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: PS3
LittleBigPlanet 2 celebrates release with help from Guinness Book of Records
In an attempt to solidify its place in platform gaming, LittleBigPlanet 2 found itself in the Guinness Book of World Records after fans set five consecutive records earlier this week.
The event was held at the Playstation Lounge in the New York City-based Sony Style store beginning on January 17th, and ending less than 48 hours later. Specifically, three fans who attended the event were the ones responsible for setting the records: David Dino (PSN ID: Gevurah22), Sean Crowley (PSN ID: Jaeyden), and one of the contestants from season 1 of The Tester, Lauren Guiliano (PSN ID: Lugey). SCEA earned recognition for two additional records through LittleBigPlanet 2’s release.
Records set by the fans included:
- Longest marathon playing LittleBigPlanet 2
- Longest marathon playing a platform video game
- Most video game genres played in one video game in 24 hours
- Most user-generated video game levels played in 24 hours
- Most user-generated video game levels played in a video game marathon
Though some of the fans’ records seem like a stretch, SCEA received their two records for “Most Gaming Genres In One Video Game,” and “Most Player-Created Levels In One Video Game.” After the event closed, the Guinness Book’s staff issued awards to SCEA and the three fans who, in total, set seven records over the course of 48 hours. It is unclear whether these records had a say in the official decision to place LBP2’s Sackboy on the cover of the recently-released Guinness World Records 2011: Gamer’s Edition, but I can’t think of a cuter, sackier, better face for the cover.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3
Tagged LittleBigPlanet 2
Square Enix reveals all at 1st Production Department Premier
I’m not sure who came up with the name for this event, but Square Enix is delivering the goods on their biggest titles today at their 1st Production Department Premier event. Happening this morning (or night) in Tokyo, the event has come with goodies like an incredible new Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer, and the announcement of, yep, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (which is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360). Japanese game blog Andriasang liveblogged the event and has all the details on those games as well as Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Final Fantasy Type-0 (the PSP game formerly known as Final Fantasy Agito XIII).
This is going to be a powerhouse news day for fans of JRPGs and Japanese games in general, so be sure to stay tuned.
Posted in 3DS, News, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
Tagged Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy XV
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review: Starkiller Strikes Back in a By-the-Numbers Sequel
When it was released back in 2008, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was met with stinging jabs from the critical community. Some of the game’s oft-mentioned flaws included repetitive combat, a poor camera, lame boss fights and a nearly broken targeting system. I did not share my compatriot’s problems with the game and actually found The Force Unleashed to be one of the better action-adventures of 2008.
But here we go again with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. (more…)
Buy 2 games, Get 1 free at Best Buy this week
Do you still have a few gift cards burning a hole in your pocket after Christmas? Then I suggest you head down to your local Best Buy this week to stock up on games as the retailer is running a “Buy 2 Games, Get 1 Free” promotion this week (Sunday, January 16 – Saturday, January 22).
The sale applies to every DS, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 game priced $29.99 and up. And shoppers are encouraged to mix and match games among the five systems. The promotion also includes LittleBigPlanet 2, Mindjack, Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 and the rest of this week’s new releases.
So good luck and good (bargain) hunting.
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth webisodes now in production
Do you remember the awesome Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short film released last year (if not, watch it again above)? Well, according to Bloody Disgusting, director Kevin Tancharoen has been given the green light by Warner Bros. to produce a series of ten webisodes based on his dark and gritty take on the Mortal Kombat franchise. The best part is that Michael Jai White will return to play Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs.
The rest of the cast is a bit of a mystery, but the Bloody Disgusting report states it’ll include Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Kitana, Mileena, Scorpion and Durak (Goro’s brother, only seen in The Journey Begins short film). Production on the series will begin shortly, as Tancharoen plans to start shooting in Vancouver next month.
The series currently has no release date, but with the Mortal Kombat reboot planned for an April release on the PS3 and Xbox 360, my hope is that it’s soon.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Legacy
New Releases: LittleBigPlanet 2, Mass Effect 2, Mindjack, More
What this week’s new releases lacks in quantity, it makes up for it in quality.
Sony’s second Sackboy adventure on the PS3, LitleBigPlanet 2, will be released this week. The sequel will add even more level creation options as well as include an expanded single-player campaign.
As PS3 owners get their second crack at Sackboy, they’ll get their first chance to experience BioWare’s Mass Effect series with a PS3 port of Mass Effect 2. Sticking with the science fiction theme, Square Enix will be bringing their body-hopping shooter Mindjack to the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Finally, PopCap Games has shrunk down Plants vs Zombies for a DS release.
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below. (more…)
Mortal Kombat soundtrack in the works
Not only will Mortal Kombat be returning to consoles this April, but a new soundtrack album is in the works as well. Publisher WB Games and developer NetherRealm Studios have teamed up with WaterTower Music and Teenage Riot Records to create Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors.
The first single from the compilation will be Tokimonsta’s “Mileena’s Theme,” an electronic track that evokes strong memories of the soundtrack from the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. Although, this shouldn’t be too surprising as the album was produced by Jesse “JFK” Keeler of electronic duo MSTRKRFT.
The full album will be available alongside Mortal Kombat in April, but “Mileena’s Theme” can be downloaded now from Amazon and iTunes for 99 cents. Or you can hit the jump for a short “Mileena Vignette” trailer featuring everyone’s favorite demonic clone and some snippets from the single. (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat
Sony highlights 20 exclusive PS3 games for 2011
My head nearly exploded when I read the PlayStation Blog’s PS3 2011 preview list of their 20 exclusive games. “Nearly every major PlayStation series is making an appearance in 2011,” wrote Sid Shuman, Senior Social Media Specialist, commenting on the fact that Mortal Kombat will be featuring everyone’s favorite anger management candidate, Kratos. So just what else can PS3 owners expect? With titles like Killzone 3, inFAMOUS 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, MotorStorm Apocalypse, Resistance 3, Uncharted 3, and more, maybe this is the annual joke coming true: this could just be the mythical year of the PlayStation 3.
The post revealed some important release date information. Team ICO’s The Last Guardian has been narrowed down to Holiday 2011, and Yakuza 4 will be released on March 15th. Nothing has been set for PixelJunk Shooter 2 or Twisted Metal yet, but I’m hoping to get my hands on the Q-Games sequel sooner rather than later. There are also some quirky titles listed, like Idea Factory’s Hyperdimension Neptunia, an RPG about – what else? – the video game industry. Check out all the details at the PlayStation Blog.