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
Kickstart This! The 4K 2K14 Edition
2014 is barely three weeks old and already there is so much to be excited about. The next-generation consoles are stepping into their stride, CES gave us our first taste of the next wave of 4K televisions, and there is a treasure trove of potentially awesome games seeking funding on Kickstarter. Like Noah going into the ark, we’re kicking off the first edition of the year with some pairs. We have two RPGs, the collective world-building Story, and the more classic adventure RPG The Meridian Shard. After that is a pair of robotic logic puzzle games, Level and Algo-Bot. Finally, there is a single space-set games project vying for your cold, hard cash: Space Pioneer.
And a-one, and a-two… (more…)
Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, Top Story
Tagged Space Pioneer
Shovel Knight digs into 3DS, PC, Wii U on March 31
The time has finally come! Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight will be released for the PC, Wii U, and 3DS on March 31.
The retro-styled game was a huge hit at last year’s PAX East show and wears its inspiration, including the side-scrolling challenge of the Mega Man series and the pogo stick mechanic found in DuckTales, on its armor-clad sleeve. The developers at Yacht Club, who broke away from WayForward several years ago, funded Shovel Knight through a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that ultimately netted more than three times its $75,000 target. The game is now in a fully playable state within the walls of Yacht Club and should be ready for release after a round of playtesting, polish, and bug fixing.
You can see just how far they’ve come by viewing the brand new gameplay trailer, which has been embedded above.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
Former Infinity Ward devs launch Kickstarter campaign for side-scroller To the Death
Scary Mostro is a new development team that’s lead by Todd Alderman and Franceso Gigliotti, both formerly of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment. They’ve teamed up with Cecil Kim and Justin Yun of Section Studios (who previously worked with Sony Santa Monica on God of War) to bring you To the Death, a side-scrolling brawler/shooter for PC platforms. The developers have just launched a Kickstarter campaign for To the Death and they are seeking $400,000 to make the game a reality.
To the Death will follow a pair of warriors who have fought… wait for it… to the death. In the afterlife known as “The Crawl” they continue their battle by blowing through wave after wave of enemies until they can meet in the middle for a futuristic duel featuring an arsenal of guns and swords.
In addition to a traditional two-player co-op mode, To the Death will feature a unique splitscreen head-to-head mode where each warrior will play through the single-player game separately before meeting at the final boss (and then a final duel… to the death). The developers believe that this head-to-head mode will allow each player to track what powerups the other is using and tailor their strategy accordingly.
If all goes well, Scary Mostro and Section expect to release To the Death for the PC, Mac, and Linux in May 2015. And if they receive over $750,000 in pledges, they plan to produce a PS4 and Vita version as well. Good luck gentlemen.
Candy Crush Saga maker has trademarked the word “candy”
Are you secretly Brucer Banner (AKA The Incredible Hulk)? If so, you may want to skip this article as it will make you angry, very angry. And I don’t want any reason not to like you.
King, the publisher behind the massively popular Candy Crush Saga, has trademarked the word “candy.” They don’t own all rights to the word “candy.” You can still go to your local grocery store and ask the shopkeep for a big bag of candy. And you can still joke about how something is easier than taking candy from a baby. A huge proportion of this country’s strippers will also not have to change their stage names.
Sadly, King’s trademark covers practically everything else.
According to US Patent and Trademark Office, King’s trademark covers hundreds of items including “video game software,” “spectacles cases,” clothing of all kinds, “amusement parks,” all educational services or workshops, and “downloadable music files.” They actually believe that anyone that uses the word “candy” in a music file should have to pay them a royalty fee. And just in case you thought you were safe across the Atlantic, the publisher has also been granted a trademark on the word “candy” by the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) as well.
Surprisingly, few games actually use the word “candy” in their title, but according to Gamezebo, King has already sent cease and desist orders to those that do on the iOS App Store.
However, King’s victory (if you can call it that) is likely to be short-lived. According to the USPTO, their trademark has been approved, but not yet been published for opposition. And when it is, I imagine that the makers of Candy Land (which was first published in 1945) will have a problem with it. As they, and we all, should.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged candy crush saga
Here’s how to enable “Retro Mode” in Broken Age
It seems everyone has forgotten how mad they are at Double Fine, because since the first half of Broken Age came out, all the Internet has talked about is how much they love it… and how to unlock the Easter Egg that will make the game look like a classic adventure game of old. The video above gives you a walkthrough of how to 8-bit this lovely game.
Backers of the Kickstarter are already running around the world joyously, but regular people can’t play it until January 28th. You can pre-order the game on Steam now for $22.49 (10% off).
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Broken Age
Incognita (now known as Invisible Inc.) early access alpha now available
Incognita was one of our favorite games from PAX Prime, and the trailer above should show why. It’s a thrilling, fun strategy game, full of quick decisions and interesting graphics. I love the character designs, and while the new name – Invisible, Inc. – isn’t quite as cool as Incognita, I’ll still buy it.
Speaking of buying it, the game is now available for pre-order, which gives you early access to their alpha build. Klei Entertainment has priced the game at $19.99, but if you buy it now, you can get it for $16.99. You can also opt for the version that comes with the soundtrack for $19.99 (the soundtrack is not finalized yet, but you’ll get the tracks as they’re made available). Place your order through their website now. Buying now gives you a Steam key, but it can only be purchased through the official Invisible, Inc. site for now. You’ll be able to order the game on Steam once the Beta is available.
Keep in mind that if you pre-order it now, you’ll be playing the alpha version, which has some bugs, and could be tremendously different than the final version. But the bonus is that you’ll be able to play the game now, and give the developers feedback on what you think about it as they make updates. The game was fun back in September, so I can’t imagine how great it must be now.
The full version of Invisible, Inc. will be released sometime in 2014. Only the PC version is available now, but Klei says that more information on other platforms will be forthcoming.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Invisible Inc
Valve rethinks Steam Controller, now looks like every other controller
Valve’s original Steam Controller was a rather unconventional piece of kit. But a newly revealed modified version of the controller put it more in line with a standard controller. The new Steam Controller will feature a traditional d-pad and four face buttons (A, B, X, Y) in the standard diamond formation where previously there was a touchscreen akin to a smaller version of the Wii U GamePad.
The change makes it analogous to the PlayStation 4’s DualShock 4 and the Xbox One controller, meaning games designed for consoles could be more easily adapted to work with Valve’s new toy. Like the latter, the controller will also use AA batteries rather than a dedicated battery pack, which is a bit of a let-down given how easy it is to charge the likes of the DualShock or GamePad using a cradle dock or mini-USB cable. It will also be packed with an internal gyroscope and players will be able to use a whopping 16 Steam Controller at once if the game supports that many.
Valve has also hinted that more changes to the controller may happen in the future, as the company constantly seeks to refine it during the beta testing process. It seems the developer is keeping future VR headsets in mind while molding the Steam Controller, meaning it could be only part of what Valve has in mind.
[Source: Games Industry International]
Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling (and most wanted) game of 2013
The NPD Group previously declared Call of Duty: Ghosts the best-selling game of December 2013, but Activision’s military shooter fell a bit short in the full-year competition. With Ghosts in second place, you might have guessed that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling retail game of 2013… and you’d be right.
Sequels and sports games dominate the list, but the universal appeal of Disney allowed Disney Infinity to crack the top ten at #10. At #9, the retail version of the mighty Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition also made the list.
Here’s the complete top ten of 2013’s best-selling retail games:
Best-Selling Retail Games of 2013
1. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Call Of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC, Wii U)
3. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
4. Battlefield 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC)
5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)
6. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
8. Just Dance 2014 (Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
9. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
10. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
[Source: Joystiq]
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Disney Infinity, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2014, Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NPD