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
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way among 2015 DICE Awards nominees
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have announced the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards and, just like the GDC Awards, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is leading the pack. Monolith’s expansion of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings garnered nine nominations including “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” “Outstanding Character,” “Adventure Game of the Year,” and “Game of the Year.”
Shadow of Mordor will be competing against four games for the top prize. Rounding out the category are Bungie’s Destiny, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. All told, 56 games received a nomination in at least one category.
This year’s DICE Awards have added a new category to the festivities, the DICE Sprite Award, in an attempt to recognize work done by smaller studios. The Banner Saga, Hohokum, Monument Valley, Threes!, and Transistor will be competing for the inaugural DICE Sprite Award, which honors “innovative gameplay and experiences.”
The full list of nominees can be found after the break and don’t forget to tune in to Twitch.TV on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) to find out the winners. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
CoD: Advanced Warfare goes 2-for-2 as the best-selling game of December 2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is on a roll. After being named the best-selling game for all of last year, the NPD Group also confirmed that it was the best-selling game of December as well. Activision’s latest military shooter also took the top spot in November, during its first month of release.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, December’s sales chart was dominated by big-name franchises including Grand Theft Auto V (#2), Madden NFL 15 (#3), Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Minecraft (#6).. really, just the entire top ten.
On the hardware side of things, the Xbox One once again was the best-selling console, besting the PS4 for a second month in a row. The console’s $50 price cut is really working for Microsoft and the company has decided to reinstate the discount beginning today, possibly on a permanent basis.
The full top ten for December 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Far Cry 4, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2015, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the best-selling game of 2014
The NPD Group has finished calculating the 2014 game sales in the United States and they’re ready to declare a winner. In 2014, gamers bought more copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare than any other game. The franchise actually bookended both ends of the list as Call of Duty: Ghosts tabulated enough 2014 sales to check in at #10. In between those two extremes, the list actually features plenty of familiar faces.
Last year’s best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, managed to heist the #4 spot thanks to good sales in the early half of the year and a PS4/Xbox One re-release in the Fall. Sports games occupied three spots in the top ten as Madden NFL 15 (#2), NBA 2K15 (#7), and FIFA 15 (#9) were all popular with players.
Gamers voted with their wallets and both of 2014’s budding megafranchises-in-the-making cracked the top ten. Destiny came in at #3 while Watch Dogs had to settle for the #8 spot.
All told, game software sales were down 13% in 2014 to $5.3 billion. That’s still an impressive chunk of change, but players are increasingly moving over to digital storefronts for the majority of their game purchases. The complete top ten from 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Watch Dogs
Atelier Ayesha Plus, Monopoly Plus, a PSP game, more added to PS Store
This week’s PlayStation Store update is either incredibly skimpy or incredibly generous, depending on your point of view. If you’re interested in Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming service on the PS4, you’ll be pleased to know that a subscription option is now available. Currently boasting more than 100 PS3 games, PlayStation Now is definitely a window into the PS3’s more obscure corners.
If you’re looking for new releases, a few new games were added to the PlayStation Store this week, including a PSP game. Monopoly Plus (and its two add-ons, Monopoly Deal and My Monopoly) is the only new PS3 game.
The handheld realm is where its at this week as five new games are now available. Two of the games, Bandai Namco’s Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk and Hello Games’ Joe Danger 2: The Movie, are shrunk down (but expanded) Vita versions of previously-released PS3 games. And Fat Princess: Piece of Cake is a match-3 puzzler set within the Fat Princess world.
Finally, that PSP game is Brandish: The Dark Revenant, an action RPG from XSEED that is actually a remake of a Super NES game that was first released in 1995.
More information about all of 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…)
Duke Nukem 3D, Woah Dave! Vita, The Interview added to PS Store
Duke Nukem is back as Devolver Digital and 3D Realms have teamed up to bring Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition to the PlayStation Store as a PS3/Vita Cross-Buy game. The Megaton Edition includes the original game and three expansion packs (Duke It Out In D.C., Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach, and Duke: Nuclear Winter) for all your Duke needs. Who wants some?
Also available this week is Woah Dave!, a Mario Bros.-like arena platformer for the Vita. A PS4 version of Woah Dave! is in the works and will be offered as a Cross-Buy bonus to owners of the Vita version once its given the OK by Sony. If you’re signed up for PlayStation Plus, you’re in luck, both Woah Dave! and Duke Nukem 3D are available for free as part of the Instant Game Collection.
Finally, Sony has added The Interview, the movie that North Korea doesn’t want you to see, to the PlayStation Store’s Video Unlimited service.
More information on this week’s pair of releases is available 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…)
The Walking Dead Season 2: No Going Back Review: Darling Clementine
The two adaptations of The Walking Dead produced by Telltale have been nothing short of amazing. Some of the best storytelling I’ve ever experienced in a video game has come from these titles. That’s why it makes the finale of Season 2 so bittersweet… it means I’ll have to wait another year (at least) to see what happens in Season 3.
Last season, this wasn’t much of a problem: I purchased the full season when it was on sale, but it stayed in my backlog until Season 2 was announced. Then, I blazed through the first set of episodes in a five-day emotional rollercoaster. Once it was completed, I only had to wait a few months for the next chapter in Clementine’s struggle for survival.
But for now, I must wait. And it will be excruciating. Because chapter five of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead Season 2, No Going Back, marks the conclusion of one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. (more…)
Inafune confirms that development on Mighty No. 9 is almost done in this New Year’s video
Keiji Inafune has posted a short “New Year’s” video to update fans of Mighty No. 9 on the game’s progress. According to the Mega Man creator, full development on Mighty No. 9 is almost complete and the only step left is porting the game to all the platforms it’ll be available on this Spring. But that’s a pretty important step as Inafune and his team at Comcept (and co-developer Inti Creates) plan to bring Mighty No. 9 to a boatload of platforms including the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, 3DS, and Vita.
Resogun PS3/Vita, Switch Galaxy Ultra, Trine: Enchanted Edition, more added to PS Store
The final PlayStation Store update of the year has been posted and here’s what gamers can now purchase on their PlayStation systems in these pre-Christmas hours:
- Resogun – The space shooter comes to the PS3 and Vita for the first time. Best of all, they’re both Cross-Buy compatible with the PS4 version.
- Trine: Enchanted Edition – An enhanced edition of the puzzle platformer is now available on the PS4.
- Switch Galaxy Ultra – This colorful space racer is a Cross-Buy title on the PS4 and Vita.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) 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…)