Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Features
Kickstart This! The Pre-Christmas Whopper Edition
It’s that time of year again…. When everyone gets anxious about having enough money to afford Christmas presents and keep the heating on… When Z-list celebrities are invited to flick a switch and cast sparkly lights on towns and cities across the globe… When pine trees shudder in fear and reindeer wonder why there are hundreds of cameras pointing at them. But it need not be so glum and terrifying. In the run-up to what has become a period of immense profit for companies, yet an unnecessary burden on the growing number of Scrooges in the world (myself included), it is important to keep everything in check, and offer help to those who need it. Buy gloves for the homeless. Invite your lonely neighbour around for a cup of egg nog or mulled wine. And if you are still in the spirit to bring good tidings, check out the latest Kickstarter game campaigns that need your support.
We have a whopping seven projects to share this month, including the super cute P.A.W.S. – Prime Alien Watch Squad, oddball survival game Dyscourse, the eccentric steampunk detective adventure The Dead Flowers Case, and 2D turn based monster shooter MODUS. Halfway through, things get a little more intense with a throwback to 80s action films in Bullet Bros, tactical FPS assassin title Lonewolf, and finally, the beautifully rendered isometric sci-fi adventure Stasis.
Let’s jingle those bells. (more…)
League of Legends: What to Expect From Season 4
League of Legends is the most popular video game in the world. According to a newly released infographic created by Twurdy, a League of Legends community, 32.5 million players log into Riot Games’ smash hit on a daily basis. That means that if every single World of Warcraft subscriber played Blizzard’s MMO in a single day when WoW was at its peak, League of Legends would still boast nearly three times the amount of players. In addition to its massive player base, League of Legends was recently the centerpiece of one of the largest eSports events in history: The Season 3 World Championships.
The Championship match was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the same building that hosts marquee events such as Lakers games and professional wrestling shows. If there was any question as to whether or not League of Legends could compete with such events in tickets sales, they were silenced almost immediately as the Season 3 World Championships sold out in 59 minutes. But Season 3 is coming to an end very soon, and Riot Games has been looking ahead to the next season, which starts tomorrow, November 12th. Over the past week, Riot Games employees (Rioters) have been posting numerous articles to Reddit about their plans for the new season to give players a glimpse of what’s in store. After playing League of Legends for two years with two accounts that are in Gold League, I’ve attempted to compile all the proposed changes for Season 4 along with my impressions on what these changes could potentially mean for the future of the game. (more…)
Posted in Features, PC, Top Story
Tagged League of Legends
The AAA Game: Where It’s Been, Where It’s Going, and Did It Kill the Mid-Tier Game?
An edited and updated version of this article is now available at Video Game Canon.
With a new generation of consoles almost upon us, there is the worry that the spiraling budgets and massive teams required to create AAA games is hurting the industry. But for all the hand-wringing about how the AAA game is detrimental to mid-size developers, no one can seem to agree on what exactly a AAA game is or when the AAA designation was even first used. In attempting to solve this etymological mystery, I found that the AAA designation shares much in common with Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s obscenity test from a 1964 case: “I know it when I see it.” But I also found out that “Will the AAA game survive?” is probably the wrong question to ask. (more…)
The Games of November 2013
They’re finally here. Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One will be available on store shelves this month. Have you been saving your pennies to purchase a next-gen console on day one? Or did the fizzy fast food fairy gift you with a free one? But if you’re not ready to make the next-gen leap, remember, there’s still plenty of current-generation games coming this month (and beyond) to keep all of us busy for a long time. So what’s the staff of Warp Zoned looking forward to in the 11th month of 2013? Read on to find out… (more…)
Warpback: What We Played in October 2013
While you probably spent last night gorging on candy and spooky movies, the month of October was a bit of a slow one for games. That’s because two new consoles are right around the corner. They’re getting closer and closer. You can almost feel them watching you. Waiting to report on your every movement to the men in dark suits and even darker sunglasses.
But enough about the Xbox One’s Kinect sensor, let’s take a look at what the Warp Zoned staff played in October 2013… (more…)
Warp Zoned Rewind: Scariest Games
The newest entry in our Warp Zoned Rewind series, our look back at the seventh generation’s most memorable moments, brings the scares. Today, we’re talking about the games that left you teetering on the edge of your seat.
With the lights out and the sound turned up, your clammy palms grip the controller as your character stands just short of the end of a hallway. You pause for a moment, trying to gather the courage to force yourself forward, despite knowing full well that what waits around the corner is nothing short of pure horror. But you must press on, because it’s the only way to rid yourself of the evil that lurks. Plus, you get an Achievement for killing it! Yes, folks, in honor of Halloween, Warp Zoned brings you five of our favorite fright fests… (more…)
Warp Zoned Rewind: The Jackasses of the 7th Generation
Welcome to the second entry in our Warp Zoned Rewind series, an ongoing look back at the seventh generation of gaming. Today, we’re going to talk about the biggest examples of jackassery in the video game industry from the last eight years… developers, journalists, marketing reps… people from all walks of life proved that gamers are a force to be reckoned with. So sit back and relax, gamers, as we take a look back at those we love to hate. (more…)
Interview-O: Gary Beaver of GHI Electronics Talks About FEZ Game-O
In July, our regular Kickstart This! column featured GHI Electronics’ FEZ Game-O, a programmable hand-held console. Having managed to raise almost double their $5,000 goal, the FEZ Game-O was put into production and should start shipping this month. We caught up with Gary Beaver, Director of Operations at GHI, to see how he led a successful campaign, learn more about the FEZ Game-O, and see what the future might hold for the company. (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, Top Story