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
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: Xbox 360
IO Interactive apologizes for Hitman: Absolution’s “Assassin Nuns” trailer
My question is, apologize to who?
Hitman: Absolution Game Director Tore Blystad spoke to IGN during this week’s E3 Expo and the subject of the “Attack of the Saints” trailer naturally came up. It’s true, Blystad did apologize, but it was the kind of non-apology apology that the public usually finds infuriating. However, in this case, I think it was the right thing to say.
“We’re sorry that we offended people – that was truly not the intention of the trailer,” Blystad said.
Of course that wasn’t the intention of the trailer. Yes, they were nuns. And yes, they were wearing stripper heels and leather bodysuits underneath their habits. I can understand how that could offend someone. But the fact that the discussion looped around to “IO hates women,” when the scene is clearly aping imagery Quentin Tarantino has been putting in his films for decades was just bizarre. Blystad even says as much later in the interview:
“The Hitman games as a series has always been extreme in many ways. The religious themes have been there from the very beginning, along with outlandish party scenes. And there are a lot of movie influences in Hitman: Absolution, like Tarantino and Rodriguez. The grindhouse theme is something that we’re using throughout the game. It tends more towards sixties exploitation movies – these were a fascination [for us] because they were so extreme.”
Hitman: Absolution will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 20.
In case you missed it, this is Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs
Did Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs steal E3 2012? Depending on who you talk to, yes, yes it did. The PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 game currently doesn’t have a release date, but it does offer an interesting hook for an open world game: A hero who does more damage with his hacking skills than with a gun.
But he definitely also knows how to handle a machine gun, as you can see in the extended gameplay demo above. Want more Watch Dogs? Hit the jump to view the game’s rather stylish announcement trailer. (more…)
New Releases: Lollipop Chainsaw, Gravity Rush, Dirt Showdown, More
I’m sure E3 week has left you ready for all the games coming out this Fall (and beyond), but don’t forget, we’ve got a whole Summer of new releases ahead of us!
New releases like Suda 51’s crazy cheerleader/zombie/rock and roll mash-up, Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, Xbox 360).
Also available this week is Sony’s stylish action platformer, Gravity Rush (Vita); Codemasters’ offroad racer, Dirt Showdown (PS3, Xbox 360); and the Vita version of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.
And there’s a few more new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged DiRT Showdown, Gravity Rush, Lollipop Chainsaw, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
Resident Evil 6 special editions to include classic game downloads
A week ago, id Software announced their excellent Doom 3 package for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Not only would the game include an updated version of the third Doom game, but it would also include the first two games in the series as well. But I think Capcom just trumped them.
The publisher has just announced the Resident Evil 6: Anthology Edition and the Resident Evil 6: Archives Edition. What do these special editions include? Just digital downloads of nearly every other Resident Evil game.
The Anthology Edition is exclusive to the PS3 and will include downloadable copies of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 4 HD, and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.
The Archives Edition is, you guessed it, exclusive to the Xbox 360 and it’ll include a slightly different collection of downloads: Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD, Resident Evil 4 HD, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, and the Resident Evil: Degeneration movie.
Resident Evil 6: Anthology Edition and Resident Evil 6: Archives Edition will be available in stores on October 2 for $89.99 each.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Activision working on Angry Birds for consoles
For the few people who have not played Angry Birds in one of its many iterations on their phone, PC or tablet, never fear, Activision will be bringing an HD version of the game to “consoles” (which consoles, or when, went unmentioned).
For some reason, this irks me. Despite loving the Angry Birds franchise, especially the Super Mario Galaxy-inspired Angry Birds Space, I like it fine on my phone. It is perfect for a touch screen, and would perhaps work well on the Wii U GamePad, but I cannot see anyone who owns a smartphone opting to pay more money for a console version that has a poorer control interface than the one originally designed for that type of game.
Perhaps my cynicism is ill-founded, and this is a brand new game that will make full use of a standard game controller. The company best known for the Call of Duty franchise will be revealing more details in the coming weeks.
[Source: Game Informer]
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Angry Birds, E3 2012
Halo 4 live-action trailer introduces an ancient enemy
While perhaps not as artistic as previous Halo trailers, Microsoft and 343 Industries revealed their live-action trailer for Halo 4, “The Commissioning,” at this year’s E3 Expo. Featuring a combat deck that looks identical to the one from Battlestar Galactica, as well as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her sexy bald chick, it ultimately shows what a live action Halo movie could be.
The trailer shows the commissioning of the UNSC Infinity, which we are told during a less-than-rousing speech has been retooled for exploration after the war, coming under attack by what the trailer dubs an ancient enemy.
The E3 gameplay demo showed Master Chief and Cortana battling The Covenant as well as this new enemy, a synthetic race believed to be older than the Forerunners themselves. And it appears 343 Industries is living up to their promise of moving the Halo franchise away from being a straight shooter to something that involves more mystery and exploration elements.
The Avengers: Battle For Earth trailer hulks its way online
With the 2012 E3 Expo over, the arguments over which of the Big Three “won” E3 have just begun. But no one can deny that from all the developers, it was Ubisoft who stole the show with the likes of Assassin’s Creed III and the surprising ZombiU for Nintendo’s new console. However, the company also showed a trailer for its upcoming Marvel Comics title, The Avengers: Battle For Earth.
The ambitious title is a beat ‘em up utilizing motion controls, and is being designed to be played with either the Wii U or the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor. There will be initially be twenty playable characters, which will not be limited to those who appear in the film, as the game is instead based on Marvel’s 2008 comic book event Secret Invasion, which saw the shape-shifting Skrulls infiltrating superhero teams from the entire Marvel universe. While Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of that story arc, is not involved, the great and often hilarious Peter David, writer of the Multiple-Man led “X-Factor” comic, is working with Ubisoft on the storyline.
Since it is not attached to the movie, fan favourites such as Spider-Man and Wolverine will be involved in the action. My fingers are crossed that Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth known as Deadpool, will make a wise-cracking appearance. While the full roster has still to be revealed, the E3 demo showed off the ability to tag up to two other players in, allowing the initial character to regenerate some health.
It is not known how the Wii U version will differ from the Xbox 360 game, or how it will utilize the new Wii U GamePad, but it’ll be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, The Avengers: Battle For Earth
Film actors join Star Trek game, battle lizard aliens The Gorn
Paramount Pictures, along with video game publisher Namco Bandai and developer Digital Extremes have revealed the enemy of their much anticipated game based on the rebooted universe of the new Star Trek films: the lethal, lizard-like species known as The Gorn. The alien race, originally designed by artist and prop designer Wah Chang, first appeared in the famous “Arena” episode of The Original Series. Although they have made subsequent appearances, including a laughable CGI version in the last TV iteration, Star Trek: Enterprise, they are seen as an iconic villain, especially for Captain Kirk, by those working on the game.
While perhaps not as famous as the Klingons, who J.J. Abrams has confirmed will be the antagonists of the sequel film, The Gorn are every bit as battle-thirsty. The game will see several distinct types of Gorn, from infantry Rushers to hardened Brutes, while the females of the species will be more cunning, able to climb walls with stealth.Carlson Choi, VP of Marketing at Namco Bandai Games America, sees The Gorn as the perfect villain for this new title:
“Great villains give our favorite characters a chance to become heroes in the process of attempting to eliminate a powerful threat, and Star Trek fans have been eagerly anticipating the moment when the antagonists of the game would be revealed. This is one of those moments and we couldn’t be more excited to give gamers a glimpse at the challenges that lie ahead for Kirk and Spock.”
Speaking of the infamous Starfleet Captain and his pointy-eared second-in-command, it had previously been revealed that the likenesses of actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto would be incorporated into the game, but now it has been confirmed that the actors will also lend their voices as well. Pine and Quinto will be joined in the game by the entire crew of the Enterprise: Zoe Saldana (Lieutenant Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (Dr. Bones McCoy), John Cho (Mr. Sulu) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov). They will all be bringing their vocal talents to the game’s script, which was written by Marianne Krawczyk (God of War), with input from the films’ writers and producers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
Set your phasers to stun and be prepared to beam me up in early 2013 on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360!