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
Blizzard and Gearbox will talk about their future projects at PAX East 2015
Blizzard will make their presence known at this year’s PAX East expo with their “Blizzard Preview” panel. During this panel, which will be held on Friday, March 6, at 10:30 AM, the publisher plans to reveal new details about Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and Overwatch:
Bold new heroes, exciting new cards, and epic new battlegrounds… Join a trio of Blizzard Entertainment developers for a look at just some of what’s in store for 2015, including upcoming content for Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and Overwatch.
Gearbox Software will also be in attendance at this year’s show with their regular “Inside Gearbox Software” panel. At PAX East, they will likely use their time to talk about Battleborn and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, both of which will be released this year. It’s probably too early for Gearbox to talk about Borderlands 3, but you never know. The “Inside Gearbox Software” panel will be held on Sunday, March 8, at 10:30 AM:
This is your opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at Gearbox Software and get the latest news and updates from the makers of Borderlands, Battleborn, Homeworld Remastered Collection and more! We will have never-before-seen reveals, exclusives and surprises, so don’t miss out!
Both developers usually have a big presence on the show floor, so expo attendees may get the chance to demo many of these games as well as hearing about them.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, PAX East 2015
Xbox Store Today: The Escapists
The Escapists is now available for the Xbox One on the Xbox Games Store today. Taking a few visual cues from the NES/Super NES era, The Escapists is a top-down pixelated prison break sim from Team17 and Mouldy Toof Studios.
Does The Escapists sound like your kind of thing? Then you should check out the launch trailer and the Dashboard description right here:
The Escapists ($19.99)
The Escapists is a prison break simulation that provides players the opportunity of experiencing a light-hearted insight into everyday prison life. While the aim of the game is simply to escape, the detail is in the execution. (Don’t say the word execution too loud in a prison). Keep a low profile or go out guns blazing. As long as you escape in the end, that’s all that matters.
First Just Cause 3 trailer is on fire and the devs will answer your questions at PAX East 2015
The Just Cause series is known for its big action setpieces as Avalanche Studios has pushed protagonist Rico Rodriguez into (and out of) some of the biggest action movie-style moments ever. With Just Cause 3, the development team has made the jump to the PS4 and Xbox One for the first time and the game’s first trailer, dubbed “Firestarter,” gives you an idea of their ambition.
PAX East attendees will get an even closer look at Just Cause 3 as several members of the Avalanche team (including Chief Creative Officer Christofer Sundberg and Game Director Roland Lesterlin) will close out the first day’s festivities with a behind-the-scenes panel:
Join moderator Greg Miller (http://www.kindafunny.com/) and key members of Avalanche Studios – the makers of Just Cause – as they discuss the series’ inspiration and distinctive style and talk about the upcoming Just Cause 3. Panelists will include Christofer Sundberg (Avalanche Studios founder and Chief Creative Officer) Roland Lesterlin (Just Cause 3 Game Director) and Zach Schlappi (Art Director)
Finally, Square Enix has updated the game’s release date. Instead of “TBA 2015,” we now know that Just Cause 3 will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this Fall.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Just Cause 3, PAX East 2015
Dying Light parkours to the top of the best-sellers list for January 2015
Question… if only one major new title made its way to stores in January, should we be surprised when that game takes the top spot in the monthly sales rankings from the NPD Group? We probably shouldn’t be, and yet, I was still mildly surprised that Techland’s Dying Light was the best-selling game during 2015’s first four-week frame. It was followed by the two biggest titles from 2014… Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare at #2 and Grand Theft Auto V at #3.
Minecraft, coming in at #4, continues to rise even without the holiday shopping season to bolster its sales rank.
Every other title in the top ten seemed to land in roughly the same position it held in December. NBA 2K15 held onto the #5 spot while Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS dropped two places to #6. Far Cry 4 was lucky number seven once more while the #8 spot was taken by Madden NFL 15 (which dropped five spots from #3). The final two spots were once again held by Destiny (#9) and FIFA 15 (#10).
While the best-selling software list was relatively stable (and saw a 5% year-over-year increase in sales), the PS4 reigned supreme on the console charts after a one-month hiatus. This turn of events was most likely due to Microsoft’s temporary suspension of the Xbox One’s $50 discount (it was reinstated on January 18).
If you’re looking for the full top ten from January 2015 in list form, you can find it after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Dying Light, Far Cry 4, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Xbox Store Today: Evolve, Don Bradman Cricket
Two very different games made their Xbox Games Store debut today.
First up is Evolve (Xbox One), Turtle Rock’s “4v1” shooter that asks players to take control of four Hunters and confront an eldritch abomination that would give H.P. Lovecroft the heebie-jeebies.
Also available to download this week is Don Bradman Cricket (Xbox One). Dozens of cricket simulations have been released in the UK over the years, but this is one of the first to make its way to America.
More details on both games can be found right here:
Xbox One Games
Evolve ($59.99)
Evolve is the next generation of multiplayer shooters featuring adrenaline pumping 4v1 action A player-controlled Monster must evade a team of four unique playable Hunters who are working together and stalking to kill. Evolve and overpower as the Monster or team up and outnumber as the Hunters. It’s survival of the fittest and any side can win. CHOOSE YOUR SIDE.Don Bradman Cricket ($59.99)
Take a 16 year old aspiring cricketer through the ranks to international glory in Career mode. Fully customize your play experience, set-up tours, competitions, create players, teams and even umpires in the Cricket Academy. Hone your skills to perfection in the Practice nets before taking to the field. The most realistic physics ever seen in a Cricket game including thin edges, bat pad catches, intimidating bouncers and much more.
Ex-Rare devs announce spiritual successor to Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie
Before Rare became known as Microsoft’s Kinect team (though that’ll be changing soon), they developed a whole slew of well-received platformers for Nintendo. Now, the core developers behind those titles have left Rare and struck out on their own as Playtonic Games. Their first project? A spiritual successor to Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie.
This project is currently known as Project Ukulele, and Playtonic plans to pull back the curtain on it in this month’s issue of Edge Magazine, which will be available on newsstands tomorrow. The team has also written a bit about Project Ukelele on their official website:
We’ve got the bloke who programmed Donkey Kong Country, the character designer behind Banjo and Kazooie, and the artist who made your console fit to burst with lavish environments across a decade’s worth of adventure games.
Together, our all-star ensemble is aiming to build its debut game, Project Ukulele, into a worthy spiritual successor to those fondly remembered platforming adventures we built in the past.
I highly recommend a visit to PlaytonicGames.com as the site also includes biographies of the team members and the first piece of concept art from Project Ukulele.
Did You Hear? Video Game Release Calendar Update #1
Don’t Forget! Warp Zoned’s complete calendar of release dates for 2015, 2016, and beyond can be found right here: Video Game Release Calendar.
Welcome to Warp Zoned’s first “Video Game Release Calendar Update.” We’ve collected all the latest announcements and date changes from the last six weeks and added them to one of the most accurate game release calendars out there.
The month of March is filling out particularly well…
- It starts with the March 5 launch of Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, Nintendo’s first 3DS and Wii U Cross-Buy game.
- And then there’s the March 6 release of Zombie Army Trilogy (PC, PS4, Xbox One) and its supernatural WWII shenanigans.
- A week later is the March 10 launch of the PC version of Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, which now features eye-tracking technology for camera control.
- A day after that, on March 11, the “Metroidvania” Ori and the Blind Forest will be available for the PC and Xbox One.
- Finally, the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection closes out the month with a March 24 release on the PS4 and Xbox One.
The Spring and early Summer is also beginning to fill up with the announcement that Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will be available for the New 3DS XL on April 10. Nintendo will follow their massive action RPG with the puzzle-RPG styling of Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (3DS) in May, which will launch alongside Splatoon, a shooter for the Wii U. And in June, we’ll get the chance to try out The Elder Scrolls Online on the PS4 and Xbox One (on June 9) and Lego Jurassic World (which will be released for every system under the sun).
Speaking of Lego adaptations, Lego Avengers will be available this Fall. As will Skylanders 5, which is currently in development for unannounced platforms.
And lastly, Blizzard has said that Overwatch (PC) and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (PC) will likely launch in 2016 after each receives a beta test in 2015.
The complete list of updated release dates can be found after the break. (more…)
Alien: Isolation bursts ahead of the field with six nominations at 2015 BAFTA Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominees for the 2015 BAFTA Games Awards and the British-born Alien: Isolation leads the way with six nominations. Creative Assembly’s sequel to the 1979 film is up for “Best Game” as well as “British Game,” “Audio Achievement,” “Music,” Game Design,” and “Game Innovation.”
It will be competing for the top prize against some of last year’s most-honored titles including Bungie’s Destiny, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Nintendo’s Mario Kart 8, Monolith’s Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordorm, and ustwo’s Monument Valley.
Monument Valley’s presence in the “Best Game” category is rather fitting as it lead all other games with five nominations. Far Cry 4, which is not competing for “Best Game,” also managed to score five nominations. 80 Days, Destiny, Mario Kart 8, and Shadow of Mordor all took up residence on the next level with four nominations apiece.
The winners of the 2015 BAFTA Games Awards will revealed on March 12. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monument Valley