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
L.A. Noire coming to PC; 4 million copies sold on PS3, Xbox 360
Media trends come in waves and with zombies shambling off into the sunset and vampires returning to their coffins, maybe its time for the heyday of the 1940s gumshoe because Rockstar is reporting that L.A. Noire has sold 4 million copies worldwide on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
This tremendous debut is obviously swell news for the publisher and developer Team Bondi, but PC gamers will also be making whoopee this Fall when the game comes to the PC as well. Developed by Rockstar Leeds, the PC version will include customizable control options and 3D graphics support.
“L.A. Noire is a new type of game that makes players see through a detective’s eyes in 1940s Los Angeles,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “Its unique blend of story, action and crime solving will be perfect to play on PC.”
And let us clue you in, L.A. Noire is no jalopy, it’s one of the best games of the year.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged L.A. Noire
Gabe Newell talks Half-Life 2: Episode 3 release date, Wii U development
Valve’s big boss, Gabe Newell, joined Al Gore to deliver a keynote address at yesterday’s Games for Change Festival. In addition to big talk about where games can take society, Newell answered a few queries on where Valve itself plans to go.
Expectedly, Newell was asked about the status of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and when it would be coming out. Instead of holding up a massive sign reading “When It’s Done,” Newell replied “If you know enough to ask the question, you know enough what the answer is.” A clever quip to be sure, but I still think Newell needs a giant sign with the words “When It’s Done” on it.
Valve’s fearless leader also talked a bit about the Wii U and even hinted that Nintendo’s next system may have a place in future Valve development:
“Wii U seems to be a lot more powerful than the previous generation. It sort of fits better into the scalability in terms of graphics performance and CPU performance, so I think it’ll be a lot easier for us to fit it into our scalability model.”
“We’ve always loved Nintendo. Now it’s a lot easier to look at Wii U and have it fit within that framework.”
So I guess the question is now, “When will Half-Life 2: Episode 3 be released on the Wii U?”
Posted in News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Half-Life 3
Activision serves up Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation trailer
Activision will be adding the Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation Map Pack to the Xbox Live Marketplace in a few days. To get our juices flowing, they’ve also unleashed this trailer that highlights some of the biggest kills available in “Hangar 18” (located within Area 51), “Drive-In” (a 60s American Drive-In theater), “Silo” (a massive secret Soviet nuclear missile site) and “Hazard” (a coastal golf course on the cliff sides of Cuba). Also, check out the zombie monkey that welcomes you to “Shangri-La,” the new Zombies Mode map. Everything is better with zombie monkeys!
The Annihilation Map Pack will be made available for Xbox 360 players on June 28 with the PC and PS3 releases to follow soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops
BioShock Infinite and Uncharted 3 lead Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2011 nominees
Game Critics Awards have announced the nominees for E3 2011 and while none of them are surprising, it does give a glimpse of what the biggest games are going to be in the coming year.
BioShock Infinite and Uncharted 3 lead the pack with four nominations a piece, while fan favorites like Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City sit among the next tier with three nominations each. As far as publishers go, Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment lead the industry with a commendable fourteen nominations each, while the Xbox 360 holds the most nominations on a platform, with a whopping 55 total. Ironically, the PlayStation Vita debuted with seven, while the well-established Wii only garnered two, down twelve from last year’s awards.
For the full list of nominees as well as more interesting fact breakdowns, head over to the official site here.
Posted in 3DS, DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite, E3 2011, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Lego Universe getting free-to-play version
Great news, Lego fans! Lego Universe, the adorable and innovative MMO for the PC, will be getting a free-to-play trial area for people who don’t want to commit to paying without testing the waters first. As of this August, players will be able to try a limited section of the game, including two “adventure zones” and a “player property area” for as long as they want. The game will also be available as a digital download, getting rid of the disc completely. The idea is to “make the game more accessible to players, without the immediate obligation to purchase or subscribe,” according to Jesper Vilstrup, the Vice President of the LEGO Group. Add to that the fact that there are no plans to introduce micro-transactions, and I’d say they’re doing a good job.
Those interested in getting full game access can subscribe for just $10 a month, giving them full access to over 15 adventure zones and five player property areas, as well as gaining access to competitive and community events and new expansions (did someone say Ninjago???). It’s tempting me right now, as the stigma I associate with World of Warcraft ends up sticking to anything with the word MMO in, around, or on it. Lego Universe has a much nicer ring to it.
Holy pre-order, Batman! Robin officially added to Arkham City in Best Buy promo
Batman and Catwoman won’t be the only playable characters in this October’s Batman: Arkham City. Robin, The Boy Wonder, will be swinging into the game as well.
Gamers who pre-order Batman: Arkham City from Best Buy (on the PC, PS3 or Xbox 360) will receive exclusive access to the Tim Drake Robin Pack. WB Games had this to say about Robin:
“Robin will come complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack – Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.”
So it looks like it’ll work exactly the same as the Joker Challenge Maps that were included with the GameStop pre-order of Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham City
New Releases: FEAR 3, Dungeon Siege III, Shadows of the Damned, More
After multiple delays, FEAR 3 will be scaring gamers on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this week. The game was developed by Day 1 Studios, who took over for original developer Monolith Soft. FEAR 3 will be joined in stores this week by another threequel that has switched developers: Dungeon Siege III (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). The Dungeon Siege series was originally created by Gas Powered Games but the third entry was developed by sequel specialists Obsidian Entertainment.
Sequels aren’t the only games releasing this week as EA will be bringing Shadows of the Damned to the PS3 and Xbox 360. A collaboration between Grasshoper Manufacture’s Suda 51 and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, the hellbound tale will be nothing if not original. But for a complete change of pace, this week also sees the release of the movie-to-game adaptation Cars 2 (DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)
FEAR 3 launch trailer is full of slow motion scares
After multiple delays, FEAR 3 will finally be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 next week. To celebrate, WB Games has released a launch trailer for the game which features some truly grotesque and frightful scenes.
If you’re not scared yet, you will be.