Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Top Story
Shades Review: Do Mess Around With the Guy in the Shades
Lovers of puzzle games and easy-peasy mobile games will enjoy a fun new challenge with the recently released Shades, a puzzle game from Uovo that bears a resemblance to Tetris, except instead of using differently-shaped blocks, Shades requires players to consider the color of a series of rectangular blocks when placing them. The blocks are all uniform in size and shape; however, they are all different shades of one color (sort of like virtual paint swatches) which must be stacked to ultimately create rows of a single shade. Complete rows disappear, a la Tetris, and earn extra points as well as clearing the way for more blocks falling from the top, while like-shaded blocks stacked on top of one another meld together into a single block of the next darkest shade. Points accumulate through the placement of blocks, whether they blend into another shade, and when rows disappear. (more…)
Hype Fatigue: Why I’m Exhausted With Viral Marketing, Elaborate Advertising Campaigns, and Countdowns
The machinations of video game marketers absolutely baffle me. Obviously, “video game marketing” is an incredibly broad term that encompasses hundreds of different campaigns a year, all run by different people, and all carried out with different expectations. Whipsawing between a seemingly neverending series of hype events and viral campaigns has started to make my head spin. Following hashtags and decoding secret messages has become de rigueur if you want to come up with all the latest game news. Last week, three publishers launched three very different viral campaigns that made me long for the days of the simple press release/trailer combo platter. But maybe they aren’t to blame, as video game marketing has been growing increasingly insane for years now. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, Opinions, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Friday the 13th, Joe Montana Football 16, Lego Dimensions, Star Wars: Battlefront
Knight Squad Hands-On Preview: (Gauntlet + Bomberman) x Knights = Awesome
Cramming eight people around the television set in my living room for a night of gaming seems like the worst idea of all time. For one, I’ve only got enough couch space for about four-and-a-half people, so an unlucky few would be regulated to the floor. I guess they could ask my beast of a dog to share her floor pillow, but she’s a drooler and a licker. That’s bad, though most of my sympathies would lie with the poor sucker who has to wedge himself in the fireplace. But you know what, having a full complement of players for Knight Squad might make it worth it. (more…)
Posted in PC, Previews, Top Story, Xbox One
Tagged Knight Squad, PAX East 2015
Kickstart This! Ira, Izle, Upside-Down Dimensions
Apologies for the absence of Kickstart This! on Warp Zoned in March, but my sister decided to get married and then invite a few of us to join them in New York for the first leg of their honeymoon (not as weird as it sounds). While seeing the many sights the Big Apple had to offer, and munching my way through the trifecta of pizza, pretzel, and hot dog, I managed to pop into Nintendo World at Rockefeller Plaza. It was great to meet and play with some American gamers, though my girlfriend dragged me out before I was able to buy some of the amazing tees on sale. It re-invigorated my love for video games, which everyone needs once in a while. Sometimes we all go through slumps where our enthusiasm wanes, and for much of March I was stuck in one.
But I have crossed back over the Atlantic buzzing to play some great games, and help fund some beautiful and unique ones on Kickstarter. This week, I’m travelling into space with Ira, creating new lands in Izle, and becoming a papercraft samurai in Upside-Down Dimensions. (more…)
Insert Quarterly: The Best Game Writing of Winter 2015
Maybe it was the blanket of snow that covered the world over the last three months, but Insert Quarter took it slow in Winter 2015. But that doesn’t mean our showcase of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet came to a complete standstill. Have you ever wondered why Sony chose X-Circle-Square-Triangle for the face buttons on the PlayStation controller? Or maybe you’re worried that Batman: Arkham Knight killed the Teen rating?
The answers to those questions (and a few others) can be found in this edition of Insert Quarterly, which catalogs our favorite game writing from the last three months. (more…)
Posted in Features, Insert Quarter, Top Story
Bastion PS4 Review: Narrating The Kid’s Must-Play PS4 Debut
Four years ago, a small team of six known as Supergiant Games introduced themselves to the world with their debut game, Bastion. Bastion layered a nostalgia-heavy isometric action RPG over an impressive audio experience with a narrator that reacted to the on-screen action and an amazing soundtrack that I still spin every chance I get. It rightfully earned a place on hundreds of “Best of 2011” lists (including our own) and is often considered one of the best titles the Xbox Live Arcade has to offer.
Does it still hold up in 2015? Yes, it most certainly does. (more…)
The Games of April 2015
Some of us will be playing Mortal Kombat, some of us will be playing Shovel Knight, and some of us will be playing both during the month of April. But that’s not all – there are a few other games we’re excited about, too! Read on to see what the Warp Zoned crew has on their plates for April. (more…)
Warpback: What We Played in March 2015
The Warp Zoned crew was mostly digging into their backlogs in the cold month of March! Some of us did get to play new games at PAX East, as well as game jam games, but for the most part, we were all just hibernating. Read on to see what we played to pass the time! (more…)