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
Nintendo vs Sega “Console Wars” will become a movie
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation is an upcoming book by Blake Harris that details the struggle between Nintendo and Sega starting from the beginning. “The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan,” the book’s blurb reads.
But what’s even more exciting is that, before the book has even come out, the movie rights have already been purchased. According to Booktrade.info, the movie is being developed by Sony Pictures and Scott Rudin, and will be directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who also wrote the book’s foreword, and will be writing the screenplay as well. Harris, who is already co-directing a documentary about this, will be the Executive Producer, and Goldberg, Rogen, and Rudin will also be producers.
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation is due out in hardcover on May 13.
DayZ developer reveals plans to start his own studio
Dean Hall, the game designer from New Zealand who brought us the ArmA II mod DayZ, told Eurogamer he will be stepping down as the leader on the game. He plans to return home to New Zealand and create a game studio there, where he will “keep trying to create that elusive, perfect multiplayer game.” He knows the process won’t be overnight, so his people are going to “start it cooking” now.
It doesn’t hurt that Hall already has five ideas for games – three that are already written, and two that are rough. “‘A lot of them have similar DNA [to DayZ],’ he said, because he’s ‘fascinated’ by multiplayer games and because he’s ‘very interested’ in survival games.” But with DayZ, he feels like it’s “kind of like cooking in someone else’s kitchen: I don’t want to be constantly telling Bohemia that this is how I do it and this is the way we do it.” He’s not going to screw them over, though:
Much can change in a year, of course. Is Hall’s mind set? “Oh, it’s set. Definitely,” he nodded. But he won’t leave DayZ in the lurch – won’t leave at a crucial time. “I would extend my involvement here as long as Bohemia wanted – needed – me,” he stressed. In other words, there’s flexibility.
Check out the full interview over at Eurogamer.
Explore more dungeons with a new Deep Down trailer
Capcom has released a new trailer for their upcoming RPG, Deep Down, and it’s a good one. “Bad men took me away… and I woke up here, in the dark… you’re coming for me, aren’t you?” says a small child. Also, check out that Mimic at the 32 second mark. Yes.
Deep Down is scheduled to be released on the PlayStation 4 sometime this year.
PAX East 2014 Indie Showcase selections announced
It’s almost time for one of our favorite events of the year: PAX East! They’ve announced their selections for the Indie Showcase, which has six “of the best indie games you’ve never heard of available on mobile platforms.”
The games are Crowman & Wolfboy (which has “an unlikely pair of shadow creatures on a bizarre journey to escape their own nature and find the mysterious ‘humans'”), Duet (no, not Cypher Prime’s Duet – “a hypnotic new ‘hex-like’ mobile action arcade game with a mesmerizingly beautiful soundtrack by Melbourne composer and Gotye multi-instrumentalist Tim Shiel”), Framed (“an award winning narrative-puzzle game that plays like an animated comic book”), The Spookening (“a 3D scare ‘em up game à la Tim Burton, where you die every night and spawn as a ghost trying to resurrect”), Tiny Dice Dungeon (a game that “brings RPGs back to their roots… no more mysterious battle stats, instead you directly control what happens by rolling the virtual dice”), and Wayward Souls (“an action-adventure dungeon crawler with randomized levels and permanent death”).
For a full description of the games, head to the PAX East Indie Showcase page.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged PAX East 2014
Oculus Rift production will temporarily cease as company searches for new components
Oculus Rift is suspending production of Dev Kit 1 due to a lack of materials, the company posted on their subreddit. Andres Hernandez, the company’s Community Manager, explained the situation:
Certain components used in the Oculus Rift developer kit are no longer being manufactured, meaning they are no longer available to us for production. As a result, we don’t have the necessary materials to produce additional kits. We still have some stock available, but we’re quickly running out. We are looking into alternate sources for the needed components, and we don’t yet have a timeline for when additional units will be available. We’ll be sure to keep everyone posted.
He went on to say that the only locations they are selling and shipping to are the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland, and Norway.
Finally, he thanked the supporters of Oculus, saying it couldn’t have been done without them – trying to put a positive spin on this obviously negative situation.
Over at Road to VR, Ben Lang speculates that the missing component is most likely the screen:
The screen is the most likely bet for the component Oculus is missing. The Rift developer kit (DK1) was originally planned to use a 5-inch panel. When it was discontinued before Rift production, Oculus moved to the current 7-inch 1280×800 panel. I can’t imagine that such a panel, previously found in devices like UMPCs, draws much demand in 2014.
He goes on to make the most important point: “High demand for the developer kit is a good problem to have, but suspended sales is not one that you want to have for long; the Rift would be dead in the water without content made by developers by the time it hits the consumer market.” Hopefully there will be news soon on Dev Kit 2.
Daily Scoop: February 25, 2014 – Nintendo eShop cards on sale
It’s Tuesday again, which means game release day! Today marks the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, as well as the new Professor Layton game. Too bad I’m nowhere near caught up enough in either series to be that far along!
But at least there’s one thing I’m caught up in, and that’s deals. Best Buy is having a pretty great sale right now – they’re offering 20% off prepaid Nintendo eShop cards. If there are some digital games you’ve been looking to download to your Nintendo systems, this is a really great way to save yourself some money doing it!
As usual, there are some new deals over at Steam. The Midweek Madness deals are on RPG Maker VX Ace (marked down to $17.49) and State of Decay (marked down to $9.99). Their Daily Deal is on Strike Suit Zero, which is $9.99.
I’ve got a few t-shirts for you today as well…
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News
Activision confirms that Tony Hawk will ollie again in a new game
There’s a new Tony Hawk game in the works, according to IGN. Activision has confirmed to IGN “that they have something in the works with Tony Hawk, more info is coming soon.”
Hawk said, “We’re working on a game, we are working on a game, it’s pretty cool” on SiriusXM on his Demolition Radio Show. “It’s a whole suit you have to put on,” a co-host replied to him. After IGN reported on this and reached out to Activision, they confirmed it.
Hawk had previously told IGN that he wanted to see more of his games on the newer consoles, so this comes as no surprise.
Posted in News
Tagged Tony Hawk's Shred Session
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate descends on PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 on April 1
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition brings the handheld content to high definition, replete with 2.5D graphics. It will also have 5.1 surround sound, voice acting, a new map, and a new hint system as well.
The storyline, in case you missed it the first time around, is pretty typical Batman fare: Blackgate Prison, a place full of baddies Batman put there, is having a rebellion, and the only man who can stop it is the caped crusader. Those who played Batman: Arkham Origins can continue the story of that game here.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition will be released for the PC (through Steam), PlayStation 3 (through the PSN), Xbox 360 (through the Xbox Live Marketplace), and Wii U (through Nintendo’s eShop) on April 1 for $19.99.