Warp Zoned Presents
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A Short Hike wins the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” at 2020 IGF Awards
Even though there is no Game Developers Conference this year, the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards went on as a pre-recorded show last night.
Adam Robinson-Yu’s A Short Hike beat the competition and went home with the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” and then he delivered a victory speech from his living room. The bite-sized adventure game also charmed IGF voters, who bestowed the “Audience Award” upon it.
Other winners from last night include Foam Sword’s Knights and Bikes (“Excellence In Visual Art”), Inkle’s Heaven’s Vault (“Excellence In Narrative”), Patrick Traynor’s Patrick’s Parabox (“Excellence In Design”), Die Gute Fabrik’s Mutazione (“Excellence In Audio”), Christoph Frey’s The Space Between (“Nuovo Award”), and Goblin Rage’s Bore Dome (“Best Student Game”).
A complete list of all winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Nightdive will release Shadow Man Remastered in 2021
Shadow Man was a wild voodoo-themed action game that definitely found its niche after it launched for the Nintendo 64 in the Spring of 1999 (and later that year for the PC, PSone, and Dreamcast). But Acclaim squandered all that goodwill a few years later with a bizarre advertising campaign for Shadow Man 2 that asked “poorer” families to put tiny billboards for the sequel on the headstones of family members.
Acclaim declared bankruptcy not too long after Shadow Man 2’s disastrous release.
The rights to the franchise eventually reverted to Valiant Entertainment, who published the comic that the game was based on, and in 2013 they tapped Nightdive Studios to bring Shadow Man back to the PC. Today, the two companies teamed once again to announce that Shadow Man Remastered will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in 2021.
In Shadow Man, which is based on Valiant’s SHADOWMAN comics, you alternatingly travel through Liveside, the land of the living as mortal man, and explore Deadside, the place where lost souls spend an eternity in torment, as the voodoo warrior Shadow Man. Take a ride into the unexplored territories of the human psyche as you try to stop a marauding band of villains from unleashing unspeakable horrors upon the world as we know it.
Shadow Man Remastered will feature a hefty visual upgrade, including lighting and particle effects, as well as upgraded art assets, and widescreen support for up to 4K resolution. The will also add a “refined gameplay experience” along with the “reintroduction of missing content cut from the original game” to this Remastered re-release.
More details about Shadow Man Remastered will be announced at a later date. For now, be sure to stare into the soulless eyes of the new logo embedded above.
No new releases were able to break into The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games from February 2020
Aside from Airship Syndicate’s Darksiders Genesis and Media Molecule’s Dreams, there were few new releases of note last month. And while both have garnered decent reviews, they’re also fairly niche titles, so it’s not too surprising that neither broke into The NPD Group’s list of best-selling titles from February 2020.
According to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella (via Twitter), you had to reach all the way down to #33 to find the best-selling new release of the month, which was Sega’s The Yakuza Remastered Collection.
That means that a lot of games from 2019 (and January’s Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot) continued to find new homes during the month. Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare took the top spot in February, followed by 2K’s NBA 2K20 at #2 and Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V #3. A little further down the list, Nintendo’s Ring Fit Adventure had it’s best showing yet, peaking at #7 during the month.
You can find the full list of best-selling games from February 2020 after the break. (more…)
Doom Eternal’s Launch Trailer turns the action up to 11
“There is only one dominant lifeform in this universe. And it carries a steel-barreled sword of vengeance.”
Doom Eternal is just days away, and so id Software has gifted us with a brand new Launch Trailer that really leans into the franchise’s metal roots. So sit back and watch as the Doom Slayer flies through the air and creatively dispatches an army of demons with absolutely gory precision.
The time of the Slayer is now. Doom Eternal releases next week, and to celebrate, we are pleased to present the Official Launch Trailer in all its vicious glory. Rip and tear through heaven and hell, featuring more demons, more Glory Kills, gigantic behemoths, never-before-seen environments, and more in id Software’s biggest and most ambitious game to date.
And be sure to watch all the way until the end to get your first glimpse at the new Icon of Sin.
Doom Eternal will be released for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia on March 20. The game is also in development for the Switch and will be released for Nintendo’s console at a later date.
Westwood’s Blade Runner will return in 2020 on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One
It took Ridley Scott 35 years to bring Blade Runner 2049 to the big screen, but the 2017 film wasn’t the only continuation to Blade Runner‘s story.
The groundbreaking science fiction film was first followed by a series of sequel novels from author KW Jeter beginning in 1995. Two years later, Westwood Studios returned to the franchise’s bleak portrayal of Los Angeles with a technologically-ambitious adventure game that takes place alongside the events of the film. That game, simply titled Blade Runner, was an award-winning masterpiece and a massive seller, but rights issues have kept it from ever being re-released.
Until now.
Nightdive Studios announced yesterday that they plan to bring Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition to the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One later this year. The developer is aiming to produce a “polished” re-release that preserves the original look and feel of the game, with “updated character models and animations, upscaled cutscenes using machine learning algorithms, widescreen resolution support, keyboard and controller customization, and much more.”
“Blade Runner is still a jaw-dropping achievement on every level, so while we’re using KEX to upgrade the graphics and respectfully elevate the gaming experience in a way you’ve never seen before, we’re still preserving Westwood’s vision and gameplay in all its glory,” said Stephen Kick, the CEO of Nightdive Studios. “While you can enjoy the benefits of playing the game on modern hardware, the game should look and feel not as it was, but as glorious as you remember it being.”
More details about the Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition will be announced at a later date.
The ESA has officially canceled this year’s E3 Expo
After concerns over the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused the cancellation of this year’s Game Developers Conference and South By Southwest, many assumed that the Entertainment Software Association would follow suit and cancel the 2020 E3 Expo as well. Today, they did just that, with an announcement on their official website:
After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.
Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.
The ESA is looking to coordinate an “online experience” for the publishers and developers still interested in making major game announcements this June. While it’s unknown which companies are currently planning to participate in this digital event, further details will be announced soon at E3Expo.com.
Finally, the ESA promised that the E3 Expo will return in 2021 with “a reimagined event that brings fans, media, and the industry together in a showcase that celebrates the global video game industry.”
Doom 64 re-release will include a completely new chapter and other upgrades
Bethesda tapped Nightdive Studios last year to re-release Doom 64 alongside Doom Eternal, but it looks like the long-forgotten shooter will be getting an upgrade for its 21st century debut.
Speaking to USgamer, developers from Nightdive had a lot to say about the psuedo-canonical second sequel to 1993’s Doom. The biggest news, delivered by Senior Developer James Haley, is that Doom 64 will ship with a completely new chapter that’ll link it even more closely to the events of 2016’s Doom:
Doom 64 has been discussed a lot in the lead-up to Doom Eternal, especially by Eternal’s co-director Hugo Martin. Can you talk about any connections Doom fans should keep an eye out for in either game?
James Haley, senior developer: On our end, persistent players will have the opportunity to unlock a new chapter in the Doomguy’s saga, taking place shortly after [Doom 64’s] original campaign concludes. The Mother Demon you defeated in that outing had a sister, and since you’ve been messing up Hell non-stop, she tries to get rid of you by sending you away. If you can make your way back and take revenge, you’ll be rewarded with a bit of lore that fans of both series, new and classic, should enjoy.
This new version of Doom 64 will include a number of other upgrades, including an Autorun option, new brightness settings (Doom 64 was notoriously hard-to-see on CRTs), a blood color toggle (Japanese players got green blood back in 1997 and now everyone will have that option), and touch control of the automap and optional motion aiming on the PS4 and Switch.
Doom 64 will be available to download for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on March 20.
Activision will launch free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone tomorrow
Activision is dropping a new entry in the battle royale genre with Call of Duty: Warzone, which will be available as a free download for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One beginning tomorrow, March 10.
Up to 150 players will be able to compete in a Call of Duty: Warzone match, and more details about how it all works can be found on the Activision Games Blog:
At launch, players can squad up in trios with their friends on Playstation 4, Battle.net for PC, or Xbox One across two game modes: Battle Royale and Plunder.
In Battle Royale, fight to be the last squad standing while escaping the deadly gas in the swiftly closing circle with up to 150 players.
In Plunder, the race is on to collect the most in-match Cash by looting across the map, taking down enemies to steal their Cash, and completing in-match Contracts.
Warzone takes place in Verdansk, an expansive city with multiple named zones and well over 300 points of interest. Each zone features distinct landmarks like the Gorengard Lumber Yard or the Gora Dam; the zones take place across different environment types like cities and rural areas for unique engagements. Change up your drop location in each match to get a better lay of the land and take advantage of what Verdansk has to offer.
Players will be able to move around the map using a wide variety of vehicles (including ATVs, Tactical Rovers, SUVs, Cargo Trucks, and Helicopters), but death isn’t the end if they get caught on the wrong end of an enemy attack. Once eliminated, all players will be able to fight it out in The Gulag 1v1 against another player for a chance to get back into the game.
Call of Duty: Warzone will also share a unified progression system with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and players who own Modern Warfare will be able to bring all unlocked Battle Pass items, Operators, weapons, and customization items into Warzone.
The first trailer for Call of Duty: Warzone has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Modern Warfare