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 One
Voodoo Vince Remastered will be released for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on April 18
Even though gamers immediately embraced Halo: Combat Evolved, the Xbox struggled to find an identity in the early 2000s. Microsoft released a mish-mash of titles for their first console over the years, and even tried to challenge Mario with several different mascot platformers. None of them stuck the landing, but oddities like Blinx: The Time Sweeper and Grabbed By the Ghoulies still have fans today.
Voodoo Vince was also part of this fraternity, and Microsoft announced today they’re going to re-release the puzzle platformer for the Xbox One and Windows 10 on April 18 as Voodoo Vince Remastered. Originally developed by Beep Industries, Voodoo Vince’s 2003 debut was a quirky adventure that took the title character through the “magical underbelly of New Orleans.” You can reacquaint yourself with the wisecracking voodoo doll in the Announcement Trailer embedded above.
Voodoo Vince Remastered will receive a full graphical makeover, running in 60 FPS at 1080p resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio. The game will also include an updated soundtrack from original composer Steve Kirk, as well as Xbox Play Anywhere support.
If you can’t wait until April, Voodoo Vince Remastered will be available for fans to try out at this weekend’s PAX East convention in the ID@Xbox booth.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2017, Voodoo Vince
New Retail Releases: Nier Automata, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Lego Worlds, More
It’s official… Nintendo’s Switch definitely sparked a stampede on retail stores last week. There’s nothing quite so dramatic happening in this week’s New Retail Releases report, but we do hry a new action RPG from Square Enix/Platinum, a new shooter from Ubisoft, an open-world Lego game, and the latest RPG in Koei Tecmo’s Atelier series.
Square Enix and Platinum Games named up for Nier: Automata, a followup to 2010’s Nier. Available exclusively for the PS4, the action RPG follows a team of Androids who’ve been sent to Earth to repel an alien invasion.
Also set to be released this week is Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players will join a team of Ghosts that are waging war against the Santa Blanca drug cartel. Promising players that “[they] decide how to play” and “every decision affects the world around you,” Ghost Recon: Wildlands promises to be a unique new entry in the universe of open-world shooters.
WB’s Lego Worlds is a tad more family-friendly, but it too offers a wide-open world for players to explore on the PS4 and Xbox One. Taking a cue from Minecraft, Lego Worlds features a prodcedurally-generated game world that’s made up entirely of Lego Bricks. Players can build unique creations brick-by-brick, but those with bigger visions will be able to drop in pre-built models to remake the entire landscape.
Finally this week, Koei Tecmo and Gust will release Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey for the PS4. The RPG is the 18th entry in the long-running Atelier series and serves as a direct followup to last year’s Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book.
That’s all for now, but we’ll be back throughout the week with a look at all the latest additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Lego Worlds, Nier: Automata, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
THQ Nordic is bringing De Blob, Sine Mora EX, SpellForce 3, and more to PAX East 2017
THQ Nordic has announced plans to bring seven games to this year’s PAX East convention, including a newly-announced re-release of De Blob. The ultra-colorful puzzle platformer originally debuted on the Wii in 2008, and it’ll get a second life on the PC (via Steam) this Spring after its available to download on April 27.
Joining De Blob in THQ Nordic’s booth (#20037) will be Sine Mora EX, an enhanced re-release of the horizontally-scrolling shooter. Set to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this Summer, THQ Nordic will bring a special High Score Challenge demo to PAX East for fans to try out. If you’re in Boston for the big show, the publisher will also be demoing a trio of RPGs on the show floor… the post-apocalyptic ELEX, the retro-inspired Battle Chasers: Nightwar, and RTS/RPG hybrid SpellForce 3.
Finally, THQ Nordic will have Weappy Studio’s This is the Police and the RTS Lock’s Quest on display.
PAX East is scheduled to begin on March 10, and you can learn more about the games that THQ Nordic is bringing to the show after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battle Chasers: Nightwar, De Blob, ELEX, PAX East 2017, Sine Mora, SpellForce 3
Sleeping Dogs lives on with a film adaptation starring Donnie Yen
Remember Sleeping Dogs? Sure you do… it’s that game that spent years in development hell. You know, the one that initially started off as the third installment in the short-lived True Crime franchise. It was that game that eventually got picked up by Square Enix and turned out to be one of the most amazing games of 2012. Well, apparently I’m not the only one who loved Sleeping Dogs, because Neil Mortiz of Fast and the Furious fame has opted to produce a movie based on the game.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, or have simply, for whatever reason, chosen to avoid playing Sleeping Dogs, here’s the rundown. Sleeping Dogs was a game released in August 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. And it was later ported to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as one of the first Definitive Editions for the current generation of consoles.
The game centers around protagonist Wei Shen (played by Will Yun Lee), a Chinese-American cop who goes undercover for the Hong Kong Police Department to take down the local Triad organization. Shen finds his loyalties tested as he’s reunited with old friends and finds himself deeper drawn into the Triad underworld.
A free-to-play spinoff known as Triad Wars was scheduled to be release in 2015, however, it was canceled by developer United Front Games, which has since closed down. Square Enix retains the rights to Sleeping Dogs, but as far as the future of the franchise is concerned, the publisher has kept silent since the release of the Definitive Edition.
According to Deadline, the Sleeping Dogs movie will star Donnie Yen, a rather famous actor and martial artist in his native China. If you’re not familiar with Yen’s name, you certainly know some of his recent roles. The actor began to break into Hollywood features this year, and had memorable appearances in both Rogue One: Star Wars Story and XXX: The Return of Xander Cage.
Yen is an excellent choice for the lead, especially given the heavy use of hand-to-hand and martial arts combat featured throughout the game. And here’s hoping that an international interest in the upcoming Sleeping Dogs movie will generate a renewed enthusiasm for the game, perhaps compelling Square Enix to start working on a much-desired sequel.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero update will add Hard Core Mode, PS TV support, more on March 6
XSEED Games has announced that Shante: Half-Genie Hero will be receiving its first update on March 6, 2017. Update 1.01 focuses mostly on fixing bugs and adding PlayStation TV support for the PlayStation Vita version of the game.
But Update 1.01 also offers a host of other changes, most notably among them being Hard Core Mode. Hard Core Mode offers harder hitting enemies, faster scroll speeds, faster enemy patterns, rebalanced magic items, remixed enemy locations, additional enemy locations, new boss stats and patterns, and limited use of healing items.
Matt Bozon, the Creative Director at WayForward and Creator of the Shantae series, wants everyone to play nice with Half-Genie Hero’s first big update:
“Thank you for your ongoing support, and for waiting patiently while we continue production of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. And also thanks to everyone on Twitch, YouTube, and other social media for helping us make the game even better with this update. We hope you’ll enjoy Hard Core Mode while you wait for the bigger DLC packs to arrive. Remember, no throwing controllers, and please keep your hair-whipping in the game where it belongs!”
WayForward has been collecting a list of Half-Genie Hero’s “known issues” on their official forums, so hopefully that means the developer has found solutions for some of the peskier bugs, such as audio corruption and save file issues.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is rated T For Teen and is currently available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, Wii U, and Xbox One.
Overwatch is “Game of the Year” at the 2017 GDC Awards
Overwatch continues to rack up year-end awards for Blizzard Entertainment, and it picked up two more statuettes last night during the Game Developers Choice Awards. After more than a month of deliberations, the GDC committee choose to bestow “Game of the Year” status on the team-based shooter, as well as “Best Design” for its colorful world.
Two other games collected multiple awards at last night’s GDC Awards. Playdead’s platformer, Inside, earned “Best Audio” and “Best Visual Art.” And later in the night, Campo Santo’s Firewatch was selected as “Best Debut” and its story was honored with “Best Narrative.”
“This year’s amazing slate of winners is a testament to the diversity of experiences in games,” said Meggan Scavio, General Manager of the Game Developers Conference.
Scavio added: “Pokemon Go [“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”] took gaming outdoors using AR, while Job Simulator [“Best VR/AR Game”] showed how lo-fi aesthetics could meet cutting edge tech for a winning VR experience. Overwatch once again proved Blizzard’s uncanny ability to make a perfectly balanced multiplayer game, and Inside delved deep into our dark psyches to unearth our scariest nightmares. These nominees speak to the strength of games as a medium, but also show the various textures and possible creative outlets that interactive entertainment can provide. Congrats to all of the winners and nominees for following their visions and thanks to all developers who strive to make amazing games for us day in and day out.”
The full list of winners from the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 1, Firewatch, GDC 2017, Inside, No Man's Sky, Overwatch, Pokemon Go, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Quadrilateral Cowboy won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2017 IGF Awards
Quadrilateral Cowboy, Blendo’s hacking-based heist game, took home the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” last night during the 2017 Independent Games Festival Awards. Its 1980s-inspired world also helped Quadrilateral Cowboy capture the “Excellence in Design” category.
The other big winner last night was Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, which was also the recipient of two statuettes. The action RPG’s glitchy 16-bit graphics were rewarded with a win in the “Excellence In Visual Art” category, and its mass appeal ensured an “Audience Award” victory.
The Independent Games Festival Awards are awarded annually in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference, and you can view a replay of the entire ceremony through the GDC’s Twitch channel.
But if you’re in a hurry, a list of all the winners can be found after the break. (more…)