Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: News
EA hires former Uncharted dev Amy Hennig to lead Visceral’s Star Wars project
Amy Hennig stepped down from her position as the Creative Director on Uncharted 4 at Naughty Dog a few weeks ago. Today, we learned where she’ll land. In a post on EA’s “The Beat” blog, the megapublisher has revealed she has been hired by Visceral Games to become Creative Director of their in-development Star Wars project. Steve Papoutsis, Visceral’s General Manager, is very pleased with the hiring of Hennig:
Amy has long been recognized as one of our industry’s top visionaries, and is coming off an amazing run as the Writer and Creative Director of the Uncharted franchise. But her contributions go beyond the games she helped create at Naughty Dog and at Crystal Dynamics, where we worked together many years ago. As both a colleague and friend, I’ve always admired her approach to creative development – focusing on nailing down the soul of a game first, and then making sure the writing, the gameplay, the design and the art comes together to form a unified, interactive experience for the player. This fits in perfectly with what we’re trying to do here at Visceral and Amy’s going to help us continue in our pursuit to make the most thrilling, immersive games in the world.
The details of Visceral’s Star Wars project are still very much under wraps. It’s expected to be an open-world game, but it may be a long time before we find out what Hennig will bring to the title.
Posted in News
Tagged Star Wars: Visceral
New Mario Kart 8 trailer showcases the beautiful return of Rainbow Road 64
Mario Kart 64‘s version of Rainbow Road is one of my all-time favorite tracks from any Mario Kart game. And it’s making a return in next month’s Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U as one of the game’s “remixed” tracks. In addition to Rainbow Road 64, Nintendo announced that Toad’s Turnpike from Mario Kart 64 will also be added to the sequel, alongside Moo Moo Meadows from Mario Kart Wii and Donut Plains from Super Mario Kart.
Mario Kart 8 will be more than just old courses with a new coat of paint, as Nintendo also revealed two new items, three new characters, and the brand new “Spin Boost” special move. According to Nintendo, the Spin Boost gives players an advantage when racing upside down or on walls: “Players can bump into other racers or certain track obstacles to get a speed boost, fundamentally redefining the way that players compete.”
As they put the “Spin Boost” to work, players will also be able to use two new items. The Piranha Plant “attaches to the front of the player’s kart and chomps at other characters, banana peels on the track or even shells thrown by other characters.” And the Boomerang Flower “allows players to strike multiple opponents with a single toss” of the Boomerang. In another, totally unrelated, first for the series, Mario Kart 8 will feature music recorded by live performers on some courses.
Finally, Nintendo has confirmed that three more racers will join the fray: Metal Mario, Latiku (who’s going to wave the checkered flag when he’s racing?), and Shy Guy.
Mario Kart 8 will be available exclusively for the Wii U on May 30.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Daily Scoop: April 2, 2014 – New Story Bundle
Video Game Bundle 3.0 is live right now at Story Bundle, and it’s filled with some great books. Pay what you want for How to Do Things with Videogames, Atari Inc.: Business is Fun, Scroll: Collection 01-11, Service Games: The Rise and Fall of Sega, Ghosts in the Machine, and Ryan Veeder’s The Gothic Tower and Assorted Interactive Fiction. Pay more than $12 for Boss Fight Books #1: EarthBound, Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Marcus “Notch” Persson and the Game that Changed Everything Review: The Awesome Story of the Indie Sensation and the Man Behind it (that book I loved!), and The Final Hours of Portal 2.
There’s also the brand new Florida Bundle over at Indie Royale. Pay what you want for Defense Technica, Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Stronghold Crusader HD, BlackSoul: Extended Edition, Angvik, and Zombies on a Plane. Finally, the Daily Deal over at Steam is Call of Juarez: Gunslinger on sale for $5.09.
And now, time for t-shirts!
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News
Over 100 games will be included in the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014
Over the years, the Indie Megabooth has become one of the busiest spots at PAX East and PAX Prime and the 2014 East show is no exception. Organizers behind the Indie Megabooth have announced that 76 games will be permanently installed in the booth with another 28 titles rotating in-and-out of a special “Minibooth” within the Indie Megabooth over the course of the convention’s three days. For the first time, tabletop games will get a chance to shine in the Indie Megabooth. Sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, this selection of tabletop games includes bluffing game These French Fries Are Terrible Hot Dogs, party game Funemployed, and six others.
Other highlights in this year’s Megabooth include Duet, a hypnotic mobile puzzler; Delver’s Drop, everyone’s favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hyper Light Drifter, everyone’s other favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Answer, a sequel to the ultraviolent overhead shooter; and Secret Ponchos, an arena shooter that was one of our favorite games from PAX East 2013. Of course, with 104 total titles, this list of highlights is just scratching the surface of what’s available within the Indie Megabooth.
A complete list of titles that will be playable within the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014 can be found after the break. And more information about all of them is available at the organization’s official website. (more…)
One Release Date to Rule Them All… Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is out October 7
As someone who knows little-to-nothing about The Lord of the Rings, beyond faint memories of the books as an eight-year-old, I still think Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor looks pretty sweet. Warner Bros. Games just sent over a new “Story Trailer,” along with a whole bucketful of information about the upcoming third-person action-adventure.
WB Games has confirmed that the Monolith Productions- developed game will be released on October 7 and players who pre-order Shadow of Mordor will get access to the “Dark Ranger Exclusive Bonus Pack.” The pack will provide exclusive content and challenges for early adopters including:
- Dark Ranger Character Skin – Begin your own quest for vengeance with a new Dark Ranger character skin that embodies Talion’s darker side.
- “Test of Power” Challenge Mode – Face Sauron’s Captains and defeat them to earn powerful Runes and gain a head start in the game
- Access to Exclusive Leaderboards for “Test of Power” Challenge Mode – Test your speed, skill and strategy and measure yourself against your friends on the leaderboards in this challenge mode
And in case you haven’t upgraded to a next-generation console yet, don’t worry, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Amazon unveils Fire TV, a set-top box for games and video
Amazon has entered another product market with the announcement of the Fire TV, an Android-powered set-top box that streams audio and video, and plays games. The Fire TV is available now for $99.
According to Amazon, the Fire TV is designed purely to outpace it’s competitors. The 0.7-inch-thick box features a quad-core CPU with 2 GB of RAM, a Qualcomm Adreno 320 GPU, and a dual-band wireless radio with two antennas for 1080p streaming. Long story short, as far as tech specs go, it trounces the Roku 3 and Apple TV with ease.
The gaming aspect of the box is geared more towards non-traditional gamers, people who may already tap about on a smartphone or tablet. To get into the game, players will have to purchase an Xbox-like add-on controller that retails for $39.99. The controller also comes with 1,000 Amazon coins, a digital currency used for buying games from the Fire store. If a game supports it, players can choose to use their smartphone, tablet, or Fire TV Remote instead.
Amazon’s in-house development team, Amazon Games, plans to build exclusive games for the device. Sev Zero, a third-person shooter/tower defense hybrid, is one such title and everyone who purchases the Fire TV Controller will receive it for free. Amazon hopes that by the end of next month “thousands” of games will be available from developers and publishers like 2K Games, Disney, Double Fine Productions, Electronic Arts, Sega, Telltale Games, and Ubisoft. Third party titles like Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Gameloft’s Asphalt 8: Airborne are already available for the device.
Amazon has pegged the average cost of a Fire TV game at $1.85, with prices starting at $0.99. Free-to-play titles will be available as well. But what else can the Fire TV do? (more…)
XBL Store Today: Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition
The Bat is back as WB Games has added Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition to the Xbox Live Arcade today. The previously handheld-only title makes the leap to home consoles complete with a high definition makeover and other deluxe features such as “new maps, enemy encounters, difficulty levels, and batsuits.”
The Deluxe Edition of Arkham Origins Blackgate has been priced at $19.99:
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition ($19.99)
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition amplifies the 2.5D game with new maps, enemy encounters, difficulty levels, batsuits, and enhanced visuals. A companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins, players can continue the storyline of the console version and discover more details of the Dark Knight’s past. Featuring stealth gameplay, free-flow combat, and Batman’s famed arsenal of gadgets, the genuine Arkham experience is reproduced in a deep, action packed side-scrolling adventure.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
April 1st tweets tease Blood Dragon III: Vietnam War 2
Even though yesterday was the scoundrel’s holiday known as April Fool’s Day, some game publishers will occasionally make real announcements about real games. Such was the case last year, when Ubisoft revealed Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a downloadable spinoff to Far Cry 3 that was heavily inspired by the 1980s “VHS Era” of direct-to-video schlock. And they might have done it again.
Yesterday, horror director Jason Eisener posted a photo to Instagram of his brand new Blood Dragon soundtrack album. In the background of the picture was a television monitor, and upon this television monitor was an image that included a logo for something known as “Blood Dragon III: Vietnam War 2.”
Is it all a prank? Or is it another elaborate low-rent marketing stunt? Later in the day, Dean Evans, the Creative Director behind Blood Dragon, posted a similar image to Twitter and included the hashtag “#vietnamwar2”:
This would be a killer game/movie/comic/revolution. Solid work from @AndyBelanger #vietnamwar2 pic.twitter.com/558pfSqGgt
— Dean Evans (@SpleenZilla) April 1, 2014
Talk of a Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon sequel began almost as soon as the first game was released when Michael Biehn, the voice of Rex Power Colt, discussed the possibility of a sequel less than a week after the game’s release. And Ubisoft has been touting a surprise game reveal for next week’s PAX East convention, so perhaps the only fool is the one who doesn’t believe that Blood Dragon III: Vietnam War 2 is real.
Posted in News
Tagged Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon