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
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: Articles
Microsoft rejected over 36 ridiculous names before settling on “Xbox”
In a world where the original Xbox (commonly called the Xbox 1) exists, Microsoft’s debut of the “Xbox One” name was seen as an oddball move by many. But it could have been worse. Much, much worse.
In 1999, Seamus Blackley was one of the engineers working on the Xbox project, which was a shortened form of the console’s code name: DirectX Box. But the geniuses who gave us a product named “Microsoft Bob” decided that the “Xbox” name (even though it was the preferred name by Blackley and his team) would never be accepted by the public. So they proposed a few alternatives. Almost 40, in fact.
Among the frontrunners were “Eleven-X,” “FACE” (an acronym for “Full Action Center”), “Microsoft Active Reality Zone” (which would be shortened to “MARZ”), “MEGA” (which would stand for “Microsoft Entertainment & Gaming Attendant” or “Microsoft Entertainment & Gaming Assembly”), and “CyberPlayGround.” Xbox doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?
The complete list of rejected names can be found at Edge Online.
Posted in News
New Releases: NCAA Football 14, Civ V: Brave New World, MGS: Legacy Collection, More
This week, we’re bouncing back a bit from last week’s extremely slim week thanks to the annual college football simulation from EA Sports: NCAA Football 14. This year’s edition is available on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 and Denard Robinson (formerly of the University of Michigan and now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars) is your cover athlete.
Also available this week…
- Civilization V: Brave New World, the second expansion to the PC-exclusive Civilization V.
- Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, a PS3-exclsuive compilation which contains every Metal Gear game in existence.
- Dark, an action RPG for the Xbox 360 from Kalypso that stars a brooding vampire.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Metal Gear Solid: Legacy Collection, NCAA Football 14
Daily Scoop: July 5, 2013 – Bundles and t-shirts
I hope everyone had a lovely fourth of July yesterday! Many of my friends went to the Parkway, where there are concerts and fireworks all day and night. I can’t stand the heat and crowds… and the fact that a panicked stampede started over someone with a BB gun made the idea of it even worse. I’m glad all my friends are safe!
Speaking of hot, Amazon’s got some seriously hot bundles going on right now. Well, OK, they’re not amazing, but $10 off the PlayStation 4 Battlefield 4 Launch Day Bundle and the PlayStation 4 Killzone Launch Day Bundle is better than nothing, right? And I won’t lie – the PS3 500 GB Grand Theft Auto V Bundle looks pretty darn sexy.
What I’m really excited for today, though, is the t-shirts! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
XBLA Today: The Walking Dead: 400 Days, Capsized
The latest addition to Telltale’s The Walking Dead saga, “400 Days,” is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade. The episode has been priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and requires The Walking Dead: Episode 1 to function:
Centered on a truck stop on a Georgia highway, this DLC episode for Season 1 of The Walking Dead tells five linked stories of survival. The Walking Dead: 400 Days offers more of the horror and human drama of Robert Kirkman and Telltale’s award-winning series. Echoes of the choices you made in Season 1 will carry over into ‘400 Days’ and the choices you make in ‘400 Days’ will resonate into Season 2.
Also available this week is Capsized, a side-scrolling shooter with hand-drawn graphics. Capsized is available to download for 800 Microsoft Points ($10):
Feverishly blast through a hostile planet packed with blood-sucking aliens in Capsized, an action-packed survival shooter that combines innovative physics-based combat with nods to classic platform games. Navigate through perilous environments while fighting bloodthirsty creatures to save your crewmates and escape with your lives. Use a grappling hook, jet pack, space-age weapons and powerups to fight through more than a dozen non-linear levels with lush, explorable environments across multiple modes. The Xbox Live release also includes exclusive levels, newly enhanced graphics and Achievements.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged The Walking Dead
Here’s the 12-minute gameplay video of Destiny from E3 2013
In case you missed it in all the chaos that was this year’s E3, Bungie has released the extended gameplay demo of Destiny, their upcoming sci-fi shooter, that was shown at Sony’s Press Conference.
The game is set in the distant future after the collapse of a Golden Age of exploration, with players taking on the role of a Guardian of the last city on Earth. Destiny is planned for a 2014 release on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Celebrate the 4th of July with a new Saints Row IV trailer
Volition is celebrating America’s Independence Day with a brand new trailer for Saints Row IV. There’s plenty of fireworks and Keith David gives a speech that rivals the great Bill “President Whitmore” Pullman… what more could you want? And, I think this goes without saying but, like all Saints Row IV trailers, this one is completely not safe for work.
Saints Row IV will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 20.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Saints Row IV
Nintendo Download: Pilotwings, Sonic Drift 2, more
Nintendo rests for no holiday. As you celebrate the 4th of July today, Nintendo has updated the Wii U eShop with Pilotwings, so players can soar like an eagle in the Super NES classic on our nation’s birthday. Three more classic titles, the Game Gear’s Sonic Drift 2 and the Master System’s Vampire: Master of Darkness and G-LOC Air Battle, are now available on the 3DS eShop.
Also available this week…
- Deer Hunting King (3DS), a deer hunting sim.
- Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey (3DS), a “find the hidden object” adventure game.
Finally, there’s a big sale this week on Mighty Switch Force! ($2.99 until July 11) and Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition ($6.67 until July 11). More information on all of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Unannounced Wii U titles in development at Nintendo
Perhaps in an attempt to counter what was seen as a rather conservative show at this year’s E3 Expo, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has revealed that not all of the games the company has currently in development were shown (in hindsight, this isn’t very surprising).
In an attempt to alleviate the worries of both fans and shareholders at a recent investors meeting, Iwata insisted that there were new games in development and planned for release in 2014. In his reasoning, there was too much information to spill all at one show. The Nintendo President also commented that the company “[doesn’t] want to leave a long gap between announcement/release of new game types that would lessen the impact or allow competitors to copy.”
There’s little doubt that Zelda Wii U (which is officially unannounced) is one of the games, but there was no hint as to whether the others were updates of existing IPs or new inventions from inside the House of N. Whatever the titles are, expect further announcements later this year via future Nintendo Direct videos.
[Source: CVG]