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
Alien: Isolation officially announced for late 2014 release
Well that didn’t take long. Sega has officially announced Alien: Isolation, just a few hours after Microsoft prematurely added a product listing for the game to Xbox.com.
Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation wants to put the Alien back into games based the Alien film series and is ditching the Colonial Marines versus Xenomorphs style that has been used in most of the games based on the franchise. Eschewing the action-focused shooter model, the game is being developed as a survival horror where Amanda Ripley, the daughter of series star Ellen Ripley, attempts to escape from a single Xenomorph. Creative Assembly also plans to position the game as “lo-fi sci-fi” and they’re heavily leaning on the 1970s view of the future featured in the first movie.
Al Hope, the Creative Lead, said that the decision to base Alien: Isolation on Alien was made because, “[N]o one had created the game we wanted to play, which is one that captures the spirit of the original movie.”
Alien: Isolation will be available in late 2014 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Creative Assembly has also uploaded a behind-the-scenes video where the developers discus the “Origins” of Alien: Isolation. You can find it after the break. (more…)
Alien: Isolation story, boxart leaked by Xbox.com
Kotaku outed Creative Assembly’s Alien project, Alien: Isolation, a few months ago. Today, a product listing on Xbox.com has confirmed the game’s title as well as the starring role for Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, and the presence of only a single Xenomorph:
Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother’s disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.
As you can see, Xbox.com has also provided an early glimpse at the game’s box art. Alien: Isolation is in development for the “current-generation consoles” (obviously including the Xbox 360), “next-generation consoles,” and the PC. Hopefully, Sega will make an official announcement soon, but after the Aliens: Colonial Marines debacle, I understand why they’re being secretive about Creative Assembly’s Alien game.
Golden Pixel Awards 2013: What We Loved, What We Hated, and What We’ll Never Forget
2013 was an amazing year in gaming. While we got loads of sequels, we also got some beautiful new IPs, and plenty of new hardware to enjoy it all.
Naughty Dog took a break from Uncharted and gave us The Last of Us, BattleBlock Theater reminded us why we love The Behemoth, and Ken Levine and his crew unleashed BioShock: Infinite on the gaming world. And let’s not forget all the amazing ports, including Diablo III (on consoles), Fez (on the PC), and Hotline Miami (on the PS3 and Vita). Yes, this year took our breath away, and cramped our thumbs like the good old days of the NES. We here at Warp Zoned have been gaming our little fingers off the last 12 months, and we’ve been even harder at work the last few weeks trying to decide what we loved and hated about gaming in 2013. After several days of deliberation, here’s what we came up with. And now it’s time for us to get back to gaming… 2014 is ready for us. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, Features, PC, PS3, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged BattleBlock Theater, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, BioShock Infinite, Dead Space 3, Diablo III, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Grand Theft Auto V, Legend of Dungeon, Ridiculous Fishing, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, The Last of Us, The Starship Damrey, The Wonderful 101, Tomb Raider, TowerFall, Typing of the Dead: Overkill
WB teases Mr. Freeze story DLC for Batman: Arkham Origins
As promised, WB Games made a “big announcement” concerning Batman: Arkham Origins. As we were all ringing in the new year with parties and playtime, WB Games had a different kind of party in mind: Gotham City’s Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
The gala event will be held at Wayne Manor and will serve as the setting for a story-based downloadable expansion to Arkham Origins planned for release this year. A post on the Batman: Arkham Facebook page confirms that the party will have an ice theme, which likely means an appearance by Mr. Freeze. Further evidence can be found in Batman: The Animated Series, which set the first battle between Batman and Mr. Freeze at the Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
WB Games has promised that more details will be revealed soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins
Nordic Games will release MX vs ATV: Supercross in 2014
Nordic Games has finally begun to do something with all those franchises they acquired from THQ. The Austrian publisher has announced that they will release MX vs ATV: Supercross in the first half of 2014 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The game will be developed by a dedicated team made up of many former members of original MX vs ATV developer Rainbow Studios/THQ Digital Phoenix.
Ken George, the Executive Producer of MX vs ATV Supercross, is thrilled about his lead role in resurrecting the series: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with Nordic Games because they appreciate the team’s passion and dedication to bring the feel of real motocross racing to MX vs ATV fans. Not just the adrenaline rush, but the whole experience from top to bottom. A lot of the original team members have been aching to continue their passion: building the most authentic off-road racing games possible. The hiatus is over, and the team is back to work on MX vs ATV with great new things to come.”
George’s team will also oversee the online maintenance of MX vs ATV Alive and MX vs ATV Reflex and plan to restore online play soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged MX vs ATV: Supercross
EA describes Battlefield 4 lawsuit as “meritless”
Beleaguered uber-publisher Electronic Arts has hit back against claims contained in a series of lawsuits that are currently being explored by multiple law firms including Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and Holzer Holzer & Fistel on behalf of the company’s investors. EA’s official response, delivered to Polygon by a spokesperson for the company, is that these lawsuits are frivolous:
“We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”
However, there may be more merit than EA is letting on, especially given the fact that Robbins Geller is the same law firm that took on the Enron class action lawsuit. Their lawsuit accuses EA executives of being able to sell “artificially inflated” shares prior to the release of Battlefield 4 due to releasing “materially false and misleading statements highlighting the purported strength” of the game. In other words, the lawsuit is claiming that EA executives were aware of the defective state of Battlefield 4 and purposely raised expectations surrounding its release to inflate share prices.
The law firm has until February to find someone brave enough to stand as the lead plaintiff in the case. If they do, and the case goes to court, it may set a precedent that prevents developers and publishers from releasing products with game-breaking bugs. But there’s also the long-standing concept of “caveat emptor” (or “buyer beware”) to consider. A ruling against EA in this case would likely make it open season on content creators.
UPDATE: A third law firm, Brower Piven, has announced plans to challenge EA is court over their Battlefield 4 statements.
Call of Duty: Ghosts getting four map packs and a season pass… surprised?
Activision has just announced that Call of Duty: Ghosts will receive four post-launch map packs (Onslaught, Devastation, Invasion, and Nemesis). Each pack will be priced at $14.99 apiece, with a $49.99 Season Pass also available. None of this should really be news. The last three or four CoD games got the same treatment.
Each map pack will include a new set of multiplayer maps, bonus weapons, and an “Extinction” scenario. Each “Extinction” scenario will build on the one before it to create what Activision is calling “an episodic Extinction experience.”
If you decide to spring for the Season Pass, you’ll receive access to the “Free Fall” multiplayer map as well as unique “Team Leader” in-game content: MP Character Head, Weapon Camo, Reticle, Player Patch, Player Card, and a Player Background.
The first map pack, Onslaught, will be released sometime in 2014 with the rest to follow.