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
Stan Bush’s “The Touch” gets remixed for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Last year, Stan Bush released a redone version of his iconic Transformer theme, “The Touch,” alongside High Moon’s Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Over the weekend, Bush released a brand new music video for the song featuring some of the biggest moments from the game. The “Power Mix” actually isn’t too bad and Stan wants you to know it’s also available on iTunes.
Of course, if you’d prefer to revel in the 80s awesomeness of the original version from Transformers: The Movie, you can find that music video after the break. (more…)
Lego The Hobbit’s first trailer is here and back again
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug cruised to the top of the box office heap this weekend with a total ticket take of $73 million. So now seems like a perfect time for Warner Bros. Games to unveil the first trailer for Lego The Hobbit, which is due to be released in 2014.
After watching this trailer, I think it’s official, Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan need to be in everything. Lego The Hobbit will be released for (deep breath) the PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and 3DS.
Oculus raises $75 million to produce consumer version of Rift headset
As popular as the Oculus Rift is with developers, it’s easy to forget that the consumer version of the virtual reality headset has yet to be released. But we’re one step closer to that goal as the company has revealed that they’ve recently obtained more than $75 million in venture capital.
The bulk of the funding comes from Marc Andreessen’s Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm. Andreessen spent the early 90s devloping Mosaic, the world’s first web browser, so he knows a little something about technological innovations.
“Over the past 16 months, we’ve grown from a start-up to a company whose virtual reality headset is poised to change the way we play, work and communicate,” said the CEO of Oculus VR, Brendan Iribe. “Forty thousand developers and enthusiasts, as well as a number of great partners, have joined our cause and helped us bring the seemingly impossible to life. This additional infusion of capital, as well as the leadership and experience of Marc Andreessen, will help us take the final steps toward our ultimate goal: making virtual reality something consumers everywhere can enjoy.”
If you’re itching to check out the Oculus Rift right now, Oculus VR sells a development kit through their website for $300. It’s currently unknown when the consumer edition will be released or how much it will cost.
[Source: GamesBeat]
Operacraft, not surprisingly, brings opera to Minecraft
“Are Games Art?” It’s a question that everyone loves to ask, but one that nobody can really answer. There are strong arguments on both sides, but I think everyone can agree that you can have art within a game, even if the whole thing isn’t “art.” This side discussion is all just a way to introduce “Operacraft,” an opera performed within Minecraft by Virginia Tech students, with an assist from several area high school students.
In Operacraft, two children are forced to live underground after an apocalyptic event destroyed the surface world and separated them from their parents. The opera chronicles their search for their parents and Emperor Xavier’s desire to stop them:
Starting with music borrowed from Mozart operas and a specific number of characters, the project inspires K-12 students to create a story and then the libretto; create the virtual set through a custom version of ubiquitous Minecraft video game/ sandbox; create avatars for each character; and control said avatars within the confines of the virtual world, including body gestures, lip-syncing with real singing soloists, as well as multiple real-time camera feeds akin to that of a live video production.
It’s only a matter of time before people create movies and TV shows within Minecraft, isn’t it? Unless they already have…
CoD: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 march to the top of November 2013’s best-selling games chart
With the PS4 and Xbox One now available in stores across the country, the NPD Group is ready to talk about the financial health of the video game industry with their most recent monthly report. Total sales of $2.7 billion fueled the game industry in November, an increase of seven percent over November 2012’s sales numbers. The next-generation had a lot to do with the inflated number, as hardware sales were listed at $1.3 billion for the month, a 58% increase year-over-year.
But what about the games? Well, new releases Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag marched to the top three spots. Below that is a trio of non-November releases (Madden NFL 25, Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K14) and below that is a trio of family-friendly titles (Skylanders Swap Force, Just Dance 2014, Disney Infinity). FIFA 14 rounded out the top ten.
The top ten brought with it an interesting comparison between the two next-generation consoles and there seemed to be no clear-cut winner. According to Joystiq, the PS4 versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, and FIFA 14 outsold their Xbox One counterparts. But the Xbox One can claim sales superiority with Skylanders Swap Force and Just Dance 2014 among multiplatform releases.
Finally, it was a bad month to be a platform-exclusive game as major releases like Super Mario 3D World, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Forza Motorsport 5, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds failed to crack the top ten.
You can find the complete chart of November 2013’s best-sellng games after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Disney Infinity, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2014, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NPD, Skylanders Swap Force
League of Legends: The First 21 Days of Season 4’s Preseason
It’s been three weeks since Riot Games released Patch 3.14 for League of Legends. The patch brought with it all of the changes players have been waiting for since the end of Season 3’s Grand Finals. Included were changes to vision, the jungle, supports, and of course, all of the champion and item balance tweaks that come with any patch. For a quick review of what Riot’s changes were, check out my previous article “What to Expect From Season 4.” As we’d all hoped, Season 4 seems to have made significant changes to the League of Legends world, while still keeping the game true to its core. The meta has seen a bit of a shift, and will likely continue to change as the new season grows into its own. Most notable at the moment, however, is the influx of supports and support players, as well as the champions who have become extremely powerful because of various changes, such as Evelynn and Shyvana. (more…)
Posted in Features, PC, Top Story
Tagged League of Legends
Telltale has released the first full trailer for The Walking Dead: Season 2
No more teasers… Telltale Games is finally ready to unveil The Walking Dead: Season 2 in the first full trailer for the game, which you can view above. In this second set of episodic adventure games, players will control Clementine in a world full of zombies, but without Lee, her protector from the first game.
Telltale isn’t ready to announce a final release for “All That Remains,” the first episode of The Walking Dead: Season 2, but it’s probably to expect the Steam (PC/Mac), PS3, and Xbox 360 editions to launch on December 17/18. Telltale has confirmed that an iOS version will also be released in December and that a Vita version is in the works.
Each episode will be priced at $4.99, but players can pre-purchase the entire season through Steam (PC/Mac) for $22.49, a 10% savings.
Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics are free for the next 48 hours on GOG.com
In recent years, GOG.com has emerged from Steam’s shadow to position itself as a major competitor to Valve’s digital distribution service. And with the announcement of their Winter Sale, I imagine many more gamers will flock to the site formerly known as Good Old Games.
While GOG has dropped their retro-inspired name, they’ve never forgotten about their love of classic video games. So to celebrate the start of this year’s Winter Sale, they’re giving away free digital copies of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for the next 48 hours. And yes, you read that correctly. You’ll get three of the greatest games of all time for the princely sum of $0.00.
The offer expires on Saturday, December 14 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.
GOG plans to post new deals and discounts as part of their Winter Sale until December 29, so if you can’t find anything you’re interested in today, keep checking back over the next two weeks as the full sale will include “[a] selection of 600+ games discounted by 50% or more, special bundle deals up to 80% off, and daily personal deals, including the mysteriously mysterious mystery box!”
What’s in the box? What’s in the box?