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
- 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)
Most Recent: Mobile
Asher Vollmer’s Close Castles is on hold because it’s not very enjoyable
You might not know Asher Vollmer’s name, but you certainly know his work. Vollmer was one-third of Sirvo, the impromptu development team behind the mobile blockbuster Threes. More recently, Vollmer has been working on Close Castles, a real-time strategy game for the PS4 that he says is for people who hate real-time strategy games. But right now it looks like it’s not for anybody as Vollmer has confirmed (via Twitter) that the development of Close Castles is currently on hold.
Close Castles has been set aside for now because Vollmer believes that the game isn’t very enjoyable in its current state. The developer further states that he’s “designed [himself] into a corner” and that he’ll have to “overhaul the game” before he can release it to bring it up to his standards.
In the meantime, Vollmer has begun work on a brand new mobile game that he’s not ready to talk about yet. Hopefully we’ll learn more about it (and the future of Close Castles) soon.
Posted in Mobile, News, PS4
Tagged Close Castles
Kickstart This! Elventales, Threshold, Maestros of the Anthymn
After an extended Christmas break, Kickstart This! is back with a vengeance, sifting through the crowdfunding projects of early 2015 to find those few that stand out from the digital masses. And even better, Kickstarter has now dropped Amazon payments in favour of payment system Stripe, which means not only is it easier for developers to set up payments, but there are also fewer steps for players to make them. Everyone wins.
This week there is top-down RPG Elventales: A Path Foreseen, beautiful hand-painted 2D platformer Threshold, and finally, episodic fantasy adventure tale Maestros of the Anthymn.
Let the adventure begin! (more…)
Here’s the launch trailer for Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords… because it launches today
The second episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation, Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords, is all set to be released this week on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile platforms. So naturally, Telltale has released a brand new launch trailer for the game. In case you need to be caught up, here’s what players can expect from The Lost Lords:
House Forrester is in disarray. Their liege lord and his heir are dead, and Ironrath is occupied by Whitehill soldiers. The survival of the family depends upon those who are left.
Placed at King’s Landing, the epicenter of intrigue, Mira Forrester must weigh her loyalty to Margaery Tyrell against the needs of her family, while choosing how to play the political games of Tyrion Lannister. One misstep could spell doom for Mira and her entire family. To the far north, Gared Tuttle finds that the wall and its crows hold little love for a squire from the Wolfswood, but finds kinship in the bastard son of Ned Stark.
Gared must prove worthy of becoming a ranger in order to carry out the mission given him; one that is vital to the future of those he serves. To the east, Asher Forrester, the exiled son, is called back to Westeros to aid his family, but how can one man help when the Boltons rule the north with an iron fist? Meanwhile, an unexpected source of hope returns to the Forresters, but Ironrath is no place for the weak.
Telltale has planned a staggered release schedule for Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords. PC, PS3, and PS4 players will be able to play it beginning today while Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until tomorrow. Finally, Android and iOS will get a crack at The Lost Lords on Thursday.
Sony sells SOE to investment firm; New company hints at Xbox development
Columbus Nova, an investment management firm, has announced that they’ve acquired Sony Online Entertainment lock, stock, and barrel. The deal includes all of SOE’s development studios as well as the rights to their entire game portfolio including EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online, H1Z1, Landmark, and the upcoming EverQuest Next.
A new name comes with the new owners and SOE will be known as Daybreak Game Company from now on. A non-Sony owner also means that some of SOE’s biggest titles will make their way to the Xbox One and mobile platforms in the not-so-distant future.
“We are excited to join Columbus Nova’s impressive roster of companies. They have a proven track record in similar and related industries and we are eager to move forward to see how we can push the boundaries of online gaming,” said John Smedley, the President of Daybreak Game Company. “We will continue to focus on delivering exceptional games to players around the world, as well as bringing our portfolio to new platforms, fully embracing the multiplatform world in which we all live.”
According a post on the SOE Community Forum, it will “business as usual” for SOE as they transition to their new life under Daybreak Game Company. So things shouldn’t change too much for current players in the near-term.
Liam Neeson seeks his revenge in this Clash of Clans Super Bowl commercial
Laim Neeson is quite taken with Clash of Clans. The actor, who has made a career out of threatening people with his Irish baritone, starred in a Super Bowl XLIX commercial for the mobile game last night.
A description of what transpires in the 60-second spot won’t do it justice. You need to see it for yourself. Oh, and pray for BigBuffetBoy85, he’s going to need all the help he can get.
Sega to institute layoffs, early retirement program as company continues to struggle
Sega (which officially does business under the Sega Sammy Holdings name) has been dealing with financial difficulties for some time, but it looks like their latest round of problems will result in some big changes for the company.
Sega’s Board of Directors met this morning and hammered out a restructuring plan that they believe will help the company’s financial position in the future. Unfortunately, a key part of that plan will involve an unspecified number of layoffs and a voluntary early requirement program that the company will offer to 300 employees. Some of the layoffs will come from Sega of America, which will be moving from its current headquarters in San Francisco to a smaller facility somewhere in Southern California.
The restructuring, which is expected to be completed by the Summer, will also lead to a new focus on downloadable titles developed for smartphones and the PC. Sega is also heavily involved in big budget and mid-tier on consoles and the PC, but it’s currently unknown how this plan will affect the company’s internal development teams.
Get bonus XP in Evolve by playing Evolve: Hunters Quest, a mobile match-3 puzzler
Quick, grab your phone or tablet, because 2K Games has just released a free-to-play companion app to Evolve for mobile devices. But if you were looking for a little shooty shooty on the go, you might be disappointed. Evolve: Hunters Quest is actually a match-3 puzzler. Available through the iTunes App Store, the Google Play Store, and the Amazon Appstore, Evolve: Hunters Quest will offer 100 missions and the ability to earn Mastery Points which can be spent in the PC, PS4, and Xbox One edition of Evolve to level up your favorite characters:
Evolve: Hunters Quest is a match-3 puzzle combat game based on the Best of Show E3 award winner, Evolve. Use match 3 tokens of the same color to unleash devastating attacks on your enemies, and fill up energy bars to activate hunters’ special abilities. Earn Mastery Points to rank up your character in both the mobile and console games. Explore the planet of Shear in search of new wildlife and monsters. Discover and complete your collection of exotic wildlife in the Bestiary, and earn unique art for the Evolve console game. Enhance your Evolve skills by watching your multiplayer match replays from a strategic top-down view, and devouring intel in the Game Changer. Evolve: Hunters Quest lets you continue your Evolve experience from anywhere!
Evolve will be released on February 10.
Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age 3 lead all nominees at 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards
Another major award show has announced their 2014/2015 nominees and, once again, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor lead the pack. This time, we’re discussing the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, where each game has secured five nominations apiece.
Naturally, both games are competing for the Game of the Year prize, alongside Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, and Shovel Knight. Dragon Age: Inquisition was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” and “Excellence in Design and Direction.” Shadow of Mordor is up for most of the same secondary awards, except swap out “Excellence in Gameplay” for “Excellence in Animation.”
The winners of the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 14 as part of the SXSW Gaming Expo, which runs from March 13th through the 15th in Austin, Texas. The first list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shovel Knight, Tabletop Games