Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: PC
The Last of Us wins five Best of E3 2012 awards
It’s hard to argue with those who believe The Last of Us reigned supreme at this year’s E3 Expo. That claim has been given some further validation by the Game Critics Awards, which handed five “Best of E3 2012” statues to Naughty Dog for The Last of Us.
The game, which stars two survivors of a post-apocalyptic America, won “Best of Show,” “Best Original Game,” “Best Console Game,” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.” It also took home a “Special Commendation for Sound.”
No other game came close, though Dance Central 3, Halo 4, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown all won two awards and Watch Dogs collected two Commendations.
The Wii U was mostly shut out of the awards show, though the system itself won “Best Hardware” and the multiplatform Injustice: Gods Among Us won for “Best Fighting Game.”
A complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Camilla Luddington is the voice and body of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider
The new Lara Croft made a major splash at the last two E3 Expos, but until now we never knew who provided her trademark English accent. Yesterday, Square Enix announced that Camilla Luddington, who has appeared on Californication and True Blood using an American accent, will be playng Ms. Croft in next year’s Tomb Raider. As well as lending her voice to the role, Square Enix confirmed that Luddington performed motion capture for developer Crystal Dynamics, so she’s also the body behind this version of Lara Croft.
“This has been one of the most important jobs for us to get right,” said Darrell Gallagher, the Studio Head at Crystal Dynamics. “This Tomb Raider game is very different to any other and we are demanding far more from the voice and performance acting than ever before as we take the franchise in a new direction.”
Tomb Raider will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on March 5, 2013.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Tomb Raider
Super Mario Crossover creator has Kickstarted development of an original game
There are so many Kickstarter game projects these days that it is becoming harder and harder to choose which ones to support.
Exploding Rabbit, led by Jay Pavlian, has been making games for a while now, most famously Super Mario Bros Crossover. While that game was fun, it was also ripping off a number of character’s other people had created. Thankfully, Exploding Rabbit has taken what they love about retro gaming and made it into something fresh – Super Retro Squad.
The 2D scrolling platformer will feature eight original characters, although each is heavily inspired by historical characters from the heyday of 8-bit games. The game features over 40 levels stretched across eight worlds, each of which is based on one of the playable characters. As well as implementing an equipment and upgrade system, the game will include a story that tells the tale of these eight heroes.
As Exploding Rabbit is working for free, they are looking for donations to upgrade their development software, as well as equipment that will allow them to develop the game for Android and Apple systems. Rewards for pledging are as simple as a copy of the game to being able all the way to being able to write dialogue for NPCs.
Far Cry 3 delayed three months, just in time for Christmas
Ubisoft has pushed back the release date of Far Cry 3 by three months, meaning it is now pencilled in to launch on November 29 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the North American release a few days later on December 4. While delays are almost always never a good sign, Ubisoft has been in top form recently, and producer Dan Hay stressed the delay was to perfect the game:
“We’re taking more time to create the best possible gameplay experience, Far Cry 3 is a huge offering and we want every element of this insane, action-packed adventure to be of the highest possible quality for the players.”
The game is powered by the brand new Dunia 2 engine. The engine has also powered recently released footage from the game, which features the luscious environments of the mysterious tropical island that protagonist Jason Brody finds himself surviving on. And, of course, it also renders Brody’s impressive mohawk.
Spec Ops: The Line Interview: Crossing the Narrative Desert With Lead Writer Walt Williams
Spec Ops: The Line, which takes players on a military operation inside Dubai after a post-apocalyptic sandstorm, will be available on store shelves tomorrow. We recently had a chance to talk with Walt Williams, the game’s very verbose Lead Writer.
During our interview, we got him to open up about what inspired the team at Yager Development and how moral choices play into the narrative, as well as Dubai’s status as a “city that shouldn’t be” and how that made it the perfect place to set a game.
Take a walk into the eye of the storm with us after the break. (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, PS3, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2012, Spec Ops: The Line
Skyrim expansion “Dawnguard” will be available tomorrow
Bethesda has announced that Dawnguard, the first downloadable expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow. Priced at 1600 Microsoft Points ($20), Dawnguard will feature “an all new faction questline, new locations, weapons, creatures and more.”
How much more? How about a Burnsian plot to blot out the sun…
The Vampire Lord Harkon has returned to power. Using the Elder Scrolls, he seeks to do the unthinkable – to end the sun itself. Will you join the ancient order of the Dawnguard and stop him, or will you yourself become a Vampire Lord?
While the expansion is exclusive to the Xbox 360 for now, PC and PS3 players will get their chance to play Dawnguard “soon.”
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Daily Scoop: June 25, 2012 – Just another manic Monday
I keep defeating Mondays, but they just keep appearing. Is there a machine spawning them? Can I kill it? Please? I want to kill it dead. Maybe I could find the machine that spawns Saturdays and hack it…
Amazon’s got a bunch of all-new weekly deals, at least! Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge for the Xbox 360 is on sale for $29.48, and Men In Black: Alien Crisis is $39.99 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and $39.96 for the Wii. Also on sale is iCarly: Groovy Foodie! for the Nintendo DS (you know you want it) and the Dragon Age Pack download is just $9.99. Yowza. Scoop ’em up!
Two video-game related shirts on the daily sites today: (more…)
Doom 3: BFG Edition will include “original mode”
Doom 3: BFG Edition is bringing plenty of new features to the classic game including 3D display support, Achievements/Trophies, an “always-on” flashlight, and many more. But gamers looking to replay the game as it was originally back in 2004 will also get their chance, thanks to the aptly named “Original Mode.”
The game’s producer, Eric Webb, let this awesome news slip during an interview with the PlayStation Blog:
PlayStation Blog: How do you balance staying true to the original game with making improvements?
Eric Webb: Your first inclination is to make big sweeping changes because it’s something that you’ve looked at for a long time, so it doesn’t feel fresh anymore. We’ve really focused on keeping the core experience there. From talking to people on the show floor, a lot of them weren’t too happy with the idea of the flashlight as something separate. So integrating the flashlight into your main weapon seemed like a no-brainer, yet even then we still had people say they wanted to play the original way.
Another piece of feedback we had was that the game was too dark, so we’ve lit it some more here and there and tried to lead the player’s eye a little more. So there’ll be two modes – the original, unchanged version of Doom 3 and the updated one.
Doom 3: BFG Edition will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 16.