Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: Xbox 360
L.A. Noire becomes first game selected for Tribeca Film Festival
L.A. Noire, Team Bondi’s upcoming take on the hardboiled detective story, has become the first video game ever to be honored as an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival.
“We’re thrilled that L.A. Noire is being recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival in this way,” said Sam Houser, Founder of the game’s publisher Rockstar Games. “It’s a real honor, and another step forward for interactive entertainment.”
Publisher Rockstar Games will present an exclusive preview of L.A. Noire as part of the Tribeca Talks series. The presentation will take place on April 25 and feature a live interactive screening of a case from L.A. Noire, followed by a Q&A exploring the crossover between filmmaking and “interactive entertainment.”
Geoff Gilmore, Tribeca Enterprises’ Chief Creative Officer was extremely impressed with how L.A. Noire has been coming together: “What Rockstar and Team Bondi have accomplished with L.A. Noire is nothing less than groundbreaking. It’s an invention of a new realm of storytelling that is part cinema, part gaming, and a whole new realm of narrative expression, interactivity, and immersion. We are poised on the edge of a new frontier.”
L.A. Noire will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 17.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged L.A. Noire
Bethesda bringing Rage to bookstores in novel tie-in
Bethesda Softworks and Del Rey have announced they’ll be teaming up to produce a tie-in novel based on id Software’s Rage.
The novel, which will also be called Rage, will be written by Matt Costello. Costello has some experience working with id Software. Not only did he write the game, but he also previously adapted two novels based on Doom 3 (Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom).
The novel will feature a similar story to the game in that a lone human emerges from an Ark and finds the Mad Max-like world on the outside:
When Lt. Nick Raine emerges from his Ark, he finds the human race has not been wiped out. And people, as resilient as they are, are scraping together a new world from the rubble of the old. This was not what anyone in the Arks expected–a new society where might is right, mutants plague the Earth, and “friend” is a term for the person who hasn’t stabbed you in the back.
The novel is scheduled for release on August 30 and will appear alongside a Dark Horse-published prequel comic book series. So there’s plenty of Rage tie-in stories to go around.
Crysis 2 Review: Not All It’s Cried Up to Be
“Can it run Crysis?” For years, this question was the hallmark of determining the mettle of a PC’s prospects as a gaming machine and the bar was so high that the Xbox 360 and even the PlayStation 3 were said to be incapable of running it. Looking to broaden their audience (and possibly clients who license game engines), Crytek unveiled the CryEngine 3, the escort that would bring Crysis to consoles. It’s actually been done; Crysis 2 runs and runs well, but despite its astounding emphasis on visuals, the game fails to stack up well against the FPS heavy hitters of today. (more…)
F1 2011 races to stores in September; coming to 3DS, NGP
Fans of the Formula 1 breed of motor sport can rest easy knowing that F1 2011 has narrowed its release date down to this September. Developed by Codemasters Birmingham, this comprehensive sim features every racer, team, and circuit from the 2011 Fia Formula One World Championship. The game is currently slated for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, but Codemasters also confirmed the game is in development for the Nintendo 3DS and Sony’s Next Generation Portable (NGP/PSP2). These versions may be more than gimped ports, as each will “take advantage of the new platforms’ unique capabilities.” No official date for the handhelds has been confirmed.
You can get a chance to preview the game early by uploading a video on YouTube asking a question for the development team. Tubers submitting the best questions, as judged by the team, will be invited out to Birmingham in May to check out the game and be taped for a developer diary. Sounds like a pretty great opportunity.
Capcom officially announces Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
After being outed last week by Official Xbox Magazine, Capcom has confirmed that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is in development for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 by Slant Six.
Sensing the grumbling of fans that believe the series is straying too much from its roots, Capcom is returning to September 1998 and the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3. For the first time, players will play through the entire game as Umbrella operatives attempting to cover-up the T-Virus outbreak (while also battlnig zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons like Nemesis):
It is September 1998 and the action centres once more on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak from the Umbrella facility. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover any evidence that exposes the cause of the viral infection and Umbrella’s actions. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Services soldier (U.S.S.), competing alone or in four player co-op in a battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City.
Operation Raccoon City will feature a variety of callbacks to the earlier games in the series including the Police Station and an appearance by Leon Kennedy (who has to be assassinated in one mission). The game will also include several competitive multiplayer modes pitting the Umbrella Security Services against a United States Special Ops team.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is scheduled for release this Winter.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Leaked Mortal Kombat roster features Robo Sub-Zero, Human Smoke, Sheeva
A NeoGAF user has posted a screenshot of the character selection screen from Mortal Kombat.
While most of the kombatants have already been announced by NetherRealm Studios, there are a few new names to add to the game’s roster. The most surprising addition is the only original character in the game, Robo Sub-Zero (he occupies the Hidden/DLC slot, so he won’t be immediately selectable). He is joined by the previously unannounced Sheeva and Human Smoke (who is sporting Gary Oldman’s awesome hairdo from Bram Stoker’s Dracula). If this selection screen is real, it means that all 25 characters from the first three Mortal Kombat games (and Quan-Chi) will be available in the MK reboot. Lending further credence to its believability is the fact that Ed Boon has always said that this rehistory of Mortal Kombat might include a new cyborg character.
Hit the jump for a full rundown of every character in Mortal Kombat, which releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 19. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat
Confirmed: Kintaro, Kenshi, “Lady in Red” planned as Mortal Kombat DLC
UPDATE: NetherRealm Studios has confirmed to CVG that Kintaro, Kenshi and Scarlet, AKA the “Lady in Red,” will be the first three DLC characters.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: A purported scan from the May issue of GamePro is said to show the first three downloadable characters for Mortal Kombat.
The one-page image shows Kintaro, the four-armed Shokan boss from Mortal Kombat II; Kenshi, the blind swordsman first seen in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance; and “Lady in Red,” a mysterious new character that may or may not be new brand to the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Several red ninjas have made appearances in the Mortal Kombat universe universe. “Skarlet” was the fan name for a glitch that would change Mileena or Kitana’s costumes to red in Mortal Kombat. While “Ruby” fought alongside Ermac in an episode of the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. There’s also Sareena, a female ninja who bares a strong resemblence to the “Lady in Red” that first appeared as a minor character in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
Ed Boon has previously discussed who he’d like to see as DLC characters for Mortal Kombat and Kenshi was on the original list. So hopefully we’ll find out if this rumor is the real deal or just another “Hornbuckle” soon.
[Source: Hadoken.net]
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat
New Releases: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, 3rd Birthday, WWE All-Stars, More
While the impending release of the 3DS still dominates the coming soon lists, there will be plenty of new games available when the calendar skips to the week ahead.
Fresh off Tiger Woods’ victory on Morning Drive, his namesake game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, will be available in stores this week for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. It’ll be joined by Square Enix’s long-awaited PSP sequel to Parasite Eve, The 3rd Birthday.
More sports action dominates this week’s new releases including the arcade wrestling title WWE All-Stars (PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS2!) as well as a pair of racing games: Shift 2: Unleashed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and NASCAR 2011 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
Finally, everyone’s favorite hack and slash series returns for another round of ancient Chinese warfare. I refer, of course, to Koei’s Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3, Xbox 360).
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged NASCAR 2011: The Game, Shift 2: Unleashed, The 3rd Birthday, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, WWE All-Stars