Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Mobile
Journey lands 11 nominations at 2013 DICE Awards
The Interactive Achievement Awards will be sporting a new look in 2013, but they’ve managed to recognize the great games all the same. Now known as the DICE Awards, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences revealed their picks for the best games of the year this morning, nominating thatgamecompany’s Journey for an astonishing 11 awards.
The game is up for… deep breath… Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Downloadable Game of the Year, Casual Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering, Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design, and Outstanding Achievement in Story.
Other Game of the Year contenders include Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, The Walking Dead, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. All four of those games are up for multiple awards, along with other big hitters like Halo 4 (six nominations) and Dishonored (five nominations).
The 2013 DICE Awards will be given out on February 7 during the 2013 DICE Summit. Our host for the evening will be Chris Hardwick, best known as the host of The Nerdist and Telltale’s Talking Dead (hmmm…).
The complete list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Journey, The Walking Dead, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Telltale has sold 8.5 million episodes of The Walking Dead
Unsurprisingly, The Walking Dead has done very well for Telltale Games. The company has sold 8.5 million episodes of the adventure game, according to an interview with Telltale CEO Dan Connors in The Wall Street Journal. This number is across iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch), PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Connors said that about a quarter of these sales are on iOS, which makes it “the fastest growth for The Walking Dead among platforms, underscoring how important mobile devices are becoming in the eyes of game publishers,” in the words of WSJ writer Matthew Lynley.
Touted as the Game of the Year for 2012 by multiple media outlets (and included in “The Apocalypse List” of our Golden Pixel Awards), The Walking Dead has been Telltale’s biggest success to date. I’m not sure if this in any way signifies that iOS devices have “come of age as true gaming platforms,” as Lynley suggests, but it’s certainly a big step for the tiny machines.
Be sure to hit up the Wall Street Journal for the full interview with Connors.
Nvidia reveals Project SHIELD, a Tegra 4/Android-powered portable
Another day, another announcement of an Android-powered console. Except this one has a bit of a higher profile than all the rest.
A day ahead of the opening of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Nvidia has announced Project SHIELD, an Android-based portable device that includes a built-in “console-grade” controller. Project SHIELD is powered by Nvidia’s new Tegra 4 processor and features a 5-inch multitouch display that outputs at 720p. The clamshell design of the controller/screen combo allows the device to be closed when not in use.
In addition to running Android-based games downloaded from the Google Play store, the SHIELD can stream full-sized games from a Windows PC, including those available from Steam. A built-in HDMI port can also be connected to shift the display to an HDTV.
“Project SHIELD was created by Nvidia engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Nvidia. “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do.”
A release date and price for Project SHIELD were not announced by Nvidia.
Hundreds now available on iTunes App Store
Hundreds is the latest game from Semi Secret Software and the minimalist puzzle game has quite the pedigree behind it with the creators of Gasketball, Wurdle, Osmos, and iOS favorite Canabalt all having a hand in its development.
So what is Hundreds? Well, the game gives you a set of circles with a zero in the middle of each one. By tapping the circles, you increment the number. The goal is to coninue tapping them until the numbers inside each circle add up to “100.” Sounds easy, right? But if two circles that have been recently tapped touch, they explode. And various mathematical symbols are floating within each level to mess with your addition skills.
Not so easy anymore is it?
Hundreds was first released as a Flash game on Newgrounds and the iOS is said to be improved in every way. Hundreds for the iOS (it’s playable on both the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch) includes over 100 levels and is available to download for $2.99 until January 10 (then the price jumps up to $4.99).
WB Games announces a trio of games based on Lego’s Legends of Chima line
The Lego Group and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced their next collaboration… a trio of games based on the brand new Legends of Chima line of Lego sets.
Legends of Chima is Lego’s latest crack at an original universe. The sets, which are available in stores now, takes place in “a mythical land of magical animal tribes who compete for Chi, a valuable energy source which gives them extraordinary powers over one another.”
WB Games (and TT Games, their internal studio specializing in Lego-based titles) has signed on to produce three games based on the toy line. The first, Lego Legends of Chima: Speedorz, is a racing game that’s playable at Lego.com right now and will be available to download from the iTunes App Store beginning tomorrow (January 3).
The second game, Lego Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey, is scheduled for release on the 3DS and Vita this Summer with a DS version set for a Fall 2013 release. Players will “embark on an amazing adventure into the world of Chima where the brave warrior Laval and his allies are called upon to fight for justice” in Laval’s Journey.
Finally, Lego Legends of Chima Online is a free-to-play online game that’s in development at WB Games Monrteal. The game will be available this Fall.
More information on all three of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
The Golden Pixel Awards 2012: Gaming’s Best, Worst, and Everything Else
Welcome to Warp Zoned’s second annual Golden Pixel Awards. It was definitely a good year for gaming. With the fight over Mass Effect 3‘s ending, the resurrection of Sleeping Dogs, and the launch of the Wii U, we were treated to 12 months of interesting stories.
So sit back and relax as we reward the best (and worst) games of 2012 with a series of accolades based on their rather unique accomplishments.
The Apocalypse List
The bombs have fallen, the economy has collapsed, food is scarce, the zombie hordes are scratching at your door, and you’ve boarded yourself up in a bunker that’ll stand for a hundred years. What better way to spend your time in “The Vault” than by playing Warp Zoned’s favorite games from 2012? It doesn’t matter if you call it a “Top Ten List” or “Our Favorites From 2012,” but these are the games we plan to keep playing even if there was no game industry to keep making games. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, Top Story, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Angry Birds Star Wars, Binary Domain, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Halo 4, Journey, Lego Lord of the Rings, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Minecraft, Sleeping Dogs, Street Fighter X Mega Man, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, The Walking Dead, Xenoblade Chronicles
EA shutting down online servers for NBA Jam, NBA Live 10, Sims 2, more
Electronic Arts has announced another round of shutdowns for some of their online-enabled games. This time the hammer is falling on EA Sports’ 2009/2010 slate of games, including NBA Live 10 and NBA Jam. This announcement means that NBA Jam: On Fire Edition becomes EA’s only basketball game with online play.
The publisher is also cutting the cord on online support for The Sims 2, claiming it’s “no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these games up and running.”
You can find the full list of upcoming server shutdowns after the break. (more…)
Edge of Twilight will finally see the light of day in Summer 2013
Edge of Twilight is a steampunk fantasy adventure game that has been in the works for a long time. Originally announced in 2007 (and in development well before that), the game was thought to be canceled last year.
But it looks like Edge of Twilight might be breaking for the dawn soon as developer Fuzzyeyes has announced the game will be coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Summer 2013. Not only that, but they’ve also confirmed that an iOS spinoff, Edge of Twilight: Horizon, will be available as a free download on the iTunes App Store soon.
Sadly, the PC version of Edge of Twilight appears to have actually been canceled as no mention of it was included in the most recent PS3/Xbox 360 announcement.