Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: PS3
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Charts… Lego Jurassic World is best-selling game of July ’15
July is not typically a very strong month for new game releases, and only a single new title was able to crack the NPD Group’s recounting of the ten best-selling games of the month. But it was Lego Jurassic World, a June release, that sits at the top of the sales food chain this month.
Debuting at #3 in the NPD’s June report, Lego Jurassic World likely got a boost from the tremendous box office support for the film. After nearly nine weeks in theaters, the film has earned more than $636 million. Only Titanic ($658 million) and Avatar ($760 million) have made more money at the domestic box office.
While it’s unlikely that Lego Jurassic World will reach those heights, the game is another hit for WB Games, which had yet another big month in July. Batman: Arkham Knight (#2) and Mortal Kombat X (#8) once again both landed in the top ten.
The only new release to break into the top ten last month was EA’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Before McIlroy, Tiger Woods had been PGA Tour’s pitchman for more than 15 years. As great as Tiger used to be, it looks like EA doesn’t need him to sell their golf game.
Finally this month, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that overall sales of all game-related items (hardware, software, and accessories) is roughly even with July 2014. Both July 2014 and July 2015 produced around $184 million in total sales.
The complete top ten for July 2015 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Jurassic World, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat X, NPD, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, The Elder Scrolls Online
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 4 will launch on August 18
Telltale Games and Gearbox Software have announced that the fourth episode of Tales From the Borderlands will be available beginning August 18. The penultimate episode will be known as Escape Plan Bravo (screenshots are available at Telltale’s Blog) and it’s sending the game’s pair of anti-heroes to the frickin’ moon:
In this penultimate episode of the season, captured by Vallory and her goons, Rhys and Fiona are forced to continue the search for the Vault beacon – at gunpoint. The beacon is on the Hyperion moon base – Helios – while our heroes are on Pandora… so there’s the pesky cold void of death known as “space” to overcome. Even with assistance from a familiar face, and with a worryingly helpful Handsome Jack hitching a ride in Rhys’ head, getting on board the ominous “H” is going to take every drop of guile, and quite possibly all the spunk you’ve got. Sacrifices will be made – can you make the tough choices needed to succeed?
As with all of Telltale’s other episodic releases, Escape Plan Bravo will receive a staggered release schedule next week:
- Tuesday, August 18: PC, PS3, and PS4
- Wednesday, August 19: Xbox One and Xbox 360
- Thursday, August 20: iOS and Android
Developers from Telltale will make the trip to this year’s PAX Prime expo to host a special “Crowd Play” presentation of Tales From the Borderlands: Escape Plan Bravo on Saturday, August 29 at 8:30 PM. There will be plenty of giveaways and the entire crowd is expected to help steer the events of the episode.
Telltale’s Job Stauffer says, “Come equipped with your shouty voice.”
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged PAX Prime 2015, Tales From the Borderlands
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Gauntlet, Toy Soldiers: War Chest, more added to PS Store
Sony’s annual PSN Play promotion comes to the end this week with the release of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, a game from The Chinese Room that depicts “very British apocalypse.” But there are plenty of other new releases available this week as well, including…
- Gauntlet: Slayer Edition brings an updated version of Arrowhead’s franchise reboot (and all its co-op monster-slaying) to the PS4 for the first time.
- Toy Soldiers: War Chest (PS4) is the third game in Signal’s strategic toy-battling franchise and the first to include armies based on G.I. Joe, He-Man: The Masters of the Universe, and Assassin’s Creed II.
- Goat Simulator, and its unique brand of open world insanity, makes its way to the PS4 and PS3 for the first time.
- Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons also makes the jump to the PS4 this week.
- Finally, the PS4 ports of Prototype and Prototype 2 are now available separately.
More information on all of these titles (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And, as always, a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Gauntlet, Goat Simulator, Prototype, Prototype 2, Toy Soldiers: War Chest
Indie Megabooth announces massive PAX Prime 2015 presence
It’s that time gain! Those beautiful, brilliant minds behind the Indie Megabooth have announced the PAX Prime 2015 lineup, and it certainly IS mega! I see a lot of personal favorites in there, including Armello, Death Road to Canada, Hyper Light Drifter, Mushroom 11, Cinelinx: A Card Game For People Who Love Movies, Pleasant Dreams, Skiptrace, and two games I can’t keep my hands off of: Monikers and Mini Metro! And let’s not forget that this might be your best chance to check out Funomena’s Wattam!
If you’re in Seattle the last weekend in August for PAX Prime, trust me: you do not want to miss the Indie Megabooth. These are traditionally some of the best games on the show floor, and I don’t just say that because my own game (Resistor) has been part of the Tabletop Area. OK, maybe that might sway my opinion a little. But the team behind the IMB carefully curates some of the most amazing games, not just for your enjoyment, but as an installation of the best and brightest developers in indie gaming right now.
Enough of my gushing. Watch the trailer and hit the jump for the full list of developers and games (more than 70 in all)! (more…)
Grand Theft Auto V has sold 54 million copies; Single-Player DLC is still MIA
Take-Two Interactive didn’t have much to talk about during their quarterly financial report yesterday. Because XCOM 2, Battleborn, and Mafia III are still many months away, company executives mostly used the presentation to boast about the continued success of Grand Theft Auto V.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the game has sold more than 54 million copies since it was released in 2013. That number includes GTA5’s initial launch on the PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as its subsequent release on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It’s quite an impressive achievement for everyone involved, which is probably why Zelnick didn’t sound very appreciative when an analyst tried to compare Mafia III to a Rockstar-developed project during the Q&A portion of the presentation:
Mafia III is a completely different experience. I wouldn’t compare it to anything else out there. The reveal was great, but it stands alone. And no, we don’t use any other game in the same sentence as Grand Theft Auto. It is the industry’s standard bearer. It’s not up for comparison. So no, I think, it’s flattering to even think that may be the case, but it’s not.
I love Zelnick’s “take no prisoners” attitude and the defense of his developers, but there was also some bad news for GTA fans during the presentation as well. Karl Slatoff, the President of Take-Two Interactive, confirmed the publisher has no information to share about a single-player expansion for Grand Theft Auto V, telling one analyst, “[W]e really don’t have anything to say about that today.”
HBO’s Westworld looks to Red Dead Redemption and BioShock for inspiration
While many people only know Jonathan Nolan as Christopher Nolan’s less-famous brother, the younger Nolan has his own rather impressive career in Hollywood. In addition to co-writing The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, The Prestige, and Interstellar, he is also the creator of Person of Interest and the driving force behind HBO’s Westworld reboot. Originally released in 1973 (and parodied hilariously in the “Itchy & Scratchy Land” episode of The Simpsons), Westworld takes place within the walls of a futuristic amusement park where the life-like robots eventually run amok.
Before you ask, yes, the original movie was written and directed by Michael Crichton.
But in turning the story into a television show, Nolan wants to go beyond Crichton’s original concept and he’s looking to video games for his inspiration. Naturally, Rockstar’s classic western, Red Dead Redemption, is at the top of the list. However, Nolan told Esquire‘s Matt Patches that the underwater world of Irrational’s BioShock also informed his latest creation.
Finally, Nolan cited an “interactive play,” Sleep No More, as a third inspiration. A similar interactive theatre experience, Tamara, directly inspired Tom Zito to develop Night Trap, and other full motion video games, in the mid-90s.
HBO’s Westworld reboot will premiere sometime next year and will star Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, and Jeffrey Wright. The first teaser trailer, which was released yesterday, has been embedded above.
New Releases: Toy Soldiers: War Chest, XBlaze Lost: Memories
If history is any guide, we’ll see a big uptick in new releases towards the end of August. However, since we’re still in the middle of the month, only four new games will be available on store shelves this week…
Toy Soldiers: War Chest is the third Toy Soldiers game from developer Signal Studios and the first to be published by Ubisoft. The special “Hall of Fame Edition” of the strategy game will feature four fictional toy armies doing battle with iconic characters from He-Man: Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and Assassin’s Creed II. Toy Soldiers: War Chest will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Also available this week is XBlaze Lost: Memories, which will be released for the PS3 and Vita. Published by Aksys, XBlaze Lost was developed by Arc System Works and is the second prequel to the BlazBlue series of fighting games. Not only that, but the publisher and developer consider XBlaze Lost the first “RPG-style visual novel.” So I guess that’s something.
Finally, a pair of children’s games, Garfield Kart and Paddington: Adventures in London, will be released for the 3DS.
Several other new releases will be available this week through the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, Steam, and Xbox Games Store.
Activision adds 16 songs to Guitar Hero Live to bring its total to 100 (and counting)
Earlier this week, Activision announced another batch of songs that will be included in Guitar Hero Live, bringing the total number of tracks to 100. That triple-digit number means that Guitar Hero Live will have the largest selection of on-disc of any music game when its released this Fall. The previous record holder, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, topped out at 93.
And Activision isn’t looking to beat the Babe by a single home run like Roger Maris in 1961. They want to really push the disc capacity of the new-generation systems and the publisher plans to announce even more songs for Guitar Hero Live in the future. But for now, here’s a list of all 16 songs that are part of this announcement:
- Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”
- Boston – “More Than a Feeling”
- Charlie XCX – “Famous”
- Dream Theater – “The Looking Glass”
- Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
- In Flames – “Deliver Us”
- James Bay – “Hold Back The River”
- Kasabian – “Club Foot”
- Kings of Leon – “Sex on Fire”
- Megadeth – “Hangar 18”
- MGMT – “Time to Pretend”
- Panic! At the Disco – “Girls Girls Boys”
- Passion Pit – “Take a Walk”
- Royal Blood – “Come on Over”
- Rush – “Limelight”
- You Me at Six – “Lived a Lie”
Guitar Hero Live, and its brand new six-button controller, will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 20.
Posted in Mobile, News, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Gamescom 2015, Guitar Hero Live