Mini Metro, Her Story lead all nominees at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards

Posted on January 7, 2016 by John Scalzo

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The Independent Games Festival has announced the nominees for their 18th annual awards, and two very different games lead the pack as Mini Metro, a tranquil public transportation sim, and Her Story, a detective story that uses 90s-era full motion video, will both be competing for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize.”

The minimalist Mini Metro collected three other nominations including “Excellence In Visual Art,” “Excellence In Design,” and “Excellence In Audio.” Meanwhile, Her Story also racked up three additional nominations including “Excellence In Narrative,” “Excellence In Design,” and the “Nuovo Award.” Both games will be competing for the “Grand Prize” against Darkest Dungeon, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Superhot, and Undertale.

The 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards will be held on Wednesday, March 16, during this year’s Game Developers Conference. If you aren’t going to be in San Francisco to attend the show in person, you can watch the festivities live through Twitch. However, if you are attending GDC 2016, all of this year’s finalists will be playable on the show floor at the IGF Pavilion.

A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions for the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break.

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Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged , , , ,

Nintendo Download: The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Hogan’s Alley, Wild Gunman, more

Posted on January 7, 2016 by John Scalzo

Dust off your Wii Remote, because Nintendo is bringing a trio of NES-era light gun games to the Wii U eShop today…

  • Hogan’s Alley puts players on the shooting range opposite a bunch of old-timey gangsters. But watch out for those civilians!
  • The Adventures of Bayou Billy does a great impersonation of a deranged 80s action movie as players will have to survive beat ’em up levels, light gun levels, and racing levels to rescue Billy’s girlfriend from Godfather Gordon.
  • Finally, Wild Gunman transports players back to the Old West and asks them to compete in a series of high noon standoffs with a gang of outlaws.

More information on all of these games (and the rest of this week’s new releases) can be found after the break.

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Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U |

Daily Scoop: January 7, 2016 – So much Tom Clancy

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Nicole Kline

I finally, finally, FINALLY saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens last night! I was so pleased with it. It was such a delightful experience! And now I can view the Internet as something other than a minefield of spoilers. Hooray!

There’s a new Humble Weekly Bundle that launched today, and this one is a Tom Clancy Encore! Note: I’m just writing the words that come after Tom Clancy in these titles, because writing Tom Clancy’s name that many times might summon him to me. Pay $1 or more to unlock Rainbow Six, Rainbow Six 3 Gold, Rainbow Six Vegas, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Ghost Recon. Pay more than the average to unlock Rainbow Six Vegas 2, The Division (beta), Splinter Cell Conviction: Deluxe Edition, and Splinter Cell. Pay $10 or more to unlock Splinter Cell Blacklist and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and a whopping $75 to unlock The Division (pre-order), an exclusive t-shirt for The Division, and a 66% off coupon for up to three Ubisoft titles in the Humble Store.

The Weekend Deal at Steam is Planetary Annihilation: Titans, which is on sale for $11.99. If you own Titans and want to upgrade it, you can pay $9.92 to upgrade. The Daily Deal is the Sword of Asumi, which is on sale for $2.69, or you can get the Deluxe Edition for $3.89.

And now, t-shirts!

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

Warp Zoned’s 2015 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games From Last Year

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Warp Zoned Staff

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The conventional wisdom will tell you that 2015 was a down year for games and that all the good stuff got pushed back to 2016. But how can you trust the conventional wisdom when last year featured a ridiculously entertaining string of good games starring kid squids, gothic hunters, glitchy sci-fi heroes, and the lone survivor of a nuclear war. And all that’s before you dip into the millions of user-created levels from Super Mario Maker.

Yup, we think 2015 was a pretty great year for games, especially the ones that took home some hardware during our annual Golden Pixel Awards…

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Posted in Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psychonauts 2 reaches its $3.3 million funding goal on Fig

Posted on January 7, 2016 by John Scalzo

After amassing more than 20,000 backers, Double Fine’s crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2 reached its $3.3 million goal yesterday on Fig. Unlike Kickstarter, Fig allows backers to invest in projects and eventually see a return on their investment once the game is released. At this moment, more than half of Psychonauts 2’s funding ($1.7 million) has been provided by investors.

“We’re so grateful to our backers for giving us this chance to continue the story of Raz and the Psychonauts. Knowing that they will be able to participate as investors in the game makes the whole thing feel more fair and more rewarding,” said Tim Schafer, the President and CEO of Double Fine Productions.

The Psychonauts 2 crowdfunding campaign will wrap up on Tuesday, and then begins the long process of actually developing the game. As of now, Double Fine is planning to release Psychonauts 2 sometime in Fall 2018 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Daily Scoop: January 6, 2016 – Great deals and great shirts!

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Nicole Kline

I didn’t get to play any video games last night, but I did get to play some board games! Last night was our monthly Blood Bowl league get together, and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we played a few other games, and then I passed out while reading homework. If only I didn’t need sleep!

The Humble Monthly subscription is all new this month. And, if you subscribe for just $12 a month before February 5th, you’ll immediately get a copy of Alien: Isolation. It’s a win/win situation!

The Midweek Madness at Steam is Rise of Nations: Extended Edition. The game is $4.99, or you can get a pack of four for $14.99. The Daily Deal is SpellForce Complete, which includes SpellForce – Platinum Edition, SpellForce 2 – Demons of the Past, and SpellForce 2: Gold Edition. This package is just $5.99.

There are lots of great t-shirts today!

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Posted in Daily Scoop |

Oculus Rift will be available on March 28 for $600

Posted on January 6, 2016 by John Scalzo

oculusriftconsumerAfter all the waiting, Oculus has finally announced a release date for the Oculus Rift. In a new post on the Oculus Blog, the company has revealed that the virtual reality headset is now available to pre-order and will ship to consumers on March 28 (with addition headsets available in stores in April). But make sure your finances are in order as the Rift will retail for the budget-busting price of $599.

The complete Oculus Rift package will include the headset, a sensor, the Oculus Remote, an Xbox One controller, and a copy of Lucky’s Tale, a VR platformer developed in-house by Oculus. All pre-order customers will also receive a copy of Eve: Valkyrie, a dogfighting game from CCP Games. Running this software through the Oculus Rift will require a fairly powerful PC, and the company has posted a list of system requirements so users can get the “full experience” from their virtual reality headset:

Oculus Rift: Recommended System Requirements

  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
  • Processor: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
  • Input: Three USB 3.0 Ports + One USB 2.0 Port
  • Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or newer

But if you’d rather buy all the necessary equipment at the same time, Oculus will begin pre-selling Oculus Ready PCs (bundled with a Rift headset) in February. Prices for Oculus Ready PCs will start at $1,499.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Xbox Store Today: Hyper Void, G Prime: Into The Rain

Posted on January 6, 2016 by John Scalzo

xboxgamesstore-logoTwo new games were added to the Xbox Games Store today, and both are available for the Xbox One.

Hyper Void is a space shooter that offers more than 25 levels of wave-based action and “dangerous big boss encounters.” Elsewhere on the digital storefront, G Prime: Into The Rain is also available to download. Described as a “slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser,” G Prime asks players to successfully navigate a series of obstacles in space.

More information on both of these games can be found right here:

Xbox One Games

Hyper Void ($9.99)
Punch your way through waves and waves of enemies from all races in the universe as you travel through volatile and crazy wormholes, all rendered in high-quality 3D with a heart-pumping progressive soundtrack! Over 25 levels are awaiting you, filled with challenge and dangerous big boss encounters. And if that wasn’t enough, three EPIC boss showdowns will test every space combat skill you have.

G Prime: Into The Rain ($14.99)
Explore the vast uncharted mystery of The Rain, a solar-system spanning shock wave of gas and dust from far, far away. In your role as sounding officer onboard Ptolemy Station you configure and drive sub-etheric reconnaissance rockets into increasingly challenging fields where Iceteroids, theophosphorus, and quicksand clouds make your mission much more work than your employers led you to believe. A gravity gripping, Steampunk styled, moody-beautiful, slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser.

Posted in News, Xbox One |