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
Harry Potter casts a spell on Kinect this Fall
“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”
Marty McFly’s wise words from the finale of Back to the Future could easily apply to the latest crop of Kinect titles. Just look at Kinect Star Wars. Kids can’t get enough of the Han Solo dancing and the Rancor stomping, but adult just shake their heads in disbelief. The same thing will likely happen this Fall when Harry Potter For Kinect (presumably a working title) is released exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Warner Bros. Interactive Enterainment.
Developed by Eurocom and based on the movie series, players will be able to fly a broomstick in a Quidditch match, duel other wizards, and battle Voldemort He Who Must Not Be Named with physical spellcasting maneuvers and the ability to call out spell names.
Harry Potter For Kinect will include a ton of playable characters such as Harry himself, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Dumbledore. Players can also use the Kinect facial scanning feature to add themselves to the story. A series of “competitive mini-games” and co-op gameplay rounds out the features available in Harry Potter For Kinect.
Oh yeah, your kids are gonna love it.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Harry Potter For Kinect
BioWare bringing Rebellion multiplayer pack to Mass Effect 3 next week
It’s not the extended ending (yet), but BioWare will push out another free downloadable content pack to Mass Effect 3 players next week.
The “Rebellion Pack” will be available to download for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on May 29. Like the “Resurgence Pack” before it, this pack will include a ton of new content for Mass Effect’s multiplayer mode:
Two New Action-Packed Maps – Land on Firebase Jade, located in a Salarian STG base on Sur’Kesh and fight to control Firebase Goddess on the Asari homeworld of Thessia.
Six Powerful New Unlockable Characters – Level and promote six new unlockable characters, including the ex-Cerberus Adept and Vanguard, the Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel or the Male Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator.
New In-Mission Objective – Randomly occurring during waves 3, 6 and 10, this new objective will demand that teams retrieve a high priority package and securely escort it to a designated extraction zone on each map.
New Gear Slot – A new slot will be available on the equipment screen, offering players a persistent gameplay bonus that will not expire after the end of a match. These new items will vary from weapon upgrades to character enhancements and will be available through reinforcement packs.
Lethal New Weapons – Eliminate the enemy with deadly new weapons, including the Cerberus Harrier, Krysae Sniper Rifle, and Reegar Carbine.
A trio of “Rebellion Pack” screenshots can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mass Effect 3
Ubisoft reveals E3 2012 lineup
Today, Ubisoft announced that it will start its E3 2012 festivities with an invitation-only press conference at 3 PM (Pacific Time) on June 4th, but you shouldn’t feel left out; those unable to attend E3 can watch the press conference live on YouTube, and get bonus backstage videos and free content on Uplay, Ubisoft’s online community site dedicated to enhancing player experience.
The press conference will feature Ubisoft’s upcoming lineup (including their Wii U plans), special guests and some surprise announcements. In a first, Ubisoft will be inviting gamers to ask questions of its development teams on Uplay, and will broadcast the best questions live during the conference.
Games available to be played at Ubisoft’s booth will include Assassin’s Creed III, Far Cry 3, Rayman Legends, and Rocksmith. The finale of a ShootMania: Storm marathon tournament will be broadcast from the booth at 11 AM (Pacific Time) on June 6.
For more information on Ubisoft’s lineup at E3, check out their Facebook page, or bookmark their YouTube site to watch the press conference on June 4th!
See Tim Tebow “Tebowing” in Madden NFL 13
Posted without comment… EA Sports has released a screenshot from Madden NFL 13 of Tim Tebow dropping to one knee in the end zone celebration commonly known as “Tebowing.”
Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Box Set will hadoken your wallet
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Street Fighter series and Capcom plans to celebrate in style. And if you’ve got $149.99 lying around, you can celebrate too, because that’s the cost of entry to obtain the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Set. Naturally, you have your choice of platform: PS3 or Xbox 360.
Set for release on September 18, the Anniversary Set will be packed in a stylish box which includes all four Street Fighter games released this generation: Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Street Fighter X Tekken, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition.
Whichever format you choose, the box will also include a massive collection of bonus materials:
- Exclusive Video – The two-disc Blu-Ray set includes a documentary that highlights the profound influence the franchise has had on fans – and vice versa – throughout the years. The collection of videos also includes Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV anime movies as well as all episodes of the “Street Fighter” animated series and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
- Light-up Ryu Statue – A specially commissioned and highly-detailed collectable Ryu statue stands prominently at 8” tall and features the iconic character in mid-Shoryuken, with flames lit from below.
- 11-Disc Soundtrack – Street Fighter game music spanning the past 25 years, in addition to remixes and fan-created music inspired by past Street Fighter games.
- 64-page Hardcover Art Book – A tribute to Street Fighter game fans from all over the world, the art book includes fan pieces submitted by professional and aspiring artists alike.
- Ryu’s Belt – Created to regulation specs, the full-size martial arts black belt is a replica of the one Ryu wears and even includes his classic “Fūrinkazan” in kanji!
- Certificate of Authenticity – Each Collector’s Set comes individually numbered complete with a certificate of authenticity.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken
XBLA Today: Joy Ride Turbo, Monster World Collection, Alex Kidd & Co.
Microsoft has added a trio of new games to the Xbox Live Arcade today, or depending on how you look at it, seven new games.
This week’s featured released is the Kinect-less Joy Ride Turbo. This racer for the whole family can now be played with a controller and can be downloaded for 800 Microsoft Points ($10):
From the Kinect Joy Ride creators comes Joy Ride Turbo, a controller-based arcade racer delivering precision handling and crazy stunts with more thrills, speed, & mayhem! In the new Stunt Park, you’re free to show off! There’s no limit to the whacky tour de force you achieve with friends. It’s a vibrant playground for your car – jump off cliffs, shoot from a cannon, & more. Plus, explore and find collectibles that unlock cars – giving you an edge for faster races and death-defying tricks. Race new tracks, old favorites and 3 modes of play: Battle Race, Pro Race & Time Trial. Challenge family & friends to local 4-player split-screen or race up to 8 on Xbox Live. With Joy Ride Turbo, everyone’s in the driver’s seat in this madcap kart racer.
Also available this week, for 800 Microsoft Points apiece ($10), are a pair of classic game collections from Sega.
The Monster World Collection includes Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and for the first time outside of Japan, Monster World IV. Then there’s the less-thematically similar Alex Kidd & Co. Collection, which includes Alex Kidd in Wonder Land, Super Hang-On, and The Revenge of Shinobi.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Alex Kidd & Co. Collection, Monster World Collection
Microsoft to give refunds to gamers who can’t play Minecraft multiplayer
It’s often that we hear about a huge corporation messing it up for the little consumers like us, but in light of the recent Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition splitscreen debacle, it seems that the big, bad Microsoft is playing nice.
For those of you who don’t know, the splitscreen feature for Minecraft is only available if you have an HDTV. If you have a standard def set, you’re out of luck. The problem was that on XBLA, these requirements were never stated and many of the customers thought they were getting the whole game when, sadly, they weren’t able to enjoy one the best features of playing Minecraft on the Xbox 360. Thankfully, the requirements for splitscreen play have finally been added to the game’s Xbox.com listing and wronged customers are being sorted out in a well-oiled manner.
If you’re one of these disgruntled customers with a standard def set, you can contact Microsoft customer service and receive a refund if you purchased the game before the newly stated requirements went up over the weekend.
It could have been much worse. Microsoft could have told customers to build their own HDTV in Minecraft so that they could play split screen Minecraft in Minecraft. Then together you could each make your own HDTV’s to play Minecraft within Minecraft within Minecraft. Then even Christopher Nolan would be confused.
[Source: Kotaku]
Take Two hints at early 2013 release for Grand Theft Auto V… maybe
Take Two Interactive held their quarterly financial call today, but first they laid out their release calendar for the rest of 2012 and into 2013.
The calendar includes plenty of dates we already know… Spec Ops: The Line in June, Borderlands 2 in September 18, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown in October. We also got confirmation that NBA 2K13 will be shipping to stores this October, but that’s not exactly a surprise.
It also wasn’t a surprise that Grand Theft Auto V was included on the list with a “TBA” release date. What was surprising was that the game’s spot on the list was nestled between the February 26, 2013 release of BioShock Infinite and the “2014 Fiscal Year” (4/1/2013-3/31/2014) release of XCOM.
So it’s a stretch, but there’s a real possibility the listing was a subtle hint to an early 2013 release for the fifth GTA. This actually lines up nicely with Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick’s earlier statement that the publisher will have a very profitable fiscal year.
You can see Take Two’s complete 2012-2013 release calendar after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K13