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
Netflix kills Qwikster, “still considering” game rentals
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sat down to a nice dinner of crow yesterday before composing a post on the company’s official blog that doubles as the obituary of Qwikster.
The ridiculously unpopular site split (Netflix would have been streaming-only, while Qwikster would have handled the DVD rentals) was announced just three weeks ago, but like the New Coke debacle, it has been quickly reversed. Hastings wrote in his post that, due to user demand, all DVD rentals and streaming services would stay under the Netflix name.
“This means no change: one website, one account, one passwor… in other words, no Qwikster,” he said. The July price increase will stay in place, however.
During the initial announcement, Hastings also revealed that Qwikster Netflix would be adding PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 games to its rental options. This plan appears to be on the backburner for the time beings as Steve Swasey, the Netflix Vice President of Corporate Communications, told GameSpot the company is “still considering” how to proceed with game rentals.
Qwikster may be dead, but hopefully our favorite Twitter user will keep the name alive for a good, long time.
First Hitman: Absolution gameplay trailer released
So you’re undercover as a police officer, wouldn’t you try to hide the very distinctive barcode tattoo on the back of your head? Apparently, not if you’re Agent 47.
Square Enix has released the first gameplay trailer for Hitman: Absolution, the first game in the series designed exclusively for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In the minute-long trailer, 47 is stalking a group of cops by dressing up as one of them. The publisher has promised an uncut gameplay walkthrough will be available soon at YouTube.com/hitman.
Hitman: Absolution will be available in 2012.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Hitman: Absolution
Check out CoD Modern Warfare 3’s latest single-player trailer: Redemption
I know what you’re thinking, who plays a Call of Duty game for its single-player campaign? Well, for those that do, Activision has released an awesome new trailer, titled “Redemption,” that showcases the World War III-like shenanigans of Makarov and the rest of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 cast.
Oh, and you might also want to know that the game is exactly one month away. That’s right, Modern Warfare 3 will be available in stores on November 8. But I’m going to guess that you actually knew that already.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
New Releases: Forza 4, Dead Rising 2 Off the Record, Skylanders, More
Several very different types of games will drive onto store shelves this week and Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport 4 is leading the way. Turn 10’s racing simulator is back for more and now it’s packing a bunch of Kinect-exclusive features as well.
Also available this week is Capcom’s retelling of Dead Rising 2 (from Frank West’s perspective): Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). If you ever wanted to see Mr. I’ve Covered Wars You Know as an overweight wrestler fighting zombies, now’s your chance.
Activision’s ambitious action figure/video game mashup Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure is also being released this week. The package (which touts its use of “smart toys”) is a bit pricey, but it’ll be available for the 3DS, PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.
Finally this week, we get some new air adventures in Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (PS3, Xbox 360) and some old west adventures in Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition (PS3, Xbox 360).
Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Forza Motorsport 4
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron rolls out in Fall 2012
Activision and developer High Moon Studios have announced that the war for Cybertron will continue in next Fall’s Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. The game will be receiving the Game Informer cover treatment with two different images. The first, which you can see above, features fan-favorite Grimlock alongside Optimus Prime. The second, which can be seen at GameInformer.com, features the possible death of Bumblebee. No!
Fall of Cybertron picks up right where Transformers: War For Cybertron left off and it promises to retell the “final, darkest hours of the civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons as they fight for control of their dying planet, ultimately leading to their storied exodus from home.”
“High Moon Studios is an extremely talented development team having raised the bar of gameplay and Transformers authenticity in their games,” said David Oxford, Executive Vice President at Activision Publishing. “Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is an extraordinary project both for the studio and the Transformers gaming legacy – the stakes are higher and the scale much larger than ever before, and we absolutely cannot wait for fans to see all the new characters and epic action that awaits them.”
Platforms for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron weren’t announced, but a PS3 and Xbox 360 release seems likely.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Gears of War 3 Review: An Epic and Enjoyably Violent Conclusion
Awesome. That’s all you need to know about Gears of War 3, the final chapter of the groundbreaking, chainsaw-loving trilogy. This is not to say Epic Games won’t make more – after all, they’ve sold over three million copies in the first week, so it’s pretty much a no-brainer that the franchise will continue. Rather, it is only Marcus Fenix’s story that has come to a close – and wow, what an epic, thrilling, and enjoyably violent conclusion it is. (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Gears of War 3
XBLA Today: Crysis, NBA Jam, Orcs Must Die!, Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sega Bass Fishing
Yesterday’s PlayStation Store update was chock full of big new releases and today’s Xbox Live Arcade update is nearly as large.
Leading things off again is the en fuego NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. The downloadable basketball game has been priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), the same price as the XBLA-exclusive Orcs Must Die!, a tower defense game from Robot Entertainment.
Also available this week are a pair of Dreamcast ports for 800 Microsoft Points ($10) each: the self-explanatory Sega Bass Fishing and the rhythmic button-pressing of Space Channel 5: Part 2. Ooh-la-la!
Also available this week is the XBLA version of Crysis, which has officially been cataloged in the Games on Demand section of the XBL Marketplace. You can get your graphically-intensive alien invasion on for a price of $19.99.
More details on all of this week’s new releases can be found at Major Nelson’s blog.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Crysis, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, Orcs Must Die!
Driver: San Francisco Review: Playing Mind Games
It would be very easy to dismiss Driver: San Francisco as yet another failed attempt to revive a franchise that really hasn’t meant much to gaming since the days of the original PlayStation. Some might even say that making a new Driver game is a complete waste of time and resources, considering how tarnished the brand is. However, doing so might actually be a disservice to anyone who’s a fan of unique, open world driving games. If anything, Driver: SF does something that very few games do in the year 2011… it actually wants to be a video game. (more…)