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
Game Informer reveals Evolve, a new game from the creators of Left 4 Dead
Today, Game Informer revealed the cover subject of their latest issue: Evolve, a new cooperative multiplayer game from Turtle Rock Studios, the minds behind Left 4 Dead.
The next-gen title, hitting stores this fall, follows the same basic premise as its zombified brethren. But instead of four survivors taking on an entire zombie horde, Evolve pits four alien hunters against one extraterrestrial creature. Before you start thinking, “Where’s the challenge in that?” keep in mind that this is one powerful alien. Not only that, but as the game progresses, your foe gets increasingly larger, and much stronger.
In addition to the standard cooperative mode, the game also features a cooperative/competitive mode, where one gamer plays the role of the alien. Like Left 4 Dead, the game is designed to be played again and again, with slight changes every time you play. More details on Evolve will be included in Game Informer’s February 2014 issue.
Evolve was originally set to be published by THQ, but when they went under the project was scooped up at auction with an astonishing $10.8 million bid by 2K Games. If the Turtle Rock’s previous outings are any indication, it’s going to be money well spent and one hell of a ride for gamers. Evolve will be available for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 this Fall.
Alien: Isolation officially announced for late 2014 release
Well that didn’t take long. Sega has officially announced Alien: Isolation, just a few hours after Microsoft prematurely added a product listing for the game to Xbox.com.
Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation wants to put the Alien back into games based the Alien film series and is ditching the Colonial Marines versus Xenomorphs style that has been used in most of the games based on the franchise. Eschewing the action-focused shooter model, the game is being developed as a survival horror where Amanda Ripley, the daughter of series star Ellen Ripley, attempts to escape from a single Xenomorph. Creative Assembly also plans to position the game as “lo-fi sci-fi” and they’re heavily leaning on the 1970s view of the future featured in the first movie.
Al Hope, the Creative Lead, said that the decision to base Alien: Isolation on Alien was made because, “[N]o one had created the game we wanted to play, which is one that captures the spirit of the original movie.”
Alien: Isolation will be available in late 2014 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Creative Assembly has also uploaded a behind-the-scenes video where the developers discus the “Origins” of Alien: Isolation. You can find it after the break. (more…)
Alien: Isolation story, boxart leaked by Xbox.com
Kotaku outed Creative Assembly’s Alien project, Alien: Isolation, a few months ago. Today, a product listing on Xbox.com has confirmed the game’s title as well as the starring role for Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, and the presence of only a single Xenomorph:
Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother’s disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.
As you can see, Xbox.com has also provided an early glimpse at the game’s box art. Alien: Isolation is in development for the “current-generation consoles” (obviously including the Xbox 360), “next-generation consoles,” and the PC. Hopefully, Sega will make an official announcement soon, but after the Aliens: Colonial Marines debacle, I understand why they’re being secretive about Creative Assembly’s Alien game.
Microsoft sold more than 3 million Xbox One consoles in 2013
“Anything you can do, I can do better.”
While I don’t think Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi is going to duet on that ditty with Sony’s Andrew House anytime soon, their back-and-forth over next-generation sales figures continues today. In a post on Xbox Wire, Mehdi, the Xbox Division’s Vice President of Marketing, has announced that Microsoft sold more than three million Xbox One consoles in 2013. The executive appears astounded by the system’s sales success:
“It’s been incredible to see Xbox One selling at a record-setting pace for Xbox, and we were honored to see Xbox One become the fastest-selling console in the U.S. during our launch month in November. Since our launch, demand for Xbox One has been strong, selling out throughout the holidays at most retailers worldwide. We are continuing to work hard to deliver additional consoles to retailers as fast as possible.”
For comparison’s sake, Sony announced that 2.1 million PS4 systems have been sold as of December 3.
XBL Store Today: Halo: Spartan Assault
Christmas has come a bit early! Halo: Spartan Assault was previously penciled in for a December 24 launch, but Microsoft has decided to push its release up a day and the title is now available to download from the Xbox One Game Store for $14.99. It’s everything you love about Halo, now in a nifty top-down view:
Halo: Spartan Assault is a fast paced top-down shooter set during the timeline between “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” progress your Spartan career as you engage in over 30 exciting Campaign missions using many of favorite Halo weapons, vehicles and armor abilities. Team-up on Xbox Live and fight with a friend against waves of the nightmarish Flood in the all-new online co-op multiplayer mode.
Halo: Spartan Assault is also in development for the Xbox 360 and will be released for that platform in 2014.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Halo: Spartan Assault
EA describes Battlefield 4 lawsuit as “meritless”
Beleaguered uber-publisher Electronic Arts has hit back against claims contained in a series of lawsuits that are currently being explored by multiple law firms including Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and Holzer Holzer & Fistel on behalf of the company’s investors. EA’s official response, delivered to Polygon by a spokesperson for the company, is that these lawsuits are frivolous:
“We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”
However, there may be more merit than EA is letting on, especially given the fact that Robbins Geller is the same law firm that took on the Enron class action lawsuit. Their lawsuit accuses EA executives of being able to sell “artificially inflated” shares prior to the release of Battlefield 4 due to releasing “materially false and misleading statements highlighting the purported strength” of the game. In other words, the lawsuit is claiming that EA executives were aware of the defective state of Battlefield 4 and purposely raised expectations surrounding its release to inflate share prices.
The law firm has until February to find someone brave enough to stand as the lead plaintiff in the case. If they do, and the case goes to court, it may set a precedent that prevents developers and publishers from releasing products with game-breaking bugs. But there’s also the long-standing concept of “caveat emptor” (or “buyer beware”) to consider. A ruling against EA in this case would likely make it open season on content creators.
UPDATE: A third law firm, Brower Piven, has announced plans to challenge EA is court over their Battlefield 4 statements.
Call of Duty: Ghosts getting four map packs and a season pass… surprised?
Activision has just announced that Call of Duty: Ghosts will receive four post-launch map packs (Onslaught, Devastation, Invasion, and Nemesis). Each pack will be priced at $14.99 apiece, with a $49.99 Season Pass also available. None of this should really be news. The last three or four CoD games got the same treatment.
Each map pack will include a new set of multiplayer maps, bonus weapons, and an “Extinction” scenario. Each “Extinction” scenario will build on the one before it to create what Activision is calling “an episodic Extinction experience.”
If you decide to spring for the Season Pass, you’ll receive access to the “Free Fall” multiplayer map as well as unique “Team Leader” in-game content: MP Character Head, Weapon Camo, Reticle, Player Patch, Player Card, and a Player Background.
The first map pack, Onslaught, will be released sometime in 2014 with the rest to follow.