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
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition gets a September release date
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is coming to PCs next month, just 14 years after the initial release of the original Baldur’s Gate. The enhanced edition will be running on a version of the Infinity Engine that has been upgraded and improved. There’s a lot of new stuff here, including a new adventure called “The Black Pits,” three new characters: Dorn Il-Khan, Neera the Wild Mage, and Rasaad yn Bashir, and lots more:
- A new collection of player character voice sets
- Native support for high resolution widescreen displays
- Over 400 improvements to the original game
- Improved multiplayer support, with connectivity between all platforms
The Enhanced Edition will be available for PC download on September 18 for $19.99 and is available for pre-order now. It is also scheduled to be released sometime in September for the iPad and Mac, with an Android release to be announced.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Baldur's Gate
Apple patents dual-analog controller for iDevices
Even though they continue to insist that the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad aren’t game systems, Apple has filed a patent application showing their intention to add support for a dual-analog controller to your iDevices.
The controller includes four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, Start/Select buttons, and four separated buttons comprising a D-Pad. Not surprisingly, the controller looks like an exact duplicate of the DualShock 3. According to the patent literature, the controller would work with any iDevice, a video game system, or a standalone media device (such as the company’s AppleTV).
Additionally, Apple filed a patent for a virtual “Remote” program that would turn your iPod/iPhone into an NES-style “Classic Controller” for use with games like Prince of Persia Classic.
Finally, Apple filed a third game-related patent for am app that would allow a current generation game system (such as the Xbox 360) to be controlled by an iDevice.
The patents were originally filed back in February, but Apple’s intentions for the iPhone/iPod appear to track very closely with the Android-powered Ouya console. Hit the jump for a closer look at all three of Apple’s patent designs.
[Source: Free Patents Online] (more…)
The Walking Dead now available on App Store
Telltale Games has announced that the first episode of The Walking Dead has shambled onto the iTunes App Stores. Like it’s PC and console counterparts, “A New Day” is available to download now for $4.99.
According to Telltale, the remaining episodes will be added to the App Store “periodically” as in-game downloads. Each additional episode will also be priced at $4.99 with a 25% discount available for players who purchase an “Episode 2-5 Bundle” multi-pack.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged The Walking Dead
Fortress comes to the App Store on August 2
Recently, Philadelphia has become the city of burgeoning game development, ranging from small studios heading to PAX Prime to one-man companies like Ray Merkler’s Hindrances to Progress releasing its first game. I say “recently,” but in reality, this is just years of work by people like Merkler finally paying off. His first game, Fortress, will be released on the App Store on August 2 for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Fortress is a strategy game played with a simple (and pretty adorable) deck of cards. The cards act as soldiers in a colorful army, defending your own King, while you try to destroy your opponent’s fortress. The game is fun and easy to learn, but tickles your brain only the way strategy can. I played my first game of it years ago against Merkler himself, and while he wiped the Fortress floor with me, I enjoyed it, and look forward to its long-awaited release.
Fortress will be $2.99 at launch, but will drop down to $0.99 after two weeks. Support indepedent games and buy it when it comes out! Or wait until it’s under a buck, ya scrooge. Either way, this entertaining little strategy game is worth having on your iDevice.
Game Critics Awards announce nominees for Best of E3 2012
The world’s biggest gaming websites, including Kotaku, IGN, Nintendo Power, Joystiq and The Escapist (don’t worry, Warp Zoned will be there one day!) have released their full list of nominees for awards pertaining to what was shown and played at this year’s E3 Expo. Some of the highlights of the show, such as Star Wars: 1313 or Ubisoft’s surprise Watch Dogs do not qualify, as the rules state the journalists must be able to “manipulate a game in real-time while running on its native platform.” However, it seems there was not much love for Nintendo’s Wii U, with no mention of the system’s most-anticipated game, ZombiU. Although both Wii Fit U and Game & Wario made it into the “Best Motion Simulation” category.
The awards will be handed out at GameCriticsAwards.com on June 26. The full list of nominees is available after the break. (more…)
Microsoft announces Surface, a Windows 8-powered tablet
Microsoft’s big announcement yesterday was the unveiling of Surface, a new line of tablets that will be powered by Windows 8 (and its mobile variant, Windows RT).
Currently, two models have been announced: Surface for Windows RT will feature an ARM processor designed with Microsoft’s new “Metro” interface in mind while Surface for Windows 8 Pro will ship with a full version of Windows 8. Each Surface tablet includes a 10.6″ screen and a 3mm magnetic touch cover that doubles as a keyboard.
The Surface for Windows RT tablet will be available this Fall, alongside the release of the Windows 8 operating system. The Surface for Windows 8 Pro tablet release will follow about 90 days later. Pricing wasn’t announced, however Microsoft did say the Surface tablets would be comparable in price to an Intel Ultrabook ($800-$1,500).
A complete list of Surface specs can be found after the break. (more…)
Bungie co-founder wants to rethink mobile game controls with Industrial Toys
“The innovation is all on mobile,” claims Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian. Of course, the creator of the Halo franchise would say that, as his new studio, Industrial Toys, is focused on mobile platforms. The new company is attempting to bring a hardcore gaming experience to your phone and/or tablet with the help of Unreal Engine 3 and new thinking on the control interface for these devices. Yet for all the innovation, their first effort will be a sci-fi themed FPS… just like Seropian’s biggest hit.
The unnamed project, which is being written by sci-fi author John Scalzi, is gearing up to offer gamers a world on their phone that is as expansive as World of Warcraft, and are focusing on two things that Seropian feels is missing from current mobile games: unique controls and fully integrated community.
“The whole design paradigm about designing for dual sticks is all about creating a software interface for hardware that makes it feel like you have more control and have better skill curves, That’s all about getting closer to how a mouse works. There’s no sense to emulate a relative control scheme, like a controller… We have been designing a control scheme that’s all about putting our controls in the game space, as opposed to the screen space.”
As well as these thoughts on the interface, the company is trying to envelop its social features and functionality into the very mechanics of the game, rather than the default option utilised by most mobile games of creating a separate community space on a linked website.
Industrial Toys plans to officially announce their first game soon, possibly even as early as later this month.
[Source: Joystiq]
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Morning Star
Majesco goes mobile with Sci-Fi Heroes
Majesco Entertainment, the publisher responsible for the Mama series of games (you know, Cooking, Babysitting, Crafting, etc) and Jillian Michael’s fitness range, has revealed screenshots (which can be found after the break) and a trailer (which can be viewed above) of their first internally developed mobile game.
Sci-Fi Heroes, a free-to-play RPG, will feature over forty levels and allow you to take charge of eight unique characters including a space marine, an animal trainer, a Serenity-inspired space cowboy, a priest, an ID Master, an Exxo, a healbot, and a technomancher. With its cutesy graphics and fun humour, it comes across as a tongue-in-cheek version of the likes of Star Wars and Mass Effect.
Piloting the Starship Aphelion, players will take command of up to eight misfit warriors as they go up against the Calimar Space Horde to free four planets in a once peaceful solar system. You can look forward to kicking some Space Horde butt later this summer. (more…)