Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
All Articles: PC
Red Dead Redemption, Enslaved, God of War III lead 2011 AIAS nominees
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the nominees for the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs). As expected, Red Dead Redemption lead the way with nine nominations including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and Game of the Year.
God of War III and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (a title that is already being considered one of the best games you’ve never played) shared the second-most nominations with six apiece. Other games up for multiple awards include Call of Duty: Black Ops, Heavy Rain, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 (five nominations apiece) along with Dance Central, Limbo and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (four apiece).
The awards will be handed out by Jay Mohr at the 2011 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit on Thursday, February 10. The hour-long show will be broadcast on G4 two days later, February 12, at 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) with a webcast scheduled for 7:30 PM (Eastern Time) at G4tv.com/DICE.
A complete list of nominees can be on the AIAS website, but the “Game of the Year” will come from this list of five: Angry Birds HD, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption.
CoD: Black Ops First Strike trailer strikes online
Activision and developer Treyarch have released the first trailer for First Strike, the first downloadable map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The pack will be available to download from Xbox Live on February 1 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) with a PC and PS3 release coming later (the Modern Warfare 2 maps typically took five to six weeks to reach the PC/PS3).
Treyarch used this DLC pack to respond to some fan complaints, citing more verticality and more sniper opportunities in the five maps:
Kowloon: Inspired by the Kowloon level from the single-player campaign. Features zip lines to quickly get from point A to point B.
Discovery: An Antarctic research station divided by a deep chasm.
Berlin Wall: The largest map, set in and around Checkpoint Charlie on both sides of Germany.
Stadium: Set inside a hockey arena in the US, the map features close quarters fighting and gives off strong vibes of Lake Placid and the Olympic battle for Cold War supremacy that was fought there (“Do you believe in miracles? YES!”).
Ascension: First Strike’s Zombie Mode map was sadly absent from this trailer.
Posted in News
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
EA wants to know if “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2” in contest
With Dead Space 2 just a little over a week away, EA has launched a new contest on the Dead Space YouTube channel that seeks to find out if “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2.”
Gamers are encouraged to show their moms a few scenes from Dead Space 2 and take pictures of the results. They must then tweet these pictures on Twitter with the hashtag #mymomhatesdeadspace2. The best reactions will be chosen by EA and win some sweet Dead Space 2-themed prizes (including a PS3 adorned with Isaac Clarke’s face).
EA has an entire playlist full of reactions already posted on YouTube, you’ll definitely want to check it out. Your mom might not.
Posted in News
Tagged Dead Space 2, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
New Releases: LittleBigPlanet 2, Mass Effect 2, Mindjack, More
What this week’s new releases lacks in quantity, it makes up for it in quality.
Sony’s second Sackboy adventure on the PS3, LitleBigPlanet 2, will be released this week. The sequel will add even more level creation options as well as include an expanded single-player campaign.
As PS3 owners get their second crack at Sackboy, they’ll get their first chance to experience BioWare’s Mass Effect series with a PS3 port of Mass Effect 2. Sticking with the science fiction theme, Square Enix will be bringing their body-hopping shooter Mindjack to the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Finally, PopCap Games has shrunk down Plants vs Zombies for a DS release.
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below. (more…)
Dead Space 2 launch trailer dismembers the imagination
To the left you will find a candid photo of our very own Senior Editor Nicole Kline, utterly blown away in awe at just how awesome Dead Space 2 gameplay is. The picture was taken as she played the demo at PAX Prime last September, and you can expect it on every piece of coverage here at Warp Zoned on Visceral Games’ latest entry in their sci-fi odyssey. EA has released a new trailer depicting some of the jaw dropping moments you can expect from the sequel, as well as quotes from popular gaming media outlets on just how great it is. Even if you haven’t played the first one, you should absolutely check the video below. As I said in our initial podcast, I truly believe this is going to do for Visceral Games what Uncharted 2 did for Naughty Dog.
Posted in News
Tagged Dead Space 2, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Shift 2: Unleashed races to stores on March 29
Electronic Arts has released a new trailer for the Need For Speed-less Shift 2: Unleashed, which you can check out above. And if you stick around until the end, you’ll get a glimpse of the game’s newly announced release date: March 29.
Shift 2: Unleashed is being developed by Slighty Mad Studios and will be available on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Posted in News
Tagged PC, PS3, Shift 2: Unleashed, Xbox 360
Limbo, Red Dead Redemption lead 2011 Game Developers Choice nominees
The nominees for the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be handed out on March 2 during the Game Developers Conference, have been announced.
The monochromatic XBLA puzzle-platformer Limbo took seven nominations, more than any other game. But Rockstar’s cowboy opus Red Dead Redeption was close behind with six while BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 received five.
Other big nominees include God of War III, Heavy Rain and Minecraft, all of which received three nominations. Minecraft’s inclusion among the nominees marks the first time a game has received a GDC Award nomination and was selected as a finalist in the Independent Games Festival.
Hit the jump for the full list of nominees. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged DS, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Limbo, Mass Effect 2, Minecraft, PC, PS3, PSP, Red Dead Redemption, Wii, Xbox 360
FEAR 3 runs away from March release date
FEAR 3 has already scared away several release dates during its development and it looks like the game won’t be released on March 22 either. Instead, the game will make its way to stores sometime in May.
The news of the delay comes from FEAR_Tot, an administrator on the official FEAR forums:
The F.E.A.R. 3 launch date will now be in May 2011, as we look to deliver the best possible game for our fans.
Thanks for the patience, I promise it will be worth it.
So basically, he’s saying don’t fear the delay, the game will still be great.