. The cancellation looks to be the direct result of layoffs at the studio, as 50 employees recently lost their jobs. Lead Level Designer Jonathan Hawkins confirmed via Twitter that the project had been cancelled.
According to Gearnuke, Hawkins had been working on the new IP with Andy Puhl and Rob Davis, among other developers at the studio. The image above shows an Easter Egg from God of War: Ascension, which many thought was a teaser for the new property.
Once again, it’s a sad day for the industry when so many talented developers and staff members of an amazing studio like Sony Santa Monica are let go.
Next Tony Hawk game is exclusively in development for mobile devices
It has been revealed that Tony Hawk’s new game, which he teased last week, will be a mobile exclusive. Hawk confirmed to Bloomberg that he is working on a mobile game now: “We’re working on a game for mobile devices this year.”
“We’ve never gone exclusively in that direction yet so I’m excited because, with the amount of time people are spending on their phones and their tablets playing games, we’ve never had our own game in that space so I’m excited to provide one finally,” Hawk continued.
According to CVG, Hawk told CNBC in October of 2013 that he wanted to see his series on mobile platforms, because so many people are playing games there. “You just have to adapt and you have to realise where people are going to actually play their games,” Hawk said. “It used to just be Nintendo and PlayStation, and now it’s all kind of devices. So you’ve got to learn to adapt what you know from the technology into those areas. I’ve been wanting to do a mobile game for a long time.”
Hawk had previously told IGN that he wanted to bring his games to next-generation consoles as well, so who knows – maybe there are PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U versions in the mix somewhere down the line as well.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Tony Hawk's Shred Session
Deus Ex: The Fall comes to PC next month
Square Enix has announced that their mobile game in the Deus Ex series, Deus Ex: The Fall, is coming to the PC. It will be released on Steam for $9.99 on March 25. It will have Steam achievements (28 total), the popular Steam Trading Cards, updated AI, and keyboard and mouse functionality, among other things.
If you pre-order Deus Ex: The Fall on Steam, you will get a digital copy of Deus Ex – Game of the Year Edition as a bonus for free. Steam is already taking pre-orders.
Deus Ex: The Fall was created with Eidos Montréal and N-Fusion, the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Team. In the game, governments have lost power to corporations, who are in control of the drugs that augmented humans rely on. An augmented, former British SAS mercenary named Ben Saxon is on the case, fighting against his private military employers named the Tyrants, wants to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.
You can find out more when Deus Ex: The Fall releases on PC on March 25.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Deus Ex: The Fall
MGS5: Ground Zeroes gets a pre-release price cut and includes Phantom Pain DLC
Konami dropped a lot of information on us this week about Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. For starters, if you purchase the game “early on” (no time period specified), you’ll get exclusive DLC for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. In the retail version, it will be available “in the first batch;” digitally, it will be available for only a limited amount of time. The DLC unlocks additional staff for the Mother Base, introduced in Ground Zeroes, and will give players an advantage against The Phantom Pain.
There will also be unlockable content from Ground Zeroes that will carry over to The Phantom Pain. Ground Zeroes players will have a leg up with the additional staff, which will include rescued prisoners of war and VIPs. You will be able to carry over your character skins as well.
But wait, there’s more! Ground Zeroes will have a second screen iDroid app, which will be available for iOS, Android, and Xbox Smart Glass systems. This free app is a replica of Big Boss’ communicator and map, meaning you’ll be able to look at your maps, call in air support, or play the audio files (found in the form of cassette tapes) found in Camp Omega.
And finally, Konami has announced a price reduction. On the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, physical and digital copies of the game will only cost $29.99. On the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the physical game will be $29.99, while digital will be $19.99. The game will be available starting March 18, 2014, so if you want to get in on some of these special additions, you should pre-order it soon.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Daily Scoop: February 27, 2014 – More bundles
Another week, another set of great bundles! There’s a new Humble Weekly Bundle, and it’s all about simulators! Pay what you want for Bridge Project, Trainz Simulator 12, Euro Truck Simulator, and Wildlife Park 3. Pay $6 or more to unlock Agricultural Simulator 2013, Agricultural Simulator: Historical Farming, and Pool Nation.
There’s also a new bundle, The Pancake Bundle, over at Indie Royale. Pay more than the average for Gentlemen!, Survivor Squad, Eleusis, Gimbal, Talisman Prologue, and Bad Hotel. Pay $8 or more to unlock a bonus album from Dubmood.
Steam’s got some new deals as well, starting with their Daily Deal, which is Mass Effect 2 for $4.99. They’ve also got two new Weekend Deals: the Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army Bundle is $6.24, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst is $23.99.
And, of course, I’ve got t-shirts!
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News
Daily Scoop: February 26, 2014 – Beatbuddy added to Humble Bundle
The guys over at Threaks have been busy! Not only is Beatbuddy coming to tablets and consoles, it’s also been added to the Humble Indie Bundle 11! Pay what you want for Guacamelee! Gold Edition, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, and The Swapper. Pay more than the average for Antichamber, Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, Fez, Starseed Pilgrim, and Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians. This was a steal before, but now it’s an absolute must-buy!
Today’s Daily Deal over at Steam is Red Faction Guerrilla, which has been marked down to $4.99. Oh, and If you were looking for something to get me for my birthday, you could buy me this bad boy, though I’m afraid I exceed the weight capacity.
And now, t-shirts!
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News