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
Driver: San Francisco Review: Playing Mind Games
It would be very easy to dismiss Driver: San Francisco as yet another failed attempt to revive a franchise that really hasn’t meant much to gaming since the days of the original PlayStation. Some might even say that making a new Driver game is a complete waste of time and resources, considering how tarnished the brand is. However, doing so might actually be a disservice to anyone who’s a fan of unique, open world driving games. If anything, Driver: SF does something that very few games do in the year 2011… it actually wants to be a video game. (more…)
id’s Tim Willits on Rage 2, Doom 4, more
On the eve of their first game in seven years, id Software Creative Director Tim Willits sat down with GamesIndustry.biz to discuss the company’s present and future including Rage, Doom 4 and… Rage 2?
On the subject of a Rage sequel, Willits said that DLC for Rage will come first, but the developer did reveal that id plans to begin work on Rage 2 if sales of the first game are good enough:
When I came to see you for the Rage announcement you were already talking about it being a franchise, can developers just not afford to make standalone titles in the current climate?
Willits: You need to make a franchise, especially for us. We’re doing everything we can to turn it into a franchise, “please let it sell so we can make another one!”
So we definitely, from the get go, planned to make this a much bigger franchise, a much richer world, that allows us to have different games, and we can make more mobile games, heck, we could make a social game with Rage if we wanted to. And hopefully we can make a Rage 2. Hopefully.
And what of id’s other major project, Doom 4? Willits revealed that at the time of the game’s 2008 announcement, only one person was working on Doom 4. Apparently, the game’s ultra-early announcement was all a ploy to get resumes:
Willits: We had to say that we were hiring folks [for Doom 4], so we had a long internal debate and we were like “why don’t we just tell people?” So we said we were hiring, but at that point we only had one guy working on it. But it was the best way to get resumes, because everybody wants to work on a Doom game.
So Rage will be available this Tuesday, Doom 4 is in the works for some time after and Rage 2 will come out in the far future… hopefully.
New Releases: Rage, NBA 2K12, Dark Souls, More
The Fall release rush began with some big titles in September, but now that we’re moving into October the new release list is going to get a lot more interesting from here on out.
This week’s biggest new release is id Software’s first game in over seven years, Rage (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). The post-apocalyptic shooter will also include Mad Max-style vehicle chases and more deserted lanscapes can you can shake a cactus at.
Speaking of deserted landscapes, 2K Sports will release NBA 2K12 (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360) even though the 2011-2012 NBA season is currently in limbo.
If battling the forces of darkness is more your thing, perhaps you’ll want to look into Namco Bandai’s Dark Souls. The spiritual sequel to Demon’s Souls brings the series to the Xbox 360 for the first time.
Also available this week, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 will have to do battle with the forces of darkness in two time periods if they want to save Peter Parker’s life in Spider-Man: Edge of Time (3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
Finally, Ubisoft is serving up another dance lesson, on the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 this time, with Just Dance 3. And speaking of Kinect-powered games, Majesco will release Hulk Hogan’s Main Event for the Xbox 360.
Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Dark Souls, Hulk Hogan's Main Event, Just Dance 3, NBA 2K12, Rage, Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Syndicate receives February 21 release date, new trailer
Even though it was first revealed a few weeks back, EA’s Syndicate reboot has been (not so secretly) in development at Starbreeze for several years. But while EA took their sweet time to show it to the public, they’re not wasting any time to announce a release date: February 21, 2012. Yup, the Syndicate reboot will go from announcement to store shelves in less than six months.
To go along with a cofirmed release date, EA has unveiled the debut trailer for Syndicate and it is chock full of the inventive gunplay and creative melee combat that has become Starbreeze’s signature.
The trailer also reveals a Syndicate pre-order incentive known as “The Executive Package.” Players who pre-buy this game will get the full Donald Trump treatment including “solid gold versions of all loadout guns, golden dart vision, and the executive gold Syndicate logos during co-op missions.”
L.A. Noire cracks the PC case on November 8
After a painstaking investigation, I have discovered when Rockstar Games will release the PC version of L.A. Noire. OK, it was actually announced for all the world in a press release. Guess I better turn in my badge and my gun.
Scheduled for release on November 8, the PC version of L.A. Noire has been dubbed “The Complete Edition” due to an infusion of all five DLC cases. Previously available on the PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace, there’s the “Nicholson Electroplating” Arson case, “Reefer Madness” Vice case, “The Consul’s Car” Traffic case, “The Naked City” Vice case and “A Slip of the Tongue” Traffic case.
“The Complete Edition” will also include that staple of 1950s cinema, stereoscopic 3D support, to make L.A. Noire stand out even more.
Finally, Rockstar has released the System Specifications for L.A. Noire, which you can find after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC
Tagged L.A. Noire
Skyrim’s voice cast includes multiple Oscar nominees
The Elder Scrolls series has always managed to attract respected actors to speak the thousands of lines of dialogue in a typical game in the series. But The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is going to take the star-studded cast thing further than ever before. Skyrim’s cast will feature not one, not two, but three Oscar-nominated actors. Admit it Bethesda, you’re just bragging now.
Oscar nominees Christopher Plummer, Max Von Sydow and Joan Allen will be joined by Lynda Carter (she was Wonder Woman people!), Claudia Christian (Ivanova from “Babylon 5”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”) and a whole host of others.
“It’s been incredible to have all these actors together,” said Todd Howard, Game Director. “When you start a project, you always make your wish-list of actors, and to actually hear them in the game, it’s amazing. We can’t wait for everyone to experience it.”
Hit the jump for more details on the characters these accomplished actors will be playing. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
New Darkness II trailer asks “What Is The Darkness?”
What is The Darkness? It’s a quartet of tentacles that mob enforcer Jackie Estacado uses to rend the flesh from criminals big and small.
Oh, I guess it’s also a malignant force of evil that has hopped from body to body for millenia. But Jackie has kept it in check since the conclusion of the first game in the series. But in The Darkness II, the four tentacles are coming out to play with a new “quad-wielding” weapon system.
So what’s in the “What is The Darkness” trailer? A little bit of backstory about the malignant force of evil and a lot of mobsters getting flayed. Enjoy!
The Darkness II will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 7, 2012.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Darkness II
Dead Island debut trailer being turned into a movie by Lionsgate
Do you remember Dead Island‘s haunting debut trailer that was released back in February? You know, the one that made you tear up a little bit? I know, I know, there was something in your eye.
Well those three minutes will form the basis of a Dead Island movie now in development at Lionsgate. Sean Daniel (The Wolfman, The Mummy) has signed on as a Producer. He’ll be joined by post-production guru Stefan Sonnenfeld (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, POTC: On Stranger Tides, nearly every other action movie of the last decade).
While the trailer will serve as the primary inspiration for the movie, Lionsgate has promised that Dead Island: The Movie will be” an innovation of the zombie genre because of its focus on human emotion, family ties and non-linear storytelling.” Hopefully that doesn’t include an appearance from Jigsaw.
“This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate – it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love,” said Lionsgate’s President, Joe Drake.