Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Mobile
Nintendo delays release of Mario Kart Tour to Summer 2019
Nintendo announced last year that the Mario Kart franchise would race onto mobile devices in Early 2019, but it looks like the company has put the brakes on that plan for now.
As part of a Consolidated Financial Highlights document the company released alongside their latest quarterly financial report, Nintendo confirmed that Mario Kart Tour will now launch sometime this Summer. If all goes well, this delay will allow Nintendo to “improve [the] quality of the application and expand [the game’s] content offerings after launch”:
In the smart-device business, Mario Kart Tour was scheduled to be released this fiscal year, but in order to improve quality of the application and expand the content offerings after launch, the release date has been moved to summer 2019. As we endeavor to develop future planned applications, we will also focus on continued service operations for applications that have already been released so that consumers can enjoy playing them for a long time.
Aside from its rather snazzy logo, we currently don’t know much of anything about Mario Kart Tour. Hopefully that’ll change soon.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Mario Kart Tour
God of War and Spider-Man lead the way as 2019 DICE Awards nominees announced
I have a feeling it’s going to become a familiar refrain this awards season, but the DICE Awards have announced this year’s nominations, and Sony’s God of War and Spider-Man are leading the way. Both games will be competing for the “Game of the Year” award against Subset Games’s Into the Breach, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, and Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn.
All told, God of War nabbed 12 total nominations while Spider-Man secured 11 nominations (and both are up for many of the same awards including “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Game Design,” and “Game Direction”).
The winners in all categories will be announced during the DICE Awards ceremony (which will take place during the DICE Summit) on February 13. A complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged God of War 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn, Spider-Man
Warp Zoned’s 2018 Golden Pixel Awards: Our Favorite Games From Last Year
2018 was an absolutely astounding year for video games, and while we might not have gotten the chance to play everything we wanted, the Warp Zoned staff was definitely able to add a big batch of new games to our “Favorites” pile.
This year’s selection of standout titles offered something for everybody… Insomniac’s Spider-Man let us soar above Manhattan as the webslinger like never before… The mountainous milieu of Matt Thorson’s Celeste challenged our thumbs and our hearts… Capcom’s Mega Man 11 brought the Blue Bomber back for the first time in almost a decade… And those three games were just the tip of the iceberg.
The Golden Pixel Awards aren’t the “Best Games” from 2018, but these are the titles we plan to return to again and again in 2019 (and beyond). We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. (more…)
Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Alphabear 2, Celeste, Dead Cells, Just Shapes and Beats, Katamari Damacy, Mega Man 11, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Octopath Traveler, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Spider-Man, Starlink: Battle For Atlas, Tetris Effect
FoxNext officially announces Alien: Blackout as a mobile strategy game
It’s no secret that 20th Century Fox has big plans for the Alien franchise in 2019. We’re not getting a new movie anytime soon, but the film studio has confirmed that Cold Iron Studios is currently developing an untitled Alien shooter for release sometime this year, while Dark Horse Comics will publish a comic sequel to Alien: Isolation later this month.
This morning, they added a second Alien game to their schedule with the announcement of Alien: Blackout. Unrelated to Cold Iron’s shooter, Alien: Blackout is a mobile strategy game that will follow Isolation’s Amanda Ripley (the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen) as she explores a crippled Weyland-Yutani space station:
The terror of Alien is brought to life in Alien: Blackout. Try to stay alive while trapped aboard a crippled Weyland-Yutani space station carrying a deadly Xenomorph as it tirelessly hunts you and the crew. Outsmart the perfect hunter by making perilous choices. Players must rely on the damaged controls of the space station or risk sacrificing crew members to avoid deadly contact, permanently altering the outcome of the game.
Survive seven fear-inducing levels by remotely guiding Amanda Ripley’s crew through increasingly challenging tasks using only the station’s emergency systems. The uncertainty and unpredictability of both the alien and her crew can impose total defeat for Amanda and the entire station.
Alien: Blackout is a unique fear-inducing horror mobile game experience that will test the inner nerves of both Alien and horror fans alike, where life can end in an instant.
Taking control of the space station’s central operating computer, players will need to operate a holographic map, surveillance cameras, and motion tracker as they attempt to guide Amanda and her crew to safety.
Alien: Blackout will be available to download through the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store on January 24. The game’s first trailer has been embedded above.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Alien: Blackout
Red Dead Redemption 2 leads the way with 7 nominations at 2019 GDC Awards
It looks like Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, and God of War will be taking over another awards show, as the three games lead the way at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards. Rockstar’s “Cowboy Game” secured the most nominations with seven, but Sony’s Spider-Man and God of War were close behind with six apiece.
As you might have guessed, all three games are in the running for the coveted “Game of the Year” trophy, and they’ll be competing against Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn and Matt Makes Games’s Celeste.
A handful of other games will attempt to push their way into the spotlight at this year’s GDC Awards, including Mountains’s Florence (four nominations), Enhance’s Tetris Effect (three nominations), and Nomada Studio’s Gris (two nominations).
In addition to the main awards ceremony, the GDC Awards will also present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Amy Hennig, the creator of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted franchise.
The 2019 GDC Awards ceremony will take place on on Wednesday, March 20, at 6:30 PM (Pacific Time). The full list of nominees, and all the Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Celeste, GDC 2019, God of War 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn, Spider-Man
Return of the Obra Dinn was nominated in five categories at 2019 IGF Awards
Papers Please, Lucas Pope’s puzzle game about censorship in a dystopian dictatorship, was a huge hit when it was released for the PC all the way back in 2013. And thanks to today’s announcement of the finalists for the Independent Games Festival Awards, it looks like his latest project, Return of the Obra Dinn, will reach similar heights.
Return of the Obra Dinn is an “innovative and uniquely stylized murder mystery” set aboard an abandoned ship in the early 1800s. Using “1-Bit” graphics reminiscent of early Macintosh games, players had to explore the ship and discover what happened to the crew. These elements helped Obra Dinn receive nominations for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” as well as “Excellence In Audio,” “Excellence In Design,” “Excellence In Visual Art,” and “Excellence In Narrative.”
Return of the Obra Dinn will be competing against five other games for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, including Zachtronics’s Opus Magnum, Nolla Games’s Noita, Fictiorama Studios’s Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Hypnospace Outlaw (developed by Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., and Corey Cochran), and Minit (developed by Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann).
A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions from the 2019 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Sony Santa Monica’s God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2018 Game Awards
In what is surely to be the first of many accolades, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War won “Game of the Year” at the 2018 Game Awards. Kratos’s latest adventure also picked up statuettes for “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
But the biggest winner of the night was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which picked up four wins last night. The publisher’s “Cowboy Game” collected some shiny hardware for “Best Narrative,” “Best Score/Music,” “Best Audio Design,” and “Best Performance” (for Roger Clark’s work as Arthur Morgan).
The all-mighty Fortnite picked up two awards, “Best Ongoing Game” and “Best Multiplayer,” but the most surprising news of the night might be that Insomniac’s Spider-Man was completely shut out. Best of luck next time to the ol’ webhead.
More than a dozen different games went home as winners at the 2018 Game Awards, and you can find them all after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Celeste, Dead Cells, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Florence, Fortnite, Forza Horizon 4, Game Awards 2018, God of War 4, Into the Breach, Monster Hunter: World, Overcooked 2, Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of Obra Dinn, The Messenger
Gone Home will be added to the iOS App Store on December 11
Annapurna Interactive and The Fullbright Company have announced that Gone Home will be available to download for iOS devices through the iOS App Store beginning on December 11.
June 7th, 1995. 1:15 AM
You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something’s not right. Where is everyone? And what’s happened here? Unravel the mystery for yourself in Gone Home, a story exploration game from The Fullbright Company.
Gone Home is an interactive exploration simulator. Interrogate every detail of a seemingly normal house to discover the story of the people who live there. Open any drawer and door. Pick up objects and examine them to discover clues. Uncover the events of one family’s lives by investigating what they’ve left behind.
The award-winning narrative adventure will be priced at $4.99 on Apple’s platform, and Gone Home’s new iOS-centric trailer has been embedded above.