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
The Walking Dead: Episode 2 Review: A Satisfying Second Course
The strength or weakness of an episodic series is its ability to keep the player interested in doing the same things in new situations after a significant break. Enabling the player to care about the characters is another important factor as well. These are things previous episodic Telltale games have stumbled at a bit. Sam & Max don’t exactly change, nor are we embroiled in their dramatic arcs. Marty and Doc seem to be fairly static characters as well who are on a mission specifically to prevent or reverse any change that might occur. But the characters in The Walking Dead are involved in a drama that pulls the player forward in a way that Sam & Max and Back to the Future never quite managed. (more…)
Activision, High Moon to announce next-gen Marvel game at Comic-Con 2012
High Moon Studios, an Activision internal development team, will announce their next game at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con during the “Marvel Video Games” panel on Saturday, July 14.
The panel’s description is woefully short on details, but several LinkedIn profiles have offered up a few more details about the unannounced game. According to Senior Game Designer J.R. Vosovic, the game is in development for “next-gen” systems. We also know that the project is being headed up by Game Director Sean Miller, who was previously in charge of the team that created Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
In addition to the recently released Amazing Spider-Man game, Activision has published multiple titles based on Marvel Comics characters this generation including the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men: Destiny.
“Amazing new features” planned for next Minecraft XBLA update; Skin Pack 1 announced
Microsoft and developer 4J Studios are moving forward with the next major Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition update. There’s still word on when the 1.7.3 update will be released, but the company’s PlayXBLA blog has promised it’ll contain some “amazing new features.” The PC version’s 1.7.3 update included more clay, shears for shearing sheep, and pistons. Who knows what XBLA-specific surprises Microsoft might have up their sleeves?
Speaking of surprises, Microsoft also announced that Skin Pack 1 (yes, they’re already planning multiple Skin Packs) will be released alongside the 1.7.3 update. Players who purchase Skin Pack 1 will gain access to 40 fancy new skins and none of them will be variations of “Steve!” Instead, Skin Pack 1 will include original skins such as a Creeper Man, ‘Splosion Man, Trials Man, Covenant Grunt, and the King.
The 1.7.3 update will be free to download, but the price of Skin Pack 1 has yet to be determined.
XBLA Today: Spelunky, Bellator MMA Onslaught
Happy 4th of July everyone! Microsoft is getting patriotic with a double dose of Xbox Live Arcade updates including a game where a cartoon man explores a system of caves and a game where grizzled fighters beat the stuffing out of each other. See, both are totally patriotic!
The cave explorer Spelunky. The indie darling is now available to download from the XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15):
Spelunky is a unique platformer with randomized levels that offer a new and challenging experience each time you play! Journey deep underground and explore fantastic places filled with monsters, traps, and treasure. Fully-destructible environments open up lots of strategies and make it a blast to master the game’s many secrets.
Also available today is Bellator: MMA Onslaught, which is definitely a game where players are encouraged to beat the snot out of each other. And you too can enter the octagon for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15):
This game is based on Bellator Fighting Championships, a single elimination Mixed Martial Arts tournament. It is a first of its kind, a fast paced arcade style MMA fighting game with easy to understand controls that enable players to quickly master the clinch and ground game. Design your own fighter and compete both online or locally against other players’ creations and the best fighters Bellator has to offer to level your fighter, master MMA techniques, unlock moves, earn belts and climb to the top of the world rankings.
Penny Arcade 3 now available to download from XBLIG store
Zeboyd Games has fixed the saving bug in the Xbox Live Indie Games version of Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 and, as promised, the game is now available to download on your Xbox 360.
The game is priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and is worth every virtual penny if you love old school RPGs and/or the Penny Arcade webcomic.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3
Get your first look at the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn teaser trailer
Microsoft’s “Halo studio,” 343 Industries, is hard at work on this Fall’s Halo 4, which is the start of a brand new trilogy starring the Master Chief. But they’re also hard at work on the live-action episodic series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, which will also make its debut this Fall.
Over the weekend, Machinima unveiled the first Forward Unto Dawn teaser trailer, which you can view above.
It’s not quite a Halo movie, but I am definitely excited to learn more about Forward Unto Dawn at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, which begins on July 12.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Xbox 360
Tagged Comic-Con 2012, Halo 4, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
Pre-order CoD Black Ops II, get reimagined “Nuketown” multiplayer map
Have you pre-ordered this November’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II yet? Why not? Perhaps Activision needs to sweeten the deal…
The publisher announced today that gamers who pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops II for any platform from “participating retailers” will receive a code to download a remiagined version of “Nuketown,” a popular multiplayer map from the first Black Ops.
Now known as “Nuketown 2025,” Treyarch’s Studio Head, Mark Lamia, is thrilled about the map’s inclusion in Black Ops II: “Multiplayer fans of Call of Duty: Black Ops LOVE Nuketown. Flat out, Nuketown was a blast to play before, and we’re excited about the reimagined Nuketown 2025 in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. We can’t wait to play with everyone come this November.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 13.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Activison announces Wipeout 3… no, not that one
With the new season underway this week, Activision has announced Wipeout 3, a third game in collaboration with ABC Entertainment, upon whose obstacle course game show it will once again be based. While most gamers will associate the title with high octane futuristic racing, Activision’s Wipeout 3 will instead allow those at home to tackle the many obstacles of the hit show, including those great big red balls.
The new game will make full use of Xbox 360 Kinect and the Wii Remote’s motion controls, as players imitate flailing their arms around to keep their balance. There will also be a 3DS version, but a PS3 version using Move wasn’t announced, marking a departure from Wipeout 2.
It seems Activision and the game show’s producers are targeting the show’s audience with the release, courting the casual gaming market, highlighted by Wipeout’s creator, Matt Kunitz:
“Much of Wipeout’s success has stemmed from the fact that people of all ages enjoy the show. We want to capture that essence with Wipeout 3 so that kids, parents, and even grandparents can plunge into this easy-to-learn, zany game.”
To capture the mood of the show, the game will feature split screen modes and team modes for four players. It will differ from its previous versions by including more characters (although not fully customisable ones), as well as a new storefront where players can purchase additional items to help them overcome an obstacle. You too can challenge the big balls when Wipeout 3 is released in the Fall.