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
- 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: Xbox 360
Creative Assembly makes the Alien scary again in Alien: Isolation
In a new developer diary, Al Hope, the Creative Director at Creative Assembly, details his team’s goal for your extraterrestrial adversary in Alien: Isolation: “We wanted to make the Alien scary again.” Hope will attempt to make good on his promise by creating a Xenomorph that is unpredictable and very scary. Gary Napper, one of the game’s designers, laid it all out for us:
“Depending on how cautious players are, we’ve seen encounters in Alien: Isolation last over 30 minutes in some cases. And this just can’t be done with scripted behavior. As soon as the player can predict a pattern in the Alien, it stops being scary. It doesn’t follow any prescribed path or set of behaviors that are telling it to do specific things. It’s just reacting to the player’s presence and the choices that the player makes.”
We’ve heard these kinds of promises before in relation to a game based on the Alien films. But the atmosphere and mood that Hope, Napper, and the rest of the Creative Assembly team have packed into this video’s few minutes is incredible. They deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Alien: Isolation will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One towards the end of the year.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling game of February 2014
Call of Duty: Ghosts was the best-selling game of the month in November, December, and January. Today, the NPD Group released their list of the best-selling games in February and, once again, Ghosts has taken the top spot. Ghosts has had an impressive run, but I have a strong feeling that major new releases like TitanFall and Dark Souls II will prevent Infinity Ward’s military shooter from winning one for the thumb next month.
Amongst new releases, the game adaptation of The Lego Movie and a trio of games from Square Enix (the Thief reboot, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Bravely Default) all broke into the top ten. Amazingly, the boxed version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is still hanging on at #9.
The battle of the next-generation consoles continues to be almost a wash as the PS4 slightly squeaked ahead of the Xbox One in February. According to Microsoft, 258,000 Xbox One systems were sold during the month with the NPD Group reporting that Sony sold 10% more PS4 systems. Due to the Xbox One’s premium price tag, it technically brought in more sales dollars in February. As I said, the whole thing is almost a wash.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
The Last of Us takes home Best Game at 2014 BAFTA Awards
The 2014 BAFTA Awards were handed out yesterday in London and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us was crowned the big winner of the night. The Last of US was declared “Best Game” by the British Academy and also took home four additional awards: “Action and Adventure,” “Story,” “Performer” (for Ashley Johnson’s portrayal of Ellie), and “Audio Achievement.”
The Last of Us, an American game, shared the spotlight with two distinctly British titles. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V (“Best British Game,” “Game Design,” and “Multiplayer”) and Media Molecule’s Tearaway (“Mobile & Handheld,” “Family,” and “Artistic Achievement”) won three awards apiece.
The remainder of the awards were split between a handful of games and you can check out the complete list of winners after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged BioShock Infinite, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, FIFA 14, Gone Home, Grand Theft Auto V, Tearaway, The Last of Us
The Elder Scrolls and Theology to be released next month
Former Warp Zoned Contributor Joshua Wise has been plenty busy over the last year. In addition to working on his PhD, Wise found time to edit Past the Sky’s Rim: The Elder Scrolls and Theology. As you may have guessed from the title, the book explores the religious underpinnings of the Elder Scrolls series, giving particular emphasis to Bethesda’s 2011 smash hit, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
The Elder Scrolls series has entranced gamers for two decades with its deep mythology, complex history, and intriguing locations. Players have explored a world in The Elder Scrolls rich with kings, demons, heroes, magic, and gods. Past the Sky’s Rim: The Elder Scrolls and Theology engages with the world from the perspective of academic theology and religious studies. Within these pages, scholars ask what it means to become a god, to die alone in the solitude of Vvardenfell, and to live in a world with different afterlives for different people. Attempting to move beyond a shallow engagement, Past the Sky’s Rim considers video games as serious media capable of transmitting important ideas to those who engage with them and invites readers to think more deeply about what games can say about ultimate realities.
Past the Sky’s Rim: The Elder Scrolls and Theology will be available through your favorite bookseller (including Amazon) on April 15.
First R.B.I. Baseball 14 screenshots bring back the 80s sports game… literally
Today, Yahoo! Sports published the first screenshots of MLB Advanced Media’s mysterious R.B.I. Baseball 14. The game franchise was incredibly popular in the late 80s and early 90s, and the reboot will respect that heritage with its graphics and gameplay style. R.B.I Baseball 14 sidesteps the heavy duty simulation aspects of 2K’s defunct MLB 2K series and Sony’s upcoming MLB 14: The Show to bring video game baseball back to a simpler time.
But don’t think this means that R.B.I. 14 won’t feature realistic baseball. All 30 MLB teams will be represented and 480 players will be included in the game. And the developers will use real-life game metrics compiled by MLB Advanced Media to create each player’s digital self. But all of these statistics will be in service to a game that doesn’t include online multiplayer (it includes local “couch play” only) and only offers three modes: Season, Postseason, and Exhibition. It’s just like the 80s, but many don’t see that as a bad thing.
“There are people out there who would want by a pixel-by-pixel recreation of a game from that era, and there are people who want something that has more control and has more than eight teams,” said Jamie Leece, MLB Advanced Media’s Vice President of Gaming. “If you take a step back and just play the game, what we’re seeing and hearing is: ‘You’re taking me back,’ ‘It feels like the old games,’ ‘It’s so much fun.'”
R.B.I. Baseball 14 will be available as a downloadable game for the PS3, Xbox 360, and mobile platforms in early April (lending credence to this earlier rumor). The game will also slide onto the PS4 and Xbox One “shortly after.”
XBL Store Today: TitanFall, Dark Souls II
While Sony continues to work on getting this week’s PlayStation Store update uploaded to the PSN, Microsoft has added two games that need no introduction to the Xbox Live Store. So say hello to the multiplayer mech madness of Respawn’s TitanFall (Xbox One) and the brutal medieval action of Bandai Namco’s Dark Souls II.
But if you really need an introduction, here’s a bit more information about both games:
Xbox One Game Store
TitanFall ($59.99)
Stand by for Titanfall. Crafted by key developers behind the Call of Duty franchise, TitanFall is the first next-gen shooter that combines pure adrenaline, wall-running, double-jumping action with powerful, fast-paced titan warfare to set the new bar for online multiplayer gameplay. Delivering blistering fast, fluid combat that gives you the freedom to fight your way as elite, assault pilots or agile, heavily armored titans. Rethink fundamental combat and movement with new abilities to change tactics on the fly, attacking or escaping depending on the situation. Heart-pounding multiplayer action combined with dramatic, cinematic moments lets you enjoy the fiction and characters of the universe without having to leave your favorite game online multiplayer mode. Online multiplayer matches featuring both human/AI allies and enemies create an experience like none other.
Xbox 360 Game Store
Dark Souls II ($59.99)
Developed by From Software, Dark Souls II is the highly anticipated sequel to the punishing 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls. The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward. Dark Souls II brings the franchise’s renowned difficulty & gripping gameplay innovations to both single and multiplayer experiences.
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Dark Souls II, TitanFall
The Walking Dead Season 2: A House Divided Review: Strength In Numbers
Telltale’s Walking Dead games can be tough to review. The series is so heavily focused on story that it becomes increasingly difficult to write a review without giving away some of the finer plot details. In the Walking Dead universe, characters you’ve grown attached to are taken away in the blink of an eye, and if you know what will happen beforehand, the emotional impact is greatly lessened. In that regard, I’ve opted to provide a separate, spoiler-free review of The Walking Dead Season 2: A House Divided. That way, those of you who haven’t played the game can read on, knowing that nothing will be ruined. I promise to avoid any specific information or plot points throughout the rest of the review, so you can still feel confident in reading the entire review without learning too much.
Spoiler-Free Review: The game is amazing – go buy it right now!
OK, now that we have that out of the way, on with the review. (more…)
New Releases: TitanFall, Dark Souls II, Yoshi’s New Island, More
It’s finally here. After a boatload of E3 awards and a hugely successful beta, Respawn’s TitanFall is ready to bring man versus mech multiplayer to the PC and Xbox One this week. And if you haven’t picked up an Xbox One console yet, don’t forget that the Xbox One + TitanFall Bundle will also be available on Tuesday.
If you haven’t upgraded to a next-generation system yet, you’ll probably be pleased to know that From Software will bring Dark Souls II to the PS3 and Xbox 360 next week. If you’re waiting on the PC version, it’ll be available at the end of April.
Finally, Nintendo will make the 3DS a Yoshi-er place this week with the release of Yoshi’s New Island and Tecmo Koei will continue the popular Atelier with the release of Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky on the PS3.
A full list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Dark Souls II, TitanFall, Yoshi's New Island