Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Most Recent: Vita
New Releases: Criminal Girls: Invite Only, Cities XXL, SpongeBob HeroPants
2015 marches on and after a particularly slow January we’re moving into a February that is, well, pretty equally unspeedy. A trio of games make up this week’s batch of new retail releases…
- Criminal Girls: Invite Only (Vita), a turn-based RPG that asks players to save a set of naughty schoolgirls from the depths of Hell, sometimes by “punishing” them. In case you were wondering… yes, it’s from Japan.
- Cities XXL (PC), the latest city-builder from Focus Home Interactive offers even more architectural options than ever before.
- SpongeBob HeroPants (3DS, Vita, Xbox 360), a new SpongeBob platformer, released to coincide with the theatrical debut of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
And that’s it! Though the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop will all be home to several new games this week as well.
Sega will release Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax on PS3, Vita this year
Sega has done a lot to bring a variety of distinctly Japanese games across the Pacific in the last few years. And if any game can qualify as “distinctly Japanese,” it’s a game like Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. Set for a Summer release on the PS3 and Vita, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is a 2D fighting game that features characters from a wide swatch of anime franchises. I’ll let Stephen Akana, an Associate Marketing Manager from Sega, handle the heavy lifting of describing Dengeki Bunko:
Developed by Ecole and French Bread in cooperation with ASCII Media Works, this 2D fighting game celebrates the 20th anniversary of Dengeki Bunko with an all-star cast of their popular characters set against Sega-themed worlds. With playable characters such as Asuna from Sword Art Online or Kuroyukihime from Accel World, and support characters like Touma Kamijou from A Certain Magical Index or Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax makes the most unlikely of character matchups a reality.
Fighting Climax features a fighting system that is both easily understood and complex, thus catering to veterans and newcomers alike. Using weak, medium and strong attacks, each of the playable characters have move sets that are similar in execution, yet differ in attack range, power and speed.
More details (and a bunch of screenshots) for Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax can be found in an announcement post at the PlayStation Blog.
Sega to institute layoffs, early retirement program as company continues to struggle
Sega (which officially does business under the Sega Sammy Holdings name) has been dealing with financial difficulties for some time, but it looks like their latest round of problems will result in some big changes for the company.
Sega’s Board of Directors met this morning and hammered out a restructuring plan that they believe will help the company’s financial position in the future. Unfortunately, a key part of that plan will involve an unspecified number of layoffs and a voluntary early requirement program that the company will offer to 300 employees. Some of the layoffs will come from Sega of America, which will be moving from its current headquarters in San Francisco to a smaller facility somewhere in Southern California.
The restructuring, which is expected to be completed by the Summer, will also lead to a new focus on downloadable titles developed for smartphones and the PC. Sega is also heavily involved in big budget and mid-tier on consoles and the PC, but it’s currently unknown how this plan will affect the company’s internal development teams.
WB Games announces Lego Jurassic World and Lego Avengers
WB Games has announced that Lego Jurassic World and Lego Avengers are both in development at TT Games for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Both games will be released in 2015, though the Avengers game will debut a bit later than you might expect.
Lego Jurassic World will launch in June, just ahead or just after Jurassic World‘s theatrical opening on June 12. The game will include levels based on all four films including Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, and Jurassic World. Most important of all, do you realize what this means? Lego Muldoon mumbling “Clever girl…” before getting eaten by Lego Raptors!
Meanwhile, Lego Avengers will be released in the Fall, presumably around the same date as The Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s Blu-ray/DVD debut. Like Lego Jurassic Park, Lego Avengers will include levels based on The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Finally, WB Games made two other Lego-related announcements this morning. First, the publisher confirmed that Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin will be available for the 3DS and Vita on March 24. And second, they revealed that Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will be released for mobile devices this Summer.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Lego Avengers, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Lego Jurassic World, Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin
Dying Light, Grim Fandango Remastered, Life Is Strange Episode 1, more added to PS Store
It’s all about the undead in this week’s PlayStation Store update:
- Zombies figure prominently in Techland’s Dying Light for the PS4. The first-person survival game incorporates a day/night cycle and gives parkour moves to the player-controlled characters.
- The afterlife of the undead is the focus of Grim Fandango Remastered, a PS4/Vita Cross-Buy re-release of the popular adventure game from Tim Tim Schafer. Only Manny Calavera, a travel agent at the Department of Death, could make Limbo this exciting.
- The first episode of Dontnod’s Life Is Strange (available Friday on the PS3 and PS4) introduces us to Max, a woman who is able to bring people back to life thanks to her ability to rewind time.
Two decidedly un-undead games were also added to the Vita storefront this week. There’s the wacky RPG antics of HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth 2: Sisters Generation and the dark puzzle-platforming of Nihilumbra.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break and 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 Dying Light, Grim Fandango, Life Is Strange
Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age 3 lead all nominees at 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards
Another major award show has announced their 2014/2015 nominees and, once again, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor lead the pack. This time, we’re discussing the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, where each game has secured five nominations apiece.
Naturally, both games are competing for the Game of the Year prize, alongside Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, and Shovel Knight. Dragon Age: Inquisition was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” and “Excellence in Design and Direction.” Shadow of Mordor is up for most of the same secondary awards, except swap out “Excellence in Gameplay” for “Excellence in Animation.”
The winners of the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 14 as part of the SXSW Gaming Expo, which runs from March 13th through the 15th in Austin, Texas. The first list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shovel Knight, Tabletop Games
New Releases: Dying Light, HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth2: Sisters Generation
Two new releases will be available in stores this week and they are…
Dying Light is a first person zombie game from Techland (the makers of Dead Island) that will introduce a day/night cycle to the action as well as include parkour elements partially designed by David Belle, the creator of parkour. It will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Also scheduled for release next week is HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth2: Sisters Generation, a Vita remake of HyperDimension Neptunia MK2, an RPG that was originally released for the PS3 in 2012. The Vita remake will add new playable characters and minigames while also making the whole game portable for the first time.
Check back soon for more details on several new releases scheduled to launch on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop this week.
Saints Row IV, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, Resident Evil HD, more added to PS Store
A mix of re-releases, remakes, and reversions to a simpler time make up this week’s PlayStation Store update.
Capcom has released Resident Evil on nearly every platform imaginable over the years and the game’s eighth re-release gives the 2002 “REmake” a high definition upgrade and a new widescreen presentation. You can now relive all the thrills and chills of one of the first great survival horror titles on the PS3 or the PS4.
Also available this week is Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, a PS4 update to Saints Row IV. The Re-Elected package includes all of the previously released downloadable content and a graphical upgrade. Its joined by Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (PS3, PS4), a standalone expansion that asks players to “Shoot The Devil in the Face” to save the President of the United States from Satan.
Speaking of Presidents, Atlus’ Citizens of Earth (PS4, Vita) stars the Vice President of the World as he attempts to stop an alien invasion in a colorful RPG that is clearly inspired by the Super NES classic Earthbound. Finally, DNA-based puzzler Splice is now available on the PS3 and PS4 as a Cross-Buy title.
More information on all of these titles (and a few others) can be found after the break. And, as always, the PlayStation Blog is home to a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Citizens of Earth, Resident Evil, Saints Row IV, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, Splice: Tree of Life