Warp Zoned Presents
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Nominees for the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced
Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Rocket League, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will all be competing for “Game of the Year” honors at this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be held on Wednesday, March 16.
With four nominations apiece, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt became the most-nominated titles this year. In addition to “Game of the Year,” The Phantom Pain is also up for “Best Audio,” “Best Design,” and “Best Technology.” Meanwhile, The Witcher 3 will attempt to also take home “Best Visual Art,” “Best Narrative,” and “Best Technology.”
Fallout 4 and Bloodborne were just a step behind both titles with three total nominations of their own. However, they have a lot of company as Star Wars: Battlefront, Splatoon, Her Story, and Undertale all received a trio of nominations as well.
Viewers at home will be able to watch the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards through Twitch, and a complete look at this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bloodborne, Fallout 4, GDC 2016, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Rocket League, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Mini Metro, Her Story lead all nominees at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards
The Independent Games Festival has announced the nominees for their 18th annual awards, and two very different games lead the pack as Mini Metro, a tranquil public transportation sim, and Her Story, a detective story that uses 90s-era full motion video, will both be competing for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize.”
The minimalist Mini Metro collected three other nominations including “Excellence In Visual Art,” “Excellence In Design,” and “Excellence In Audio.” Meanwhile, Her Story also racked up three additional nominations including “Excellence In Narrative,” “Excellence In Design,” and the “Nuovo Award.” Both games will be competing for the “Grand Prize” against Darkest Dungeon, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Superhot, and Undertale.
The 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards will be held on Wednesday, March 16, during this year’s Game Developers Conference. If you aren’t going to be in San Francisco to attend the show in person, you can watch the festivities live through Twitch. However, if you are attending GDC 2016, all of this year’s finalists will be playable on the show floor at the IGF Pavilion.
A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions for the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged GDC 2016, Her Story, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Mini Metro, Superhot
Warp Zoned’s 2015 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games From Last Year
The conventional wisdom will tell you that 2015 was a down year for games and that all the good stuff got pushed back to 2016. But how can you trust the conventional wisdom when last year featured a ridiculously entertaining string of good games starring kid squids, gothic hunters, glitchy sci-fi heroes, and the lone survivor of a nuclear war. And all that’s before you dip into the millions of user-created levels from Super Mario Maker.
Yup, we think 2015 was a pretty great year for games, especially the ones that took home some hardware during our annual Golden Pixel Awards… (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Alphabear, Axiom Verge, Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Broforce, Earthbound Beginnings, Fallout 4, Guitar Hero Live, Her Story, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Mortal Kombat X, N++, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Until Dawn
Square Enix will bring Final Fantasy IX to PC and mobile devices in 2016
Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy IX will be the next game in the long-running RPG series to receive a re-release on mobile devices and the PC.
There’s no release date for Final Fantasy IX’s return just yet, but we do know that the adventures of Zidane and his crew will be enhanced with “high-definition graphics, newly added achievements, auto-save, high speed mode, and several game boosting features.” Square Enix also released an announcement trailer, which has been embedded above, and launched an official website with story and character details for those who missed it the first time around.
Less famous among gamers than Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX was originally released in 2000 and was the last game in the franchise to be released for the PlayStation.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Final Fantasy IX
Kickstart This! Deserted, Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, Night City Assault
Kickstarter recently released a long-awaited Fulfillment Report, an independent analysis of its crowdfunding activities by Professor Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania. While the report contains a lot of interesting data, the number many media outlets are focusing on is the 9% failure rate of fully-funded projects. The report has this to say about the numbers:
Is a 9% failure rate reasonable for a community of people trying to bring creative projects to life? We think so, but we also understand that the risk of failure may deter some people from participating. We respect that. We want everyone to understand exactly how Kickstarter works — that it’s not a store, and that amid creativity and innovation there is risk and failure.
Let’s look at this another way. 91% of projects across all categories succeed and deliver. What industry can say that? There is an old adage in the film industry that mentions that 7 out of 10 features lose money, two break even, and one film makes enough money to cover the loss. This is almost the opposite.
Personally I have yet to support a successful project, video game related or otherwise, that has not delivered after receiving my funds (or at least been on course to do so). Yes, I practise what I preach and donate on crowdfunding sites. I recently had an update from lead developer James Fletcher about his long-gestating project Knite and the Ghost Lights. In a nutshell, he had to put the project on hiatus to work for six months so he could support his family and then return to the game. Despite waiting longer than I thought I would for the game, James’ commitment to do six months of commercial work in order to realise his dream keeps my faith alive in the crowdfunding community. There are people out there who seek to con others, but that’s why we have columns like Kickstart This!
So what games are we urging you to back this time around? We start off with RPG action-adventure Deserted, before shining a light on not one but two games from Australia. The first is cutesy robot puzzler Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse, while the second is the Streets of Rage-inspired RPG beat ‘em up Night City Assault. (more…)
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is now available for iOS devices
Rockstar continues to muscle into Apple’s turf with today’s announcement that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is now available to download through the iOS App Store. Liberty City Stories, which was originally released for the PSP in 2005, actually serves as a prequel to Grand Theft Auto III and gives players the chance to visit many of the same haunts:
In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, former trusted wise guy for the Leone crime family, Toni Cipriani, returns home after spending time in hiding for killing a made man. Now, the streets of Liberty City are in turmoil, as warring families vie for control and the town begins to self-destruct under waves of political corruption, organized crime, drug trafficking and union strikes. Deranged hit men, morally depraved tycoons, cynical politicians and even his own mother stand in the way, as Toni tries to bring the city under Leone family control.
With the move to iDevices, Rockstar has added a number of new features and enhancements to the game. Priced at $6.99, the latest version of Liberty City Stories will treat players to “real-time lighting and shadows, upgraded textures and art, greater draw distance, performance enhancements for touch-based gaming, cross-platform cloud saves, support for Apple’s 3D Touch and more.” Players who purchase the game on the iOS App Store will also be able to unlock an “I Heart LC” t-shirt for their GTA Online character in Grand Theft Auto V on the PC, PS4, or Xbox One.
According to Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories will soon be available to download for Android devices through Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. A new trailer for the game can be found after the break. (more…)
Minecraft: Story Mode’s fourth episode will be released on December 22
Get ready to put some cookies and milk, Telltale Games has announced they’ll be dropping down your chimney to deliver the fourth episode of Minecraft: Story Mode for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on December 22 (Vita and Wii U versions are also in the works). If you’ve been playing along with the first three episodes, here’s what shenanigans you can expect to get up to in A Block and a Hard Place:
In Episode Four, with the fearsome Wither Storm more dangerous than ever, Jesse, Reuben, and the crew discover there is one thing that can destroy the command block at the heart of the monster – but they’ll need to brave the perils of the Farlands to find it. As uneasy allies and ailing friends threaten to tear the group apart, can they defeat the Wither Storm in their final battle? And what sacrifices must be made to succeed? Find out in Episode Four’s epic “Wither Storm Finale” that will turn the page on one chapter, before adventures may begin anew…
According to Telltale, Minecraft: Story Mode’s fifth episode will be released sometime in early 2016.
Telltale will release a new Batman game in 2016
Telltale released a trailer at last night’s Game Awards announcing a new Batman game set for release in 2016. This comes just a few months after they announced they’ll be also releasing a Marvel game in 2017. I can’t believe they’re able to keep such a tight lid on these! Also, they are so busy.
There’s no formal date other than “2016,” and not much other information other than that it’ll be “A Telltale Game Series.” Here’s hoping Kevin Conroy will be voicing Batman!
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series, Game Awards 2015