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: PC
Indie Megabooth is bringing 36 games to Gamescom 2014
The Indie Megabooth is going international as the game showcase has announced that they plan to bring 36 indie games to this year’s Gamescom convention, which will take place from August 13-17 in Cologne, Germany.
The Gamescom installation will include indie favorites such as Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, Below, Broforce!, Dragon Fin Soup, and Super Time Force Ultra as well as a variety of newcomers with a “particularly exciting European flavor.” If you’re attending this year’s Gamescom, here’s what you can expect to find in the Indie Megabooth (which will be in Hall 10.1):
- Affordable Space Adventures (Knapnok)
- Alpha Muse (Current Circus)
- Armello (League of Geeks)
- Back to Bed (Bedtime Digital Games)
- Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Threaks)
- Below (Capy)
- Broforce! (Free Lives)
- Chroma Squad (Behold Studios)
- Cosmonautica (Chasing Carrots)
- Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
- Dex (Dreadlocks Ltd)
- Dragon Fin Soup (Grimm Bros)
- Dungeon of the Endless (Amplitude Studios)
- Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios)
- Fearless Fantasy (Enter Skies)
- Forced 2: The Rush! (Beta Dwarf)
- Gang Beasts (Boneloaf)
- Inside My Radio (Seaven Studio)
- Machineers (Lohika)
- Out There: Omega Edition (Mi-Clos)
- Renowned Explorers: International Society (Abbey Games)
- Rive (Two Tribes)
- Robocraft (Freejam)
- Shadowrun Online (Cliffhanger Productions)
- SpeedRunners (Double Dutch)
- Super Time Force Ultra (Capy)
- Swords & Soldiers II (Ronimo Games)
- Tengami (Nyamyam)
- The Next Penelope (Aurelien Regard Games)
- The Talos Principle (Croteam)
- TRI (Rat King)
- Tristoy (Uniworlds Game Studios)
- Typoman (Headup Games)
- Unclaimed World (Refactored Games)
- Wander (Wander MMO)
- Wayward Souls (Rocketcat)
- Where is My Heart? (Schulenberg Software UG)
You can head over to the official Indie Megabooth site for more details on all of these games as well as a booth map. And if you can’t make it to Gamescom, don’t forget, the Indie Megabooth selections for PAX Prime 2014 will be announced very soon.
Kickstart This! The Common Creative Wealth Edition
For all the sports fans out there who are saddened by the end of the World Cup and Wimbledon, fear not! The Commonwealth Games have kicked off in my backyard in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The royal baton ran right by my house last week, and it was great to see so many people out in the typically wet Glaswegian weather, clapping and cheering the baton bearers on.
Of course, this is what we do with Kickstart This! We pick out projects that we want to see succeed, and cheer them on along with all of our readers around the world. It’s humbling to think that somehow our words have managed to bring just enough extra donations to make the difference between a game being released and a development team drowning their sorrows in a stale pint of beer.
So which games do we have the need to see succeed in this edition? First off is the cartoony tower defense game Fire With Fire, followed by comical point-and-click adventure Kaptain Brawe 2: A Space Travesty. After that, we jump into 2D foodie platformer Bacon Man, cutesy platformer Snot, and, last but not least, Subject 13, a new 3D adventure thriller from Flashback creator Paul Cuisset.
On your mark, get set, go! (more…)
F1 2014 will be released on October 21; F1 2015 in the works for next-gen consoles
Codemasters has announced that F1 2014 will take the checkered flag on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 21. F1 2014 will be the final Formula 1 sim for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and Codemasters wants to ensure its their best version yet:
F1 2014 will incorporate this season’s seismic rule changes – the most significant in the sport’s 60 year history – including new aerodynamic regulations and turbocharged power units. All but two teams have changed their driver line-ups and new circuits have been added to the roster. Players will experience how 2014’s radically different new cars feel to drive as the season’s cars, circuits and teams are authentically represented.
Codemasters will also add a new difficulty-scaling system to F1 2014 to make it more accessible for new players and more difficult for experts:
A new driver evaluation system quickly identifies player ability and tunes game settings to an appropriate level, whilst re-graded difficulty settings enable players to compete at incrementally higher levels as they become more experienced. Experienced gamers, who enjoy a more serious simulation of the demands placed upon Formula One drivers, can customise their settings to provide a true challenge.
The developer also revealed that they’ll make the next-generation leap beginning next year with the currently untitled F1 2015, which will be available sometime next Spring for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Codemasters plans to release regular digital updates as the season progresses to keep the game updated, “enabling players to compete against the drivers and teams they watch week in and week out.”
Deep Silver acquires rights to Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek
Crytek’s money problems just will not go away. Last month, rumors began to swirl that the high-profile developer wasn’t paying their employees and had canceled several major projects. Today, Deep Silver announced that they have acquired all rights to Homefront: The Revolution. The deal also includes 2011’s Homefront, which Crytek obtained at the THQ bankruptcy auction.
The story behind Homefront: The Revolution is one of the more complicated tales in the entire industry. THQ originally announced the shooter sequel a few months after the successful launch of the original Homefront. Crytek was on board as the developer from the beginning and they assigned the game to their Crytek UK team. Then came THQ’s bankruptcy woes and everyone stayed quiet on the Homefront until this year’s E3 Expo, when Homefront: The Revolution was officially unveiled.
Due to Crytek’s inexperience in the self-publishing arena, they recruited Deep Silver to distribute the game and stand in as something like a co-publisher. So this acquisition likely won’t disrupt development too much. However, the game is moving from Crytek UK to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Both studios are located in Nottingham, so I’m curious to know how many former Crytek UK employees have jumped ship to Deep Silver’s new endeavor.
Hopefully, Homefront: The Revolution is still on track for a 2015 release.
UPDATE: Crytek has confirmed that all members of the Homefront team will transfer to Deep Silver Dambuster.
CoD Advanced Warfare special editions keep it simple with DLC bonuses
After including underwater cameras and remote control drones in previous special, Activision is keeping the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare special editions simple. Instead of some big toy that you’ll play with once, the publisher is packing both packages with a ton of downloadable goodies.
First up is the Atlas Pro Edition, which is priced at $79.99. In addition to the game, it’ll include the following digital items:
- “Atlas Gorge” Bonus Multiplayer Map – “Atlas Gorge” re-envisions the fan-favorite Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, “Pipeline,” re-imagined for the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare exoskeleton abilities. The Atlas Corporation has commandeered the world’s largest power source, the Three Gorges Dam in central China, creating a gripping setting for a multiplayer battle. Combatants will navigate the shadows and control a map-based turret scorestreak that overlooks the dam and helps to keep enemies at bay, all while leveraging new abilities and tactics enabled by exoskeleton technology, such as vertical combat, new sightlines, and strategic vantage points.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Weapons – The Bal-27 AE Assault Rifle and the Atlas 45 AE Pistol. Trick out your loadout with these two sleek weapons fitted with an Atlas Corporation theme to match your other custom content.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Exoskeleton – Strike fear into competition with your PMC-issued, white, red & black custom Atlas exoskeleton, and ensure opponents remember who took them out.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Helmet – A state-of-the-art custom Atlas helmet.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Player Card – Leave your mark on any killcam with an Atlas player card, featuring both a custom Atlas calling card and custom Atlas emblem.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Bonus Supply Drops – Supply Drops are part of the revolutionary changes in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that Sledgehammer Games is bringing to Call of Duty multiplayer. You’ll be well-prepared for battle as soon as you boot up with five bonus supply drops, which unlock a variety of game-changing, in-game content from player customization gear to weapons.
- Single Player Exoskeleton Upgrade Token – Over the course of Campaign mode, players unlock exoskeleton perks and abilities that help tackle various obstacles and challenges. This token provides an extra upgrade for your exoskeleton, so you’re already at an advantage when jumping into the Campaign.
- Official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Soundtrack – Digital copy of the in-game score, featuring main title & themes by legendary composer, Harry Gregson-Williams as well as original music by Audiomachine.
The Atlas Pro Edition will also include a Welcome to Atlas: Advanced Soldier Manual which features “original concept artwork” from the game as well as “historical and tactical information that will bolster every soldier’s potential for success in the field.” Finally, it all comes packed in a collectible SteelBook case. If you upgrade to the Atlas Limited Edition (which is priced at $119.99), you’ll receive all that plus the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass.
The Atlas Pro Edition, the Atlas Limited Edition, and the standard edition of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will all launch on November 4 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare “Story” trailer needs more Spacey
This “Campaign Story” trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare lays out all the little details the fuel the game’s narrative… There’s a terrible terrorist attack. A private military contractor named Atlas leads the rebuilding effort and wins government contracts all over the world. And then Kevin Spacey goes mad with power. But I was promised a madder Spacey. A Spacey that chews the digital scenery with reckless abandon. Maybe even Keyser Soze in space!
But we don’t get any of that. There’s very little Spacey in this trailer. I have to admit, I feel a little like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. Tapping the screen and hoping a Spaceysaurus jumps out and has a nice lunch with his lawyer.
Still, the trailer is pretty impressive. There’s jet packs and mech-suited soldiers and walking tanks and a surveillance bug that is literally a tiny flying bug with a camera mounted to its face. And the trailer ends with a promise that the “Multiplayer Reveal” will be available on August 11. That’s nice to know.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will launch (with more Spacey) on November 4 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
PAX Prime 2014 PAX 10 selections announced
PAX Prime 2014 is exactly a month away, so now’s the perfect time to announce the PAX 10, a hand-picked group of indie games that the Penny Arcade (and over 50 judges) choose to highlight at the big show.
Duet, a great iOS game where players have to navigate two dots through an obstacle course, and Framed, an interactive comic where players rearrange the panels to rearrange the story, are both holdovers from this Spring’s PAX East Indie Showcase. Other PAX 10 selections include:
- Duet (Developed by Kumobius)
- Flickers (Developed by DigiPen’s Neat Snake)
- Framed (Developed by LoveShack Entertainment)
- Life Goes On (Developed by Infinite Monkeys Entertainment)
- Mushroom 11 (Developed by Untame)
- Nova-111 (Developed by Funktronic Labs)
- Poof vs The Cursed Kitty (Developed by Arkedo Studio/Neko Entertainment)
- Skullduggery! (Developed by ClutchPlay Games)
- Stikbold! (Developed by Reign Bros)
- The Counting Kingdom (Developed by Little Worlds Interactive)
Head over to the official PAX Site for a more detailed description of each title. And be sure to check out every PAX 10 selection on the show floor at this year’s PAX Prime convention.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged PAX Prime 2014
Shovel Knight Review: An Ace (of Spades) Retro-Styled Platformer
Even though we’re in the middle of a second golden age of side-scrolling platformers, very few of them attempt to recreate what was so great about the graphical look of games in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Most of them (Mega Man 9 and 10, Contra ReBirth, Gradius ReBirth) just serve as distant sequels to some NES favorites. So it’s amazing that something like Shovel Knight, a wholly original game from Yacht Club Games, was able to perfectly capture the mood of late 80s game design. It feels more like a lost cartridge rediscovered in the modern day as opposed to a modern game created with modern gamers in mind. Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco told us last year that the company’s goal is to create “really awesome retro/modern fusion games.” I’m glad they got the chance and I’m not sure I’d want it any other way. (more…)