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
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards
After racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.
While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”
Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.
Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.
While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.
A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Just Cause 3, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, more
Just like this week’s PlayStation Store update, Ubisoft and Square Enix are sitting at the top of the Xbox Games Store update with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege and Just Cause 3.
Ubisoft counter-terrorism shooter for the Xbox One is the first new entry in the series in seven years and promises a new 5v5 “Fortify Versus Defend” mechanic that focuses on environmental destruction (or protection if you’re the defending team). And speaking of destruction, Just Cause 3 will let players tear it up on the Xbox One as players will once again step into Rico Rodriguez’s wingsuit as he flings himself off cliffs in search of another dictator on another island paradise. Don’t forget your grapple gun!
Also available this week is The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, a Diablo-like action RPG that stars the famed vampire hunter. But you’ll have to fight more than a few bloodsuckers as mad science run amok “threatens the fragile peace between monster and mortal.” If that sounds like your kind of thing, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is available as a free download all month as part of Microsoft’s Games With Gold program.
More information on all three of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Just Cause 3, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
Rive pushed back to 2016 by Two Tribes
Netherlands-based Two Tribes has announced that their side-scrolling shooter, Rive, will miss its planned 2015 release date. Instead, the game will launch sometime in 2016 for the PC, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One. Designer Collin Van Ginkel gave a very direct explanation for the delay on the company’s website: “The reason why we’re moving it to 2016 is simple… we’re not done yet.”
Ginkel added:
Since moving to a three man team early last year we had to rediscover how to handle things with less man-power. This means a lot of tasks have to be handled sequentially, instead of spread throughout the team. If we need a new trailer, the level designs stall for two weeks. If we decide to attend PAX or EGX with a booth, the entire project is paused for several weeks. It’s frustrating, especially since it means we can’t let you play the final game yet, but it’s our current reality and we are adamant to make Rive the absolute best game we’ve ever created.
Two Tribes has also released a trio of new screenshots for Rive. You can find them at their website.
SteamWorld Heist will be released for 3DS on December 10; Other platforms to follow in 2016
Image & Form has announced that SteamWorld Heist, their turn-based space adventure starring sentient robots, will be released for the 3DS on December 10. SteamWorld Heist will be regularly priced at $19.99, but Image & Form is slashing the price by $3 (to $16.99) for its first three weeks of availability. The developer also revealed that a brand new trailer for the game will be available just ahead of the launch date, on December 8.
SteamWorld Heist will also be released for the PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, and mobile devices sometime in 2016.
Beck, Cold War Kids, X Ambassadors, more go “Off the Charts” in today’s Rock Band 4 update
Harmonix is scouring the Alternative Rock chart for today’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update. New songs from Beck, Cold War Kids, X Ambassadors, Borns, and Catfish and The Bottlemen are all now available to download from the Rock Band Music Store:
- Beck – “Dreams”
- Borns – “Electric Love”
- Catfish and The Bottlemen – “Cocoon”
- Cold War Kids – “First”
- X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
These songs can be acquired for $1.99 apiece or bundled together for $8.49 as part of the Off the Charts 01 Pack. A video preview of all five tracks has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
This Mighty No. 9 “Features Trailer” is mighty retro
Because Mighty No. 9 is developer Keiji Inafune’s loving homage to the Mega Man series, it features many hallmarks of the wildly popular franchise. You want a side-scrolling platformer? You got it. You want a robotic main character who can absorb abilities from enemy robots? Yup, that’s here too. So it should come as no surprise that the announcer in this “Features Trailer” is bombastic and a little ridiculous… just like he would have been in the carefree 90s.
So learn a little more about Mighty No. 9’s Boss Rush Mode, Challenge Mode, Online Challenge Mode (Competitive and Co-Op), and One-Hit Death Maniac Mode, and get yourself ready for the game’s release on February 9, 2016.
Ubisoft goes Shakespearean with the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege launch trailer
Entertainment Weekly described Tom Clancy’s prose as “tortured” when the magazine reviewed Rainbox Six in 1998. Ubisoft settled on a considerably more acclaimed writer of words when looking for the perfect narration for the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege launch trailer.
William Shakespeare’s “Once more unto the breach” passage from Henry V (with narration by Idris Elba) is used to illustrate the game’s “Infiltrate Versus Fortify” style and background music from Handel’s “Sarabande” gives the special forces/terrorist skirmishes a nice Die Hard feel. There’s little to no gameplay footage, but the trailer is a nice overview of the game’s theme nonetheless.
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this Tuesday, December 1.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
New Releases: Just Cause 3, Rainbow Six Siege, Xenoblade Chronicles X, More
Three big games will be available in stores this week, including the long-awaited continuation of the Xenoblade series and the return of Rico Rodriguez.
That’s right, everyone’s favorite high-flying secret agent is back in Just Cause 3 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Taking place on a “Mediterranean island paradise,” developer Avalanche Studios has promised that players will get to experience “complete vertical freedom” during their adventure with the ability to skydive, BASE jump, and free dive throughout the game’s open world.
Also available this week is Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Teams of five will use tactical strategies to either defend their base or break into it in a new “Infiltrate versus Fortify” style for the operatives versus terrorists series. The oft-forgotten Wii U gets a chance to shine this week too as Nintendo’s console is almost home to Xenoblade Chronicles X, another entry in their popular sci-fi RPG series. This time around, Players will be able to ride a personalized mechs called Skells and join online squads to battle massive bosses.
It’s not a new game, but a stealth re-release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will also be available in stores for the PS3 this week.
Finally, Microsoft will release the Xbox One 1TB Elite Bundle this week, which includes a 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive for faster access times and an Elite Wireless Controller. But more power requires a bigger credit card as Microsoft has priced the Xbox One 1TB Elite Bundle at $499.99.
A complete rundown of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Just Cause 3, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, Xenoblade Chronicles X