Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Mobile
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood leads BAFTA noms with seven
Somebody alert the world, a Brotherhood of assassins has infiltrated the British Academy Video Games Awards. Ubisoft’s stealthy sequel, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, garnered seven nominations, more than any other game, including one for Best Game.
Other big honorees from this year’s Video Games Awards include Call of Duty: Black Ops, Heavy Rain (six nominations apiece) and Mass Effect 2 (four nominations).
Awarded annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the winners of this year’s Video Games Awards will announced in a ceremony on March 16.
The full list of every nominee and every award up for grabs can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2, Super Mario Galaxy
A Eulogy For Guitar Hero: The Day the (Plastic) Music Died
A wise man once said that it’s far better to burn out than fade away. Apparently Activision agreed with the sentiment, as after a bit more than five years of rapid-fire releases, the company has shuttered the Guitar Hero franchise. Just 40 months ago the music gaming business was at its absolute peak – Guitar Hero III sold roughly 2.45 bazillion copies across a half-dozen platforms – but now the series is in complete shambles, what with the latest installment releasing with the authority of a farting ant. This legendary tumble from grace is no doubt why the company canceled the forthcoming Guitar Hero 7 and put the entire series on hold, perhaps permanently. Rather than harp on all that went wrong and led to its untimely demise, let’s discuss what went right – and what the future may hold if Activision dares to bring the music back. (more…)
Posted in DS, Features, Mobile, PS2, PS3, PSP, Top Story, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: World Tour
Xperia Play launches in March, exclusive to Verizon
Sony’s “PlayStation Phone” was revealed earlier today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and it looks like it may be everything gamers on the go are looking for in a phone/handheld hybrid.
The Xperia Play (the phone’s official name) will launch in the US in March and exclusively be available through Verizon. No pricing details were announced, but gamers will receive a phone that comes equipped with a D-Pad, two trackpads for analog control, four PlayStation-branded face buttons and two shoulder buttons. In other words, the Xperia Play is nearly a complete portable PlayStation experience.
As the first PlayStation Certified device, the phone will run all of the PlayStation Suite software in development at Sony and at third parties like Activision, Electronic Arts, Namco Bandai, PopCap and Ubisoft. Xperia Play buyers looking to get their game on won’t have to wait long after its out of the box, the phone will come pre-loaded with Asphalt Adrenaline 6, Bruce Lee, Star Battalion, The Sims 3, and Tetris. Other games in development for the Xperia Play include Need For Speed, a world-first multiplayer version of FIFA 11, Guitar Hero, Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.
In total, more than 50 games are in development exclusively for the Xperia Play, in addition to all of the games found on the Android App Store, which are also supported by the super sexy phone.
AIAS names Mass Effect 2 their Game of the Year
BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 walked away with Game of the Year honors at the Interactive Achievement Awards last night.
The game, which was just recently released on the PS3 after its PC and Xbox 360 debut last year, was given the award by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. This is the Academy’s 14th year handing out the IAAs and Mass Effect 2 beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Red Dead Redemption and Angry Birds to win the prize.
But among the honorees, only Black Ops went home empty-handed. Angry Birds was named Casual Game of the Year, God of War III won Outstanding Achievement in Animation and Red Dead Redemption galloped away with five awards.
You can watch the entire ceremony at G4tv.com/DICE2011 or you can see the full list of winners after the break. (more…)
Activision reveals new Family Guy game, X-Men: First Class, “unprecedented” new universe
Activision was very busy during their quarterly financial briefing yesterday. In addition to canceling Guitar Hero 7 and True Crime: Hong Kong, the company revealed a few details about their 2011 (and beyond) schedule.
New Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg did most of talking. He began by reiterating that Call of Duty 8 is on track for a 2011 release and officially announced a free-to-play Call of Duty game for China, which will be released in 2012.
Continuing with the Call of Duty theme, Hirshberg revealed that a new Activision in-house studio, Beachhead, will be creating an “all-new digital platform for the Call of Duty franchise.” The system sounds very similar to Halo Waypoint and promises to “support in-game integration and bring online experiences and console play together.”
Activision also has a slew of licensed games in development for 2011 including three never-before-announced games: Family Guy, X-Men: First Class and Wipeout 2.
A Family Guy game was released by 2K Games to tepid reviews in 2006. X-Men: First Class will likely launch alongside the film in June with the Silicon Knights-developed X-Men: Destiny still on track for a late 2011 release. And for those confused about Wipeout 2, it’s not the futuristic racing franchise, but a second game based on ABC’s obstacle course game show.
Several previously announced 2011 games, including Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a new Spider-Man game, more Cabela’s Hunting titles and a new Bakugan game were also discussed.
Bungie’s New Universe was briefly mentioned, but only to confirm that it won’t launch until 2012 at the earliest.
Finally, Hirshberg announced that Activision will be unveiling “an all-new gaming universes that brings together the worlds of toys, video games and online play.” in two days at the New York Toy Fair. Activision will release the game based on this new universe in the second half of 2011 and calls the franchise an “unprecedented” merging of different media.
Wow. We’ll likely learn more about a lot of these titles at E3.
Posted in 3DS, DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty Online, Destiny, Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse, Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Paranormal Activity game creeps onto iPhone
Augmented Reality’s Ogmento Inc. announced Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary for iPhone, which is a location-based “reality game.” Players can use their surrounding environments – namely public locations – to enhance the thrill of the game, which urges players to keep demons at bay by announcing their presence at any given location through the app.
Ogmento’s co-founder Brian Selzer says: “The Paranormal Activity franchise embodies the powerful psychological space between what’s real and what’s imagined; we wanted to encapsulate that feeling in an iPhone game and use augmented reality to accentuate the overall game experience in a way that has never been done before.”
Now I’m scared. No, not because of how scary Paranormal Activity was, moreso because the Paranormal Activity movies just weren’t good movies (in my opinion). And now a game? Well, alright. I shouldn’t judge it just yet. I always thought that the integration of real-life locations into “swarm-type” games were cool. Give Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary a shot, even if only because it’s a free app.
Sony officially announces Xperia Play phone
The latest “worst kept secret in gaming,” the Xperia Play phone, was officially unveiled by Sony Ericsson yesterday.
Engadget has all the details on the so-called “PlayStation Phone,” including the date and time of the Xperia Play’s worldwide debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 13th and the crazy Super Bowl ad.
Did you miss the Xperia Play commercial during yesterday’s Super Bowl? Check it out after the break below. (more…)
Capcom Mobile brings Nero from hell to iPhone
Since Devil May Cry 4‘s release four years ago, gamers have been looking for a new Devil May Cry game to sink their teeth into. (And no, I don’t mean THIS garbage.) While their thirst won’t be completely quenched, Capcom Mobile has decided to throw a bargain their way. Not only is Devil May Cry 4 releasing on Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch, it’s got a limited time launch price of $1.99. I mean, heck, I already OWN Devil May Cry 4 and I’m still considering it.
The game is available now with retina display graphics and GameCenter achievement support. No details regarding an iPad release have been announced.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Devil May Cry 4