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
- 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
- “Animal Crossing” and Undertale” Lead the Way for New Book Series About Games at University of Chicago Press
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: Xbox 360
Ubisoft’s PAX Prime 2013 Lineup: Watch Dogs, The Crew, AC4: Black Flag, Rayman Legends
After a big showing at last weekend’s Gamescom, Ubisoft is gearing up for another big demonstration of their upcoming lineup at this weekend’s PAX Prime. The publisher plans to show four games at their booth with an additional pair (The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot and Might & Magic: Duel of Champions) in the LAN Area.
Ubisoft’s booth (#612) will include demo stations for The Crew, and Rayman Legends. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs will also be on hand, though both will be hands-off only.
Ubisoft’s booth will include a host of other activities such as a picture station with Black Flag’s pirate assassin, Edward Kenway. Black Flag fans will also be able to score an inflatable cutlass sword while Watch Dogs watchers can collect a logo-branded lanyard.
Ubisoft’s only playable next-generation game at PAX Prime is the “massive open world action-driving game” The Crew. In addition to a hands-on demo, fans will be able to drive away with an exclusive keychain.
PAX Prime 2013 will take place this weekend, August 30 through September 2, in Seattle. I hope you’ve already got your tickets, because they’ve been sold out for months.
Posted in News
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, PAX Prime 2013, PC, PS3, PS4, Rayman Legends, The Crew, Watch Dogs, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
CoD: Black Ops II Apocalypse DLC now available on XBLM
Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s Apocalypse DLC Pack is now available to download through the Xbox Live Marketplace. The downloadable content includes four new maps and new Zombies scenario, “Origins.” You can get a taste of the Apocalypse in the gameplay trailer posted above. You’ll note that it features not one, not two, but three massive robots.
Season Pass owners will be able to download the Apocalypse DLC Pack for free, while the rest of us will have to pay $14.99 (Microsoft Points are officially dead). Presumably, the pack will also be available to download on the PC and PS3 by the end of September.
Posted in News
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Blizzard teases Diablo III: Reaper of Souls will come to consoles at some point
Speaking to Polygon during this weekend’s Gamescom expo, Game Director Josh Mosqueira hinted that Diablo III: Reaper of Souls wlll likely come to consoles at some point:
“Our philosophy has always been we work on one project at a time,” said Mosqueira. “We’ve got Diablo 3 on PC, we released it and then a small team splintered off to work on Diablo for the current consoles. Now the team’s really focused on Reaper of Souls for PC. So if you look at the past, you can probably infer what the future might bring. We don’t have any announcements at this point.”
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is currently on track for a 2014 launch and it is the first expansion to the PC version of Diablo III, which was released in May 2012. The PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Diablo III will be released next week. So it might be a while before Reaper of Souls does any reaping on the PS3 or Xbox 360.
Posted in News
Tagged Diablo III, Gamescom 2013, PS3, Xbox 360
The ESRB says Grand Theft Auto V is really naughty
Oh. My. God. The ESRB has released the “Rating Summary” for Grand Theft Auto V and it’s… it’s a little crazy.
Naturally, the game has been rated Mature for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs and Alcohol.” But its the ESRB’s in-depth analysis of the game’s content that really drives home just how insane GTA5 is. The game will include copious amounts of nudity (including naked cultists), enough swearing to make the Goodfellas blush, a little drug use, enough violence to make Quentin Tarantino blush, and… just for fun… some necrophilia.
You can read the whole sordid thing after the break. (more…)
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Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, PS3, Xbox 360
Say hello to the villains of Lego Marvel Super Heroes in a new trailer
In honor of this year’s Gamescom expo, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a new trailer for Lego Marvel Super Heroes. In addition to confirming the game will also appear on the PS4 and Xbox One this Fall, the developers at TT Games have given us our first look at some of the game’s many villains. They include (deep breath)…
Dr. Doom, Doctor Octopus, Magneto, Sandman, Arnim Zola, Green Goblin, Sabretooth, Abomination, Loki, Mystique, and Galactus. There’s also blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses of the heroic Cyclops, Storm, and the Silver Surfer.
But unless I missed him, I’m still holding out for Lego Blade. Though I love that we’re getting Lego Punisher, even if he wasn’t in this trailer.
Bye bye to the Rock Band Store… “American Pie” released as last weekly update
After 281 weekly updates, Harmonix has released the final new addition to the Rock Band Music Store, Don Mclean’s “American Pie.” Like most Rock Band 3 tracks, the song has been priced at $1.99 on the PlayStation Network, 160 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and 200 Wii Points on the Wii Shop. As always, the song is also compatible with the instrument-less Rock Band Blitz.
We were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol’ boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing…
This’ll be the day that I die
To put an exclamation point on the five years (and over 4,000 songs) that went into building the Rock Band Music Store, Harmonix has created a short video, The Story of Rock Band, which you can view above.
Posted in News
Tagged PS3, Rock Band 3, Rock Band Blitz, Wii, Xbox 360
Watch Dogs is coming to every platform ever this holiday season
Well, not quite every platform, but it will be one of Ubisoft’s most widely released titles to date. Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot was at the New York launch event for Sony’s new console, the PlayStation 4. There, he was singing the console’s praises, and revealed that Watch Dogs will be available during the system’s launch this holiday season.
“Ubisoft has a strong history of supporting new technologies with unique and creative offerings. The power and capability of the PS4 allows the Watch Dogs team to further push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible in interactive entertainment.”
Bold words, but Ubisoft are not hedging their bets on Sony’s new box alone. With the company showing the same strategy that has lead it to become one of the most successful developers during the current generation, the futuristic open world third-person thriller will also be released on the console’s predecessor, the PS3, as well as the Xbox 360, PC, and the Wii U. There has been no word on if Watch Dogs is a timed exclusive for Sony’s next-generation system, but given the recent debacle surrounding the delay of Rayman Legends so it could also be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, it would be reasonable to assume that Watch Dogs will hit all consoles simultaneously.
And while it has not been mentioned thus far, we can only assume this wide umbrella will also ensnare Microsoft’s Xbox 720, whenever it is announced.
Posted in News
Tagged PC, PlayStation Meeting 2013, PS3, PS4, Watch Dogs, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Bungie embraces their Destiny
Well, the wait is finally over. This afternoon, Halo creators Bungie unveiled the first details of their newest offering, Destiny, to the public.
The title, which is scheduled to hit the Xbox 360, PS3, and “future generation technology” (that’s the next Xbox and PlayStation systems to the layperson) sounds very ambitious. The story is as follows: In the distant future, humans have spread across the galaxy, exploring the far reaches of space. That is, until they attacked. The entire species is all but wiped out, and all that remains live in a guarded city on Earth. The invading aliens are unable to destroy this last bastion of hope, as the city (and its civilians) are protected by a large, floating orb called “The Traveler” that hovers above. This orb not only shelters the last remaining survivors, but also bestows upon them immense power. The humans use these newfound abilities to try to prevent their extinction.
While this may at first seem like your basic futuristic sci-fi game, Bungie assures us it is anything but. Destiny features an extremely deep online world; almost MMO-like. Destiny is an “always online” first-person shooter, akin to Borderlands. Players are given a choice between three classes: Titan (your heavy hitter), Warlock (magic-wielder), or Hunter (stealth-based). Once you choose your class, you then go through deep customization process, and then you are thrust into the game. You and your friends can progress cooperatively (like Borderlands), or you can choose to join in on a competitive match or two. Vehicles also make up a huge part of Destiny, as it appears you’ll not only be traversing Earth, but also visiting other planets as well.
Bungie is looking to create a world that is always on, always inhabited. Destiny’s main focuses is character interaction – and not just NPCs. Adventures with your friends (and complete strangers) while playing online is what Destiny is all about. According to Bungie’s Joseph Staten, “The most important stories we tell won’t be told by us They’ll be told by players. Personal legends built from shared adventures.”
No specific release date has been given, and Destiny may not even hit shelves this year. But one thing is certain: we can’t wait.