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
Splinter Cell 6 announcement coming “soon”
Ubisoft began building their Toronto studio over two years ago. In that time, the team, which is under the command of Jade Raymond (Assassin’s Creed), has been hard at work on a new entry in the Splinter Cell series.
Now, in a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Raymond revealed that an official announcement for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 6 will be happening in the very near future:
GI.biz: So what’s your next big milestone for Toronto?
Jade Raymond: Well we’re basically going to announce our first big project, Splinter Cell, soon, so that’s going to be a big push for us.
According to Raymond, the game has been in development for 18 months and she is “impressed by what the team has been able to create.” She goes on to say “I’d say it’s better than what we could have done in most established studios.”
Of course, she probably has to say nice things about the game as you never know when Sam Fisher will leap out of the shadows and take you down.
Modern Warfare 3 fends off Final Fantasy XIII-2 in February 2012 NPD ranking
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sits atop the NPD’s monthly list of bestselling games for the fourth month in a row. The shooter sequel managed to fend off new releases Final Fantasy XIII-2, UFC Undisputed 3, and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which rounded out the top four. Two other new releases managed to make it into the top ten, Namco Bandai’s Soul Calibur V (at #7) and Sony’s Twisted Metal reboot (at #9).
The NPD Group didn’t list any Vita games in the top ten during its first month of availability. No 3DS games cracked the top ten either, for that matter.
You can find the complete list of February 2012 bestsellers after the break. (more…)
Skyrim takes home Game of the Year honors at 2012 GDC Awards
Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim took home the coveted Game of the Year award at this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards, but Valve’s Portal 2 was the big winner of the night. The story of Chell, GLaDOS, and Wheatley won Best Audio, Best Game Design, and, of course, Best Narrative.
The other big winner of the night was Supergiant Games and Bastion. The title from the small seven-man team was awarded Best Downloadable Game as well as Best Debut.
A trio of special awards were also handhed out last night:
- Epic Mickey and Deus Ex developer Warren Spector received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Atari’s Dave Theurer received the Pioneer Award for his work on Tempest and Missile Command.
- Lawyers Ken Doroshow and Paul M. Smith were presented with the Ambassador Award for their defense of the game industry in the Supreme Court case (Brown v. EMA/ESA) that established First Amendment protection for video games.
Hit the jump for a complete list of award winners including Best Technology, Best Visual Arts, Best Handheld/Mobile Game, and more. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Bastion, Battlefield 3, GDC 2012, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Independent Games Festival announces fourteenth annual awards winners
The Independent Games Festival, hosted by the Game Developers Conference, today announced it’s award recipients for 2012.
Fez, the unique “perspective-shifting” platformer, was the big winner, taking home the Seumas McNally Award for Best Independent Game and the $30,000 grand prize. Phil Fish, the lead developer on the game, was the central focus of the documentary Indie Game: The Movie, which was shown at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and screened earlier in the week at GDC.
Daniel Benmergui, developer of the game Storyteller, earned the Nuovo award and a $5,000 prize. The Nuovo Award honors abstract, short form, and unconventional game development, and Storyteller’s unique comic strip narrative format fit the bill.
Other award recipients include Dear Ester, by thechineseroom, which won for Excellence in Visual Art, and rightfully so- the idyllic landscapes remind me of Myst when it first came out and blew everyone away. Technical Excellence went to Demruth’s Antichamber, a psychological Escher-esque puzzle game, Excellence in Design to Mossmouth’s Spelunky, which creates levels as you play, and Excellence in Audio to Amanita Design’s Botanicula, which features a soundtrack created by Czech alternative band DVA.
Best Mobile Game was snatched up by Simogo for Beat Sneak Bandit, a rhythmic stealth/puzzle game, Best Student Game went to CMU Entertainment Technology Center/Coco & Co for Way, an online cooperative game focused on cross-cultural communication, and finally, the Audience Award went to Mode 7’s Frozen Synapse, a simultaneous-turn-based tactical game.
Finally, Capy Games took home the first XBLA Prize, a contract with Microsoft to publish a game on the Xbox Live Arcade. The Sword & Sworcery developers subsequently announced Super T.I.M.E Force for Microsoft’s download service.
EA announces rebirth of the SimCity franchise
Long before CityVille sucked up your free time on Facebook, there was SimCity. Last night, as expected, EA announced that their Maxis studio is hard at work on a new entry in the city-building series. And like all good reboots, it’ll simply be titled SimCity when it’s released exclusively for the PC in 2013.
“We’d like to thank the millions of fans who have helped make SimCity synonymous with the city-building genre. This is a franchise that means the world to us at Maxis and we’re happy to be bringing it back home where we are reimagining it for an entirely new generation of players,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President of EA’s Maxis Label. “Using our proprietary GlassBox Engine, SimCity for PC will equip players with the tools to play the most sophisticated simulation of its kind. We are dedicated to making sure the experience – no matter the platform – has the fun, flavor and playability that has been intrinsic to the franchise since its birth.”
According to EA, everything in SimCity will be simulated: “Sims in each city will have jobs or can lose them, buy homes, be prosperous or be an economic drain on the city.” Besides this new level of complexity, the publisher also touted the game’s ease-of-use and accessibility, so SimCity fans of old should feel right at home.
But Maxis and EA are also working to add some fun stuff to the SimCity formula including a “robust” multiplayer mode and expansion content (SimCity Heroes & Villains) ripped from the pages of a comic book.
Finally, you can check out the game’s first trailer after the break. (more…)
Darksiders II Collector’s Edition includes Death Mask
THQ has announced that the Darksiders II pre-orders will all be upgraded to the Limited Edition, and that there will also be a Collector’s Edition of the game.
The Limited Edition will include the retail game, but will also give the player access to the first DLC, “Argul’s Tomb,” for free. All existing pre-orders will be upgraded to the Limited Edition.
In addition, there’s the Collector’s Edition of the game, for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. This includes:
- The Limited Edition version of the game
- a life-sized replica Death Mask with display stand
- a unique Shadow of Death armor and scythe set with enhanced stats
- a digital copy of the Darksiders II soundtrack
- a hard-cover Darksiders II art book
The Collector’s Edition sounds pretty sweet, and will only set you back $99.
Darksiders II will be out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on June 26.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Darksiders II
Sega and Arkedo Studio announce Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
The trailer for Sega and Arkedo Studio’s Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit looks pretty awesome. There’s no gameplay – always worrisome – but the idea is interesting, and I’d like to see more. Knowing that you play as Ash, the prince of Hell, and that you’re being blackmailed on the Hellternet, and you ride a drill that you can use for transportation or mass destruction… all of these things are really endearing to me.
The most hilarious part of the announcement:
“The divine union between Arkedo and Sega results in the devilishly good product we can all sinfully be excited about. Hell Yeah!” commented Haruki Satomi, Senior Vice President of Digital Business at Sega of America.
“Yes: Divine. Exactly the word we were looking for! Now, if you will excuse us for a moment, we have a quote by a Sega VP to show our mums. Then we’ll be back; we have a great game to show!” added Camille Guermonprez, Studio Chef at Arkedo Studio.
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit will be out later this year for PC, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
First Medal of Honor: Warfighter trailer reveals October 23 release date
Behold! We have a release date for Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Get ready to go back to Tier 1 on October 23 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
I don’t know about you, but I got goosebumps watching that trailer. I can’t wait to see more gameplay. Danger Close plus Frostbite 2 engine equals [expletive deleted] yes.