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
Star Wars: Battlefront is crowned Best of Gamescom at Gamescom 2015
Heeding the words of Yoda (“Do… or do not. There is no try.”), Electronic Arts and DICE pulled out all the stops to win to five awards for Star Wars: Battlefront at Gamescom 2015, including the coveted “Best of Gamescom” title. The game also took home “Best Console Game – PS4,” “Best PC Games,” “Best Online Multiplayer Game,” and the “Most Wanted Consumer Award.” Strangely, Germany’s Digital Gaming Culture Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur) didn’t even nominate it in the “Best Console Game – Xbox One” category.
Other multi-award winners at the 2015 Gamescom Awards include Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (“Best Console Game – Xbox One” and “Best Action Game”), FM6 (“Best Racing Game” and “Best Simulation Game”), and Super Mario Maker (“Best Console Game – Wii U” and “Best Social / Casual / Online Game”).
Not to be forgotten, the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, produced in conjunction with Valve, won for “Best Hardware / Peripheral.”
The full list of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Ubisoft adds lip-syncing Showtime Mode and nine new tracks to Just Dance 2016
Ubisoft wants players to share their dancing with the world after they play Just Dance 2016. The new Showtime Mode will let players record themselves lip-syncing along to their favorites songs. After the song is over, Just Dance 2016 will create a shareable video for the world.
Showtime Mode will only be available on the PS4 (a PlayStation Camera is required), the Xbox One (a Kinect is required), and the Wii U (a Wii U GamePad is required, but that’s standard equipment for Wii U owners):
The new Showtime mode will allow players to unleash their inner star by creating unique music videos of themselves performing. Players lip-sync and perform along to hit songs in the game and the video footage is then turned into a fun shareable music video. The music videos pull in both creative visual elements and pop cultural references— each song will have a distinctive and visually original atmosphere.
Ubisoft also announced nine new tracks for Just Dance 2016 during this week’s Gamescom expo:
- Angry Birds – “Balkan Blast Remix”
- AronChupa – “I’m An Albatraoz”
- Britney Spears – “Circus”
- Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
- Iggy Azalea (Featuring Charli XCX) – “Fancy”
- The Lemon Cubes – “Boys (Summertime Love)”
- Pitbull (Featuring Chris Brown) – “Fun”
- Prince Royce – “Stuck On A Feeling”
- Shakira (Featuring El Cata) – “Rabiosa”
Just Dance 2016 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 20.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Gamescom 2015, Just Dance 2016
Comcept confirms Mighty No. 9 delay and pencils in new release date of “Early 2016”
Comcept has announced Mighty No. 9 will miss its originally scheduled September 15 release date, confirming two previous reports (1, 2) that the game had been delayed. Offering an apology in an update to the game’s Kickstarter page, the developer said that Mighty No. 9 will now be released in “Q1 2016.”
Comcept’s representatives also elaborated on the reasons behind the delay:
Of course, it is important to explain why exactly the game is being delayed. As we have communicated in the updates to our backers, all of the core content for the game is developed and in a complete state. However, there are still bugs and issues pertaining to the online features that are included in the game. These bugs and issues have a direct affect on enjoyment of the game, so a decision was made to work these issues out before release.
Currently, [C]omcept and their partners are working at full capacity to resolve these issues and fix any remaining bugs.
Due to the change in release date, Kickstarter backers should expect to receive another platform survey closer to the final release date. Currently in development for the 3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, Comcept has said they will announce a “solid” release date for Mighty No. 9 when they can.
Lego Avengers will assemble on store shelves on January 26
WB Games has announced that Lego Avengers will deliver of lightning bolt of superheroics to store shelves on January 26, 2016 (January 29 in Europe).
Lego Avengers is in development for a huge number of platforms (3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One) at TT Games. The Lego adaptation is expected to recreate the events seen in The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, TT Games also plans to go beyond the two films by including heroes and villains from throughout the Marvel universe.
If you’re already planning to purchase Lego Avengers, you might want to know that GameStop is offering a pre-order bonus of a “Silver Centurion” Iron Man minifig, based on the armor worn by Tony Stark in Iron Man 3.
Video Game Release Calendar Changelog: Pre-Gamescom 2015 Update
Don’t Forget! This is just a changelog of recently announced release dates. Warp Zoned’s complete Video Game Release Calendar includes every title we could find that’s scheduled for release in 2015, 2016, 2017, or beyond.
The 2015 Gamescom expo is kicking off… right about now… in Germany, but first, we’ve got a quick rundown of some of the latest release date announcements from the world’s game publishers. Most companies have been using this lazy Summer to solidify their Fall 2015 calendar, but a few 2016 games have snuck in there as well (and a few have snuck into 2016).
Some of the biggest names that we’ve tracked in this edition of the Video Game Release Calendar Changelog include Disney Infinity: Star Wars on August 30, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 on September 29, and Rise of the Tomb Raider on November 10 (also, it’ll launch for the PC and PS4 in 2016).
Also announced in the weeks since E3 is Dragon Quest XI: In Search of the Departed Time. The next game in Square Enix’s long-running RPG series and the first game to officially be announced for Nintendo’s NX system doesn’t have a release date as of yet, and it may not even come to America. But it is, without a doubt, the biggest recent announcement. Unless the rest of Gamescom bowls us over, which it just might.
Even more new release dates from this edition of the Video Game Release Calendar Changelog can be found after the break. (more…)
Star Wars: Battlefront has captured the most nominations at 2015 Gamescom Awards
Germany’s Digital Gaming Culture Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur) has announced the nominees for this year’s Gamescom Awards… and Star Wars: Battlefront has Force Pushed its way to the top of the pack. DICE’s shooter sequel was able to collection four nominations including “Best Console Game – PlayStation 4,” “Best PC Game,” “Best Action Game,” and “Best Online Multiplayer Game.”
Battlefront was able to move slightly ahead of the pack, as a small handful of games received three nominations apiece. Final Fantasy XV, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Super Mario Maker, Skylanders SuperChargers, and Guitar Hero Live are all up for three awards.
Even if you’re not one of the jury members for the Gamescom Awards, you can have an influence on the results. The general public can vote for any game on display at the expo for a Most Wanted Consumer Award using the Gamescom app.
The winners of this year’s Gamescom Awards will be announced on August 7. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Dark Souls III, Final Fantasy XV, Forza Motorsport 6, Gamescom 2015, Guitar Hero Live, Lego Dimensions, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, Skylanders SuperChargers, Star Wars: Battlefront, Super Mario Maker, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Unravel
Behind-the-scenes article paints Konami executives as Orwellian dictators
UPDATE: Nikkei has released an official English translation of the article.
Nikkei, a Japanese financial newspaper, recently published an article that delves into the struggles and horrible working conditions of employees at Konami. Basically, it is not pretty, and if anything, Hideo Kojima’s rumored departure can only be seen as a good thing.
The article is entirely in Japanese, and the website requires a subscription to fully access it, but volunteer translators have been working on the article and released some highlights this morning through NeoGAF. Additional translations are available at GamesIndustry.biz and Kotaku.
A number of anonymous employees spoke to Nikkei about life at Konami, describing a prison-like environment. Employees who are deemed “useless” are either sent to the assembly line to work on pachinko machines, or are reassigned to become security officers. Some are even forced to clean up the gym located in Konami’s headquarters. And this punishment isn’t just limited to low-level workers, producers and other prominent creators have also had this type of grunt work hoisted on them.
Lunch breaks are said to be regulated via time cards, and any employee who runs late is “outed” from the company. Konami’s employees are also said to be under heavy surveillance at all times. Even Solid Snake himself couldn’t dodge all the security cameras and punch clocks that line the company’s halls.
All these measures allegedly stem from the success Konami had with a mobile game known as Dragon Collection, which has made far more money and was much cheaper to develop than any console game the company produced in years. This news is certainly in line with Konami’s recent attitude, which has led to the cancellation of the majority of their console projects, including Silent Hills.
Nikkei’s report also states that, as of April 2015, Konami had spent $80 million on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Coupled with the publisher’s desire to move towards mobile games, this astronomical budget likely had something to do with Konami’s rift with Kojima.
Konami has already stated they plan on continuing with the Metal Gear series, as well as Pro Evolution Soccer, but beyond that, much of the company’s plans remain a mystery.