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
Company of Heroes 2 marches towards a June 25 release
Another of THQ’s lost children has been given an official release date as Sega has announced that Company of Heroes 2 will be available in stores and through PC download services on June 25.
The game was originally scheduled to be released this month, but due to the publisher changeover, Sega has given Relic Entertainment more time to “meet the high standard set by its predecessor.”
Greg Wilson, Producer of Company of Heroes 2, said, “We hate to disappoint our fans with a later than expected date as we know they are eager to play but we feel that the additional time will help the team deliver the high quality sequel they deserve.”
Relic is planning to hold a closed beta test before release to help balance the multiplayer portion of the game. More details on the beta will be released soon.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Company of Heroes 2
Tomb Raider reboot already has one million players
It looks like fans are loving Lara Croft’s return to gaming in the rebooted Tomb Raider prequel, which was released by Square Enix on Tuesday. How big is the party? Well, Karl Stewart, Crystal Dynamics’ Global Brand Director, has tweeted that over one million people have played the game since the launch date:
Wow, 1m gamers playing in less than 48hrs! @tombraider fans, you’re AMAZINGHearing some stores are running low..more copies are on the way!
— Karl Stewart (@CrystalDKarl) March 8, 2013
With GameFly and Blockbuster (yes, they still exist) and Redbox rentals, this likely doesn’t translate to one million copies sold… yet. But with this many players already, Tomb Raider is well on its way to unearthing even more riches from the retail counter.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Tomb Raider
Retro City Rampage Review: Nostalgia Gone Wild
“What would Grand Theft Auto have been like on the NES?” It’s an interesting question, and one that Vblank’s Retro City Rampage attempts to answer by fusing the franchise’s original bird’s-eye viewpoint with a bucketful of 80s/90s nostalgia. The game never quite comes together, but designer Brian Provinciano definitely deserves points for trying. (more…)
EA refuses to refund gamers unable to play SimCity
It seems EA is going out of its way to retain the “Worst Company in America” award gifted to it by The Consumerist last year. Since the launch of SimCity on Tuesday, unhappy gamers have taken to the Internet to voice their frustration at a number of issues with the new title. While consumers have had to swallow the bitter pill that is the permanent Internet connection required to play the game, others have simply been unable to play at all due to server errors with EA’s Origin service. While EA and developer Maxis have been working to correct these issues, some gamers have simply decided it is not worth their time or effort, and asked for their money back.
The answer? “No.”
One user, going by the handle CalebPeters, posted a rather frustrating text conversation with the publisher’s customer support team on EA’s forum. During the conversation, he is refused a refund, despite drawing attention to a quote from Origin’s own Community Manager, “if you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order” (the post has since been edited). When pressed, the agent states, rather worryingly, that “if you choose to dispute it, your account will be banned.”
To summerise, if you ask EA for a refund for a game that you cannot play because of their always-online “feature” and related server issues, it is completely at the company’s discretion to give one. If you challenge that decision, your Origin account will be banned. Consumer rights seem to be a thing of the past.
This is just one example. Many have voiced similar tales of woe on EA’s forum, as well as on SimCity’s Twitter account and MetaCritic, where the game has a current user rating of 2 out of 10. We can only hope this debacle serves as a valuable lesson to game developers, and that the burden of always-online will die a quick death.
[Source: Game Chump]
Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC now available
The final downloadable expansion for Mass Effect 3, “Citadel,” is now available to download on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The “emotionally driven” farewell to Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy has been priced at $14.99 (or 1200 Microsoft Points) on all platforms.
This emotionally driven piece of single player DLC expands on the events of Mass Effect 3 by inviting players to return to the capital of the Citadel Council in an effort to eliminate a startling threat. This new content will also feature Commander Shepard’s long-time friends and romance interests from the entire Mass Effect trilogy, as Mass Effect 3: Citadel offers one more chance for fans to reconnect with their favorite characters and even rekindle past romances.
In addition to new story content, Mass Effect 3: Citadel will also give players the opportunity to use squad members from the entire Mass Effect series in a brand-new training facility on the Citadel. The Armax Combat Arena offers ten scenarios and will challenge players by dropping them in the middle of battle to fight off wave-after-wave of enemy forces. When the adventure is over, players can blow off some steam by trying their luck at the Citadel’s Silver Coast Casino or discover and furnish Commander Shepard’s living quarters on the station.
BioWare will put a cap on the career of Commander Shepard during this year’s PAX East convention. Executive Producer Casey Hudson, Lead Designer Preston Watamaniuk, Lead Cinematics Director Parrish Ley, Writer John Dobmrow and Level Designer Dusty Everman will take the stage on Saturday, March 23 at 2:00 PM to present “The Mass Effect Trilogy: A Retrospective.”
If at all possible, I suggest getting in line now.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mass Effect 3, PAX East 2013
Capcom confirms June 25 release date for Lost Planet 3
Capcom has announced that Lost Planet 3 will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on June 25 (June 28 in Europe). The publisher has also released a new trailer for Lost Planet 3, highlighting the Snow Pirates that populate E.D.N. III:
The trailer continues the story of Jim Peyton’s time on E.D.N. III as a NEVEC employee seeking out further sources of the planet’s energy supply T-Eng. During one of these missions, Jim comes under attack from E.D.N. III’s indigenous Akrid, causing his Utility Rig to fall down an icy fissure, leaving him unconscious and injured. Jim wakes to find himself in what appears to be a secret base, hidden beneath the planet’s frozen surface. On discovering he was rescued by one of the base’s inhabitants, Mira, the daughter of Snow Pirate leader, So’ichi, Jim realizes that NEVEC are not the only human inhabitants of E.D.N. III.
And if you’ve got tickets to this year’s PAX East show (March 22-24), you could swing by the Capcom booth to give a demo of Lost Planet 3 a try.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Lost Planet 3, PAX East 2013
Dishonored declared Best Game at 2013 BAFTA Awards
The 2013 BAFTA Awards have just been handed out in merry old England and Dishonored has been named the “Best Game of 2012” by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
However, the most impressive awards haul came courtesy of thatgamecompany’s Journey, which collected five awards (“Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Game Design,” “Online Multiplayer,” and “Original Music”). The Unfinished Swan (“Best Debut” and “Game Innovation”) and The Walking Dead (“Mobile & Handheld” and “Story”) also took home multiple awards.
You can find the rest of the winners after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Journey, Lego Batman 2, The Unfinished Swan, The Walking Dead, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2D action RPG Delver’s Drop will be playable at PAX East
Pixelscopic has announced that their Zelda-like 2D action RPG Delver’s Drop has reached its Kickstarter goal of $75,000. Seven days remain on the pledge clock, but since reaching their goal, the people at Pixelscopic have plenty of exciting announcements to make.
First, they want everyone to know that Delver’s Drop will be playable at this year’s PAX East show (March 22-24). Second, they’re banging away at the PC/Mac version of the game and expect to have it available in October 2013. A release on iOS, Android, Ouya, and Linux will follow sometime in 2014.
So what exactly is Delver’s Drop? Here’s a more in-depth description and you can find a fantastic trailer after the break:
When indefinitely imprisoned high atop a towering castle complex, escape is the only option for survival and redemption. But few scoundrels will survive the Drop and live to tell the tale. The dungeons are rife with traps, monsters, and sinister secrets, awaiting the next unlucky Delver.
Delver’s Drop is a 2D Action RPG with fluid physics-based movement, snappy combat, shifting dungeons, and a rogue’s gallery of individually leveled character classes. With an emphasis on mystery and dynamic gameplay experiences, the game features randomization for infinite replay, enigmatic puzzle permutations to unravel, multiple narrative paths, customizable character growth, and layers of secrets to unearth.
Now then… onward to the trailer! (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Delver's Drop, PAX East 2013