Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
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Warp Zoned Presents
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All Articles: Ori and the Blind Forest
Nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards have been announced with Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3 leading the way
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 2016 DICE Awards.
Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt lead all other games with eight nominations apiece, including “Game of the Year.” They’ll be competing for the AIAS’s highest honor against three other games: Bloodborne, Fallout 4, and Ori and the Blind Forest. All told, 53 different titles received at least one nomination.
“Looking at the nominees for the 19th Annual DICE Awards, I am especially impressed by the broad range of titles catering to gamers’ increasingly sophisticated and diverse tastes,” said Martin Rae, the President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. “It is always gratifying to watch our industry and its many artists and craftsmen grow and continue to challenge and thrill audiences.”
In addition to this year’s awards show, Satoru Iwata will be honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award and Hideo Kojima will be inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
The ceremony for the 2016 DICE Awards will take place on Thursday, February 16, during this year’s DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Forza Motorsport 6, Helldivers, Heroes of the Storm, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mortal Kombat X, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Star Wars: Battlefront, Super Mario Maker, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards
After racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.
While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”
Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.
Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.
While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.
A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Xbox One Holiday Bundle will (technically) include 36 free games
Gamers who receive an Xbox One 1TB Holiday Bundle under the tree this Christmas will also receive a gargantuan gaggle of free games from Microsoft.
Available beginning in October for $399, the Holiday Bundle will also include physical copies of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Rare Replay, as well as a download code for Ori and the Blind Forest. A three-game bundle is already a pretty great deal, but it gets even better when you realize that Rare Replay is a collection of 30 of Rare’s most popular titles. Battletoads, Perfect Dark, Killer Instinct Gold… they’re all here (a complete list of Rare Replay’s contents can be found right here). And if we keep counting, we can add four more Gears of War games as the Ultimate Edition includes a download code for the Xbox 360 editions of Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War: Judgment.
And when you add it all together you get 36 games in a single bundle. That’s actually pretty impressive. More details about the bundle can be found at Xbox.com.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rare Replay
Xbox Store Today: Ori and the Blind Forest, DMC Definitive Edition, RE Revelations 2 Ep3
Three new games have been added to the Xbox Games Store today including a hand-painted new “Metroidvania,” an enhanced re-release of a decisive Xbox 360 favorite, and the third episode of Capcom’s first episodic project (I think it’s their first, please correct me if I’m wrong).
Ori and the Blind Forest, “a visually stunning action-platformer,” is the debut title from Moon Studios. The game tells the story of a creature that has been tasked with saving the very forest itself by the missing Spirit Tree. The game is completely hand-painted and is now available on the Xbox One.
Less serene are this week’s offerings from Capcom. The publisher has added two new games to the Xbox Games Store including DMC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, an Xbox One remake of the Ninja Theory-developed reimagining of the franchise; and Resident Evil Revelations 2: Judgment (Xbox 360, Xbox One), the third episode of the second entry in the Resident Evil Revelations sub-series.
More details about all three games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged DMC: Devil May Cry, Ori and the Blind Forest, Resident Evil Revelations 2
Microsoft bringing Halo 5, Fable Legends, Battlefield Hardline, more to PAX East 2015
Microsoft will bring more than half-a-dozen games, including many of this Fall’s most anticipated Xbox One releases, to this year’s PAX East expo.
Playable demos of Halo 5: Guardians, Fable Legends, and Battlefield Hardline will feature prominently in Microsoft’s booth (#5044) alongside smaller titles like Ori and the Blind Forest, Pneuma: Breath of Life, and Swordy. Evolve, which was released last week, and ScreamRide, which will launch a few days before the expo opens, will also be playable on the show floor. Finally, Mirosoft will host a playable demo of State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition, which will have a larger presence at the Undead Labs booth (#3092).
The 2015 PAX East expo will open its doors on Friday, March 6 and will run through Sunday, March 8. More information on all of the games that will be included in Microsoft’s booth can be found after the break (and at the Xbox Wire). (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield Hardline, Fable Legends, Halo 5: Guardians, Ori and the Blind Forest, PAX East 2015, ScreamRide, State of Decay
Ori and the Blind Forest has been pushed back to early 2015
Moon Studios, the developers behind Ori and the Blind Forest, has announced that their side-scrolling Metroidvania-style game will not make its planned late 2014 release. Instead, the title, which made a big splash at Microsoft’s E3 presentation this past June, will be released for the PC and Xbox One in early 2015.
According to the developer, they need “just a little more time in order to add a final layer of polish” to Ori and the Blind Forest. We’ll probably never know what they mean by that exactly, but it does seem to be the go-to reason for delaying a game nowadays.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest trailer shows a gorgeous new platformer for Xbox One
Ori and the Blind Forest is a hauntingly beautiful new game coming to the Xbox One. It combines action-adventure and platforming, and promises deep gameplay and a story that will probably make me cry. A lot.
Ori and the Blind Forest will be out in the Fall for Xbox One, and Inc Gamers says it’s also coming to PC.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2014, Ori and the Blind Forest