Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Inside the ‘Dragon Age’ Debacle That Gutted EA’s BioWare Studio – Bloomberg (2025)
- Fight Club, The Game David Fincher Didn’t Want You To Play – Time Extension (2025)
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
All Articles: Destiny
Activision confirms Skylanders 5, Call of Duty 2015, “unannounced initiatives” during quarterly presentation
Just as the sun rises in the east, Activision uses their first quarterly financial presentation of the year to talk about the next games in the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises.
Dennis Durkin, the publisher’s Chief Financial Officer, had the task of revealing the non-news that Call of Duty 2015 and Skylanders 5 will be released this Fall. As expected, Call of Duty 2015 will be developed by Treyarch while Skylanders 5 is being described as “innovative.” Durkin finished his remarks by revealing that Activision also has “several unannounced initiatives” in the pipeline that they’ll talk more about “in the months ahead.”
Then the CEO of Activision Publishing, Eric Hirshberg, took the stage to talk about Destiny. He confirmed that the game’s second expansion, House of Wolves, will be released in the Spring. He also said that Destiny 2 is in development, though we won’t see it this year. But Bungie is planning to launch a “major content release” connected to the franchise for this Fall.
Finally, Blizzard’s CEO, Michael Morhaime, said that both StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Overwatch will be available for beta testing this year. However, Morhaime would not comment on either game’s final release date, which means that both will probably slip to 2016.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Destiny, Overwatch, Skylanders SuperChargers, Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way among 2015 DICE Awards nominees
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have announced the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards and, just like the GDC Awards, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is leading the pack. Monolith’s expansion of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings garnered nine nominations including “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” “Outstanding Character,” “Adventure Game of the Year,” and “Game of the Year.”
Shadow of Mordor will be competing against four games for the top prize. Rounding out the category are Bungie’s Destiny, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. All told, 56 games received a nomination in at least one category.
This year’s DICE Awards have added a new category to the festivities, the DICE Sprite Award, in an attempt to recognize work done by smaller studios. The Banner Saga, Hohokum, Monument Valley, Threes!, and Transistor will be competing for the inaugural DICE Sprite Award, which honors “innovative gameplay and experiences.”
The full list of nominees can be found after the break and don’t forget to tune in to Twitch.TV on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) to find out the winners. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
CoD: Advanced Warfare goes 2-for-2 as the best-selling game of December 2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is on a roll. After being named the best-selling game for all of last year, the NPD Group also confirmed that it was the best-selling game of December as well. Activision’s latest military shooter also took the top spot in November, during its first month of release.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, December’s sales chart was dominated by big-name franchises including Grand Theft Auto V (#2), Madden NFL 15 (#3), Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Minecraft (#6).. really, just the entire top ten.
On the hardware side of things, the Xbox One once again was the best-selling console, besting the PS4 for a second month in a row. The console’s $50 price cut is really working for Microsoft and the company has decided to reinstate the discount beginning today, possibly on a permanent basis.
The full top ten for December 2014 can be found 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, Far Cry 4, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2015, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the best-selling game of 2014
The NPD Group has finished calculating the 2014 game sales in the United States and they’re ready to declare a winner. In 2014, gamers bought more copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare than any other game. The franchise actually bookended both ends of the list as Call of Duty: Ghosts tabulated enough 2014 sales to check in at #10. In between those two extremes, the list actually features plenty of familiar faces.
Last year’s best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, managed to heist the #4 spot thanks to good sales in the early half of the year and a PS4/Xbox One re-release in the Fall. Sports games occupied three spots in the top ten as Madden NFL 15 (#2), NBA 2K15 (#7), and FIFA 15 (#9) were all popular with players.
Gamers voted with their wallets and both of 2014’s budding megafranchises-in-the-making cracked the top ten. Destiny came in at #3 while Watch Dogs had to settle for the #8 spot.
All told, game software sales were down 13% in 2014 to $5.3 billion. That’s still an impressive chunk of change, but players are increasingly moving over to digital storefronts for the majority of their game purchases. The complete top ten from 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Watch Dogs
Warp Zoned’s 2014 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games
With the PS4 and Xbox One entering their first full year on store shelves, 2014 turned out to be a bit of a transition year. A lot of games were delayed into 2015 and a few others were delayed even further. With the other two consolemakers taking a step back in 2014, it was Nintendo’s time to shine and the wizards behind the Wii U responded with nearly a dozen major titles. But that doesn’t mean the PS4 and the Xbox One (or the PS3 and Xbox 360, for that matter) went hungry in 2014.
There were plenty of great games to go around last year and you can read all about them as we hand out our annual Golden Pixel Awards… (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Destiny, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Earth Defense Force 2025, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, Goat Simulator, Hyrule Warriors, InFamous: Second Son, LittleBigPlanet 3, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monument Valley, Shovel Knight, Silent Hills, Sleeping Dogs, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Threes, Transistor, Wolfenstein: The New Order
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the pack with 5 nominations at 2015 GDC Awards
The nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced and, unsurprisingly, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way with five nominations, including “Game of the Year.”
Shadow of Mordor will compete for the top prize with other four multi-category nominees including Alien: Isolation, Bayonetta 2, Destiny, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Believe it or not, the next-most-nominated game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was actually shut out of the “Game of the Year” category. The Astronauts’ mystery title was nominated for “Best Narrative,” “Best Audio,” the “Innovation Award,” and “Best Debut.”
Alien: Isolation (“Best Visual Art” and “Best Audio”), Destiny (“Best Audio” and “Best Technology”), and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Best Design” and “Best Handheld/Mobile Game”) are each up for two additional awards while Bayonetta 2 is also up for “Best Visual Art.”
A complete list of the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break. And be sure to check back for a look at the winners, which will be announced on March 4 during the Game Developers Conference.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz] (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Bayonetta 2, Destiny, GDC 2015, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Watch the music video for Paul McCartney’s Destiny song right here
Paul McCartney’s involvement was one of the first things we officially learned about Bungie’s Destiny. Since then, those that have played the game have discovered that the ex-Beatle is responsible for the game’s main theme, “Hope For the Future.”
Yesterday, Sir Paul released a music video of the song for everyone to enjoy and it’s… well… let’s just say Obi-Wan Kenobi would be proud.
The video drops McCartney onto the surface of Mars and Venus while characters from the game sit back and listen to his performance. There’s no lighters, but then, there’s no McCartney either. He appears in the video as a hologram that looks an awful lot like Alec Guinness in Star Wars.
The timing couldn’t have been better as Destiny’s first expansion, The Dark Below, is available to download today.
Dragon Age: Inquisition wins Game of the Year at 2014 Game Awards
The inaugural Game Awards was held last night in Las Vegas. In between all the major announcements for future releases, Geoff Keighley and crew managed to hand out awards in 16 categories honoring 11 of 2014’s best games.
BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition took home “Game of the Year” honors as well as “Best Role Playing Game.” Three other games took home two awards including Mario Kart 8 (“Best Family Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game”), Valiant Hearts: The Great War (“Best Narrative” and “Games For Change”), and Destiny (“Best Score/Soundtrack” and “Best Online Experience”).
In addition to Mario Kart 8’s two wins, Nintendo also collected the “Developer of the Year” award and “Best Fighting Game” for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. The consolemaker’s four wins were matched by Ubisoft who matched Valiant Hearts’ two awards with wins in “Best Shooter” (Far Cry 4) and “Best Performance” (Trey Parker as Various Voices in South Park: The Stick of Truth).
Other winners include Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (“Best Action/Adventure”), Shovel Knight (“Best Independent Game”), Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Best Mobile/Handheld”), and Grand Theft Auto V (“Best Remaster”).
The full list of winners in a handy list format (including all the viewer-voted categories) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Game Awards 2014, Grand Theft Auto V, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shovel Knight, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Valiant Hearts: The Great War