Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn lead all nominees at 2018 GDC Awards

Posted on January 6, 2018 by John Scalzo

gdcawardsThe organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards.

Nintendo and Sony have a lot to celebrate this year as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn tied for the most nominations, with six apiece. Both games are in the running for “Game of the Year,” and both were also nominated in the “Best Audio,” “Best Design,” “Best Technology,” and “Best Visual Art” categories. Breath of the Wild tacked on one more nominations for the “Innovation Award,” while Horizon nabbed a nomination for “Best Narrative.”

Both games should probably be considered the frontrunners for the “Game of the Year” award, but they’ll also have to compete with PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Platinum Games’s Nier: Automata, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey for the coveted honor.

Outside of the “Game of the Year” competition, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead captured three nominations for “Best Audio,” “Best Debut,” and “Best Visual Art.”

The 2018 GDC Awards ceremony will take place on on Wednesday, March 21, at 6:30 PM (Pacific Time). The full list of nominees, and all the Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break.

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NetherRealm conjures up the first trailer for The Enchantress in Injustice 2

Posted on January 5, 2018 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm Studios is ready to unveil The Enchantress… the next character coming to Injustice 2. The Enchantress made her big screen debut in 2016 as part of David Ayers’s Suicide Squad, and the supervillain’s demonic essence is front and center in the new trailer embedded above:

The all-too ordinary life of June Moone ended the day she was possessed by the Enchantress, a demonic sorceress with aspirations of world domination. Today, she fights for her very soul, struggling to harness the Enchantress’ magic for good. If she fails, the Enchantress will consume her – and our world won’t be far behind.

Injustice 2 players who own the Ultimate Edition or Fighter Pack #3 will be able to download The Enchantress on January 9. She’ll be available as a standalone download through the PlayStation Store, Steam, and the Xbox Games Store on January 16.

In the meantime, Injustice 2 fans can head over to NetherRealm’s Twitch channel to view a lengthy (and Enchantress-centric) new Watchtower stream.

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Nintendo sold 4.8 million Switch consoles in US in 2017… a record-setting start for a console

Posted on January 4, 2018 by John Scalzo

The Nintendo Switch continued its record-breaking streak today.

Nintendo has announced that 4.8 million Switch consoles were sold in the United States in 2017, making it the fastest-selling console of all time. The previous record holder, the Wii, sold four million consoles in the US during its first ten month on sale in 2006-2007.

“Fans across the country have experienced the joy of playing their favorite games at home or on the go,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO. “Now that many more people have received Nintendo Switch systems for the holidays, we look forward to bringing them fun new surprises in 2018 and beyond.”

As part of the announcement, the consolemaker also revealed a few impressive sales figures for a handful of first-party games. Super Mario Odyssey was the Switch’s best-selling game during its first calendar year, and more than 60% of Switch owners in the US purchased the game (which translates to about 2.9 million copies). It was followed closely by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild, which is owned by 55% of Switch owners (totaling 2.6 million copies). In third place, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was purchased by 50% of Switch owners (for sales of 2.4 million copies) and Splatoon 2 inked an ownership agreement with 20% of Switch owners (totaling almost a million copies in sales).

Finally, Nintendo confirmed that Switch owners can look forward to new games from EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, Take Two, and Bethesda in 2018. This is interesting as EA, Activision, and Take Two have yet to announce any further games for the Switch. So I guess we can look forward to announcements from all three companies in the very near future.

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The Messenger is a retro side-scroller inspired by Ninja Gaiden… and it’ll be out this year

Posted on January 4, 2018 by John Scalzo

After viewing the Teaser Trailer for The Messenger, it’s easy to see the influence that Ninja Gaiden had on the debut game from Sabotage Studio.

But Ryu Hayabusa’s 8-bit adventures weren’t the only inspiration for the Quebec-based team. The Messenger will also include special portals that propel players to a 16-bit future that’s arranged as a more open MetroidVania-style world:

As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival.

Leveraging player expectations as a core design ingredient, The Messenger is first presented as an 8-bit action platformer with a simple story only to turn into an epic time travelling tale, eventually revealing itself as a 16-bit Metroidvania packed with replay value and deadpan humor.

If you’d like to learn more about The Messenger, the game’s Creative Director, Thierry Boulanger, and Executive Producer, Martin Brouard, recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Polygon. The pair discussed their efforts to bring The Messenger to life, as well as a desire to make the game appealing to both newcomers and speedrunners:

“That’s what we’re targeting here. Taking these memories and making them something polished in terms of gameplay and controls. It’s hard to go back to Ninja Gaiden after the playing The Messenger, in my opinion.”

“Not revealing everything is important to us, because there still need to be surprises, but people need to know this isn’t just some clone. We’ve put a lot of love and craft into it, and we need to make sure people get their hands on it.”

The Messenger will be available for the PC and consoles sometime this year.

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Kirby: Battle Royale demo, Stikbold Deluxe, King of the Monsters, more added to Nintendo eShop

Posted on January 4, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo is ringing in 2018 with a quartet of new additions to the Nintendo eShop, as well as a downloadable demo for Kirby: Battle Royale on the 3DS.

Beginning today, Switch owners will be able to purchase Grand Prix Rock ‘N Racing, an overhead racing game; Pic-A-Pix Deluxe, a “picture crossword” game; Stikbold! Deluxe, a dodge ball adventure with a 70s twist; and King of the Monsters, a classic fighting game from the NeoGeo’s heyday.

You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break.

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Posted in 3DS, News, Switch |

The Games of January 2018

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Warp Zoned Staff

It’s a new year and time for a brand new batch of video games from developers both big and small.

Fighting game fans will have a lot to look forward to in January with the launch of Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Square Enix’s Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, and Capcom’s Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. And if you enjoy games with a retro aesthetic, you might want to keep an eye out for Cellar Door’s Full Metal Furies, Square Enix’s Lost Sphear, and Nintendo’s 3DS re-release of Pokemon Crystal.

You can find what we’re looking forward to after the break, along with a complete release schedule for all of this month’s new releases.

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Outbreak: The New Nightmare added to Xbox Store

Posted on January 3, 2018 by John Scalzo

There’s just one new game available to download as part of today’s Xbox Games Store update, and it’s Outbreak: The New Nightmare from Dead Drop Studios. Promising an “unforgiving survival horror experience,” players will explore a city absolutely overrun by the undead as they scavenge for supplies and search for other survivors.

You can learn more about the survival horror game right here:

Now Available on Xbox Games Store – 1/3/18 [Major Nelson]

Outbreak: The New Nightmare
Enter an unforgiving survival horror experience as you fight for your life against oppressive odds. The horrors of Arzt Memorial Hospital were just the beginning of the outbreak. As the infection spread across the city, local law enforcement fell quickly. You now find yourself trapped in a hellscape with only a few remaining survivors. Scavenge the environment for supplies, face off against the undead and do anything it takes to survive. You have only one life. Make it count!

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Baba Is You, Night in the Woods, Getting Over It lead all nominees for the 2018 IGF Awards

Posted on January 3, 2018 by John Scalzo

The organizers of the Independent Games Festival have announced the finalists for this year’s IGF Awards ceremony.

Six games will compete for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” including Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall), West of Loathing (Asymmetric Publications), Into the Breach (Subset Games), Heat Signature (Suspicious Developments), and Baba Is You (Hempuli).

Baba Is You earned four total nominations, and will also be in the running for “Excellence In Design,” the “Nuovo Award,” and “Best Student Game.” Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy captured two additional nominations (“Excellence In Design” and the “Nuovo Award”), while Night in the Woods was also nominated for two other awards (“Excellence In Visual Art” and “Excellence In Narrative”).

Finally, Cuphead was a big winner at this year’s Game Awards, and the side-scroller is in line for more honors at the IGF Awards including an Honorable Mention for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” as well as nominations in the “Excellence In Visual Art” and “Excellence In Audio” categories.

The IGF Awards will be held on March 21 during this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions for the 2018 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break.

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